DCC Archive 30 ips master tapes ?

A question to mastering engineers present in this discussion board :

Do you often get master tapes recorded at 30 ips ? Is this common or was this speed only used in the early days of magnetic recording ?

 

I'm no mastering engineer, but 1/2 inch tape @ 30ips without noise reduction is a favorite mixdown format among certain engineers. I believe Steve recently mentioned it would be his choice if he were recording and mixing a pop album.

 

I've done 2 track mastering to Ampex 456, and I still have the reel... I think I just filled the hub with it's ajacent "gold" upgrade once in the early 90's. I think it was something like 467? Quantagy is now what Ampex used to be. Ampex now has a website claiming they are the "visual information technology" now.

The 456 Ampex reel I have has held up well, but it's been years since I've listened. I think the last time I used it, I had interviewed the band, "Cliffs Of Doneen". They're long forgotten now. They loved to clown in the studio.

Yes 30IPS rocks ass when you put heavy bandwith in it.

Quantegy is also a good CDR, as they use Mitsui for their base brand, and I'd guess they still do...People still master using amalog tape, but you're not going to hear anyone say so. Fact is, at the manufacturing plant level, there is enough digital rollercoaster in the chain that the warmth and feel is totally gone. You'll find a lot of enthusiasts use 24bit. It can work in some music genres to an extent, but it's caffenating the sound too much, really knocking off a lot of true imaging.

[ November 19, 2001: Message edited by: Sckott ]

 

Yes, I have also. When My band recorded our first LP, we mastered to 30 ips 1/4 inch half track. The sound was AWESOME. Of course, the mastering engineer did a crappy job, so the LP never sounded all that good, but at least the master tapes do.

Mikey