ahhh yes I really think between my hearing condition and working with this medium that I almost don't hear the hiss anymore lol thank you for watching and the kind words
i think without the high frequency noise, it may be much harder to tell the difference between the two. the tape has a bit of mid bass bias and high frequency roll off though
@@MadeOnTape it seemed like a lot of the his was actually accentuated by whatever was reamping the keys... the digital version has some nice pre amp noise that came out with some more with kind of a nice crackle in the tape... I think
One thing I love about tape is that it adds a very natural compression that you can't recreate with an actual compressor. It seems to just soften the transients in a way you can't achieve any other way. Also sssssssssssssssss!!!
Maybe it’s just the added harmonics, but tape always sounds meatier, warmer and more full. And I’m an ITB producer. What I love about recording lossless and then putting it through a tape machine, is that the tape machine becomes a flavour rather than a limitation that governs the entire recording/mixing process. Is there something to be said about recording to tape initially? Of course. It creates a completely different environment for the performer/producer and encourages bold choices during the session.
Or just use a plugin that emulates tape recorders (so many right now with amazing capabilities), and skip the hassle to send the signal to a tape recorder and back to digital.
I firmly believe that the 1900's were magical. After the year 2000, the magic didn't disappear immediately, but began waning or changing. Maybe we we're all inserted into the Matrix around 1999 (joke, or is it?) I'm glad some younger people seem to recognize that it's worth exploring the 80's, 90's, etc. It's interesting that video games and musical instruments/gear are two of the best ways to experience the past in an interactive way. I dig what you're doing, keep it up!
thank you so much! Digging into these techniques has also helped me immensely in the modern recording scenarios, and i’m grateful we live in a time with both. Especially because access to great sounding recording equipment is as inexpensive as it’s ever been 🙏🏻🙌🏻
Great recordings, I especially liked the warmth it gave the keys, and the bite on certain notes. Ensembles like this sounds great on tape. Thanks for the video!
I LOVE tape..I get on the turntables set my VCR to record,and start spinning my VINYL records. NOTHING replaces harmonics, a noise floor, and the warmth of analog machines as they warm up..No matter how much digital I use, I master to tape..I can slam tapes and get that natural compression..
Thank you for this great vid Chris! It answered the exact question I had about running separate audio stems from Logic to Tape simultaneously. I’m gonna need to get an interface that has more than two line outputs. Something like your Apollo. Tape does sound better, and definitely adds spice to a digital recording.
you’ll figure this out when you start: but you have to pull down the levels coming out of your DAW when going into your portastudio for good gain staging
Great video, tnx! I'm confused as I thought the individual examples revealed that the casette recordings has slightly more life to them, and sounded more interesting. But then on the full mix I got it wrong, and didn't think the accumulative effect was there. I can't make sense of that?
it's only a small difference ultimately! I record on cassette because I enjoy the process... I don't make too much out of the sonic aspect, even if I make videos like this
Love the vid. Surprised that cassette was brighter, but I think that the cassette recording was also a wee tad louder? Important to keep an eye on when you're doing a/b's ;) Loved the cassette noise too.
i definitely tried to match levels! oddly i noticed more peaks in the keyboard part on the cassette, so wider dynamics? thanks for listening! appreciate it 🙏🏻🙌🏻🤘🏻
I still have my Tascam Portastudio 488 that I bought in 1991. I have hundreds of cassette tapes of my music from back then and the sound is so warm. It's got a magical sound.
yeah there is differences i heard them instantaneously on my monitoring, tape is more natural, fine, and more glued overall sound (less separation from track) of course more imperfect (hiss, wow, etc), but that what make the tape sound so good!
One thing to consider is how hard you are hitting the cassette. If you want less subtle results then hit it harder and you'll definitely hear more transient softness, more harmonic distortion, etc. What's incredible is how clear the overall the quality of cassettes can be.
You can definitely hear the difference most of the times, especially on high frequencies and sharp transients the cassette is smoother in a pleasant way. on the drums, the cassette sounds so much better! on the lower frequencies I think the differences are more subtle.
Very nice! These results surprised me, even as a Portastudio guy. I feel like the real sonic beauty of double speed cassette is mostly lost to RUclips's audio compression, so your demo here is especially impressive, in that it's still scoring all these points on a very digital playing ground. If it were ever safe enough to try, it would also be interesting to compare one recorded live directly onto tape to a digital one captured simultaneously from the sends of the 424... I guess I'm mostly curious about the sonic affect of the dbx during the tracking stage. Whatever. Awesome video!!
it would be very cool to figure out how to do that down the road! Also, I never use the DBX on the portastudio, so that's an even more surprising aspect of this example. I was able to really push the levels going in but not too much ... cheers!
Oh, wow! I actually don't use dbx, either, I just assumed you did because of how little hiss you achieved... on a UDS instead of an XLii, no less! Really nice work. ...Not that you asked, but I can suggest one way to multitrack onto the tape and digital simultaneously, in case you're interested at all for down the road. ...OH! I was going to describe my usual method, but I just realized you have a 464! I thought it was a 424. I've mainly used a 414. So, you have some awesome extra features. I'm pretty sure your rear panel has outputs for each channel ("Tape Out" 1-4), which would make it very simple. Just, while recording onto tape, run a cable for each track 1-4 from the Tape Out section, into a digital multitrack recorder or interface. It should just require 2 sets of RCA cables with TS adapters on one end. Just keep in mind that each signal will already be affected by your EQ settings. ...Sorry if you already knew this, or don't care. There are other ways to do it, too, which I'd be more than happy to share- if that's not obvious enough given that you never even asked for any of this. Sorry! I get carried away🤦♂️ Anyway- awesome video, again, and best regards!
yeah these comparisons, on youtube, I can never tell, but when I record to tape, its night and day difference, whether or not that difference is good or bad but your point about youtubes audio compression is valid.
The difference is hardly noticeable in the individual tracks, but with all the instruments you can hear that the digital sounds a bit pushed down, it's hard to explain but it sound less "powerful" but it also sounded more controlled. Nice video man !
@@saren6538 agreed. For me, it's more about the workflow in analog than the sounds (great sounds are just easier, tho). But i'm happy to do the DAW thing and muck up the sound with VST
@@MadeOnTape I’d also look up plexitape vst .. which is a 1-1 clone of the legendary echoplex ep3 tape echo … my good friend had the real ep3 and we compared the plug in - it’s 98% a like Insane plug in
I’m actually making a new batch of promo cassettes with some of my interviews. Making them in real time limits how many I can make, but some folks really want them. It’s weird-some folks go to Pokémon tournaments in cars so old they have a cassette player, some don’t have a CD player in their entire home.
I got them all right but funnily enough I really liked the digital recording of the room mic. That being said, I would go for what I like, not what is "better"
I listened perfectly the typical background sound of the tape(hiss) in the keys and the bass, and in the final mix, difficult to listen but noticeable in the ambient and in the drums. Well for your kind of music is a good idea record into cassette because it brings a natural compression tot the hole mix that is very cool.
i went with my gut feeling of just what felt pleasing to me, not looking at the compressing of the peaks or frequency information.. and the cassette one won everytime! except maybe the soloed keys, the tape hiss gave it away but i was surprised it wasnt actually that "warm."
I do think the tape plugins can offer the best of both worlds in the sense that you can easily tweak how much tape effect you want to simulate while avoiding the accumulative effect of having the white noise on every track as I find it get's to be a bit too much, but that is still subjective and dependent on context.
Individually I got just the room mic wrong. That said, I basically picked all the tracks that I like the sound of the most. However, for the full mix, I far preferred the digital version. I'm guessing because the added lower freq content in the cassette tracks were masking the detail in the mids. Both sounded great. Which basically means... ... recording medium doesn't matter. Record good songs, then listen to them.
Sorry to burst your bubble but it really doesn’t lol. Analog Tape is fuzzier & noisier, it takes up more space, it loses quality each time you play it, copy it, and will only last about 30 years before degrading to s*it. Digital sounds cleaner, it takes up less space, it can be played or copied an infinite amount of times with NO quality loss, and it will last 1000+ years. You should always have tape digitized so that quality is preserved.. and when it comes to a million songs on vinyl vs a million songs on a hard drive there’s just no contest.
@@mycreations4527 "Digital sounds cleaner," I like clean and I also like it dirty. Synths and drum machines went digital years ago, but then went analogue so we have the best of both worlds. I use tape to record for special effects ad then master digitally to CD, wav, mp3 etc. Sorry to burst your bubble but variety is the spice of life. Next you'll be telling me that there is only ONE civilization and that genocidal colonizers actually benefitted their victims. That's the type of argument you present. smh
I could hear a significant difference from the hiss on the Bass and Keys tracks. Couldn't really detect it on the busier drum and room tracks. I could definitely see digging my portastudio out of the garage to get a little old school mojo on a couple tracks. I suspect that mine will have more pitch artifacts because it's been completely unmaintained, sitting in a detached garage through summers and winters, for 15 years. Excited to find out!
So it turns out the cassette sounds warmer and and just better in general especially the full mix. The only one I wasn’t a fan of was the keys on tape the hiss really was noticeable.
maybe im wrong, but i think that the "effect' of tape is more obvious when you record directly on it... when bouncing digital to tape it becomes more subtle to my (rusty), ears. i love this content, man... you rock Greetings from Chile
DEFINITELY agree here. you can push the tape to a pleasing subtle saturation more easily … … i would love to try and bring the portastudio to somewhere safer in the future 😂
The only one I got wrong was the Sax room mic one, but it was iffy due to being a room mic recording with loads of sound in the recording, no obvious lows, mids or highs that are tells for digital vs a cassette, let alone quiet bits to hear hiss! The rest all caught them, I know my audio engineering well! Ears still work great too! lol
I liked the tape mix at the end. It just had a better "feel" to it. A better vibe. Tape really does have a sort of magic to it that's hard to describe sometimes.
yo thanks for listening! i noticed the biggest difference on the keyboard part, surprisingly… the direct feed of his sound was a bit harsh, but worked with his amp. Definitely needed some extra juice
@@MadeOnTape the keyboard was actually the only one I was able to accurately guess as cassette until the final mix, which I got right away (both of which sounded much cooler in cassette form!) I think a big part of why the keyboard was more obviously affected by routing it to cassette was that it was recorded DI, and therefore had a much cleaner and purer signal than the mics initially. So when you routed it to cassette, you could really hear that analog warmth dirtying things up!
I could hear a difference. Individually the analog tracks sounded much better, but combined they seemed to be smearing each other. Perhaps the portastudio would be a good audio capturing device, then mix it digital, and I bet that would sound fantastic.
absolutely! we've done that in the studio recently on a modern production and slowed down the drums to get them fatter, but in the DAW the world is your oyster! There will be a longer piece of content in the future, but I released this Short: ruclips.net/user/shortsaXsFFoV87E0
LOL!! And here I am recording my old four track tapes to Cubase 12 Pro….. for archiving and maybe doing some track cleaning with new mixes…… love what you are doing in the video…..
The tape sounded better than I expected. At first I couldn't hear the hiss at all. I was completely tuning it out. Then I became aware of it, I think mainly because it's not consistent, seems to ramp up at times. Maybe that's Dolby noise reduction. Or maybe it's just my old ears. I prefer the digital, but the tape is perfectly listenable. My preference becomes strongest on the complete mix. The tape seems to reduce separation, muddle things up slightly. Again, might just be my old ears needing all the help they can get.
You also have to take account for the type of tape. There is/was ferro: the cheapest and slightly muffled sound of which the frequency from 1 to 3kHz was more distinct, CrO2 or chromium with a broader recorded frequency spectrum, sounding fresher, and then there's Metal, that also had significantly more dynamic range, costs more but elas also took it's toll on the tapeheads.
First example, bias is pretty prominent and the snare seems more compressed on the tape. Second, tape bias is a pretty obvious giveaway. Third, same situation but man that "warmth" makes the synth sound miles better at the same time. Fourth, bias again. Full mix, bias again. It's interesting, though. Somehow the tape bias adds a cozy feel. It reminds me of a trick I heard from somebody on Pensado's podcast, where he would add a track of pure white noise compressed to a key input of the lead vox and set the level to just barely audible. There's a degree to which we have gotten used to artifacts from equipment used during recording, and it no longer sounds like "noise" but rather as something like another instrument.
Retired wireless communications engineer here who is sick of digital audio period. It's such a sterile sound. Your tape recordings have completely revived the life of the digital sources. Also, when I did radio broadcast work back in the 80s the emphasis was on recording tracks "hot" before the mix down. Then came along a plethora of digital multitrack recorders that needed to be completely babied to avoid generating distortion in the mix.
The last test would have been a lot tougher if you had excludeded the room mic because the tape hiss was a dead give away. That aside. Across all the channels, the digital has a more "direct" sound in the sense that there is a flat frequency response whereas the casette mex has some high end cut out and bass boost across the board, and all of of it exists in a similar mix. Id be curious if you compared a digitally mixed digital recording, an analog (4 track) mixed digital recordong, a digitally mixed analog recording, and an analog mixed analog recording. Thanks for the demonstrations!
I correctly guessed the tape 80% of the time, but I can almost never hear tape hiss on RUclips videos, but can _always_ hear it in real life. I assumed it was RUclips's audio compression, but maybe I just need better headphones? Anyway, thank you for an interesting (and non-judgemental) video - for me the difference was subtle, but I found the cassette recording somewhat less crystalline, like it had almost softened the hard edges, if that makes sense. Thanks again.
i only noticed it on the keys, since they had enough quiet space to hear the noise. i listened on cheap wireless earbuds, which sure that’s far from a pristine listening experience but if it’s not noticeable there does it really contribute much. i like tape emulation and analog emulation plugins, but mostly to get much stronger distortion and coloration
maybe it would be more interesting with a really old or heat damaged tape, but with that one, i think layering in a little background hiss would get you 90% of the way there
Hey dude, that was really cooooool, I love cassettes, but I have to admit that this time - the cassette wins for me again! :) :) The final mix is very smooth and "cassetteclear" sounding to me. Solo parts are somehow - how to say - more wider opened, spatial like... compared to digital. A bit of an unexpected finding, I was afraid it would be the other way around. Piece :)
it's definitely subtle on this one! I know in person i definitely like what the cassette did to ease off any harshness and when they get loud it's got more fun distortion
Nice approach, dude! Will you be so kind to expand/enhance this experiment with a null test between the two parts of each pair? I think it'll be awesome. Thanks!
I immediately guessed the drums and bass sound because on tape the toms and bass were a little compressed sounding. The keys were interesting because the cassette added a bit more high mids
Awesome video. For me personally the tape had most positive impact and noticeable difference on drums but tbh what I found most interesting was that I preferred the digital-only version of the room mics. Maybe porta studios lend themselves to a hybrid approach because the final mix really hissed, and using less tape tracks for instruments where the differences aren’t as noticeable might have a positive effect on the final track anyway. Now I just need you to make a video on how I can fix the dead fader in my Porta02.
The magic is recording directly to tape in the studio (some studios still offer it) then recording to cassette. However, anytime tape is involved it always adds rather than subtracts. And using all analog gear (CMOS is fine) is also beneficial to the final sound. I remember when CD started to become real popular in the mid 90s and the only thing I liked about it was being able to select what song I wanted at the press of a button; but in this regard it offered very little over LP. Tape is the best, then Vinyl. (To me)
The tape sounded “better” but it was identifiable by the hiss, especially on the piano. Personally I would use a combination of them, tape for drums and bass but leave the piano and ambiance as digital. I understand you’d need to resync and there would be phase problems which is why we have saturators and tape emulators. I don’t think the difference after using them would make it worth putting up with the hiss.
Just listening back through my laptop speakers,I could tell which one was which. I got it right every time..Cassette had depth and 3d and made the drums sound better where as the digital sounded flat and no depth, cassette seemed to bring out every instrument where the digital sounded like all of the instruments were coming out of a speaker and I heard that through these dinky little laptop speakers.
FWIW I got drums, keys and room confidently right, couldn't make up my mind on bass before the answer was revealed, and couldn't make up my mind on the mix.
I loved it on the single instruments, especially keys, wasn't as excited on the whole mix due to the accumulated noise. I've been experimenting with sending some tracks to cassette, then back to digital and mixing them in to taste with the digital signal.
I just subbed. Love your channel and your energy. Cassettes can sound good if you have a good machine, good tape and good material. I love your EV 635A. I have one in my mic locker. Ever tried Shure SM57s? I love those too! I also have that same 4-track reel to reel that needs some work, but Id give it to you if youd give it a good home! Seriously! Great video, man!
You can def hear the difference, but I am not super sure it matters. The isolated keys recording was a little harsh on tape in my opinion, but both recordings delivered to me the sweet melodies of these talented dudes
I was undefeated on this one, but not bragging 'cause it was the hiss that gave it away every time 😄 tbh I'm not sure which one sounded "better"; I just knew when the cassette was in so I may or may not have preferred it based on that alone
@@MadeOnTape fostex are a lot cheaper, at least here in europe. I think they even have a 8 track cassette. Wonder how that sounds. Thanx for making cool video's, i like your music! Especialy that 505 funk party stuff
The drums was the one that makes less difference. On the others was easy because there is some tape hiss that is noticeable on quiter tracks like the bass and the keys. Nice experiment.
Absolutely love these videos! When you send the stems to tape, are we hearing the sound of the cassette being played back or the audio going through the portastudio and out to be capture on the computer again? I've always wondered if capturing the signal on the output while the cassette is recording gives me the same sound that is being printed on the tape... 🤔🤔🤔
great question! you're hearing the sound coming from tape during playback. This is definitely different than while you're recording. thanks for watching!
@@homestudioculture on a Portastudio, you're capturing the sound of the preamps and output amp, which definitely affects the sound, but it's not the sound of the tape. three-head machines like reel to reels let you hear the tape as you're recording. Tape usually gives a bass bump and/or dulls the high end. hope this helps! As always, I highly encourage you to do an A/B test yourself!
It's crazy, but the digital mix seems warmer? The noise floor of the 4 track makes it harsher to me. Might be different if you could transfer to a larger format tape like a 1/2 inch 16 track. Cool video!
Sooo many things are not considered with the tape and deck in this video. The tape sounded better primarely because it gave a little treble boost which the recording needed. And that's because the tape was underbiased...but that Tascam doesn't allow you to calibrate that. So the effect will vary with every tape. Then there's azimuth, w/f, hiss and more which is also not regarded here. But fun video just for fun. You can't make any statement about tape from this video 🙃
@@MadeOnTape I agree...they play excellent. I'm a jazzfusion musician. So not very far from my passion. But you can tell the difference between recording A and B :) .... but I'm a nerd...I also do mix/mastering on a daily basis...and work on fixing old cassette and VHS decks all the time :)
The tape added a lot of color to the bass. Per your sample, I can hear a kind of pumping of hiss. Not as noticeable on the other tracks, but still audible. A little less “attack” on the tape. Now, I’m assuming you didn’t use any NR on the cassette recording. The hiss on the bass track would have been diminished. ALSO, I’d LOVE to hear this in S T E R E O!!! Great recording btw! Now, your next experiment should be stereo digital mix vs. the same mix from 7 1/2 ips RTR. Heck, try it with 15 ips too. As an aside, I took a great album from a sadly de-noised CD edition & fed it to a 7 1/2 ips tape (no Dolby) and it gave it a much warmer sound. They shouldn’t have added NR to a perfectly good recording (I have the OG vinyl). But I digress. Great comparison. Let’s hear a full track in stereo!!!
the hiss instantly gives the recordings the feeling that you've unearthed some long forgotten demo or performance. Love the work as usual, dude.
ahhh yes I really think between my hearing condition and working with this medium that I almost don't hear the hiss anymore lol
thank you for watching and the kind words
@@MadeOnTape As long as you keep uploading, I'll keep watching! Thanks for putting out awesome content like this!
i think without the high frequency noise, it may be much harder to tell the difference between the two. the tape has a bit of mid bass bias and high frequency roll off though
Yes! Cassette gives the recording a bit of "push back"... Like it has it's own space...
@@MadeOnTape it seemed like a lot of the his was actually accentuated by whatever was reamping the keys... the digital version has some nice pre amp noise that came out with some more with kind of a nice crackle in the tape... I think
One thing I love about tape is that it adds a very natural compression that you can't recreate with an actual compressor. It seems to just soften the transients in a way you can't achieve any other way. Also sssssssssssssssss!!!
it’s so great on drums especially 🙌🏻
100% this!!
Maybe it’s just the added harmonics, but tape always sounds meatier, warmer and more full. And I’m an ITB producer.
What I love about recording lossless and then putting it through a tape machine, is that the tape machine becomes a flavour rather than a limitation that governs the entire recording/mixing process. Is there something to be said about recording to tape initially? Of course. It creates a completely different environment for the performer/producer and encourages bold choices during the session.
i love producing ITB! there's definitely a vibe on the cassette, and some people love it, some people hate it...
Or just use a plugin that emulates tape recorders (so many right now with amazing capabilities), and skip the hassle to send the signal to a tape recorder and back to digital.
I firmly believe that the 1900's were magical. After the year 2000, the magic didn't disappear immediately, but began waning or changing. Maybe we we're all inserted into the Matrix around 1999 (joke, or is it?) I'm glad some younger people seem to recognize that it's worth exploring the 80's, 90's, etc. It's interesting that video games and musical instruments/gear are two of the best ways to experience the past in an interactive way. I dig what you're doing, keep it up!
thank you so much! Digging into these techniques has also helped me immensely in the modern recording scenarios, and i’m grateful we live in a time with both. Especially because access to great sounding recording equipment is as inexpensive as it’s ever been 🙏🏻🙌🏻
The Ponzi Scam is morphing into the new Ponzi Scam, that's all.
Great recordings, I especially liked the warmth it gave the keys, and the bite on certain notes. Ensembles like this sounds great on tape. Thanks for the video!
In the end it wasn't difficult to guess the cassette, it's the sound that moves me the most.
Absolutely love this series! Listening blind is such a great way to really focus your ears and to move past prejudice. Keep em coming!
thanks for watching and listening!
the tape hiss was a dead giveaway, but you can also clearly hear the difference in the drums, especially when you had it solo'd. good stuff.
I LOVE tape..I get on the turntables set my VCR to record,and start spinning my VINYL records. NOTHING replaces harmonics, a noise floor, and the warmth of analog machines as they warm up..No matter how much digital I use, I master to tape..I can slam tapes and get that natural compression..
Thank you for this great vid Chris! It answered the exact question I had about running separate audio stems from Logic to Tape simultaneously. I’m gonna need to get an interface that has more than two line outputs. Something like your Apollo. Tape does sound better, and definitely adds spice to a digital recording.
you’ll figure this out when you start: but you have to pull down the levels coming out of your DAW when going into your portastudio for good gain staging
@@MadeOnTape Cool! Thanks again man! Keep the excellent vids coming. I appreciate ya!
Great video, tnx! I'm confused as I thought the individual examples revealed that the casette recordings has slightly more life to them, and sounded more interesting. But then on the full mix I got it wrong, and didn't think the accumulative effect was there. I can't make sense of that?
it's only a small difference ultimately! I record on cassette because I enjoy the process... I don't make too much out of the sonic aspect, even if I make videos like this
The prime directive: BOUNCE TO TAPE
The tape definitely softens the harshness of the original files, albeit while adding a bit of noise…., which I like 👍🏼
i also like da noiz
I feel like when you transfer digital to analog tape it takes the harse edge off the sound and makes it sound more natural and easier on the ear.
it definitely helps with drums and cymbals, that can't be denied!
Thats exactly right, it takes those harsh edges off., softens it.
Love the vid. Surprised that cassette was brighter, but I think that the cassette recording was also a wee tad louder? Important to keep an eye on when you're doing a/b's ;) Loved the cassette noise too.
i definitely tried to match levels! oddly i noticed more peaks in the keyboard part on the cassette, so wider dynamics? thanks for listening! appreciate it 🙏🏻🙌🏻🤘🏻
From my own experience: it does make a difference.
I always do it if I can.
I still have my Tascam Portastudio 488 that I bought in 1991. I have hundreds of cassette tapes of my music from back then and the sound is so warm. It's got a magical sound.
My plan is to record my digital beats in 2 tape and then back to digital ... Now I know its worth my time. Thanks 😊
ultimately whatever inspires your art is the RIGHT thing to do! happy recording!
yeah there is differences i heard them instantaneously on my monitoring, tape is more natural, fine, and more glued overall sound (less separation from track) of course more imperfect (hiss, wow, etc), but that what make the tape sound so good!
One thing to consider is how hard you are hitting the cassette. If you want less subtle results then hit it harder and you'll definitely hear more transient softness, more harmonic distortion, etc. What's incredible is how clear the overall the quality of cassettes can be.
You can definitely hear the difference most of the times, especially on high frequencies and sharp transients the cassette is smoother in a pleasant way. on the drums, the cassette sounds so much better! on the lower frequencies I think the differences are more subtle.
Very nice! These results surprised me, even as a Portastudio guy.
I feel like the real sonic beauty of double speed cassette is mostly lost to RUclips's audio compression, so your demo here is especially impressive, in that it's still scoring all these points on a very digital playing ground.
If it were ever safe enough to try, it would also be interesting to compare one recorded live directly onto tape to a digital one captured simultaneously from the sends of the 424... I guess I'm mostly curious about the sonic affect of the dbx during the tracking stage.
Whatever. Awesome video!!
it would be very cool to figure out how to do that down the road! Also, I never use the DBX on the portastudio, so that's an even more surprising aspect of this example. I was able to really push the levels going in but not too much ... cheers!
Oh, wow! I actually don't use dbx, either, I just assumed you did because of how little hiss you achieved... on a UDS instead of an XLii, no less! Really nice work.
...Not that you asked, but I can suggest one way to multitrack onto the tape and digital simultaneously, in case you're interested at all for down the road.
...OH! I was going to describe my usual method, but I just realized you have a 464! I thought it was a 424. I've mainly used a 414.
So, you have some awesome extra features. I'm pretty sure your rear panel has outputs for each channel ("Tape Out" 1-4), which would make it very simple.
Just, while recording onto tape, run a cable for each track 1-4 from the Tape Out section, into a digital multitrack recorder or interface. It should just require 2 sets of RCA cables with TS adapters on one end.
Just keep in mind that each signal will already be affected by your EQ settings.
...Sorry if you already knew this, or don't care. There are other ways to do it, too, which I'd be more than happy to share- if that's not obvious enough given that you never even asked for any of this. Sorry! I get carried away🤦♂️
Anyway- awesome video, again, and best regards!
yeah these comparisons, on youtube, I can never tell, but when I record to tape, its night and day difference, whether or not that difference is good or bad but your point about youtubes audio compression is valid.
@@Rompler_Roccocool idea.. as i will put the four track recording into daw later on occasion.
I was listening in the shower through iPhone speakers and damned if I couldn’t tell the difference.
The difference is hardly noticeable in the individual tracks, but with all the instruments you can hear that the digital sounds a bit pushed down, it's hard to explain but it sound less "powerful" but it also sounded more controlled.
Nice video man !
thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻🤘🏻
thats the dolby nr. where the noise gets eqed down to cut the noise, then as it goes out it gets boosted eq, usually the highs.
I think the place where tape shines is in the loud high dynamics section, when there is any place with silence the hiss just cuts straight through.
man, the sketch cassette plugin does a pretty good job of replicating that sound, i hear from your demo.
yes! that's a good one and I also love the @wavesfactory Cassette plugin!
So far my favorite “makes everything sound 🤤” (even as a soft-limiter) plugin is still Airwindows ToTape5
I stopped using real cassettes because of sketch cassette vst .. I can get identical Sounds
Tape is just an experience now for fun but not needed
@@saren6538 agreed. For me, it's more about the workflow in analog than the sounds (great sounds are just easier, tho). But i'm happy to do the DAW thing and muck up the sound with VST
@@MadeOnTape I’d also look up plexitape vst .. which is a 1-1 clone of the legendary echoplex ep3 tape echo … my good friend had the real ep3 and we compared the plug in - it’s 98% a like
Insane plug in
Dang - fun!
Id love to hear the cassett 635a panned hard right and the digital 635a panned hard left - might sound cool .
I’m actually making a new batch of promo cassettes with some of my interviews. Making them in real time limits how many I can make, but some folks really want them. It’s weird-some folks go to Pokémon tournaments in cars so old they have a cassette player, some don’t have a CD player in their entire home.
The wow and flutter was the giveaway for me every time!
Like your editing style, funny to watch (portastudio crash moment :))
I got them all right but funnily enough I really liked the digital recording of the room mic. That being said, I would go for what I like, not what is "better"
that should always be the measuring stick!
Listening on Phone Speakers it's easy to determine just listen to the transients on the high band, it basically just smoothes out.
I listened perfectly the typical background sound of the tape(hiss) in the keys and the bass, and in the final mix, difficult to listen but noticeable in the ambient and in the drums. Well for your kind of music is a good idea record into cassette because it brings a natural compression tot the hole mix that is very cool.
i went with my gut feeling of just what felt pleasing to me, not looking at the compressing of the peaks or frequency information.. and the cassette one won everytime! except maybe the soloed keys, the tape hiss gave it away but i was surprised it wasnt actually that "warm."
it’s also an aggressive keys sound… i took his signal directly where he played through an amp live.
I do think the tape plugins can offer the best of both worlds in the sense that you can easily tweak how much tape effect you want to simulate while avoiding the accumulative effect of having the white noise on every track as I find it get's to be a bit too much, but that is still subjective and dependent on context.
absolutely I use tape plugins on other productions a lot! Some even offer a "hiss blend" and you can bring it in or out to taste hahaha
I only missed one. I plan to bounce to tape for my drum plugin, but with much more peaking
Drums sounded cooler from the cassette! :)
Individually I got just the room mic wrong. That said, I basically picked all the tracks
that I like the sound of the most.
However, for the full mix, I far preferred the digital version. I'm guessing because
the added lower freq content in the cassette tracks were masking the detail in the mids.
Both sounded great.
Which basically means...
... recording medium doesn't matter. Record good songs, then listen to them.
you speak the truth 🙌
The tape sounded like it added high end/harmonic content, that surprised me. But I could tell after I heard a couple of tracks.
Tape wins over digital every time! The ability to get tape saturation not only enhances the warmth of the sound but also gives it some punch.
What are you smoking?
Compression has a sound.@@user-gq6sf4si6j
@@user-gq6sf4si6j The first example stands out here. The low end of the kick was just beefier. The digital recording lost some of that.
Sorry to burst your bubble but it really doesn’t lol.
Analog Tape is fuzzier & noisier, it takes up more space, it loses quality each time you play it, copy it, and will only last about 30 years before degrading to s*it.
Digital sounds cleaner, it takes up less space, it can be played or copied an infinite amount of times with NO quality loss, and it will last 1000+ years.
You should always have tape digitized so that quality is preserved.. and when it comes to a million songs on vinyl vs a million songs on a hard drive there’s just no contest.
@@mycreations4527 "Digital sounds cleaner," I like clean and I also like it dirty. Synths and drum machines went digital years ago, but then went analogue so we have the best of both worlds. I use tape to record for special effects ad then master digitally to CD, wav, mp3 etc. Sorry to burst your bubble but variety is the spice of life. Next you'll be telling me that there is only ONE civilization and that genocidal colonizers actually benefitted their victims. That's the type of argument you present. smh
I could hear a significant difference from the hiss on the Bass and Keys tracks. Couldn't really detect it on the busier drum and room tracks. I could definitely see digging my portastudio out of the garage to get a little old school mojo on a couple tracks. I suspect that mine will have more pitch artifacts because it's been completely unmaintained, sitting in a detached garage through summers and winters, for 15 years. Excited to find out!
Digital has more detail, but tape softens and warms. Both have good dynamics. It's tape for me.
So it turns out the cassette sounds warmer and and just better in general especially the full mix. The only one I wasn’t a fan of was the keys on tape the hiss really was noticeable.
I love the older music and just tech like this im actually planning on putting a podcast onto cassettes just because it be cool
That's crazy. Every time that the cassette played I thought it was digital. The cassette sounds better.
maybe im wrong, but i think that the "effect' of tape is more obvious when you record directly on it... when bouncing digital to tape it becomes more subtle to my (rusty), ears.
i love this content, man... you rock
Greetings from Chile
DEFINITELY agree here. you can push the tape to a pleasing subtle saturation more easily …
… i would love to try and bring the portastudio to somewhere safer in the future 😂
The only one I got wrong was the Sax room mic one, but it was iffy due to being a room mic recording with loads of sound in the recording, no obvious lows, mids or highs that are tells for digital vs a cassette, let alone quiet bits to hear hiss! The rest all caught them, I know my audio engineering well! Ears still work great too! lol
I liked the tape mix at the end. It just had a better "feel" to it. A better vibe. Tape really does have a sort of magic to it that's hard to describe sometimes.
The cassette recording seems to have a smoothness where things flow into each other more listening to it on cheap headphones
The cassette tracks were all way noisier. I’d like to hear a comparison with the tape run at double speed- the hiss can’t be what people like right?
beauty is in the ear of the beholder: i don’t mind hiss but i also don’t like it
The cassette had more vibe on everything but the room mic, which went well with the accuracy of digital. It just had more dimension.
yo thanks for listening! i noticed the biggest difference on the keyboard part, surprisingly…
the direct feed of his sound was a bit harsh, but worked with his amp. Definitely needed some extra juice
@@MadeOnTape the keyboard was actually the only one I was able to accurately guess as cassette until the final mix, which I got right away (both of which sounded much cooler in cassette form!)
I think a big part of why the keyboard was more obviously affected by routing it to cassette was that it was recorded DI, and therefore had a much cleaner and purer signal than the mics initially. So when you routed it to cassette, you could really hear that analog warmth dirtying things up!
🔥🔥🔥 appreciate you creating and posting this.
thanks for watching and listening 🙏🏻🙌🏻
Lovely distortion on cassette. Lovely!!
🙏🏻🤘🏻📼
The digital sounded fine. I preferred the tape. For my taste I would have hit the meters just a little more with the 4-track.
Good video dude 🫡
The first one was without a doubt cassette, even hearing it on a cell phone.
I could hear a difference. Individually the analog tracks sounded much better, but combined they seemed to be smearing each other. Perhaps the portastudio would be a good audio capturing device, then mix it digital, and I bet that would sound fantastic.
absolutely! we've done that in the studio recently on a modern production and slowed down the drums to get them fatter, but in the DAW the world is your oyster!
There will be a longer piece of content in the future, but I released this Short: ruclips.net/user/shortsaXsFFoV87E0
@@MadeOnTape Cool! I wanna hear it! 😊💯💯💯💯💯
@@MadeOnTape oops I just saw your link! I'll check it out! 😊💯💯💯💯
there's some really nice warmth and distortion that the tape gives. in context of the genre.-
LOL!! And here I am recording my old four track tapes to Cubase 12 Pro….. for archiving and maybe doing some track cleaning with new mixes…… love what you are doing in the video…..
hahaha well you already have the tapey goodness... good luck with your archiving/new mixes!
The tape sounded better than I expected. At first I couldn't hear the hiss at all. I was completely tuning it out. Then I became aware of it, I think mainly because it's not consistent, seems to ramp up at times. Maybe that's Dolby noise reduction. Or maybe it's just my old ears. I prefer the digital, but the tape is perfectly listenable. My preference becomes strongest on the complete mix. The tape seems to reduce separation, muddle things up slightly. Again, might just be my old ears needing all the help they can get.
You also have to take account for the type of tape.
There is/was ferro: the cheapest and slightly muffled sound of which the frequency from 1 to 3kHz was more distinct,
CrO2 or chromium with a broader recorded frequency spectrum, sounding fresher, and then there's
Metal, that also had significantly more dynamic range, costs more but elas also took it's toll on the tapeheads.
First example, bias is pretty prominent and the snare seems more compressed on the tape.
Second, tape bias is a pretty obvious giveaway.
Third, same situation but man that "warmth" makes the synth sound miles better at the same time.
Fourth, bias again.
Full mix, bias again.
It's interesting, though. Somehow the tape bias adds a cozy feel. It reminds me of a trick I heard from somebody on Pensado's podcast, where he would add a track of pure white noise compressed to a key input of the lead vox and set the level to just barely audible. There's a degree to which we have gotten used to artifacts from equipment used during recording, and it no longer sounds like "noise" but rather as something like another instrument.
Retired wireless communications engineer here who is sick of digital audio period. It's such a sterile sound. Your tape recordings have completely revived the life of the digital sources. Also, when I did radio broadcast work back in the 80s the emphasis was on recording tracks "hot" before the mix down. Then came along a plethora of digital multitrack recorders that needed to be completely babied to avoid generating distortion in the mix.
Definitely makes a difference
The last test would have been a lot tougher if you had excludeded the room mic because the tape hiss was a dead give away. That aside. Across all the channels, the digital has a more "direct" sound in the sense that there is a flat frequency response whereas the casette mex has some high end cut out and bass boost across the board, and all of of it exists in a similar mix. Id be curious if you compared a digitally mixed digital recording, an analog (4 track) mixed digital recordong, a digitally mixed analog recording, and an analog mixed analog recording. Thanks for the demonstrations!
I correctly guessed the tape 80% of the time, but I can almost never hear tape hiss on RUclips videos, but can _always_ hear it in real life. I assumed it was RUclips's audio compression, but maybe I just need better headphones? Anyway, thank you for an interesting (and non-judgemental) video - for me the difference was subtle, but I found the cassette recording somewhat less crystalline, like it had almost softened the hard edges, if that makes sense.
Thanks again.
i only noticed it on the keys, since they had enough quiet space to hear the noise. i listened on cheap wireless earbuds, which sure that’s far from a pristine listening experience but if it’s not noticeable there does it really contribute much. i like tape emulation and analog emulation plugins, but mostly to get much stronger distortion and coloration
maybe it would be more interesting with a really old or heat damaged tape, but with that one, i think layering in a little background hiss would get you 90% of the way there
Hey dude, that was really cooooool, I love cassettes, but I have to admit that this time - the cassette wins for me again! :) :) The final mix is very smooth and "cassetteclear" sounding to me. Solo parts are somehow - how to say - more wider opened, spatial like... compared to digital. A bit of an unexpected finding, I was afraid it would be the other way around. Piece :)
it's definitely subtle on this one! I know in person i definitely like what the cassette did to ease off any harshness and when they get loud it's got more fun distortion
Nice approach, dude! Will you be so kind to expand/enhance this experiment with a null test between the two parts of each pair? I think it'll be awesome. Thanks!
I immediately guessed the drums and bass sound because on tape the toms and bass were a little compressed sounding. The keys were interesting because the cassette added a bit more high mids
Awesome video. For me personally the tape had most positive impact and noticeable difference on drums but tbh what I found most interesting was that I preferred the digital-only version of the room mics. Maybe porta studios lend themselves to a hybrid approach because the final mix really hissed, and using less tape tracks for instruments where the differences aren’t as noticeable might have a positive effect on the final track anyway. Now I just need you to make a video on how I can fix the dead fader in my Porta02.
have you checked out Tetrakan's channel?
www.youtube.com/@Tetrakan
i hear no difference. but when taking wild guess which one i like more i have chosen digital all the time.
On the third track, I could hear the tape hiss, but not on the others.
The magic is recording directly to tape in the studio (some studios still offer it) then recording to cassette.
However, anytime tape is involved it always adds rather than subtracts. And using all analog gear (CMOS is fine) is also beneficial to the final sound.
I remember when CD started to become real popular in the mid 90s and the only thing I liked about it was being able to select what song I wanted at the press of a button; but in this regard it offered very little over LP.
Tape is the best, then Vinyl. (To me)
The tape sounded “better” but it was identifiable by the hiss, especially on the piano. Personally I would use a combination of them, tape for drums and bass but leave the piano and ambiance as digital. I understand you’d need to resync and there would be phase problems which is why we have saturators and tape emulators. I don’t think the difference after using them would make it worth putting up with the hiss.
Just listening back through my laptop speakers,I could tell which one was which. I got it right every time..Cassette had depth and 3d and made the drums sound better where as the digital sounded flat and no depth, cassette seemed to bring out every instrument where the digital sounded like all of the instruments were coming out of a speaker and I heard that through these dinky little laptop speakers.
side question - do you think there's a difference between recording directly to tape versus sending a digitally recorded signal to tape?
that’s an interesting question: i think there are so many variables that i wouldn’t put one above the other
FWIW I got drums, keys and room confidently right, couldn't make up my mind on bass before the answer was revealed, and couldn't make up my mind on the mix.
I loved it on the single instruments, especially keys, wasn't as excited on the whole mix due to the accumulated noise. I've been experimenting with sending some tracks to cassette, then back to digital and mixing them in to taste with the digital signal.
I just subbed. Love your channel and your energy. Cassettes can sound good if you have a good machine, good tape and good material.
I love your EV 635A. I have one in my mic locker. Ever tried Shure SM57s? I love those too!
I also have that same 4-track reel to reel that needs some work, but Id give it to you if youd give it a good home! Seriously!
Great video, man!
Yay! I got all of them right! But to be fair I have shoeboxes full of Tascam 4-track recordings lol
The tape sounded more airy and transparent compared to the digital recording in most cases.👍😉
You can't call analog artifacts as "transparent".
Really cool vibe of the cassette, i love it😊😊😊
You can def hear the difference, but I am not super sure it matters. The isolated keys recording was a little harsh on tape in my opinion, but both recordings delivered to me the sweet melodies of these talented dudes
they’re the best: every sunday 🙌🏻
I actually didn't hear any tape hiss for some reason. sounds like you definitely boosted the highs a little on the tape, yeah? sounds good!
i didn’t boost the highs! This Maxell UDS sounds incredible on this machine
I was undefeated on this one, but not bragging 'cause it was the hiss that gave it away every time 😄 tbh I'm not sure which one sounded "better"; I just knew when the cassette was in so I may or may not have preferred it based on that alone
I like the cut of your jib. I give you a sub.
part of the sound is also the pre amps on your portasound, personaly i prefer fostex, its more dirty imho
i've never used a Fostex but would love to get my hands on one someday! thanks for listening!
@@MadeOnTape fostex are a lot cheaper, at least here in europe. I think they even have a 8 track cassette. Wonder how that sounds. Thanx for making cool video's, i like your music! Especialy that 505 funk party stuff
The drums was the one that makes less difference. On the others was easy because there is some tape hiss that is noticeable on quiter tracks like the bass and the keys. Nice experiment.
fantastic! Excellent video, my friend. Love this type of content
thank you for checking it out!
Absolutely love these videos! When you send the stems to tape, are we hearing the sound of the cassette being played back or the audio going through the portastudio and out to be capture on the computer again? I've always wondered if capturing the signal on the output while the cassette is recording gives me the same sound that is being printed on the tape... 🤔🤔🤔
great question! you're hearing the sound coming from tape during playback. This is definitely different than while you're recording. thanks for watching!
@@MadeOnTape thanks for your reply, do you think capturing the sound on the output while the tape is recording affects it in a way?
@@homestudioculture on a Portastudio, you're capturing the sound of the preamps and output amp, which definitely affects the sound, but it's not the sound of the tape.
three-head machines like reel to reels let you hear the tape as you're recording. Tape usually gives a bass bump and/or dulls the high end.
hope this helps! As always, I highly encourage you to do an A/B test yourself!
@@MadeOnTape Alright thanks!
For sure, and Rock on!
*THE BAND WAS COOL, THE SOUND WAS SO VIBY ON THE TAPE!*
can we see a video on that tape deck under the uher machine?
It's crazy, but the digital mix seems warmer? The noise floor of the 4 track makes it harsher to me. Might be different if you could transfer to a larger format tape like a 1/2 inch 16 track. Cool video!
Sooo many things are not considered with the tape and deck in this video. The tape sounded better primarely because it gave a little treble boost which the recording needed. And that's because the tape was underbiased...but that Tascam doesn't allow you to calibrate that. So the effect will vary with every tape. Then there's azimuth, w/f, hiss and more which is also not regarded here. But fun video just for fun. You can't make any statement about tape from this video 🙃
totally agree! excellent points and we’re just having a bit of fun. I always hope that’s clear but you never know
*THE TAPE WAS RIGHT ON THE MONEY!*
You can definitely hear a more open sound with a bit more definition on the instrument ! Nice
yo thanks for listening!
Wait a moment, I have to record your video to a cassette to judge it. 😀
😂 please do 🙏🏻
On the keys you can hear the bad w/f on that tape recorder...so very obvious 🙃
that’s actually his recorded sound effect mostly. he likes the slow vibrato sound
@@MadeOnTape I agree...they play excellent. I'm a jazzfusion musician. So not very far from my passion. But you can tell the difference between recording A and B :) .... but I'm a nerd...I also do mix/mastering on a daily basis...and work on fixing old cassette and VHS decks all the time :)
The tape added a lot of color to the bass. Per your sample, I can hear a kind of pumping of hiss. Not as noticeable on the other tracks, but still audible. A little less “attack” on the tape. Now, I’m assuming you didn’t use any NR on the cassette recording. The hiss on the bass track would have been diminished. ALSO, I’d LOVE to hear this in S T E R E O!!! Great recording btw! Now, your next experiment should be stereo digital mix vs. the same mix from 7 1/2 ips RTR. Heck, try it with 15 ips too. As an aside, I took a great album from a sadly de-noised CD edition & fed it to a 7 1/2 ips tape (no Dolby) and it gave it a much warmer sound. They shouldn’t have added NR to a perfectly good recording (I have the OG vinyl). But I digress. Great comparison. Let’s hear a full track in stereo!!!