Hi Tom,

I failed to mention that, for this format, I will record both channels 
for the first pass and hang onto the reverse track until I'm sure that I 
have the best transfer of both sides. Sometimes, all you get is one pass 
and for those (rare) occasions, you are getting everything on the tape. 
Likewise, if I think I'm only going to get one pass from a 1/4 track 
recorded in both directions, I will use a 1/4" 4-channel deck in order 
to get everything off the tape in one pass.

Obviously, others are comfortable with using the reverse track as the 
master transfer so you get to choose your method.

Cheers!

Corey
Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
www.baileyzone.net

On 3/9/2015 12:28 PM, Corey Bailey wrote:
> Hi Tom,
>
> I transfer these tapes all of the time. I transfer each side 
> individually and check azimuth for each side. If the tapes were 
> recorded at different speeds (not uncommon), I will check azimuth for 
> the off-speed section and record it separately. Your description of 
> "In fact they were recorded on all sorts of different machines" is the 
> clue. Aside from the fact that you may have a jumble of recordings 
> from different sources on one tape (also not uncommon with home 
> recordings), transferring the tape all at once guarantees an 
> out-of-azimuth transfer for the half playing backwards. Because the 
> reverse track would not only be off-azimuth, but because it has to be 
> digitally manipulated, possibly more than once (possible off-speed 
> sections), I would think that it would not be considered an archival 
> quality file.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Corey
> Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
> www.baileyzone.net
>
> On 3/9/2015 11:56 AM, Tom Diamant wrote:
>> I am going to be dubbing some two track ¼ inch tapes to digital. 
>> These were
>> recorded with a two track head with one mono track going in each 
>> direction.
>> I was going to dub both tracks at the same time and then just flip the
>> backwards track in the computer. These are not being played back on 
>> the same
>> tape recorders they were recorded on. In fact they were recorded on all
>> sorts of different machines. It seems simple enough, taking half the 
>> time,
>> but then I thought is there some technical reason that I shouldn’t do 
>> that?
>>
>> Tom Diamant
>>
>> Arhoolie Foundation
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>