Quote:
Originally Posted by IIIrd  15 ips seems to be more linear. i find the low end at 30 ips goes a bit aray (spelling?). though as you rigthly say , the hiss has a smoother quality.
hence the dolby SR i use at 15ips.
i'm totally with you on 1/2" though.  |
With a Flux Magnetics Repro Head, the low end of my 1/2" goes down to the center of the earth at 30 IPS so 30 is not a compromise with the right head. And NNR is the way to go with 1/2" for most projects.
But for 1/4" I agree about the SR choice. I have always been a fan of Dolby SR, it's sweet, liquid, euphonic... And in fact I was the first engineer in New York City to own a pair of SR modules. Some people are fans of Dolby A as well, but again, this is very dependent on the music being recorded, if it's music that likes saturation, for example, as Dolby A does not protect from saturation the way SR does. As a recording engineer, I used SR/15 IPS/1/4" to record purist projects in the days before great converters and even after, as a backup. I never preferred Dolby A for my purist projects and I could not tolerate 1/4" NNR as a medium, too hissy for me as I never pushed the tape to rock and roll hardness.
Then as I moved away from recording, and expanded my mastering to a wide range of other people's projects, I began to appreciate the virtues of why they chose 1/4" NNR and/or Dolby A for their rock projects, because it does rock. 1/4" 456 is part of the sound of so many classic rock albums. But I go on record as saying that for myself, for my own purist projects, 1/4" NNR was too noisy.