Can you believe it? Tape Project is ten years old! Thanks to everyone who has supported us in introducing studio quality tape reproduction to the audiophile community!

Author Topic: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'  (Read 24629 times)

Offline mikel

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 169
    • View Profile
    • my system page.
first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« on: August 13, 2010, 12:57:12 AM »
it's late and i'm tired. i had 25 people in my room tonight for an audio club meeting, and a few stayed till after 11pm.

we played about 40% RTR tape. the 2 tracks we played from 'Rock With Me Baby' stand out as the best of the best of the tapes we played. holographic, vivid, alive, compelling. i like the music. alot. but even if you only 'sorta' like the music this one will grab you.

is this the best tape yet? it might be.

when i recover from my 'event' i will listen all the way thru and expand on these comments.
Mike Lavigne

Offline astrotoy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 377
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2010, 01:27:58 AM »
Mike, thanks for the quick review. I was impressed when I heard a cut at Dan's place last year. I got my copy today and will listen tomorrow or over the weekend.  Never had heard of Little Hatch before the TP.  Larry
Larry Toy CharterMember-BHReproTechnics1506/Akai747dbx/OtariMX5050B3-ClassicalVinylFreak-15Krecs-VPIHRXRimDrv-LyraSkala-HelikonMono-HerronVTSP3A/BHPhonoPre-PacificMicrosonics Model2 - Pyramix&MykerinosCard-OppoNE-Proceed AVP2+6/CVP2-CJ MET1-Cary 2A3SE-AvantgardeDuos-3Solos-VelodyneDD18Sub

Offline MylesAstor

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 218
    • View Profile
    • Positive-Feedback Online
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2010, 03:30:08 PM »
it's late and i'm tired. i had 25 people in my room tonight for an audio club meeting, and a few stayed till after 11pm.

we played about 40% RTR tape. the 2 tracks we played from 'Rock With Me Baby' stand out as the best of the best of the tapes we played. holographic, vivid, alive, compelling. i like the music. alot. but even if you only 'sorta' like the music this one will grab you.

is this the best tape yet? it might be.

when i recover from my 'event' i will listen all the way thru and expand on these comments.

Now this release would be a great candidate to compare the original D2D release with 15 ips tape!
Myles B. Astor
Magico S5 Mk. 2/cj ART>cj GAT Series 2 preamp>Doshi 3.0 phono>VPI Vanquish/3D arm/Atlas SL/Ortofon A95 cartridges/SRA Ohio Class XL+2 base>Technics 1506/low ind. FM heads/balanced out/Doshi V3.0 tape stage>Kubala-Sosna Emotion/ Transparent Audio Gen. 5; Viero speaker cables

Offline jcmusic

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 345
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2010, 09:52:04 PM »
it's late and i'm tired. i had 25 people in my room tonight for an audio club meeting, and a few stayed till after 11pm.

we played about 40% RTR tape. the 2 tracks we played from 'Rock With Me Baby' stand out as the best of the best of the tapes we played. holographic, vivid, alive, compelling. i like the music. alot. but even if you only 'sorta' like the music this one will grab you.

is this the best tape yet? it might be.

when i recover from my 'event' i will listen all the way thru and expand on these comments.
Yea Mike,
Thanks for the mini review I am looking forward to getting my copy!!!

Jay
Redpoint Model D TT/Soundsmith Sotto Voce Cartridge Otari MX 5050 BII/BH Tube Repro deHavilland Model 222
 Ah Njoe Tjoeb 4000, Rogue Magnum 99, Korneff 45 SET Amp, Klipsch K-Horns Bass Bins/2" Tractrix Horns 2" BMS Drivers, Vintage Tubes.

Offline mikel

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 169
    • View Profile
    • my system page.
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2010, 12:42:59 AM »
ok; i've just played the 45rpm 2-disc Lp set (i don't think there is a DTD of this recording); and then reel A, and i've just started reel B.

in my life of listening to recorded music, TP-017 is easily the most real recording i've yet heard. there is simply no evidance of what i am hearing being a recording. no, it's not real life in terms of degrees of things. but the sense of any sort of microphone, tape recorder or 'stuff' is missing. the background is dead dead quiet.....i mean quiet. the voice, the guitars, the harmonica, everything just exists in space like they would if those things were in the room. there is simply no character to identify the music as a product of something. in that way it sounds real. if i was forced to explain in what way it does not sound completely real i'd say there is a very very slight veil compared to if Little Hatch (was still alive) and playing in my room....and maybe the energy of the music is slightly less than fully real, but not much less.

i've not lived through the recording process and lived with work parts of studio recordings so maybe this is standard stuff. but evidently when it's live to 2-track of a completely acoustic, very simple recording with (i would guess) no EQ or limiting with the best gear, modern tape formulations and it's absolutely nailed then this is what you can get.

really spooky shit. what do you do for an encore? i suppose this might be the tape to try a 1/2". i cannot imagine what that might sound like. the Lp is very good, but fogetaboutit......it cannot touch this nohow noway.

Oh, and the music is wonderful. just don't drool all over the tape or your remotes.

Little Hatch is in fine form and there is simply great tunes, tuneful playing, and an emotional content which jumps out at you.



« Last Edit: August 14, 2010, 12:50:25 AM by mikel »
Mike Lavigne

Offline ironbut

  • Global Moderator
  • leader in spreading disinformation
  • *****
  • Posts: 2503
  • rs1500>repro amp#1
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2010, 01:24:07 AM »
It sounds like you like it Mike!
You've really got me dying to hear this wonder. Thank god I've got a jazz festival to take my mind off it this weekend. But the tape is scheduled to get here on Tuesday so what do I do on Monday?
Great mini review,.. thanks Mike.
steve koto
 Sony scd 777es(R. Kern mods)> Vpi Aires>Dynavector XX-2mkll>Bent mu>CAT ultimate>CJ premeir 140>Magnepan 1.6qr(Jensen xover)Headphone Eddie Current Zana Deux>AT ad2000,HD800 ,Metric Halo ULN-2 (battery powered),
 HE Audio Jades

Offline MylesAstor

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 218
    • View Profile
    • Positive-Feedback Online
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2010, 02:50:29 PM »
Looks like you're right Mike. Could have sworn there was a D2D but searched my shelves and online and couldn't find the recording.

Oh well, I don't know what recording what I was thinking about.
Myles B. Astor
Magico S5 Mk. 2/cj ART>cj GAT Series 2 preamp>Doshi 3.0 phono>VPI Vanquish/3D arm/Atlas SL/Ortofon A95 cartridges/SRA Ohio Class XL+2 base>Technics 1506/low ind. FM heads/balanced out/Doshi V3.0 tape stage>Kubala-Sosna Emotion/ Transparent Audio Gen. 5; Viero speaker cables

Offline TomR

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 196
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2010, 12:54:26 AM »
I've got Reel B on right now - like Larry, I had never heard of Little Hatch before - but this is one helluva tape, both musically - great blues - and sonically. I don't know if this was considered by the gang as being a risky release, but sometimes risk taking brings great rewards, (a $500 tape of a relatively unknown artist? sounds risky to me)and I think this is one of those times. The music takes you back to Mississippi circa 1940, but in great sound.
Thomas Ream

Technics RS1520(not yet modified)/Nottingham Space 294 w/Koetsu Black and Simaudio LP5.3/Sony XA9000ES/ReVox A-77/Simaudio I-7/B&W 804's

Offline ironbut

  • Global Moderator
  • leader in spreading disinformation
  • *****
  • Posts: 2503
  • rs1500>repro amp#1
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2010, 09:28:40 PM »
Woo Hoo!
You guys weren't kidding! This one simply sounds real!
I've heard the lp a few times at the local vinyl haven and it sounded great there too. But with the tape, the music kinda hops right off the tape!
IMHO this is exactly what we needed in the catalog. A voice, sparse instrumentation and a room. By the end of tape 1, you should know where the door is.
And like the other guys said, the music is a real time machine.
I couldn't be happier with this release!
thanks guys
steve koto
 Sony scd 777es(R. Kern mods)> Vpi Aires>Dynavector XX-2mkll>Bent mu>CAT ultimate>CJ premeir 140>Magnepan 1.6qr(Jensen xover)Headphone Eddie Current Zana Deux>AT ad2000,HD800 ,Metric Halo ULN-2 (battery powered),
 HE Audio Jades

Offline xcortes

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 383
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2010, 10:20:49 PM »
I got my Quantum View today so I'm still a couple of weeks away. The 28 is my birthday, with some luck it will be here before I'm 40.
Xavier Cortes

Offline ironbut

  • Global Moderator
  • leader in spreading disinformation
  • *****
  • Posts: 2503
  • rs1500>repro amp#1
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2010, 10:57:06 PM »
Well, happy 40th Birthday buddy!
I'm sure that this tape will sound killer on your system!
There's something about acoustic guitar on a great hi efficiency system that's just untouchable any other way.
steve koto
 Sony scd 777es(R. Kern mods)> Vpi Aires>Dynavector XX-2mkll>Bent mu>CAT ultimate>CJ premeir 140>Magnepan 1.6qr(Jensen xover)Headphone Eddie Current Zana Deux>AT ad2000,HD800 ,Metric Halo ULN-2 (battery powered),
 HE Audio Jades

Offline c1ferrari

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 167
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2010, 12:02:35 AM »
Wow...really looking forward to this!  Hopefully, I'll have my 1/4" headstack back from JRF, soon.  What's this about 1/2"??  I'm listening to 1/2" tapes, now :-)

Vbr,
Sam
Sam Lucero
SPQCV
:-)

Offline astrotoy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 377
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2010, 01:44:00 AM »
Just finished listening to Tape A.  I agree with Mike that this is the most realistic sounding of all the non-classical recordings. The environment is much more intimate and it sounds like Mr. Hatch is there in the room with you.  I am not familiar with the genre, so I need to get some education/experience in hearing the differences between the various cuts.  Sort of like Vivaldi concerti - where it takes some education and experience to hear the differences.  Thanks to the team for a great job.  Also thanks to Chad Kassam who apparently has found these great artists and recorded them in modern sound.  I met Chad for the first and only time about 25+ years ago at the San Mateo Stereophile show - he was at that point learning all he could about analogue and vinyl. He has made a very important contribution in making modern recordings of such artists as Mr. Hatch.    Larry
Larry Toy CharterMember-BHReproTechnics1506/Akai747dbx/OtariMX5050B3-ClassicalVinylFreak-15Krecs-VPIHRXRimDrv-LyraSkala-HelikonMono-HerronVTSP3A/BHPhonoPre-PacificMicrosonics Model2 - Pyramix&MykerinosCard-OppoNE-Proceed AVP2+6/CVP2-CJ MET1-Cary 2A3SE-AvantgardeDuos-3Solos-VelodyneDD18Sub

Offline jcmusic

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 345
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2010, 10:02:10 AM »
in my life of listening to recorded music, TP-017 is easily the most real recording i've yet heard.

That some pretty big praise coming from you Mike!!! I can't wait to listen to this one based solely on your statement!!!

Jay
Redpoint Model D TT/Soundsmith Sotto Voce Cartridge Otari MX 5050 BII/BH Tube Repro deHavilland Model 222
 Ah Njoe Tjoeb 4000, Rogue Magnum 99, Korneff 45 SET Amp, Klipsch K-Horns Bass Bins/2" Tractrix Horns 2" BMS Drivers, Vintage Tubes.

Offline JoeG

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
    • View Profile
Re: first impressions of TP-017, 'Rock With Me Baby'
« Reply #14 on: September 03, 2010, 11:11:23 AM »
Is it live, or is it Little Hatch? This one is waaaay realistic!! Watching Earl roll up the coast and listening to TP tapes. What a great way to kick off Labor Day. That said - if I had any balls, my daughter and I would be on our surf boards, ridin' Earl's waves. But common sense and Little Hatch win this round.

But seriously folks, this tape is really good.
Joe Galbraith
Charter sub #61
J-corder/Bottlehead Technics 1500>King/Cello pre, Bottlehead Seduction, Walker Audio Proscenium Gold Signature TT>Bluelectric Magic Diamond or Allnic Puritas>Allnic H3000 phono/L3000 line>KR Enterprises Antares>Kharma CE 2.2
Silent Source cable, Walker Audio Velocitors