In the mid 80s I roomed in a house owned by a fellow audiophile who recorded a local semi-pro orchestra live to a hot rodded Revox A77 using DBX NR. His tapes were amazing. He used the Nakamichi Tri-Mic system with spaced super-omni capsules to capture sound in Boston’s Jordan Hall at NEC or Sanders Theater at Harvard. No LP or CD compared remotely to the dynamics and effortlessness of that sound. Later, he switched to a Nakamichi PCM adapter and Sony Betamax to record the same feed. Interestingly, the quality of his now videotape playback was just as good as the open reels, (but much cheaper to buy). My conclusion was that the promise of digital was that while not being realized in the commercial marketplace, but the theory of its “transparency” was correct.
The Sound Quality Of Commercially Pre-Recorded Reel-To-Reel Albums
I’ve owned reel-to-reel machines since 1976. I’ve only used them to make copies of my vinyl LP’s at 7 1/2 ips, and I’ve been quite pleased with the quality of those recordings. I have never once purchased a commercial reel to reel pre-recorded album.
I understand that commercially pre-recorded reel albums were mass produced and recorded at 3 3/4 ips and 7 1/2 ips. Were the pre-recorded tapes generally sonically superior to home recorded reel tapes made from LP’s?