Have you heard the sound of Reel to Reel?

It seems to me it wasn't that long ago when we all had cassette players and recorders.

In my workshop/shed, I often switch on a cassette deck and play one of my old 80's mix tapes and I am often surprised how nice and approachable the sound is. This leads to me putting a Reel to Reel machine on and my stock item for playback in my workshop, is an original B77 Mk1, that I have yet to have to change the record head but is otherwise refurbished with new passive components and quieter versions of the transistors that were used when it was built originally, way back in the late 70's.

Outstanding Musical Control

One thing is immediately noticeable and that is the control the B77 has over the music. It never sounds stressed, ragged or for the matter, distorted. There is also the sense of strength from the machine itself, which adds another emotional element, unrelated to the music.

Even playing back a recording with severely compressed mastering, it still gives a sense of musicality and the sound balance is a genuine pleasure to listen too.

The Ferrograph Logic 7

In the 1970's the BBC, used a huge collection of Ferrograph Logic Seven's; they were all designed by a company based in North Eastern England. To me this tape recorder has an astonishingly great sound. I have two of these machines, one in working condition, the other in a "being refurbished" state.

I have used this machine to transfer some master tapes as the Logic 7 supports 3 speeds, including the standard Production Master speed of 15 IPS (IEC standard). The tapes in the image above were ex BBC broadcast tapes, although I cannot find any evidence of when they were broadcast, on any station, national or local.

So How Does the Sound of Our Remasters Compare?

A friend of mine is an Audio Engineer and Producer and he suggested I trial a tape emulation plugin for use on my DAW.

I now use it as a standard tool to rebuild missing harmonics, lacking on many productions today.

I often get genuinely affected, when I can get one of my remasters to sound like a reel tape, with experience, this as happened more and more often, to the point that I feel we produce remasters that are probably the most pleasurable, that you will hear of any version of the album.