Hello Richard

On 27/07/08, Richard L. Hess wrote:
> 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. 

I think this is a key point in audio generally.

I often see it stated that such-and-such is a poor recording, so there
is no point in playing it on good equipment. The contrary is the case.

If a recording is bad, its faults are already near the limit of what is
tolerable. Add the faults of a mediocre playback system, and you are
over the limit. Use a system with the absolute minimum of noise,
mechanical problems and
distortion, and at least you can hear what there is to be heard.

Regards
-- 
Don Cox
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