MrStan wrote: > The only problem was that the distortion was predictable for a given > batch of tape stock.
Sometimes it seems like its each tape, or each week or something. Its like the tape is alive. > Especially in the mid 70's > when the dreeded tape oxide shed happened. Something went wrong with > the glue that stuck the oxide to the tape and the oxide was literaly > stripped off by the heads and it clogged up the gaps. a dark period for sure. > Actually the recording process is more complex than usually assumed > and the high frequency response is only dependent upon the head gap > width during playback. Something very strange happens when you record > and most recording heads have actually got quite a wide gap as this > inversly effects the linearity or distortion of the record head. For some reason, the Studers at the place I rent for clients that insist on 2" tape seem to have worse high end at 30 IPS than at 15. Which makes no sense, higher tape speed is supposed to make it all better. > Analogue alignment was so much more challenging than digital and > producing the alignment tapes to align the machines in the first place > was a real challenge. Did you put 10 feet of generated signal on each tape to help some poor guys five years later? > Actually the heads were never that perfect so it was up to > the engineer to make allowances when he aligned the machine. True. Nothing is that perfect, and studios do a lot of stuff with tapes, engineers get tired, punching in the same spot over and over is boring, etc. > How it ever worked so well was a real miracle but it did. Because its the music, not the technology. -- Pat Farrell http://www.pfarrell.com/ _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
