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Good source for prerecorded RtR tapes?

T

tourmax

Super Member
Banned
Just starting to get my feet wet with RtR.

I’d like to get a few prerecorded tapes to start off with.

Only place I currently know of is ebay and prices for anything I’d want to own seem to be absolutely through the roof.

As an example: I was looking to pick up a copy of Supertramp Breakfast in America, but prices seem to start at 300 cad and only go up from there on ebay.

Are there any sellers or websites that don’t want a leg and your left jewel for a prerecorded album?

I’m looking for rock, 3 3/4 or 7 1/2, doesn’t matter which right now.
 
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Agreed, most places want an arm and leg for pre-recorded RTR tapes. I find mine at the occasional yard sale, but finding RTR tape there has become more difficult to find lately.
You might find it worth your while to place an ad in BT, I've seen a few good RTR tape deals flow through there and you can negotiate a better deal. Of course you'd have to become a Subscriber first. There are also some good RTR tape deals to be had on FB Marketplace.
 
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So, been digging around.

I've pretty much decided I don't want to pay the prices hey want for "vintage/original" prerecorded tapes. Not unless I find hem around the $100 CAD mark.

Found some sellers on etsy selling reproductions from digital "masters", Round about 130 CAD.

So I took a chance on one:

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Of course I'd pick nothing else but their repo of RUSH: Moving Pictures.

Box artwork seems pretty good. Here's hoping the audio quality matches the attention to detail the box does.

7 1/2 IPS, which seems to promises better sound quality.

Place in new york calling themselves "ReelTapeWorld".

It will also help that I can do an A/B comparison of the RtR to cd, vinyl and cassette tape. To check the RtR deck is working properly if nothing else.


They had a few more RUSH repo's too. If this one turns out good,I may go back for more.....
 
I've been collecting tapes since about 2003, The days of being able to score good rock tapes cheap on the bay are somewhat over with. If you don't already, you may want to learn to love classical music. These tapes are still relatively affordable; I play one just about every night at dinnertime.
 
Nah, I enjoy classical at times, but not often. I actually used to play in a big band, so I do appreciate it. But it's not a staple for me. I've got to be in the right "mood" for it and that's not often.

Tape is more of a curiosity for me at this point anyways. Moving Pictures and Bridge Over Troubled Water will do for now. If I want more, I'll just make my own off CD or Vinyl.

The copy I'm getting of MP is recorded off a CD source as it is, which begs the question why buy original recordings when you can just record your own?

Which brings up the next obvious question: Why record to open reel when you already own the source material?

My next "copies" of RUSH on open reel might just be my own recordings and the box art I can make myself.
 
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tourmax said:
The copy I'm getting of MP is recorded off a CD source as it is, which begs the question why buy original recordings when you can just record your own?

Which brings up the next obvious question: Why record to open reel when you already own the source material?

My next "copies" of RUSH on open reel might just be my own recordings and the box art I can make myself.
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Exactly!
 
Pre-recorded 1/4 trk stereo tape were bad if not worse was my experience in the 60's and 70's. So I stayed away. We were a dealer, so I got to sample the tapes when the distributor came by. I even got some for free. If you had a good TT and cartridge the LP's were clearly better. Prerecorded cassette from Telarc using Dolby noise reduction easily out performed any pre-recorded R2R tape ever made. One exception might be tape made with DBX noise reduction but they were never economical. I had three 15 ips 2 track tapes from the factory as a gift. They were exceptional, but you had to own the professional deci-linear noise units to decode the tapes. The consumer DBX decoders/encoders just didn't perform that well. You could have +/- 8 db errors below 100 hz with consumer dbx processors because of Tape machine tape head bumps in frequency response.
 
Some tapes really are good though… I have a “ Moody Blues -Question of Balance”. I compared it to the cd -going from a Tascam 3030 both into a Benchark Dac3 > Bryston 14bsst > Martin Logan CLSZ2…darn close.
 
wallacefl said:
Some tapes really are good though… I have a “ Moody Blues -Question of Balance”. I compared it to the cd -going from a Tascam 3030 both into a Benchark Dac3 > Bryston 14bsst > Martin Logan CLSZ2…darn close.
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I agree, excellent tape!
 
wallacefl said:
Some tapes really are good though… I have a “ Moody Blues -Question of Balance”. I compared it to the cd -going from a Tascam 3030 both into a Benchark Dac3 > Bryston 14bsst > Martin Logan CLSZ2…darn close.
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cool. I look forward to finding out which are good and which...well, aren't as good.

I've got Simon and Garfunkle: Bridge Over Troubled Water on the way. I also have the cd and vinyl version. Prob my fav of their recordings.

I'll play it "bald" first. Then some messing with the EQ and finally, the BBE 482i (if needed).

Should be fun.

:)
 
I’ve been recording old RTR tapes quite a bit lately. I find that it’s really a lot like my experience with cassette.
Most of the old ’60’s tapes perform like old Normal formulation cassettes.
The better tapes are later formulations from Maxell, TDK, Ampex, and BASF.
However, unlike cassette in which the tape never leaves its case, RTR tape seems to be much more likely to be moved from reel and box. Just because the box says something doesn’t mean the tape is that type. Same thing for the brand of the plastic reel- it may or may not actually be a match for the tape on it.
It’s all to easy to shuffle things around and the decades just increase the chances.
Even the brand of the leader tape may not be the same as the actual tape as many tapes have the leader added on by the user.
After a while you can kind of get a feel for the look of certain brands and types of tape.
I don’t really sweat it much, as after you start recording and listening to the playback you know what you’re getting.
Even sticky tapes just require a good cleaning of the deck and you’re back in business.
 
I've found a few tapes at our local flea market, a little pricy, but ok. I went to a yard sale, not much outside, but found a large rubbermaid tote full of pre-recorded tapes as well as "mix" tapes. The factory tapes were $2 each, and the "mix" tapes were a buck.
 
I’d like to get a few prerecorded tapes to start off with.

You will get much better quality by recording your own RTR tapes sourced from a good non-lossy streaming service like TIDAL or Apple Music (top tier). I purchased many of the 4 track tapes back when they were new and none of them matched the quality of my LPs. And over the years many of my customers have given me boxes of the old 4 track tapes and the same thing: low quality as in distortion, noise, wow/flutter. Now if I record the same album sourced from LP or streaming digital, I get no distortion, noise or wow/flutter.
 
tapetech said:
I’d like to get a few prerecorded tapes to start off with.

You will get much better quality by recording your own RTR tapes sourced from a good non-lossy streaming service like TIDAL or Apple Music (top tier). I purchased many of the 4 track tapes back when they were new and none of them matched the quality of my LPs. And over the years many of my customers have given me boxes of the old 4 track tapes and the same thing: low quality as in distortion, noise, wow/flutter. Now if I record the same album sourced from LP or streaming digital, I get no distortion, noise or wow/flutter.
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That’s exactly how I felt about cassette during the years it was mainstream in my life!
A good Maxell or TDK CrO2 tape, dbx on my Teac V-850X and it was done. Metal tape if there was a deal going.
 
Interesting. Do they pay royalties?

About a zero chance that they pay royalties. what they do is illegal but they have sold 4000 copies over 4 years so maybe the big companies who own the rights just don't care about the "small fries". The sellers states clearly that he uses LPs and CDs to make the copies and he also implied that he uses used tape to make the copies (not new tape). Some of the buyers also indicated that their tapes looked used. However the great majority of the reviews say the sound quality is vey good so this may be good for someone starting out a RTR music collection.
 
Meh, I could care less. If it sounds good, it sounds good. And it will look cool on the shelf.

I could also care less if it's "re-used" tape. That's pretty much what I would be doing anyways.

It’s essentially a “novelty” item for me anyways. RUSH never released material on open reel, so its this or nothing. They did a great job on the box art presentation, if it sounds good too its a bonus. I may end up making the other albums on open reel myself, but this is a great way to figure out if I want to or not. Basically, “Instant gratification” and all the psychology behind that.

Does he own the rights? Highly doubtful given how he's up front about them being recorded from CD sources.

It's not like he's trying to hide either the fact they're copies or what you're getting. I was honestly impressed with the box art and overall presentation, so I bought (perhaps) my favorite album on RtR. He's up front about what he's selling and I know what I'm getting. I don't know why anyone who is not the owner of the particular musicians catalog has issues with it. All this “hand wringing” over it is just pointless. You know what you’re getting. Don’t like that, don’t buy it.

Now, whoever owns the rights to it might take exception if it comes to their attention. That's their call though. The most likely thing that will happen though is the guy will get a threatening "cease and desist" letter from their lawyers. That's the "lowest cost" option.

Although, other than an "it's mine!" mentality or "making and example of" case, I doubt anyone will be worried about copies of music on a dead format like RtR and pursuing it to an actual court case for damages. If there was real money in it, sure, they'd have a go. But RtR is dead (and long ago dead) except for an insignificantly small economic niche. They'd probably end up paying the lawyer more than they would get from any royalty from the music use or "damages". damges in this case would bepretty small, unless they could get punitive damages awarded and in which case, I doubt they would ever be able to collect that (IE: can't get blood from a stone). Which means their lawyer bill will, once again, outweight any awards.

The music business is a business, they aren't going to expend funds unless the reward outweighs (and very significantly outweighs) those expended funds.

Buddy is probably pretty safe swimming around in his little pond.

I for one, am quite happy he's making these copies. If the one I get is good enough, I'll be back for more of his RUSH RtR tapes.

All the legal/royalty BS is for someone else to worry about.
 
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