- #311 TRANSISTOR CASSETTE TAPE 320 KBPS#
- #311 TRANSISTOR CASSETTE TAPE SERIES#
- #311 TRANSISTOR CASSETTE TAPE FREE#
The sound is warm and smooth throughout the audio band and only hints at the hiss compared to the DSD files. The analog tape converted to 96 kHz/24-bit PCM sounds the best and is the most accurate representation of the original. I would guess that most casual listeners would not be able to tell the MP3 file from a CD resolution version or the high-resolution PCM and even the DSD files. The high frequency noise is gone but there are no ultrasonic components to the sound.
#311 TRANSISTOR CASSETTE TAPE 320 KBPS#
The MP3 at 320 kbps actually sounds very, very good. The plot on the right and the “purple haze” in the left hand graphics is the contribution of both the hiss AND high frequency noise associated with DSD or 1-bit encoding and the need to apply fancy noise shifting to the signal. And it is audible when listening to the track using both speakers and headphones. Looking at the spectragraph, you can clearly see the hiss. For professionals it was Dolby A (and later Dolby SR) and for consumers it was Dolby B. During the heyday of analog tape, people like Ray Dolby (who passed away last week) created systems for both professionals and consumers to minimize the amount of hiss we had to suffer through. We all know that analog tape has audible amounts of hiss associated with it. The annotated spectragraph Figure 2 is below:įigure 2 – The spectragraph of “Jimmy and the Crows” from Blue Coast Records as recorded and produced by Cookie Marenco. I downloaded the MP3, 96/24 WAV/FLAC (which are identical) and both versions of the DSD format in 2.8 and 5.6 MHz (which are also identical).
#311 TRANSISTOR CASSETTE TAPE FREE#
I wrote about the weekend at Snow Ghost some months ago.Īs promised, here’s the analysis of the free “Jimmy and the Crows” track that Cookie recorded and which is available free of charge at the Blue Coast Records website. The analog tape just didn’t have the sparkle and detail that the digital formats did.
#311 TRANSISTOR CASSETTE TAPE SERIES#
Using state-of-the-art microphones, preamp, converters and recorders, Peter McGrath (a well-known recording engineer and representative for Wilson Speakers), myself and a group of about 6 other professionals rather quickly ruled out the playback from a new Studer A 820 24-track analog deck through an SSL Series 9000 console to VTL monoblock tube amplifiers to Wilson Alexandria speakers (total value of the signal chain…well over $500,000). I would have to get more information about that test because I’ve experienced just the opposite in a test we did at Snow Ghost Studios in Whitefish, Montana. She’s stated that when a group of audio professionals evaluated a recording made to analog tape, PCM and DSD, that the analog was chosen by 100% of them. She prefers the sound of analog tape and DSD to PCM. Yesterday, I lauded Cookie Marenco for the marvelous recordings that she produces. This is a case of different strokes for different folks. I use as my point of comparison the clarity, accuracy and transparency of HD PCM at 96 kHz/24-bits or better. But it is not a high-resolution audio format knowing the limited dynamic range, moderate frequency response and other distortions that it suffers from. It served the music industry very well for many decades and yes it still has a place in this business. Is this why so many equipment designers and music sites use some form of the phrase, “sounds just like the analog master tape”?Īudiophiles should acknowledge that analog tape is simply one flavor among many different formats.
But I do understand the appeal and the “color” or “timbral” modifications that analog tape imparts to a track. If pressed, would I choose the analog tape over the 96 kHz/24-bit HD PCM tracks of the same material…no way. And I can appreciate why after spending so much time listening to the sound of my recent piano recording of Christian Jacob. So are other audio engineers, producers and the dedicated group of analog high-end users that prefer the sound of analog tape living in the past everyday? Well yes, in a way they are.
AIX) editing the master tape of Christian Jacob for a vinyl LP release.
Yesterday was definitely a “living in the past” moment.įigure 1 – Mark Waldrep (aka Dr. I knew there was a reason that I had kept it all these years. When she arrived the other day, she noticed that it had been moved and I’m sure she was hoping that I had finally junked it…but no, it was in the studio in active use as an editing platform. It’s been parked just outside of my wife’s office since then. Following the RMAF show last fall, I decided I should dust it off, get it overhauled and sell it to an analog tape devotee. The Ampex was parked upstairs for over 10 years until about a year ago. My Nagra and Ampex 440C 1/4″ machines have been put back into action after many idle years. I’ve been working with analog tape a lot over the past month.
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