Why no interest in reel to reel if you're looking for the ultimate sound?


Wondering why more people aren't into reel to reel if they're looking for the ultimate analog experience? I know title selection is limited and tapes are really expensive, but there are more good tapes available now than ever before.
People refer to a recording as having "master tape quality",  well you can actually hear that master tape sound through your own system and the point of entry to reel to reel is so much more affordable than getting into vinyl.  Thoughts? 
scar972

Showing 1 response by fusian

I was thinking about this recently, when I came across an ad for a Revox reel to reel. 

Recently, some of my LPs have sounded like I was in the studio, listening to the master tape. That liquidy but crisp high frequency sound, with a climate- and acoustic-controlled environment. Everything wet and dry at the same time (I am getting nostalgic for those long ago days in the 80s and 90s, spent laying viola tracks in professional studios).

But then there was one particular L.P. that I realized, I liked better when it sounded like a record! Can't remember which one it was. 

Vinyl has a sound all its own. Yeah, some call it distortion, and while that may be technically true, the inherent negative connotations of that word make it not quite appropriate.

If I could acquire my favourite 25 or so recordings on tape, without breaking the bank, I woukd seriously consider getting a tape deck. Partially because I would like to record my piano quartet's next release as an all-analogue production, from beginning to end. But I have never released a vinyl record (since my band in the 80s, anyways), so I don't even know if mastering plants have the capability to cut from an analogue tape.