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Why not magnetic tapes in stead of vinyl records?

My understanding is that previously, original recordings were captured on magnetic tapes. The recording is then transferred to a metal stamper, which then creates the vinyl records we use at home. But, why don't they just copy the magnetic tape to other magnetic tapes and sell us those? I mean the same size and everything that the engineer uses. Then, audiophiles (at least some) would have nice magnetic tape players in stead of turntables.

I know people did use reel to reel for some time. I remember cassettes. But I don't believe people ever had an interface to play the big magnetic tape reels at their homes.
elegal
harold-not-the-barrel
799 posts
 
Totally agree with Atmasphere about tape storage. I have c-cassettes that are over 40 years old and most of them perform just fine. Furthermore I play cassettes in my car in hot summers and very cold winters (28 Celsius minus at lowest).
Certain cassettes are kept many years in my car but never in direct sunlight. Baked or frozen cassettes play nice to me. Of course, excessive heat ruins tape but not excessive cold, heh maybe make the sound more fresh ;-)
Cassettes never sound dull but I have had some worse quality tapes that soon lost higher frequences and become worthless.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
Kijanki, my recommendation is to work with tape for a while and then you will see that not only are my observations correct but also those of the NTA. (My statement was that tapes store in an attic much better than a basement, which is different from the argument you are making FWIW.)

A controlled environment is nice, the big deal being low humidity. For this reason I recommend that anyone storing tape consider the use of a pack of silica gel inside the plastic bag in which the reel of tape is stored. It might be hard to search on this but I have made this recommendation a number of times on this forum.

kijanki's avatar
kijanki
3,575 posts
 
As I said before - attic is possibly the worst place for storage of tapes with excessive temperatures, big temperature swings between day and night and uncontrolled humidity. I would rather store them in my basement that has pretty much the same temperature thru the year and pretty low humidity. It is just my opinion, nothing else. If attic works for you - fine. Semiconductors are also baked in high temperature before assembly but it does not mean high temperature is good for their operation or storage.
rockitman's avatar
rockitman
417 posts
 
I would rather have them in a more consistent temp/humidity basement than an attic. That said, newer tape like RMG SM 900 is not hygroscopic so can easily handle some humidity unlike the tape of old that can get sticky. I have a few older tapes and store them with silica gel.
whart's avatar
whart
1,930 posts
 
The reason I have not added tape playback to my system is not the cost of the hardware, it's the cost of the source material. I suppose if I had access to high quality transfers from master tapes, I'd jump right in.
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