Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement v2
- Thread starter jfrech
- Start date
As said before here, not all tapes sound good, mainly a recording problem imo.
The potential of tape is higher i think.
Vinyl can sound great to if done right.
In ease of use tape beats it easily , in variety of music vinyl beats tape easily off course.
But most older tape machines have some problems here and there so comparing Them to new vinyl and a new sota record player might not be completely fair
to do a complete rebuild is quite expensive
The potential of tape is higher i think.
Vinyl can sound great to if done right.
In ease of use tape beats it easily , in variety of music vinyl beats tape easily off course.
But most older tape machines have some problems here and there so comparing Them to new vinyl and a new sota record player might not be completely fair
to do a complete rebuild is quite expensive
I am agree with Rockitman
I have a A80 restored with new Butterfly
Sound of tape is better than vinyl,
More body,natural,reality and dynamic
Only very high frequency I like more vinyl,in my System
I have tape same like top vinyl
Like Pink Panthers of Fone,
Whitches Brew,Paganini of Fone
Kind of Blue,Led Zeppelin and For Duke for exemple and A80 is better
I am angry with the seller of tape at 400/500 each and I don’t bought one
Keko premonition and AP
I have a A80 restored with new Butterfly
Sound of tape is better than vinyl,
More body,natural,reality and dynamic
Only very high frequency I like more vinyl,in my System
I have tape same like top vinyl
Like Pink Panthers of Fone,
Whitches Brew,Paganini of Fone
Kind of Blue,Led Zeppelin and For Duke for exemple and A80 is better
I am angry with the seller of tape at 400/500 each and I don’t bought one
Keko premonition and AP
Gian, maybe I don’t understand your post. You have a tape of For Duke?
(For Duke is an M&K direct to disc.)
. . . Frankly, if I have not put a lot of money into tape already I really don’t have strong incentives to keep buying tapes. Tape is so dependent on ...well...tapes. Ron will realize this once he put his feet in it.
Kind regards,
Tang
I agree! Tape sucks! I wish I never got into tape! You are sooo right!
I feel so bad for all the audiophiles who got talked into buying machines and tapes and who now regret wasting that money that I will take off your hands for a reasonable price all of the true provenance 30ips safety masters that you now have and wish you never bought.
I have heard a lot of tape on my vinyl visits. I have seldom liked any classical performance on tape. Most of the Decca EMI type performances were in fact poor on tape. I don't know the source, possibly not the master.
Then there were some small scale performances. Some of these had great sonics, but made classical sound like a jazz band, too much in the room for my concert hall feel. The best of the small scale chamber like I heard was the Yarlung at Myles, and he had the Doshi. His tape set up was really good, and from what I understand from reading posts in that there are better transports than the Technics he had. Others mostly had the king cello or no external pre and many Studers. I also tried to compare tapes from different sources over three visits over the last few months
So without a proper compare (which I am not interested in doing on the tape front at the moment), my conclusion is that the Doshi is a must, good tapes for the music I listen to are rare, and in almost all cases I enjoyed the vinyl more, though the performances were different. It was quite clear that tape had me immediacy, dynamics, tone, bass, stage. So not for me yet.
I am still way behind on data points on tape though. So could change impressions.
Then there were some small scale performances. Some of these had great sonics, but made classical sound like a jazz band, too much in the room for my concert hall feel. The best of the small scale chamber like I heard was the Yarlung at Myles, and he had the Doshi. His tape set up was really good, and from what I understand from reading posts in that there are better transports than the Technics he had. Others mostly had the king cello or no external pre and many Studers. I also tried to compare tapes from different sources over three visits over the last few months
So without a proper compare (which I am not interested in doing on the tape front at the moment), my conclusion is that the Doshi is a must, good tapes for the music I listen to are rare, and in almost all cases I enjoyed the vinyl more, though the performances were different. It was quite clear that tape had me immediacy, dynamics, tone, bass, stage. So not for me yet.
I am still way behind on data points on tape though. So could change impressions.
Congratulations ! I found my GFS took at least 100 hours to really shine, it tries and tries at first...then the beauty and ease appear after a bit of time.
PS, it's a bit scary getting it out of the packaging with that long cantilever ;-)
Really looking forward to your thoughts as you mount it and listen...
Thank you, Gian. So I guess M&K was recording off the mic feed at the same time they were cutting direct to disc?
when Steve McCormick (one of the recording engineers on the M&K recordings) was in my room a few years back, he told me that there was a tape made from that same mic feed at the same time that the dtd was done. he did not know at that time where those masters were, but knew they existed.
Ron,
You should be careful on this offer. Most safety master tapes are now suffering from some kind of degradation. Many modern re-issues sound great because they have been remastered and re-equalized to bring the treble up, not just only because they are carried from original tapes. They will sound lousy just played in our systems.
I think we should separate three situations 1. The audiophile who loves the format and already owns a great collection - he has been enjoying it, adds a few tittles and keeps is machines in top conditions ;2. Those who just own a couple of tens of copies of master tapes and a top reproducer mainly for the pleasure of owning tape for its sonic qualities and enjoy them from time to time and 3. New comers!
I am part of 2 thanks to Tapeproject and eBay for several Studer's up to the A80's
. Considering what I know today about tape degradation and my experience I would not enter this branch of audiophilia in 2018, although I also love the technical part of tape reproduction and really hate the technical part of digital. For your reference see: 2015 ARSC Guide to Audio Preservation - Sam Brylawski, Maya Lerman, Robin Pike, Kathlin Smith, editors http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub164/pub164.pdf ; http://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/audiopreservation/analog and
the classical, although now 10 years old www.richardhess.com/tape/history/HESS_Tape_Degradation_ARSC_Journal_39-2.pdf - if its graphs worried me ten years ago, imagine today...
BTW, many wise people will tell me that my ears will degrade faster than tape - but as I am guessing from photos you are considerably younger than the average WBF member!
I still have a couple of machines from years ago but no decent software. Unlike LP where you have access to at least 10's of thousands of excellent commercial pressings commercial tape is rubbish. I'm not into audiophile titles and the so called masters I have access to offer little in the way of music I like to justify the cost. And you're right about the level of LP playback, it's at such a high level that only the best tapes can compete.Dear Mike,
I have been saying offline to a few friends about how my vinyl could attract me to spend time on listening without missing tapes. I have no doubt your vinyl front can sound differently better than tapes. I think this is part of the reason ddk don’t go into tape. Frankly, if I have not put a lot of money into tape already I really don’t have strong incentives to keep buying tapes. Tape is so dependent on ...well...tapes. Ron will realize this once he put his feet in it
Kind regards,
Tang
david
This is a very dangerous argument - it can be used to promote digital, unless your clock stopped in the 80's ...
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