Comparing Reissued LPs to Analogue Productions Tapes
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
This thread has been an interesting read. My 2 track deck is a Tascam BR-20 in stock form. I've been looking at the Analog Productions tapes, but keep coming back to the conclusion that I wouldn't be getting the most out of them without some mods to the deck, or at the least, buying an outboard preamp like the deHavilland 222. (The Doshi kit is just way out of my league)
FWIW, I have a small collection of studio produced 7.5ips tapes from the 60's and 70's. In only a few of the cases in which I also have an original LP pressing of the same title, I generally find the tape to sound superior to the vinyl version of the same vintage.
FWIW, I have a small collection of studio produced 7.5ips tapes from the 60's and 70's. In only a few of the cases in which I also have an original LP pressing of the same title, I generally find the tape to sound superior to the vinyl version of the same vintage.
If your Tascam BR-20 is properly aligned it is very capable of playing The Tape Project, analog production and other 15 IPS master tapes, I have a few of The Tape Project tapes, and my BR-20 is stock, and I can here the great Sonics of these tapes, I don’t think you will gain much by using outboard preamps in fact I don’t know or have heard of anyone modifying a BR-20 for external preamps ( other than UHA), and if someone on this forum has done this to a BR-20 please let us know how it worked out.
Pete
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Interesting reply Pete. My Tascam performs flawlessly.
I have a friend who is using the deHavilland 222 with his Otari MX5050 BII. He just bought a BR-20 to replace his Studer that was summarily destroyed by UPS on the return trip from having it calibrated. He hasn't told me his plans for the Tascam, but I know he's mounting it in his old Studer rack and if I had to guess he's probably looking into having the preamp routed to the 222.
Nonetheless, to get back on track... I'm open to suggestions on which 1 title in the Analogue Productions catalog would be the best for showcasing their master tapes sonics. Orchestral would be preferable to the jazz titles for my tastes.
The Arnold Overtures is a great tape. (I'm a charter subscriber and have all the TP tapes).
Larry
I don’t have any Analog Production tapes, But there is a tape you may like to show off your master tapes, I would get " Arnolds Overture" that is available from The Tape Project, I have heard both the CD and vinyl of this album and the tape blows the socks off both of them, this tape always comes out number one for Sonics and sound quality highly recommended, and I’m sure there are a lot of people on this forum that would agree.
Maybe Larry on this forum could recommend a tape from Analog Production I think he has a lot of there classical titles
Bruce I find your last sentence particularly important. It drove me mad to hear two of the same LP edition (ie original pressing, label and exact matrix in run out groove) only to have one sound much different and better from another. Both of these records in extremely clean condition.
I've heard people I trust post on another music forum (heavily vinyl oriented) say the same thing about the same exact reissue, and these are pressed in much smaller numbers.
Thanks. I have all of the first dozen of the AP tape releases, which include 8 classical albums. I like all of them - the eight were all albums chosen by Harry Pearson in his Absolute Sound Super Disc list of vinyl records. If I were to select one orchestral album, I would choose "The Power of the Orchestra" which was one of the great RCA albums engineered by Decca's Kenneth Wilkinson. Rene Leibowitz conducts the Royal Philharmonic in two of Mussorgsky's most famous and spectacular pieces. The first is "The Night on Bald Mountain" which Leibowitz reorchestrates himself into an even more spectacular piece than the well known orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakoff. The second is "Pictures at an Exhibition" which was orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. Both have spectacular sonics and are wonderful pieces.
If you like chamber music, there is only one album - the Wilson recording of Beethoven and Enescu Violin Sonatas with David Abel and Julie Steinberg. That is also superb.
Larry
This is exactly the recording I have been using routinely for the last couple of years as my standard classical music “test” piece. Everybody knows the music, but my hosts usually are quite startled at how good my Chesky re-issue of this recording sounds.
I am a total novice at comparing different recordings and different performances, but I think the sonics of this Chesky reissue are fantastic, and the performance sounds darn good to me as well!
I got Chad’s tape of this title, and I will be very super-duper, ultra-fascinated to compare Chad’s tape to the Chesky LP.
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Ron, somehow Chesky got the rights to reissue a bunch of the top RCA and Readers Digest (from RCA although engineered by Decca) recordings, well before Classics Records reissued many of the same titles in the early '90's. The titles are great (including many of the AP Tape issues). They also released some of them on CD's for those who do not do analogue.
Here are all (maybe most) of the Chesky RCA Living Stereo vinyl releases:
Power of the Orchestra Leibowitz*
Offenbach Gaite Parisienne Fiedler
Ravel Daphnis et Chloe Munch*
Prokofiev Lt. Kije/Stravinsky Reiner*
Spain Reiner
Reiner Sound
Rimsky-Korsakoff Scheherazade Reiner*
Gershwin American in Paris/Rhapsody in Blue Wild/Fiedler
Respighi Pines/Fountains of Rome Reiner*
Beethoven Symphony 6 Reiner
* AP Tape Releases (Daphnis et Chloe scheduled for 2019)
There are a bunch more Readers Digest releases which are also mostly great. I've Bolded some of my favorites.
CR1 Berlioz Sym FantFreccia
CR3 Sibelius Sym 2Barbirolli
CR6 Brahms Sym4Reiner RPO
CR7 Bizet Sym1/Tchaik FrancescaMunch
CR13 Dohnanyi Nursery/Liszt PC1WIld
CR41 Rachmaninoff PC4/RhapsodyWild
CR42 Stravinsky PetrouchkaDanon
CR53 Elgar/Mendelssohn/Mussorgsky/Sullivan/LisztBoult
CR94 Tchaikovsky Swan Lake/NutcrackerBoult
Larry
I'd be very interested to read your thoughts after you had a chance to make the comparison.
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Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
After your post, I had to go back to compare the TP tape vs. my DSD version. I can see the point about the non TP version being fuller. My take is that the DSD version (don't have the 45) is not as clear - muddier than the tape. There is a depth to the sound of the tape, layers of sound that I don't hear in the DSD version. Maybe the 45 is better. But for me, clearly the tape is the winner.
Larry
I’m beginning to wander if I got a bad tape, but to late now to check again, I sold the tape, but I did make a copy of the tape on SM900 tape at 15 IPS EQ IEC and got the hole Tape Project tape on one reel, I guess they could of sold the tape on one reel, but that only would saved the cost of a reel.
Pete
I think it is worth mentioning as far as I know there is no complete album of Willy and the Poor Boys in 45 rpm, the version that exists is a "greatest hits" compilation.
I assume you are talking about the reissue from Analogue Productions.
The CC&R albums I have including Willy and the Poorboys was released by AcousTech and is no longer in production it is true there are a few songs missing on this album AcousTech released most of the CC&R albums in 45RPM, it is not an Analog Production.
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