They're just talking about analog tape machines - There's at least one in about every studio out there.

2", 24-track.

Yeah 2" tape is standard pro quality sound for analog. Ran at 30ips (inches per second) you get about 16 minutes of recording time per tape. I believe tape is around $130 each. Not cheap, pain in the ass to maintain the machines, but I own a tape machine and I think is worth everything. When you "hit" tape really hard you get tape compression which is the only way you can achieve that sound. Tape is perfect for drums and bass. I personally track all musical instruments on tape and then dump everything to DAW and do vocals and extras on the DAW. Best of both worlds. Also, tape adds a warmth and presence that comes naturally to it. When you record digital, what you record is sounds exactly to what you recorded. Which can sometimes sound transparent and you may need to add certain things like compression and eqing to get a better sound. With analog, it almost atomatically does it for you. Then again, every session and every band is different. It all comes down to what you like.

Thank guys, Now I see. Can anyone answer these questions ?

-How much do they cost?
-mention some brands ?

Ok, I did my research and found a few brands like Otari, Fostex and Sony!! Now, new questions, they come in variouse size tape reels. Most of them are 1/4" tapes, then we have 1" and 2" tape machines. Is their a difference in sound quality or are they bigger to accomodate more tracks ??

OMG!! These things are HUGE!! The 16 track 2" tape machines weigh around 600 pounds!! Im screwed, they wont ship those to Puerto Rico, only by ship! Its gonna cost the same as a car to ship.

Not to mention they're expensive to maintain, and a half hour's worth of tape costs $180. :shock: They do sound great, though.

Can you rerecord on tape??

Yes, but you should degauss it first to eliminate any artifacts from the previous recording, and tape does slowly wear out with repeated playing.

Man, before you go out and just buy a tape machine you need to know what you are getting yourself into. They are expensive to buy, maintain, the tape costs upwards of $150 (I pay $165 for GP9 or 996) for just 30 minutes of play at the most, you really need to know how to calibrate the machine too. I am not trying to dissuade you from getting one, tape is great, but you need to get all the info before you jump off a cliff.

jdlee23 wrote: Man, before you go out and just buy a tape machine you need to know what you are getting yourself into. They are expensive to buy, maintain, the tape costs upwards of $150 (I pay $165 for GP9 or 996) for just 30 minutes of play at the most, you really need to know how to calibrate the machine too. I am not trying to dissuade you from getting one, tape is great, but you need to get all the info before you jump off a cliff.

Thanks jdlee23 Im doing just that, Im getting informed with everybody. Ive notices those things are very hard to get, and weigh a ton, so most surely they'll be out of my reach until I do very deep research! Thanks alot again!!!

JP