There's tape and there's tape

The analogue tape versus digital non linear audio recording (DAWs) debate is probably academic now that tape is no longer a practical option for the vast majority of amateur and professional sound engineers. However, it's still an interesting subject and for digital natives who have never used tape there are lessons to be learnt.

24 track 2" recorder

As with most evaluations we must always remember to qualify the parameters of what we are comparing. Statements such as "tape sounds better" are clearly going to be incorrect if we are comparing 24bit digital with a compact cassette based portastudio.

The reference point for most engineers who still evangelise tape will be 24 track 2" running at 30ips with Dolby SR noise reduction. Such systems were (and are?) hugely expensive to purchase, operate and maintain. The last time we checked back in 1995, a reel of 2" cost upward of £130 in London and lasted about 16 minutes ( if memory serves). A decent 24 track recorder would have set you back £20k+ and 24 channels of Dolby SR, well forget about it.

A reel of Ampex 456 2" tape

The last multitrack we used had some form of DBX noise reduction which turned hi frequency sounds like cymbals and triangles into weird modulated sounds. Bear in mind that 16+ tracks of analogue without NR could be intolerable unless you had a rack of noise gates, which many studios were forced to purchase.

The more cost effective 16 track 1" recorders were game changers for home studios but even if you liked their sonics no sane person could argue that they even began to approach the frequency response and distortion specs of 24bit digital.

The problem is that we may love what tape can do to a signal but not for every source. There are lots of sounds we need to hear back unaltered.

Understandably this has lead to the development of new outboard processors and plug-ins which seek to add some tape saturation and distortion flavour to those sounds we think sound better with it. To many of us this seems a great compromise. All the pleasing sonic aspects of tape without the wow and flutter, crosstalk, inter modulation noise, hiss and tape degradation issues (although no doubt someone somewhere is programming a plug-in that does these too!).

Slate Digital Virtual  Tape Machine plug-in

Those of us who struggled with tape on a daily basis during the 80s and 90s are delighted with digital and somewhat bemused by some digital natives enthusiasm for vinyl and tape. 

Maybe everyone should be compelled to finance and record at least one LP on tape and then share their experiences. Now wouldn't that be an interesting debate?

Thanks for reading and watching
FairFax