Press Play > Dedicated to All Things Reel-to-Reel

This is an audio version of a presentation I deliver at Hi-Fi shows and to interest groups.  It covers: Application Reels sizes Track layout Tape speeds Reversable machines  Eq New or used machines A transcription can be found as a blog on the Reel Resilience website. https://www.reelresilience.co.uk/post/press-play-episode-28-buying-a-reel-to-reel Support the show

Reece Beard is a final-year student at Salford University in the UK.  I thought he would make a great interview as to why GenX, Millenials and Gen Zeds are going back to the analogue tape format. You can also hear why it's good that a machine doesn't record sometimes and how I trashed an MRL alignment tape.  Support the show

In part 2 of this two-part podcast (see Ep 24 for Part 1)  we continue our talk with Dan Labrie owner of  Myriad Magnetic. Dan has been involved in professional analogue recording technology since 2010. He began his career replacing switches and capacitors on an Amek console at a recording studio in Detroit. As a result of  working for analogue tape pioneer Mike Spitz, who owned ATR Services and t...

I have been meaning to do  this for a long time, a bit more about me and my experience, so you get an idea of the person behind all of this. I did an outline of my background in Episode 1 but there is nothing like being interviewed and answering those, sometimes tricky questions, that get you searching the depths of your memory to answer them. I was asked to appear on Darren Harte’s radio show on...

In part 1 of this two-part podcast we talk to Dan Labrie owner of  Myriad Magnetic. Dan has been involved in professional analogue recording technology since 2010. He began his career replacing switches and capacitors on an Amek console at a recording studio in Detroit. As a result of  working for analogue tape pioneer Mike Spitz, who owned ATR Services and the tape manufacturer ATR Magnetics, he...

The resurgence of reel-to-reel, whilst great, has brought with it a few myths and misnomers and, shall we say, less than best practice in using them. In part 2 of this 3 part mini-series on supporting reel-to-reel, Iain Betson of Reel Resilience discusses with his guests, Rob Brinkworth and  Gary Hedge, about looking after the audio format we love.  Support the show

In the 1960s to 1980s, when tape recorders were in regular use, there were many people to fix them. Half a century down the line, the number who now do this has reduced for many reasons. So who's going to keep these recorders running for the next generation to enjoy? In part 1, of this two-part podcast, Iain Betson of Reel Resilience is in conversation with Rob Brinkworth and Gary Hedge, two...

Part 2 of my conversion with Rob Brinkworth. In Episode 20 we talked about Rob's collection of Revox A77 and B77 machines and we carried on talking about the other recorders in his collection too, so I thought it would be a shame not to hear it.  One of the models we spoke about was the successor to the B77,  Studers attempt to bridge the gap between their consumer, Revox badge products and t...

It’s rare you can use the term game-changer in the world of reel-to-reel, In the genesis of the format developments came organically, with perhaps only the discovery of AC bias, to radically improve the recorded audio quality,  being worthy of that title.  But in terms of actual machines that title must go to a product introduced in 1968 by Studer under it's Revox brand name: The A77. 3 heads...

This episode is part 2 of our two-part look at (Sony) MCI  tape machines - I am told, by those with minds immeasurably superior to mine, that there is no difference between those machines badged with the Sony or MCI logo.  We talk to Graham Nystrom of Rope Room Studio based in Astoria, Oregon (www.roomstudio.com). He has an MCI  JH-24, or nearly one, because as you will hear, it’s a both a work in...

This episode, and the next one, of the Press Play > podcast is all about MCI tape recorders. I put the word out on the Facebook groups that I wanted to talk MCI tape machines and studio owners Thomas Yearsley and Graham Nystrom replied they would be happy to hook up.  Both Graham and Thomas are great speakers and passionate about their MCIs so, with so much material, only two episodes could do...

In this episode we introduce the fourth new reel-to-reel machine to arrive on the market. Thorens show their confidence in the resurgence of reel-to-reel by the launch of the TM1600 player. Gunter  Kürten, CEO of Thorens, talks about why he wanted the Thorens name on a reel-to-reel , who the machine is aimed at, why it costs what it does and, the question most asked, why a player only. https://www...

Andrew Morton runs the website Parlogram Auctions. A site specialising in the sale of rare and collectable Beatles memorabilia.  An Englishman living in Austria, Andrew has an encyclopaedic knowledge of anything Beatles and has made a personal collection of all the studio albums of The Beatles that were released on open-reel tape. In this episode we discuss not only those tape-based albums, but al...

In conversation with Stuart Blacklock on buying an entry-level reel-to-reel machine. Stuart has been a guest on Press Play before, and it's with good reason we welcome him back. He is a man with a wealth of reel-to-reel experience and, as you’ll hear, a tape machine collection to match. We discuss machines to consider buying when first getting into the reel-to-reel format: What's afforda...

Kostas Metaxas of Metaxas & Sins: This episode is part 2 of our two-part chat with Kostas Metaxas of Metaxas & Sins. We’ll hear about the TRX recorder, move onto discuss the new limited-edition product Papillon 15 and then about his beautiful pens. We will also hear, straight from the designers mouth, the answer to the question so many ask when they see the these new recorders: How much ar...

Kostas Metaxas of Metaxas & Sins: Despite the resurgence of the tape format, few people, or companies, have created a new tape-recorder. Kostas has not just done this once, but twice. First with the TRX recorder, positioned as a replacement for Nagra and Stellavox field recorders, and later with the Papillion 15, a studio based, or high-end audiophile, product. In part 1 of this two-part podca...

Tape heads: It all stops with a head when the audio is recorded on to the tape and starts with it on replay. Fortunately magnetic heads for audio recording are still manufactured by at least three companies across the World. Press Play > talks to two of them. In part 2, of this two-part podcast, we talk to Federica Galantino and Andrea Babuto, of Photovox Technology of Italy https://www.photovo...

Tape heads: It all stops with a head when the audio is recorded on to the tape and starts with it on replay. Fortunately magnetic heads for audio recording are still manufactured by at least three companies across the World. Press Play > talks to two of them. In part 1, of this two-part podcast, to Peter Van Rompay, of AM Beligium http://www.ambelgium.be/en and in part 2, to Federica Galantino...

This episode of Press Play> very much deals with the visual, which may seems strange considering open-reel is a sound format, but pretty much since the visual media started, tape machines have made an appearance. Asthetically they have just got it – those big reels turning, the meters moving, the lights flashing.  The guest interview this episode is a person who addresses the visual image of th...

It may seem crazy, but Steve Fensome took a working, and hard to find, Studer A810 MPU board and dismantled it. But it was all in the name of tape machine progress, because, as a result, he is now producing new MPU boards for the A810 and A812 models. https://studer-mpu-boards.com/ Listen to our conversation as he tells us why, and how, he did it and about an Aladdins cave of tape machines he foun...

We welcome back past contributor Oleg Netchaev, of Open Reel-to-Reel (facebook.com/openreel2reel), to talk about the large range, and wide genre, of pre-recorded tapes he now distributes, and to the owner of one of those companies producing them: Polish jazz musician Adam Czerwinski of AC Records. (www.acrecords.pl) Support the show

The Bristol Hi-Fi show is one of the three big hi-fi shows in the UK each year. In spite of 30 years in the professional audio sector, this is Iain Betson's first visit to a consumer audio show. He went there in search of tape, be it open-reel or cassette. Although he found little in evidence, what he did find was a great deal of enthusiasm for the format and optimism that it's use is ab...

A Visit to Sound Mastering - Part 2. In this podcast I continue my chat with Nick Robbins, Senior Mastering Engineer at Sound Mastering and his colleague Graham Sharpe. We talk special Studers, Ampex, recording formats prior to tape and Bing Crosby.  Support the show

A visit to Sound Mastering - Part 1: In this two-part podcast we are in conversation with Nick Robbins, senior mastering engineer at Sound Mastering, London. We discuss tape baking, when it needs doing and when not, mastering software and the transfer process.  Support the show

Open-reel or cassette, a tape recorder needs tape to work. Currently there are only two companies making new tape: ATR Magnetics in the US (www.atrtape.com) and Recording The Masters, or RTM, based in France (www.recordingthemasters.com). In this podcast we talk to Bette Spitz, owner of ATR and Theo Gardin, Sales Manager of RTM about their respective company ethos, the products they produce and wh...