Tape Media - Comments / Reviews by DexterMiller

Tape Media - Comments / Reviews by DexterMiller

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
DexterMiller 20th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Beatles - Beatles VI (1970)	Review Single-reel reissue of the earlier Capitol "two-fer" budget copy; dubbed with much better sound quality this time (at 7 1/2IPS as well as on longer lasting polyester-base tape) and commercially available during 1970-1971. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
DexterMiller 18th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Connie Francis And Hank Williams, Jr. - Sing Great Country Favorites (1964)	Purple label reel was the first issue (1963?); black label, 1965 reissue; white label with "abstract" lion, 1967/'68 reissue. "C" suffix was an Ampex pricing code for a first-run catalog title tape retailing for $7.95 (there were other codes as well; each for: various prices of reels costing between $5.95 -for budget, 3 3/4IPS "Popular"- to...three-reel complete operas costing $21.95, during the '60s).
DexterMiller 17th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Beatles - Revolver (1969)	The ONLY 7 1/2IPS REEL-RELEASE IN THE WORLD CONTAINING THE U.K. TRACKLISTING IN STEREO. AMAZING!
DexterMiller 16th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Beatles - The Beatles Second Album (1969)	Review Arguably(?), even by underground b.l. consensus, THE BEST commercially-released sound quality of this infamously bad recording ever available...even better than the 2004 remaster in the Capitol Albums cd rainbow box (because: the source tape when the reel was duplicated would've been 35 years NEWER). The bass was not filtered out on the tape like it had to be for vinyl copies. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
DexterMiller 16th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Cream - Best Of Cream (1969)	The stereo single version of WHITE ROOM is used on this compilation.
DexterMiller 16th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Roland Shaw Orchestra - More Themes From The James Bond Thrillers (1966)	Review I've never heard "Vol. 1" of this, but: the interpretations here are not awful, nor lounge kitsch at all. They're faithful-enough to the source material so much...they're pleasant in their own right for their unabashed grandiosity. As close to being another London "Phase 4" album of the period as one could get (most of the technical credits are probably the same). 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
DexterMiller 15th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Traffic - Traffic (1968)	A tape duplicator such as MAGTEC (formerly: "Greentree/Bell & Howell" and, later "Stereotape") would just invert the playing sides if one was longer than the other(!). So, here: the album counterpart's "side 2" plays as "side 1".
DexterMiller 15th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Animals - Animalization (1966)	There's nearly a three-minute blank space at the beginning of side 1 due to side 2 having a longer running time. Auto-reverse decks still were not widely common yet in the mid-'60s; so, this was before tape duplicators would (later) start repositioning tracks as-to try to achieve parity between the lengths of each side.
DexterMiller 15th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy And The Poor Boys (1969)	Review Not bad for a 3 3/4-speed reel at all! The tape communicates the narrowly-mixed, "Rockabilly"/bar-band-sound with so much more naturalness and "clean" distortion than the vinyl counterpart. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
DexterMiller 13th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Three Dog Night - Around The World With Three Dog Night (1973)	Review GRT, like Columbia House, were usually budget tape manufacturers with poor audio quality product...BUT: GRT REALLY WENT ALL-OUT WITH AMAZING SONICS ON THIS ONE! I'm guessing(?), maybe(?): they'd outsourced reel to reel duplication to MAGTEC at this time (the dark grey oxide Scotch 203 is the same stock as the MAGTEC-duped reels of this late era of the format). There's no way GRT ever made anything on their own this good! I am a tremendous fan of Three Dog Night and think THEY SHOULD be in the R'nR HOF! Again, if people ever heard these performances on this format: it would totally blow-away the 8-track cartridges and crummy Dunhill vinyl they were probably introduced to this recording with. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
DexterMiller 11th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Three Dog Night - Harmony (1971)	This is a reissue from '72 or '73. The initial reel release was a 7 1/2ips copy made by Ampex.
DexterMiller 11th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass - The Brass Are Comin' (1969)	This dubbing is true stereo and not processed with the fishbowl-sounding, mono-compatible "HAECO-CSG" affect the vinyl counterpart is.
DexterMiller 11th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass - Christmas Album (1968)	THIS is truly a RARELY SEEN tape. I've only seen copies on Canadian Ebay when I was trying to find it on reel to complete my TJB collection; but shipping was ridiculous on-top of the $47 price tag.
DexterMiller 11th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass - S.R.O. (1968)	The non-Ampex A&M back catalog are reissues dating from late-1968 thru 1972. They are distinguished by the border across the top of their cover art denoting tape speed and i.d. number. All of them were "remastered" at 7 1/2ips (no 3 3/4 copies like Ampex wavered on; depending on sales popularity), by first Magtec duplication (black reels) and later by Soundcraft (grey reels), and are some of the BEST SOUNDING pre-recorded tapes ever made.
DexterMiller 11th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Beatles - Beatles '65 / The Early Beatles (1965)	It's infamous as the most blatant example of Capitol's fake stereo...but, boy: SHE'S A WOMAN makes this album worth the price of admission for a trip back in time! https://vimeo.com/338334672
DexterMiller 10th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Beatles - Yesterday And Today (1966)	Review This 5" reel of the Capitol Y&T album came out in September, 1966 and: WAS THE FIRST REPRESENTATION OF IT -IN ANY FORMAT- ISSUED IN TRUE STEREO WITH NO DUOPHONIC TRACKS. The stereo mixes of the songs: "I'm Only Sleeping"; "And Your Bird Can Sing"; and "Dr. Robert" are all unique earlier mixes NOT ON THE BRITISH STEREO REVOLVER. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
DexterMiller 10th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Beatles - Rubber Soul / The Beatles' Second Album (1966)	Review The SIBILANCE on this, 3 3/4ips dubbing of Rubber Soul is unbearable to listen to in places. Also: the cost-cutting acetate-base tape stock used for these "brown box" Capitol reels IS REALLY FRAGILE by this point and, not worth the investment risk. Instead: go for the 7 1/2ips Ampex Rubber Soul on a single reel from 1970. It'll cost a little more (as people know what it IS), but it will be the best "audiophile" example of the Capitol version better than the one in the 2006 cd longbox remaster. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
DexterMiller 10th Jun 2020		Reel-to-Reel The Beatles - Beatles VI (1965)	This was the only reel to reel issue of the SOMETHING NEW Capitol album (it was never included among Ampex's 1969-1971 rereleases).
DexterMiller 18th Apr 2019		Reel-to-Reel Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass - S.R.O. (1966)	This was the only format of this TJB album where the first track, Our Day Will Come, does not have the overloaded distortion so many other releases (and even the 2016 Herb Alpert Presents reissue has!) are beset with.
DexterMiller 18th Apr 2019		Reel-to-Reel Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass - What Now My Love (1966)	This, the first-run Ampex issue, has the significantly different "dry"/non-reverb mix...unlike the 1968-later A&M OR-4114 re-release of the reel, which is echo-drenched much the way the source of the East Coast vinyl copies of the album were.