Anyone seen the Radial ad in the new TapeOp issue?

[jgimbel]

I agree 100% that people want tape sound but most would probably not actually get a tape machine, if only because of the different editing methods. Many of you have made good points about being able to get a tape machine for a reasonable price right now, but like someone else said, it's about maintenance. I love how tape sounds, I prefer the recording process limits to digital. But my skills go about as far as being able to fix a broken input/fixing cords. I'm a huge DIYer and I'd absolutely love to get a tape machine and learn to fix it over months/years and get it working beautifully. But that'd be more of a fun project with hope for the future rather than a reliable recording medium I could count on for the amount of recording I do. If I was able to buy one new, I'd go for it, because there would inevitably be tech support for it (even if it's just sending it to them and paying to fix something), plus the whole community that would form both of the people who now do tape who had never done it before, plus the people who love tape that are happy to have a new model (though I can only imagine the storm that would come of what's wrong with the first model that comes out, only to sprout a number of versions/companies for them). That'd make it worth it for me. But it'd take me quite a while to get the knowledge to take care of a tape machine and keep it running as smoothly as it would need to to be my main recording medium.

[kslight]

Yeah I've seen a 2 track Studer on Craigslist here for awhile with the price constantly going down...and there are plenty of studios in Kansas City so apparently they don't want to mess with it either.

Personally I think that the maintenance/et cetera would still be an issue with a modern produced machine...I doubt that they can make a tape machine that you can just "plug in" and it will work 16 hours a day 7 days a week without maintenance for the next 15 years. Its just not realistic. People think that because they use digital gear that there is no maintenance...there are calibrations that can be done/et cetera, most people just choose not to do it. Just like modern produced tube guitar amps...anything that's going to generate heat and/or have moving parts is going to need maintenance.

And given that I don't record or operate anywhere close to an infinite budget, I will be the first to admit that I would probably NOT get a new tape machine unless it were something simple like a 2 track that I could just mix to...I have always felt that in my experience tracking to tape only to mix digitally is a bit of unnecessary hassle...and tracking and mixing solely from tape is a pain compared to a computer and really only worth it for certain types of music and caliber of musicians. I recorded a weekend worth of jams to tape with my old band just for fun and they turned out pretty cool...but in the end I think the music was good because of the environment not because of the hiss.

And IMHO, the sound of an analog tape deck is not what makes or breaks the record, its the quality of the performances by the musicians (#1). The engineer's job is to get it recorded/mixed in a way that their performance can be recorded in a faithful manner. You book a crap band with an amazing engineer who has a 16 track 2" machine and a Neve board and API EQs and anything else...probably going to be crap. You book a solid band with the same amazing engineer who also has a Mackie board into two ADAT machines and an Alesis Nanoverb it'll probably turn out way better.

[suppositron]

Bam! 8 track 1" ampex machine. $3000.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/m ... 77231.html

[calaverasgrandes]

Mankato? damn could it be more in the middle of nowhere!
Last night I was just thinking of the time I stopped in Mankato when I was drivin to the twin cities and it was raining too hard to keep going.

[suppositron]

Haha true! But if I had $3000 and was serious about it I'd make the drive. My buddy got married out there a couple years back- it's not too bad. Being from the twin cities you have to be used to driving long distances cause we are kind of the middle of nowhere. About seven hours to Chicago!