Mixing With Tape: Studer A80 Master Recorder

In this video we demonstrate the famous Studer A80 1/4inch Tape Master Recorder.
This vintage unit has been an industry standard for several decades and it can be heard on countless records from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Here at Doctor Mix we use it for both mixing and mastering, and it's available when the "Tape Master" option is selected on any of our packages.
If you want the Studer A80 on your music then please order your Mixing & Mastering service at www.doctormix.com/mixing-and-...
1:05 - Cleaning tape heads
1:59 - Demonstration of Tape on Full Mix
2:59 - 7.5ips Demo
3:50 - Demonstration on Vocals
4:14 - Tape on Vocals
4:50 - Sending hot to Tape

[@novakattila]

Nothing beats tape in my opinion, it creates such a pleasing 3D sound, everything digital will sound flat in comparison.

[@romanrist3278]

I hear a difference even watching the video on my phone with the standard issue earbuds. Tape for lack of other words, is just "rounder" and more pleasing to me.

[@f.herumusu8341]

I hear a difference even with audio turned off.

[@theblowupdollsmusic]

Hurray for your awesome videos. I really appreciate you taking the time to make them! :)

[@Doctormix]

Thanks Matt! :-)

[@OdeMalikIdrus]

wow the low end and the depth really stand out by the tape processing.

[@markphilpot4981]

The A80 is such a sweet deck! I so love it! It always does it right and at 15ips is so very right. That readjustment on that vocal was very apparent on this video! That you are sharing this with us is highly appreciated by me and hopefully everyone else watching! I am impressed with you! Keep it up boss man! I’m in!

[@H4NDCRAFTED]

Love what it does to hats , adds some pleasing crunch too.

[@rtmsoundscapes]

Thank you for nice demo. Sounds great!

[@nihil2501]

wow. this demo really makes it seem like tape is singularly THE sound

[@OdinOfficialEmcee]

I don't hear a major change with just the vocals. There is something, just not worth tracking to tape imo. However, on the full mix it is so worth it! It is a subtle change, but so worth it! it takes a good mix, and makes it sound like a real pro record.

[@SergioFrias]

back in the day , tape was bounced multiple times,since 4 tracks was very limited...cuts or lows (in series) when added together is much more easy to hear than a single track ,since the effect on a single track like this video is subtle.

[@remesiis]

mix doctor selecta keep things rockin :)

[@Doctormix]

+remesiis universe We love to keep people moving ;)

[@exinexi]

awesome!

[@montfortprince]

damn! this is sweeeet!

[@Doctormix]

:-) Thanks!

[@aSpeaker2BlocksAway]

Thanks!

[@massimocesareAnnaloro]

A80 is great! There is no comparison with any digital wonder. We went back...

[@bradentroy1]

Sweet!

[@Not-Only-Reaper-Tutorials]

This is far to be a pristine record where you can really appreciate in the deepness the nouances. OF COURSE the fastest the tape, the better the recoring and reproduction

[@MrAcapela]

Great Vid Thanks , Ive done digital music, But the real tape machine is awesome sound

[@Doctormix]

Glad you enjoyed the video Josias!

[@Suburbstudio]

maaan...now i want one

[@Doctormix]

hihihi :-)

[@Ksjskalkwvshwjwvqnam]

I never knew that mastering tape machine sounds so fantastic! Sound became more emotional and deep. And, unfortunately, no one plugin cant emulate tape sound in all details.

[@andyvan5692]

nice track, GREAT you used a REAL R2R tape ; not just a piece of software!! Analogue machines have a great sound, just a pity / great shame we can't get them new anymore.

[@Doctormix]

Hi andy van! There is nothing quite like the real thing!

[@Unitazy]

If your mixing has been done in the box, how does the tape exactly affect the master afterwards? It can't add any information that wasn't there in the first place, but is it the tape deck signal chain distortion and the tape frequency response that make it more pleasant?

[@TheFRiNgEguitars]

I want a Studer A-80!

[@aviatedviewssound4798]

we have one at work but is it worth it we almost don't use it we prefer the sony MCI JH24 or the abbey road saturator which is modified from a studier A800

[@saemikneu]

Doctor Mix There's no need to apply this if you'r recording in analog format on tape, right? Only to give digital recordings a more warmy touch?

[@immortalitytherapper23]

Please start back doing these types of videos

[@alfarukaliraqi8019]

such an amazing video as always but would you plz show us how to connect Studer to the software?

[@brianbarret]

Fuck it! There is no difference, but I love this machine and I own one! Todays technique is as good as the machines from yesterday!

[@DeanMccormick]

Get some decent cans/calibrated system audio and you'll definitely hear it.

[@CarloScali]

WOW

[@linkinanalog1313]

which is the best tape to buy and where you can buy it ?

[@millmoormichael6630]

Massive difference, I think decent headphones help, much fuller, warmer and bigger "wider" soundstage w/ the Studer

[@MPStudioBergen]

I have a tape emulator and love what it does, and I therefore want to buy an analog tape and do it with a real tape. Can you tell me how to send audio in and back with tape? Do you send the track via a bus out with trs cables into the tape, and the tape has out which I insert in a return, or is there more?

[@ThatMineMe56Dude]

Why is the mono vocal passing through tape seems slightly panned? Is it because the two channels of the tape and the tape machinr has different frequency responses?

[@Doctormix]

If that happens sometimes is because some residue might end up on the play heads, or because these units are vintage and as such they sometimes can have minor level differences. However these can easily be tweaked after the fact :-)

[@GL-uy3fd]

Hey Doctor! Shouldn't a 30IPS machine be used? As is renders the best quality. Just what I've heard people say out there.

[@DanielOakfield]

Just to be completely sure as many of us don't hear differences, maybe because of compression, audio interface, speaker or headphones, can you share an aiff of both tracks so that we can understand what "round" or "fat" means and maybe we can emulate it in other ways... I would even be happy to see the waveform and/or spectrum difference, even just image only... Don't get me wrong I would be happy to pay for a warmer sound, but I need to understand what it does exactly especially since the mastering of all the online streaming further process the signal!!! Mitico come sempre :)

[@videosuperhighway7655]

There is no difference because he is going from daw to tape and back. The sound of tape is really achieved by recording tracks from the microphone into a console like a Neve 80 series with 1073 channels then each track going into a 24 track machine finally mastering from 24 to 2 track tape. Think about all the capacitors,transformers,circuits those voices and instruments have to travel through and its the total combination of all that then then mixing down along with all the careful gainstaging and EQing,compression etc to make it fit from 24 track tape to 2 track master tape. Thats how the Magic happens. Going straight from DAW to 2 track is just a gimmick to charge the ignorant masses more money. This is why Good Engineers were worth thier weight in gold as well, making all this fit and sound great on Vinyl etc. you had to premaster so the lathe could properly cut the master disk.

[@MauriceBerisha]

Hello Tape people i randomly got a phillips EL3549, im mostly into ambient electronic music so a big part of what im looking for in processing my own creations is a mediocre lofy-ish endproduct... Does anyone know what adapters i would need to connect this early 60s machine with my interface and use it for these porpuses? It has 4 different speed modes and i love the sound coming out from it but i don't know if i can do what i want to with it.. Would appreciate if someone could clear my problem or suggest a good alternative under under 200€

[@smathbeatz]

I love that bro, How can I get one of that A80?

[@eatingcatshit]

nice vid, but it's not about digital harshness anymore but that the tape, being less accurate, has natural hf rolloff and smooth compression to take overly bright, raw signals on guitar synths drums, even vocals after eq & soften them and alter dynamics. it was early digital that was harsh due low bits and rate as aliasing could be heard,. same for old low res digital pics. we now hear an accurate reproduction of what goes in, so if that is eqed and compressed & not harsh to begin with, that's the end result without needing tape. tape was nice & handy for this but theres other ways.

[@tanner-rh6oo]

Your comment needs to move to the top of the of the "comment" pile! Well said!

[@Doctormix]

Hi, you're quite right. However, tape saturation and colour is still a desirable effect, as a lot of the records that were produced up until the 90s have tape character, and we have got used to that sound. Digital is certainly more accurate, and is often preferable for some more modern style of music, which don't have the history of being recorded to tape. Humans tend to prefer things which aren't quite perfect, as the imperfections draw our attention and give things life! :)

[@vinylcity1599]

Doctor Mix well said!

[@NoelFernandes]

There's a noticable compression on low end and hi end....like a DeEsser.

[@nocaster9]

the bottom end .... o m g

[@djslavatv]

3:07 Мне кажется, или при переходе с одной скорости на другую качество становится лучше? Причем, лучше, чем в оригинале.

[@mmb23546]

It doesn't have the sync way?

[@user-he1rn5uu5w]

May I ask the name of the artist?

[@Kitanoonline]

needed to listen very closely to get the difference ... its very very sutl

[@alexeykokh8240]

the difference is obvious, more mellow sound on low speed

[@Seany06]

Interesting, with tape sounds like a record! Sounds pants without it.

[@Windiguana]

Nice fat low end with the a80

[@mallorca1guy]

i did not hear any different, and i am listening on studio monitors. it is still digital, cause there's a pc involved, and the chain is as strong as the weakest link, and the weakest link in this case is the pc. if you want a real analog sound, should be all analog/ acoustic. but this is just my opinion...

[@heitormetal]

I really envy those who can hear the difference, omg.. :(

[@Hundred100]

its ur earphones probably i get mad too tho sometimes when i cant hear the difference in this kind of tutorials ahah

[@zsebestien7050]

The tape really just takes down some high end on the hats and the horns if you really focus. It also brings out a little more warm bass tone from the kick. It really is super subtle, I listened multiple times to hear it. Dont worry, just takes time.

[@tanner-rh6oo]

Really didn't hear that much of a difference. VERY, VERY, VERY SUBTLE !!

[@13alan69]

That test will have more sense if you send a clean sample through your ad converter. Than you can feel a real difference between 'clean' and tape.

[@vinylcity1599]

koo!

[@virgilwilliams8082]

No it don't it sounds better slower. Besides i like the original version this sounds fake to me. Not feeling it.

[@martinschneider8780]

I can't fucking hear any difference, Am I crazy?

[@Doctormix]

No you're not crazy... you just don't know what to listen for :) This is a nuance in the general texture, top end and low end quality. But it's also a nuance that has defined ALL recorded music up until the mid 90's. With sounds it's a lot about minute details. That's why it's so difficult to learn how to mix properly ;-)

[@rikyriky966]

Thats like listening to MJ. It always tastes different. I've been working on music production for 7 years. I've started as a hobby. Now, I can get the difference even without concentrated listening. I am glad my ears developed yeyeye! :)

[@mandel957]

dude I agree there's really not much in it not enough to warrant the cost of an A800 n all the tape !!

[@martinschneider8780]

Well with all respect, probably there is a real difference, the question is, if you need to be a pro engenieer to be able to hear it, Is it really worth?. Even more you have lots of nice plugins out there to emulate.

[@mandel957]

+Martin Schneider dude the real difference just ain't there ! I got UAD waves n a real deck. all have uses but for straight recording the casual listener just ain't gonna notice ...if only pro producers notice a difference then what's it worth? we're making music at the end of the day not conducting science experiments in acoustic nuances

[@mistermister8]

Yeah, you can really hear how "great" the lossy mp3 encoded youtube video sounds. . .

[@gabet3754]

I hear nothing

[@daveyjones8821]

She is a singer what joke burn her so called music