1/2" vs. 1/4" tape..............

[Red Grant]

Would there be a significant difference in sound quality if recorded from cd?

given everything else equal?



I know most master tapes are in 1/2", but some very knowledgeable people told me there would be no difference if recorded from cd, only in live recording.

But then those very same people told me the sonic quality from mix tape would be no better than cd.

[ironbut]

Hi Red,

I think that they're right this time (for the most part). There really isn't enough info on a 16/44 cd to warrant the use of such a large format. 1/2" will get pretty expensive if you want to copy very many cds to it too. I think that 15 ips/1/4" would probably be overkill too but by how much depends on the player/dac you're using. You'd probably be best to import your cd's to a hard drive first since that does improve the sound somewhat.

[mep]

Red-I agree with Steve.  Using 1/2" tape to record CDs would be like buying a fur coat for your pig.  I didn't use the lipstick analogy, because lipstick is way cheaper than 1/2" tape.  Even if I was going to waste tape and record CDs (which I'm not),  I wouldn't record any faster than 7 1/2" just so I didn't feel so guilty by wasting tape on CDs.

[Red Grant]

Thanks for your replies.

I guess then I'll settle for older (and cheaper low speed R2R) for recording my CDs.

The reason for CD is that many of my favorite music is only availabe in CD, so I really have no choice in the matter.