Was Beta as good as or better than reel to reel?I very much doubt it, Mitch. Also, btw, I think you mean to refer to "Beta HiFi," not to the plain Beta format.
The main reason Beta HiFi was able to CLAIM top-notch performance as an audio recorder was its specified dynamic range of 80db or so, together with excellent wow and flutter specs. However, as noted in this Wikipedia article:
Despite initial praise as providing "CD sound quality", both Beta Hi-Fi and VHS HiFi suffered from "carrier buzz", where high frequency information bled into the audio carriers, creating momentary "buzzing" and other audio flaws. Both systems also used companding noise-reduction systems, which could create "pumping" artifacts under some conditions. Both formats also suffered from interchange problems, where tapes made on one machine did not always play back well on other machines. When this happened and if the artifacts became too distracting, users were forced to revert to the old linear soundtrack.I have one of the near top-of-the line Beta HiFi vcr's, btw, an SL-HF750, which was built like a tank and still performs very well playing back tapes I recorded in the 1980's. I think I remember trying it in my main audio system at one point in those days, though, with considerably less than stellar results.
Best regards,
-- Al