Reel-to-reel audio tape recording

Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is <a href="/facts/Magnetic_tape/wj6IDTR1">magnetic tape audio recording</a> in which the recording tape is spooled between <a href="/facts/Reel/5p70yYea">reels</a>. To prepare for use, the supply reel (or feed reel) containing the tape is placed on a spindle or hub. The end of the tape is manually pulled from the reel, threaded through mechanical guides and over a <a href="/facts/Tape_head/gSUoxWuz">tape head</a> assembly, and attached by friction to the hub of the second, initially empty takeup reel. Reel-to-reel systems use tape that is 1⁄4, 1⁄2, 1, or 2 inches (6.35, 12.70, 25.40, or 50.80 mm) wide, which normally moves at 3+3⁄4, 7+1⁄2, 15 or 30 inches per second (9.525, 19.05, 38.10 or 76.20 cm/s). Domestic consumer machines almost always used 1⁄4 inch (6.35 mm) or narrower tape and many offered slower speeds such as 1+7⁄8 inches per second (4.762 cm/s). All standard tape speeds are derived as a binary submultiple of 30 inches per second.
Reel-to-reel preceded the development of the <a href="/facts/Compact_cassette/w8I5uyfs">compact cassette</a> with tape 0.15 inches (3.8 mm) wide moving at 1+7⁄8 inches per second (4.8 cm/s). By writing the same audio signal across more tape, reel-to-reel systems give much greater <a href="/facts/High_fidelity/K6kaTHSw">fidelity</a> at the cost of much larger tapes. In spite of the relative inconvenience and generally more expensive media, reel-to-reel systems developed in the early 1940s remained popular in <a href="/facts/Audiophile/0SnLaByF">audiophile</a> settings into the 1980s and have re-established a specialist niche in the 21st century. 
<a href="/facts/Studer/KKjC73fr">Studer</a>, <a href="/facts/Stellavox/ATWdGh88">Stellavox</a>, <a href="/facts/Tascam/kmC0yppV">Tascam</a>, and <a href="/facts/Denon/KsxoIE5q">Denon</a> produced reel-to-reel tape recorders into the 1990s, but as of 2017, only Mechlabor continues to manufacture analog reel-to-reel recorders. As of 2020, there were two companies manufacturing magnetic recording tape: ATR Services of <a href="/facts/York%2c_Pennsylvania/HwzbxG6B">York, Pennsylvania</a>, and Recording the Masters in <a href="/facts/Avranches/wRljQgcn">Avranches</a>, France.
Reel-to-reel tape was used in early <a href="/facts/Tape_drive/9MfLuCa0">tape drives</a> for data storage on <a href="/facts/Mainframe_computer/nrBR6rWa">mainframe computers</a> and in <a href="/facts/Video_tape_recorder/sAg0ezb2">video tape recorders</a>. Magnetic tape was also used to record data signals from <a href="/facts/Analytical_instrument/NX2ldw1E">analytical instruments</a>, beginning with the <a href="/facts/Hydrogen_bomb/T9zFe3H0">hydrogen bomb</a> testing of the early 1950s.

Reel-to-reel audio tape recording open-in-new

Reel-to-reel audio tape recording