Are you considering diving into the world of reel-to-reel tape but aren’t sure how to get started? Maybe you’re wondering whether it’s wise to, given what you may have heard about the costs of kit and tapes! There’s a whole heap of information on this website and blog aimed at guiding you around the world … More New to R2R? Check out Jefferson Douglas’ 20-minute tutorial
Last week I got to chat with none other than the analogue audio domain’s number one champion, The Absolute Sound magazine’s Mr Michael Fremer (also previously of Stereophile and AnalogPlanet mags). If you haven’t already done so, do check out Michael’s online magazine Tracking Angle which features the full gamut of audio interests… music reviews … More Michael Fremer on tape, UHQR vinyl, master generations, and all things analogue
‘Being there’ One of the phrases I use most often when reviewing tapes is, I’m afraid, a rather hackneyed one: “it’s almost like being there” (or some variation on that theme). I make no apology for it, because this (for me) is without doubt the most soul-stirring aspect of tape as a format for enjoying … More straight2tape – a brilliant new concept of real, up-close-and-personal, music events
Following the sad passing of ‘the god of open reel tape’ Tim de Paravicini (pictured right) in late 2020, Ken Kessler penned a couple of guest blogs on Tim’s life and work: “I’m sorting that for Paul McCartney” and “He worked on machines for three Beatles”, which proved hugely popular. There probably wasn’t an open-reel … More The Denon DH-710F: Ken Kessler on Tim de Paravicini’s favourite tape deck
California-based, Grammy Award-winning, Yarlung Records is an audiophile label with a difference. Well, a few differences actually – one being that it’s a charitable institution that reinvests its profits in supporting emerging young musicians, and another being ‘Sonorus Holographic Imaging’, a process developed with Sonorus Audio that’s designed to create a three-dimensional sound field with … More TAS interviews Yarlung Records
Time after Tim part 2 by Ken Kessler In part 1 – “I’m sorting that for Paul McCartney” – Ken Kessler remembered Tim de Paravicini as a “true god of open-reel tape”. Here, he explores Tim’s incredible contribution to the wider world of recorded music. It must have been the first time I visited Tim in Huntingdon … More “He worked on machines for three Beatles”: Ken Kessler recalls Tim de Paravicini’s considerable contribution to professional recording
Part 1: Time after Tim – The Hi-Fi Years by Ken Kessler It’s still sinking in: I can’t quite fathom the world of hi-fi without Tim de Paravicini. It’s not just the massive contribution he made over a half-century. For many of us, it’s personal, as Tim was a mentor to many. Indeed, I turned … More “I’m sorting that for Paul McCartney”: Ken Kessler remembers Tim de Paravicini as a “true god of open-reel tape”
There’s a history lesson in music, sociology and economics in open-reel tape. Ken Kessler takes us on a tour. Musing about reel-to-reel users of the Golden Age of Pre-Recorded Tapes, based on the evidence provided by the 2,200+ tapes I’ve acquired, I stand confused. The dichotomy between skilled enthusiasts and clumsy oafs is, I suppose, … More Back in the day: Ken Kessler continues to mull over the history of pre-recorded tapes
As part of my recent virtual visit to Smart Audio Recording Lab in Kirov, Russia, I also ‘met’ (virtually) with Dmitry Alexandrov who blogs for the Russian website http://www.stereo.ru. Dmitry, who in ‘normal life’ (as he puts it) is an architect, wanted to put a few R2R questions my way and of course I was … More The price of decks, Dark Side of the Moon and pirates: talking tape with Russia’s Stereo.ru
This is a tale of how a relatively simply upgrade to Neville Roberts’ Studer A810 turned into a major problem, and how it led him to find a company that specialises in Studer MPU boards – solving all his issues! Over to Neville… While scanning interesting pages on eBay recently (as we do!), I happened to … More Those Studer battery blues: Neville Roberts saves his beloved deck with a chip, a board and little help from his friends
Dave Denyer: The Reel-to-Reel Rambler 