Hello, Mark and Jim and Shiffy,

I think it's important that we reinforce the lesson of playing 
magnetic media on the best available equipment. While there are times 
when playing a tape on the machine that recorded it will provide the 
sound that the producer originally heard and intended, in most 
instances, playing a magnetic recording on a high-end, late-model 
(but not necessarily last-model) machine will provide superior 
results. This means that Shiffy's one-off device is probably the best 
device to reproduce a wire, and it means a small handful of the best 
tape machine models should be chosen and preserved for playing tapes. 
I won't bother enumerating those models here, as I think that list is 
well-known.

The philosophical approach that works for me, and I suggest that 
everyone consider, is that machine perturbations are additive. Play 
deficiencies/perturbations rarely if ever "cancel out" record 
deficiencies/perturbations that are already recorded on the magnetic 
record. Therefore, the machine that adds the fewest 
deficiencies/perturbations that is compatible with the speed and 
track format (or can be made compatible) is generally the one to choose.

There are usually other competing factors driving the selection of 
the reproducer, but having a machine to play the magnetic records 
with performance better than the record machine is generally the best 
way in my opinion/experience.

Cheers,

Richard


Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.