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.
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