Why do knowledgeable professionals insist on an ATAE precision reproducer?

1. To reveal how good an analog master recording actually sounds

A master tape might have astonishing sound quality, but playback on even the finest vintage studio recorder can mask the recording’s true fidelity. Important tapes deserve the highest quality playback available only from an optimized platform (known as a reproducer).

2. To prevent damage to irreplaceable tapes

Most professional recorder-reproducers from the analog era incorporated tape transport designs now known to be tape-damaging, but any three-head recorder-reproducer used for playback will subject a tape to high tensions, frictional stresses and oxide layer abrasion just from being pulled through the headblock. Because many tapes have undergone chemical degradation with age, often making them fragile, informed conservation practice dictates that only a carefully engineered modern platform be used for the playback of high-value master tapes.

Not many have access to priceless analog master tapes. We build playback machines for those who do.

Interested in the science behind our state-of-the-art, Studer A80 and A820 based magnetic tape reproducers? Ask for our list of technical briefs. We’re in California, USA

Learn about the effort to preserve heritage master tapes at: recordedmusicpreservation.org