A few weeks ago I picked up this very cool reel-to-reel tape, American Caravan: A Columbia Musical Treasury. You can see in the photo to the right that is was “Recorded in Dynamic Dimension Sound”, whatever that means. My best guess is that it is Columbia’s term for some sort of dynamic range balancing, possibly even managing the range while recording or mixing.
The usual online sources are pretty much blank on that.
This tape is copyrighted 1967 and has a selection of 125 instrumental cuts. No credit is given for the artists. The selections are about what you would expect for “easy listening” or “elevator music” in that era. The tunes are light on drums with the carried by rhythm guitar. That is also typical of the time, and especially during the Big Band era.
The tape itself is in good condition, although I followed my usual practice and added a about two feet of leader tape to each end. These older tapes can be very fragile if they have not been cared for properly, and moderately delicate even if they have been. The thinner tapes can be a serious problem as they are very fond of snapping when you thread them into the machine. Some of the tape publishers seemed to really like cheap thin tape, but I suspect that is no surprise. Leader tape helps to mitigate problems.
The first play of the tape was on the Sony TC-355 reel-to-reel deck. The Sony machine is a sure-fire player that is easy on the delicate old tapes. My highly finicky TEAC A-4010S is probably a better (depending on your definition of “better”) unit, but even though it has been fully adjusted to spec it can be a tape snapper. That is why I prefer to avoid playing tapes for the first time on the TEAC.
The Sony TC-355 is connected to a vintage Pioneer SX-450 and the sound comes out through a pair of Advent Graduates. Why go digital when you can have analog all the way, right? The tape is from 1967, and I recall the Sony is from about the same time period. The Pioneer is newer, mid-to-late 1970s, as I recall, and the Advents came out in 1978. Ah, yes, an old tape on vintage gear. Does it get better than that?
Well, I know that some people would say that it really does get better, and I have to admit that playing a CD through a new-ish Sony receiver (or even my ancient Onkyo) is something to behold. Try playing a Julie London CD to a system connected to Tannoy speakers as see if you don’t look around the room to check if she is there in person. But, beyond the sound issues there is a certain amount of fun, I guess you might say, with fiddling with old tapes as you thread them through the machine. And did I mention watching the dual reels turn on the deck with all the lights lit up for the meters and such? Ha, try that with your Spotify!