Tape Project Tapes

heck, i wouldn't mind a 7.5ips dubbed copy of one of their tapes sans packaging, etc. for, let's say, $75? the audiophile lp 180gm would cost about $30; so add the cost of a nice reel of tape ($20) and the time and effort ($25). play it on a regular ol' teac, etc. i'm willing to bet it will still sound good
even on the most revealing systems, with a slightly higher noise floor. i like the tape project for shedding light on magnetic tape, because i have a reel to reel (a teac x-2000r piece of plastic junk) which i have made some AMAZING tapes of classical lp's. the music just jumps out of the speakers and grabs you like "Ahnold S."! moral of the story is that you can have a BLAST with a tape recorder with OR WITHOUT all of the proprietary hardware and software. it's LIVE RECORDINGS where you start running into major difficulties without a professional setup, but recording from another tape or an lp, a cd, etc. is a piece of cake, with extra icing with tapes dubbed from lp's (of course).
oh, i forgot- the TURNTABLE i used to make the tapes from?
a $300 thorens with a denon cartridge. i wonder what would happen if i record NOW from my VPI Aries? Hmmm....

i still have to wonder if i was misunderstood- if they want to make some $Money$ they could offer 7.5ips dubs of their premium tapes that could be played on a teac, revox, akai, pioneer, sony, etc. which are far more affordable to alot more people than ampex-351's, studer 810's and 807's, etc. a 7-inch plastic reel of tape, cut from a pancake, would not be that expensive, and you could get 1800ft/45 minutes per side (or the half-track version if you have the right machine and prefer to play one side only). i'll bet you $50-$75 that it would sound wonderful. put me down for 4 CLASSICAL RELEASES for $240 please...

i am not trying to fuel a debate or an argument here (well, not intentionally anyway). what i AM trying to say, probably not very effectively, is that a tape project tape for $300 of some music i don't like that much is just not my cup of tea, just as, if i don't see an SACD by the artist, orchestra, and piece of music i desire, i will not pay the extra money for that either. BUT, i fully support the IDEA behind what they are doing, which is to expose people (and probably to alot of curious folks that listen to the demo's at audio shows) to what music sounds like as close to the original source as possible. SO, once again, IF you make a copy ONCE REMOVED from the 15ips tape onto your choice of a 7 or 10 inch reel that can be played on (usually) a quarter track machine, hooked up to a perfectly good preamp or integrated amp, then YES, it would be a blast to check it out. more money to the distributor means more possibilities, more PROJECTS, more INTEREST, more people listening to MORE MUSIC. but perhaps i am mistaken in assuming that the tape project folks have any thoughts beyond their extremely limited (by definition) enterprise.
in that case i and thousands of other people (who dabble in the audio asylum's tape recorder interest group, or the yahoo group, and/or other people who have not taken their tape decks down to goodwill industries yet) will continue to have fun and experiment on our own, until unfortunately, the hardware and the software fade into obscurity. and those of us ipod'less folks are not going to be around all that much longer ourselves...

DUMB POINT #4- I have 4 (out of five) decks that run at 7/15 ips, with half-track heads (two with a fourth head that plays quarter-track tapes as well). i could definitely even go for a 15ips tape SANS fancy packaging, serial-numbered, etc. (i want a metal reel though of course). all of them except for one i believe have NAB equalization- the one deck has a switch. i could offer "someone" maybe a hundred bucks to "try" a tape that runs as close to my musical tastes as possible. but that is about it for me (watch, i'll sneek out one day and spend the $329- IF it will play on a teac or an otari NAB deck). but i think my brain works pretty much the same as everyone elses when it comes to what i MUSIC i can buy for $330 bucks. harmonia mundi or astree cd's? LP's of the new york philharmonic or the cleveland orchestra? OTOH, TO ME, a bill evans recording ain't no big deal (even though i have an XRCD of his anyway- what the hell- it was an experiment). anyway, i am done here. sorry if i ruffled any feathers, because i am sure the genuine article is well worth having. i just wanted to offer some alternative viewpoints and suggestions. i have 5 reel-to-reels for goodness sake!! peace.

Mr. Jsman, several of the aforementioned tape recorders can playback the tpt's. only 2 of them lack the ability (via a simple switch) to play IEC equalized tapes-the prosumer teacs, and only ONE lacks the ability to play at 15ips. plus i could always dub the recording onto that deck turning at 7.5ips as well- i'm sure with excellent results.
the reason for 5 decks? check out the Teac A-6100 Master Recorder, which i picked up for "a song", with 4 heads and wooden side panels. or an X-2000M, a modernized version of the A-6100 with an autolocater, DBX-1, and a spooling feature. i used to have this "urge" to see what vintage machines would come up for auction- some of them are real jewels- (i.e.- the teac 35-2 had the option of connecting your recording preamps directly to the heads). BTW, none of them cost me a fraction of what i spend on high-end audio. AND, when you need parts for Teac or Tascam decks (for the newer models of course), you call or e-mail them in california, they ship them to your door.
i can afford the tapes btw. maybe one day...

admittedly, the other people here have better sources than i do by light years, but i still think it would be a serious kick to try to dub an LP onto a tape running at 7 or 15, quarter or half track, just to see if the results are enjoyable. that's what i used to do with my teac, and i was really pleasantly surprised. but... i was using a thorens turntable with an at-0C9 cartridge.
see, the problem is, if you DOWNGRADE to a real-world "record-player", you will start to appreciate analog tape all the more.
there is one other solution, but i hate to bring it up (sorry Mike!) you should have gotten the studer-a-80 with levinson electronics, the same machine my (grumpy but impeccable-reputation buddy Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio)
used back in the old days. he has engineered some recordings on Harmonia Mundi as well as his own label (Audiofon), with results that compete with the best.
i don't know if you can get him to talk about his work in the recording industry, but if ANYONE knows what makes a decent recording, he would. OTOH, the last machine he favored was the Nagra D-2 as far as i know.