My newly acquired Studer A80 RC MK II is bringing more smiles today--I'm playing the RCA Victor Belafonte At Carnegie Hall I scored in anticipation of getting my machine. Of course, my copy, FTO-6000, is a quarter-track version, so I had to transfer it to my 2-track A80 via a ReVox deck a friend owns. As a result, I was not expecting much.
Holy cow! Even this transfer has the sonic hallmarks of tape that I'm already addicted to: frightening dynamics, beautiful timbre, amazing resolution and most of all, SPACE! I have never attended a concert in Carnegie Hall so I can't place what row it feels I'm sitting in (as many reviewers do), but it is astonishingly real. The clapping from the audience is also staggeringly realistic. Finally, the amount of tape hiss I thought might be present by transferring the tape is quite unobjectionable and barely noticeable. I'm starting to wonder why I continue to invest in expensive 45 RPM vinyl releases!
This tape is far from the sonics of my Thelonius Monk Tape Project tape, but boy is this fun!
Kip
