Don't get me wrong. I think that digital content has its place. But I'm now getting back into analog for a number of reasons.
First, the proliferation of it. Go to any thrift shop and pick up tons of vinyl or cassettes. Lots of stuff I've never heard of (and I like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable about the 50s/60s and the 80s).
Second, the cost. Next to nothing (and sometimes nothing, particularly cassettes).
Third, the sound. I find it warmer than digital, particularly vinyl. But even with cassettes, get a good tape deck (such as a Nakamichi) combined with a solid amp and speakers, and it will sound better than CD, in my opinion).
Fourth, easy to use. Have you ever attempted to organize and then play a large amount of digital music, particularly when the ID's are suspect? I recognize that analog is inherently linear and that the promise of digital is vast, but the reality is somewhat different. I recently attempted to listen to an audiobook on a digital player while running, and gave up after a few days. The battery ran out, and the player didn't automatically restart where it left off. When I transferred the files to the player, it played them back out of order, even though they were named and ID'ed correctly. I've gone back to taking my old Sony weatherproof walkman and it works like a charm with far less hassle.
I'll keep digitally streaming, of course. That's the only way that a Part 15 station can potentially reach a larger number of listeners. Storage space is an issue with analog (particularly if you have limited amounts of it) so I'll keep backups of everything digitally.
But for my own personal use and enjoyment, with my favorite albums - it's going to be analog all the way in the future.
I want to be on the analog bandwagon too.
The world HAPPENS in analog. Our senses ARE analog.
Analog is where REALITY happens.
No wonder analog sound "sounds" better.
Would there be any way of transmitting analog signals over the internet without using a digital transform?
At my son's college, which is a music
school - a lot of students have turntables
and record collections. Not just for the
sound experience, but for the album cover art.
We are moving. I sold 2 mono record players.
A bunch of local people bought one of them.
They went nuts. They said they were going
to have a record party by the pool that night.
(This was obviously a while back.)
My one good turntable is at my brother's
house. But I use and love my AKAI
GX-4000D reel to reel tape deck. You can
still get reel to reel tape from a factory in
Europe through a local company here in the
USA. Like using vacuum tube equipment,
such as my old tube radios (especially the
tube ham transmitters) running the AKAI
reel to reel takes me immediately back
30 years, just by threading the tape and
getting the thing going. It feels good!
There is a lot of stuff that I can't do,
but I can do that!
But that's not all. My daughter is a
photographer - she is 18 years old and
has a growing collection of antique cameras!
She and her friends are very interested in
real film, and are doing darkroom work for
the fun ot it. It's art, for God's sake!
She and I were trying to get a Polaroid
Swinger (remember the commercial, it's
on YouTube and is hillarious) working just
two weeks ago. Bummer - it didn't work -
the 50 years old film was - well - you know -
really messed up. But there are a zillion old
cameras out there. And they all have her
name on them! (oh man - where will she
put them all?)
I have seen it on TV - mentioned in shows
a couple of times. Phonograph records are
"The New Cool." New turntables are being
made and there are indie record companies.
I know - my son went to New York City
and bought some brand new LPs from there!
My brother and my son think that there will
always be a small nitch market for phonograph
records and turntables. As for cassettes -
all of my cassette tape machines are broken.
I do plan to get a new one at some point.
It's fun. I saw cassettes mentioned on TV too.
Some dudes in England started something
like (?) World Analog Day (?) a couple of months
back. It will probably grow as the years go
by.
And as for vacuum tubes... my TS-520S han rig
power supply blew up a few years ago. Some
guy gave me a much newer solid state ham
transciever. A beautiful radio with a great
receiver. I gave it away. It didn't interest me.
My main ham transmitter is a 4 watt 6AQ5
80 meter transmitter with a Heathkit GR-81
3 tube regen receiver. I have had many
contacts with it - although most of them
have been prearranged on the phone!
Bruce, DOGRADIO
Say, can I get a link for the tape manufacturer? I've priced tape online and most go for around $25 for 7" and $55 for 10.5" reels.
Used to find it locally at the music and electronics stores but that's been 20 years ago.
This is still expensive, and I'm only do it
for fun. There is a mail order place called
Full Compass - and they get the tape from
Europe.
I'll recheck on that.
I can tell you that my brother bought a
couple of 1800 foot 7 1/2 inch reels. But
when we recorded and played them back -
It seems that they were only 1200 feet long.
We didn't do anything about it.
I'll take another look.
Bruce, DOGRADIO
RMGI North America (whatever they are)
is hooked into the manufacturer. The prices
are about what you mentioned. Maybe you
have seen them before.
Again, this comes from a place called Full Compass.
You can Google it - it's there. They even have empty
metal 10 1/2 inch reels. (I have been trying to find
empty metal 7 inch reels for fun. So far no luck.)
This has been very enjoyable. But since you make
a living at it, I don't think it would be cost effective.(?)
Still, I love running that AKAI GX4000D. And there are
tons of those on E-Bay. I thnk AKAI made of lot of them.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, DOGRADIO
I didn't mention that I've also been picking up 78's when I can, mostly from the 40's and 50's, some from the 30's (although the latter tend to be very beaten up and very noisy) - I now have a (very heavy) shelf full (several hundred). I throw them on my Califone 1450C record player and the sounds of Glenn Miller, Fats Waller, early Frank Sinatra and other greats really sets the mood.
It does set the mood. At the University Of Hartford,
one of my friends has a wind up Victrola (?) in
her office. It is huge. It looks like a floor model
tombstone radio from the 1930s. Every time you
play a record, you have to change the needle.
And it is LOUD. I don't know how they did it.
The sound fills the room. (A quiet room, anyway.)
I'll have to go back there and see how loud it
really is.
My Part 15 station was supposed to be a
vintage set-up, with vintage recordings
and such. That 1962 Gates Board is still
sitting in the cellar unfinished. Well,
you never know.
I'm really gald for you!
Bruce, DOGRADIO
Thanks for the lead. I've bought from Full Compass before but didn't think to check with them.
Back in the early days I monopolized the family's VM714 tape recorder. This is a mono vacuum tube unit which I still have and it almost works since the rubber parts have turned to clay.
When I could afford it I would buy Scotch brand audio tape but usually I had to resort to an unbranded type which was rumored to be sliced to 1/4 inch from surplus or out of spec computer tape. At the time this sold for about $1.25 for a 1200 foot reel when the Scotch was about double this. There was a slight difference in the sound quality with the gray unlabeled tape being a bit harsh in comparison but perfectly usable.
The major difference between the two types is that the Scotch, after 50 years, is flaking the oxide from the mylar or acetate while the mystery tape is perfectly OK. Nonetheless, I went through about 40 reels and digitized what was worth saving. A lot of the content was nothing special but there were a few keepers which I had recorded live in HS and college.
When I upgraded to a good reel to reel in the '70s I bought TDK and Memorex brands and they are still in good mechanical shape.
One thing which is easier to do than to describe is to "clean" the tape before first use by mounting the reels and using a cloth held against the tape as it is run in fast forward through the machine. This partly removes any loose oxide remaining from the cutting process. Even the expensive brand tapes back then had loose oxide when fresh out of the box.
Neil
Tapes sith certain formulas whistle when
you play them back. The tape physically
whistles as it goes past the guide posts
and heads of the tape machine. This modulates
the audio of the playback. I'm sure you guys
are familiar with this, too.
About a month ago, my brother (who is a
local radio history guru) and I were playing
back a radio advertisement made in the
studio of a now gone radio station.
It was the actual physical reel of tape
from (we think) the year 1952. (Yup, so that
tape is 51 years old, just like tapes you
have dealt with, Neil.)
It was whistling quite a bit. I pulled
(how to I describe this?) a loop out
from the left and let the tape go around
a ball point pen that I held out on the
left side of the tape machine. I had to
hold it just right so it wouldn't whistle.
We got the audio off that we needed.
(Some really lame - by today's standards -
radio commercial takes for a local furniture
store in Hartford. We did this in the production
studio at WWUH 91.3, U of Hartford for my brother's
gigantic bunch of audio for a continuous documentary
of old stations. Some REALLY old.)
I've heard you can bake tape in the oven
at the LO setting (125 degrees) and get
temporary relief from this problem. The
compound becomes stable for a short
time and you can recover the audio.
You guys must know this too.
I've never tried it.
As for organization for reel tapes -
it's funny - I have tapes of AM and FM broadcast
band DX. There is a rare FM DX catch on the
second side of a reel I have here. The whole rest
of the tape is blank. (First and second sides.)
The DX was some impossible tropo - a 90.3 beyond
a nearer 90.3 beyond the nearest 90.3 MHz station
(about 90 miles away.) An absolutely noiseless
signoff from a station that is practically impossible
to get here. One of those "once in every 10 year"
kind of things. This was back when the FM band
was fairly empty. Anyway - I guess I'll find that
recording SOME day. I hope. Because I sure don't
know where it is. I wish I knew.
Bruce, DOGRADIO