what tape deck should i buy as a master recorder for my beat

Isn't tape saturation done by driving the inputs into the red a little?

Is what you're talking about tape decaying naturally over time? If so wouldn't that just make the magnetic heads dirty?

I literally have NO idea about tape, genuine questions Cyrus, as I am also in the market for something tapey. Probably a reel to reel.

scoobylol wrote:Isn't tape saturation done by driving the inputs into the red a little?

yea but in addition to driving the input, you are overloading the tape as well.

scoobylol wrote:Is what you're talking about tape decaying naturally over time? If so wouldn't that just make the magnetic heads dirty?

'just make the heads dirty' is a dangerous understatement. the gunk can build up to the point where it destroys your motors because they have to work too hard. it also gets transferred to every tape you run it across, which can then further deposits it on more machines. my friends literally killed every machine they had before they figured out what was happening. nice machines too...glad they told me.

i dont have any idea what you are talking about 'letting the tape sit' ...

if you have a decent vcr laying around, dig that puppy up and give it a go.
youd be surprised at the results, i used to record drums n bass to itto give warmth.
sounded pretty good considering.

cyrus wrote:when you guys record to tape, do you find that if you let the tape sit for some time that there is a differance in sound from natural saturation or whatever? ive always wanted to try this with some drum loops and see if there is a noticable (in a good way) differance.

I'm actually using Maxell Xl IIs (chromium dioxide) i recorded on in 1997, they sound almost exactly the same to me as they did then, but they always sounded crappy because I recorded on cheap handheld. Maybe the ferric tape formulations get weird and lose highs, but who knows? audiokarma.org has some serious info on all the tape formats.

Also re: saturation, just driving the inputs where it goes just into the red on the tascam 122 gives really nice even order transformer saturation which is really something special, even without the tape. So if you find a busted deck for peanuts, pick it up and send some signal through it.

when you guys record to tape, do you find that if you let the tape sit for some time that there is a differance in sound from natural saturation or whatever? ive always wanted to try this with some drum loops and see if there is a noticable (in a good way) differance.

I guess the question is based off of something I half learned a while back. I guess when you record to tape, the magnetic particals or whatever they are called over time gel more, or start to get closer together - giving it a differant sound (warmer,glued,bad, not sure). not sure if that is called saturation or natural compression or something like that.

anyways, when i learned about it i got the idea for letting some drum loops sit for a while and see if there is a noticeable benefit. not sure if my idea will work.

any thoughts on it would be helpful.

EDIT: i think what im talking about is called something else. I did find some interesting links on tape compression:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... yness.html

http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-di ... ky-147304/

natural tape compression is one thing - letting tape 'age' is something ive never heard of really for effect, and i cant say it would be a good option if i had a deadline ;]

on a slightly tangential note, i picked up 2 reels of 1100m mastering tape today along with 4 extra reels for $8 today. ;]
this is why i say forget ebay - just DIG locally - it probably has everything to do with the fact that i was up early.

just take that cassette and put it in a preheated oven at 350 for 1 or 2 minutes and see if that makes your drums have more heat...