ATR High Output Master Tape 1'' x 10.5'' Metal Reel Precision Flanges. Very Low noise and musical transparency.
User Reviews:
Legendary producer engineer Ron St. Germain on
ATR Magnetics Master Tape
“I just mixed my first album on the ATR 1” Master Tape and am absolutely thrilled as are my clients who have never
experienced anything in audio that has them totally committed now (and
as long as tape exits) to mixing to analog 1” for the rest of their
career! The way this tape is so smooth and even throughout the entire
frequency range is spectacular. I mixed this rock album at 15ips @
+3db/185nwbm and at the manufacturer's recommended 2.5db on the bias.
This yielded an incredibly fast transient response, a clear and fully
rounded bottom, pain free mid range with a sheen on top that sounded
hand polished! It made the Pro Fools multitrack master actually pleasant
to listen to at all levels.
The big speakers in the room I was mixing were
the venerable URIE 813's with the yellow, green and red glowing light
fuses that glow more brightly as you approach welding volume and I am
happy to report that I was able to light up all three consistently, not
the usual one at a time! (Note: these speakers were only turned on at
the conclusion of the album so the band could “feel it like a live
show”! I do not mix or play back at masturbation level).
There was no abnormal tape shedding evident on
the transport to speak of with this ATR Tape. Although the tape can take
levels of +9, I choose the relatively conservative level of +3db/185 in
order to allow its superb head room to absorb the +14 (and up)
transient peaks that VU meters are incapable of registering and to enjoy
zero ‘print through'. This is especially important for extended storage
of the masters. With the 1” format there is so much signal to
noise that noise doesn't stand a chance anyway. By not running at super
high levels you do not run the risk of overloading the electronics, a
sound that a lot of engineers mistakenly interpret as “tape
compression”. Since I by pass the electronics with a special
modification and record directly to the head stack, the input to the
machine is almost 6db hotter anyway. (This is immediately evident during
the alignment phase when you select the ‘direct' input as opposed to
‘normal input' on my machine). When used properly in this manner I find
that tape in general, and ATR Tape specifically, really shines as the
original “soft compressor”.
As I listen back I get the sense of hearing the
equivalent of the difference between seeing a film shot on 70mm IMAX
film (1”) as compared to 35mm film (1/2”) as compared to 16mm film
(1/4”) as compared to 8mm video tape (16/44.1 digital). I did not have
the luxury on this project or budget to experiment with various speeds
and bias settings at 30ips; however, I am anxiously looking forward to
that in my next project coming up at the end of the January.
Stay tuned for more updates on those results.
If you are a tape head like me, to hear ATR tape is to love it. If you
are not, then this 360 degree ATR experience [ATR tape recorder with ATR
tape] should certainly convert you!
Blue Skies! Ron Saint Germain
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