Surging Demand For Vinyl LPs Has Raised Hopes For Reel-to-Reel Tape Deck, Which is Returning To Sale For First Time in Decades (bloomberg.com)

It's no secret that sales of vinyl music are at the highest in decades. Even the lowly cassette tape is regaining popularity as some millennials embrace analog music over digital downloads and streaming services. But for the first time in more than two decades, a German company is reviving what may be the ultimate format: a new reel-to-reel tape machine. From a report: Dusseldorf-based Roland Schneider Precision Engineering this week will introduce four Ballfinger reel-to-reel machines, bringing back a technology that dominated professional music recording for most of the 20th century and is now making a comeback with audiophiles and artists including Lady Gaga. The sleek machines, some of them customizable, will retail from about 9,500 euros ($11,400) for the basic version to about 24,000 euros for the high-end model, which features three direct-drive motors, an editing system and walnut side panels. "Digital media is great, but experiencing music is more than just listening to a sound file -- it's sensual, it's reels that turn and can be touched," says Roland Schneider, the machine's designer. "When it comes to audio quality, nothing else in the analog world gets you closer to the experience of being right there in the recording studio than reel-to-reel tape."

Comments

Next up: return to horse and buggy and slavery

[Anonymous Coward]

Also holistic embrace of artisan communicable diseases that have been cured for decades in preparation for the return to rustic, wholesome, and natural levels of infant and maternal mortality.

Re:Next up: return to horse and buggy and slavery

[Austerity Empowers]

I am sorry someone modded you down for that, it summarizes the situation perfectly.

Can't wait until Cylinder Phonographs come back

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

I for one can't wait until unpowered cylinder phonographs come back. I even bought a gold-plated horn to ensure optimal audio fidelity.

Re:Analog only

[spiritplumber]

Heh. Old-fart story time. In Italy, hotels (and hostels) used to restrict calls by physically locking the rotary dial with a small lock, and charging for the key. So we got good at pulse-dialing by tapping the hangup key.