The Reliability of Analogue Reel to Reel Tape Recorders in Modern Day Sound Recording

The larger reel-to-reel recorders are still employed byimmune to humidity-related problems. They have wider
professional sound specialists, although the basictape width and faster linear tape speeds than
cassette recorder is probably the cheapest form ofcassette recorders; they offer the widest frequency
analogue recorder which is readily available. The qualitybandwidth, greatest fidelity, and best signal-to-noise
of these reel to reel machines can seldom beratios of any analogue recorder.
duplicated by the smaller recorders and their cassetteWhereas digital recordings can become unusable in
tapes.any number of ways, not least where the hardware
A multitude of different media's still utilise analogueand software they are based on becomes obsolete,
recording, which is the oldest standard in audioanalogue reel-to-reel recorders offer proven reliability
recording based terms. Analogue style reel-to-reelto researchers and recordists even under the harshest
recorders are still in mainstream use these days andconditions.
are still considered by some as the preferredMany recording artists, even today, prefer the natural,
equipment for sound recordings.warm sound of reel to reel player recorders and many
The advantages of reel to reel tape recordingrock and blues artists find the unique form of distortion,
systems are generally the far better quality recordingscaused by tape saturation, very pleasing. The illusion of
and the fact that the tapes can be easily edited.a fuller sound, which is a more natural effect to the
However, because of economic reasons the cassettehuman ear, is created by the harmonic distortion, which
recorder is by far a more common analogue recordingcauses the high end to become slightly depressed and
system than the more expensive, heavier and bulkierthe bass to thicken up. It is not uncommon for artists to
reel-to-reel recorders.re-record digital tracks to analogue reels.
Although digital reel to reel recorders are more theReel to reel tape recorders are still a popular way to
norm now analogue reel to reel recorders are still usedrecord and listen to music sound tracks and it is still
for master studio recording They are the clear choicepossible to acquire models that have been
of professional recordists since the quality of thesemanufactured by Akai, Pioneer, Ampex, Revox, Sony,
machines can seldom be duplicated by the smallerTeac, Toshiba and many others.
recorders and their cassette tapes.Although they are getting a little hard to find and can
Reel reel tape recorders are capable of recordingbe rather expensive in some cases, analogue reel to
sonically challenging sounds that most cassettereel recorders are still available today and issues
recorders cannot record accurately and the taperegarding maintenance or repair should not be a major
transport mechanisms of these machines, which areconcern as tapes, parts and components are still
also known as open-reel recorders, are virtuallyavailable.