UltraAnalogue's Superlative Tatsuki Narita tape

[Foxbat]

I have a reasonable size collection of mostly first generation 15ips tapes, and many of them are very, very good. Some of them have become my go-to sources for my system demonstration, troubleshooting or pure enjoyment. My system is of a pretty high caliber too, so whatever IS on the tape, it will be heard. So it is against that background that I received my first UltraAnalog tape - with Tatsuki Narita playing violin, and Yun-Yang Lee on piano.

Having read many fine reports on the company, its products and its founder Edward Pong I put the tape on with great anticipation. I have heard some great tapes, but I was willing to be surprised. I love classical strings, and here we had two wonderful performers with great reputation.

And to make it short, I was indeed pleasantly surprised - from the first minutes it became clear this tape was producing perhaps the best violin sound that I have ever heard from any recorded source. The immediacy of the sound, the pure and deep tone, the texture were all striking. The piano, although not the main focus of my attention, also came though vividly and without the often associated excessive boom.

I enjoyed the tape immensly, and I have already played it three or four times, to relax after a long day. Considering how much competition it has in my collection, this is a strong statement of approval.

What can I add besides just stating that this tape is a real gem, and should find place in any collection... a true revelation!

​

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Hi. Please can you send us a vid of your system playing the tape!

 

[Steve Williams]

I have a reasonable size collection of mostly first generation 15ips tapes, and many of them are very, very good. Some of them have become my go-to sources for my system demonstration, troubleshooting or pure enjoyment. My system is of a pretty high caliber too, so whatever IS on the tape, it will be heard. So it is against that background that I received my first UltraAnalog tape - with Tatsuki Narita playing violin, and Yun-Yang Lee on piano.

Having read many fine reports on the company, its products and its founder Edward Pong I put the tape on with great anticipation. I have heard some great tapes, but I was willing to be surprised. I love classical strings, and here we had two wonderful performers with great reputation.

And to make it short, I was indeed pleasantly surprised - from the first minutes it became clear this tape was producing perhaps the best violin sound that I have ever heard from any recorded source. The immediacy of the sound, the pure and deep tone, the texture were all striking. The piano, although not the main focus of my attention, also came though vividly and without the often associated excessive boom.

I enjoyed the tape immensly, and I have already played it three or four times, to relax after a long day. Considering how much competition it has in my collection, this is a strong statement of approval.

What can I add besides just stating that this tape is a real gem, and should find place in any collection... a true revelation!

​

I totally agree. I have most of Ed's tapes and Narita is without doubt my favorite

 

[Foxbat]

I will try to do the video tonight, but in terms of the components, at this time it is as follows:

1. First MCI Mara deck then Ampex ATR-800, both modified for direct head output.

2. Head preamp based on BAT VK-P90 phono stage.

3. BAT REX II preamp

4. BAT REX II monoblocks

5. Avantgarde Trio speakers.

Victor

 

[Audiophile Bill]

I will try to do the video tonight, but in terms of the components, at this time it is as follows:

1. First MCI Mara deck then Ampex ATR-800, both modified for direct head output.

2. Head preamp based on BAT VK-P90 phono stage.

3. BAT REX II preamp

4. BAT REX II monoblocks

5. Avantgarde Trio speakers.

Victor

Sounds good to me, Victor. Look forward to hearing it!

Best.

 

[BlueFox]

Hi. Please can you send us a vid of your system playing the tape!

Why? It will only sound as good as your computer speaker.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Why? It will only sound as good as your computer speaker.

Hi Bud. I can’t be bothered to get into discussion on vids as has been done to death already on wbf. Feel free to search on those. Sorry.

Best.

 

[Edward Pong]

Dear Victor,
Many thanks for your kind words on my Tatsuki tape!
I'm so happy you're hearing the magic that tape can bring!

I'm excited to be recording a live concert this Sunday, for the 1st time since Covit. It's too long without live music.

This will be a solo piano recital by Van Cliburn winner Vadym Kholodenko. Also very excited to be using a new found pair of 1956 NOS WE437a tubes in the microphone preamp...

They take the soundscape to another level of naturalness... more resolution but also more relaxed.... almost a paradox..

Prokofiev & Schubert

Ed

 

[Foxbat]

You are welcome, Ed, it is us who should be thanking you!

Posting the video here, I hope I am not breaking any copyright rules, if I am, let me know, I will remove it.

Enjoy! I can here its quality even on my computer speakers here.

https://youtu.be/gK3ufwhd8cw

 

[Edward Pong]

That's a very cool looking room! Look at all those tapes! Bravo to you!
Sounds very nice, even on my laptop computer.
Thank you for posting it!
Ed

 

[bonzo75]

Enjoy! I can here its quality even on my computer speakers here.

https://youtu.be/gK3ufwhd8cw

This is excellent. Best I have heard trios. Can you play some more classical, including vocals and orchestra?

Also are you only tape or do you have a TT? To get this sound out of your trios, apart from the tape, are there any mods to the speaker? And are you using standard BAT electronics?

Thanks

 

[astrotoy]

Great choice. Tatsuki playing the Meditation from Thais. This was my father's favorite piece. My wife had one of our friends, a professional violinist, play it in our home for my 65th birthday, more than a decade ago. Taksuki is a very special violinist. So is Alena Baeva who also records for Ed and her husband Vadym Kholodenko. Can't wait for the tapes of his recital. I am constantly amazed how many great young musicians that Ed has found to record for him. It is very special it is to have them captured on his top quality recording system. Being able to have the tape to play in our own homes - the closest to having the master tape.

Larry

 

[astrotoy]

You are welcome, Ed, it is us who should be thanking you!

Posting the video here, I hope I am not breaking any copyright rules, if I am, let me know, I will remove it.

Enjoy! I can here its quality even on my computer speakers here.

https://youtu.be/gK3ufwhd8cw

Victor, your system sounds great, even through youtube. Are most of the albums behind the system records, not tapes? Thanks, Larry

 

[Foxbat]

The preamp and the power amps are very close to stock, that is how I like it. The head preamp, obviously, is the modification of the BAT phono stage, mostly in the EQ area - it can be switched to work at either 15ips or 30ips. The speakers are all original, this is the high impedance model, with two subs. I know people sometimes have polarizing opinions on them, but I love them, to me they are very universal and cover most of my music admirably well. Perhaps one reason they sound good here is that they are being driven by 150W amps. Many people drive them with puny amps, believing their high sensitivity (close to 110dB) is going to take care of the dynamics... which I think is an incorrect assumption. Their designer told me to throw good deal of power on them.

Yes, I do have the TT with a good phono stage, and also a pretty darn good DAC in that system.

If you search through my Youtube channel, you will find some videos with music.

Victor, your system sounds great, even through youtube. Are most of the albums behind the system records, not tapes? Thanks, Larry

That is correct, most of what you see there are LP's, with some tapes also visible, but most of them are kept elsewhere.

 

[Edward Pong]

Larry, I'm in the middle of discussions with an amazing violinist & if I can get him to Toronto to meet, I think we will all be very very happy!
Having these artists living with us for a few days is one of the real joys of these recordings... I get a chance to hear about a world completely different from ours!

Ed

 

[Audiophile Bill]

You are welcome, Ed, it is us who should be thanking you!

Posting the video here, I hope I am not breaking any copyright rules, if I am, let me know, I will remove it.

Enjoy! I can here its quality even on my computer speakers here.

https://youtu.be/gK3ufwhd8cw

Thanks Victor. Great system and tape.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

This is excellent. Best I have heard trios. Can you play some more classical, including vocals and orchestra?

Also are you only tape or do you have a TT? To get this sound out of your trios, apart from the tape, are there any mods to the speaker? And are you using standard BAT electronics?

Thanks

Totally agree. Best I have heard Trios too especially tonally and micro nuanced.

 

[Foxbat]

Put my wife in front of the system today - she rarely does that. She has very good musical ears.

She very much agreed with my assessment that it was the most natural violin sound. I then played for her the same piece (different recording entirely) streamed at 24/96 through a very nice DAC - it was nice, but definitely not as good.

At some point she pointed at the speakers asking "Why are these not playing?"

Wives...

 

[kodomo]

Great tape from Ed as expected! I am also hearing the avant garde speakers seeming to play really good for the first time over this youtube video (for what its worth), congratulations to you. I had a few chances to hear different iterations of trios (latest versions at Munich) and all of them have let me down. Enjoy your finely tuned version, it may be the best one Also your tip top condition Ampex 800 is a thing of beauty. I had an ampex atr102 but I kept my studer a807 for practical reasons

More important thing for me is that, it looks, you have a very good music collection. Any recommendations from your "go to" tapes.

ps. enjoy your great system

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Put my wife in front of the system today - she rarely does that. She has very good musical ears.

She very much agreed with my assessment that it was the most natural violin sound. I then played for her the same piece (different recording entirely) streamed at 24/96 through a very nice DAC - it was nice, but definitely not as good.

At some point she pointed at the speakers asking "Why are these not playing?"

Wives...

Are you using the normal basic (non horn) subs? What crossover frequency are you using?

Best.