O’Neill’s Magnetic RibbonĪlmost three decades later, an American improved upon Poulsen’s invention by replacing the steel wire with a magnetically coated ribbon this ribbon is considered the first form of magnetic tape.

He continued this work and in 1900, at the World Exposition in Paris, demonstrated his new telegraphone by recording the voice of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

The experiment was successful, and Poulsen proved that one could record sound using magnetic properties. He then replaced the battery and microphone with a phone earpiece and placed the electromagnet at the top of the wire to repeat the experiment and determine whether he could hear the captured sound. Poulsen attached a battery-operated microphone to the electromagnet to record the sound. An inventor and tinkerer, Poulsen came up with an experiment in which he stretched a piano wire across the room at an angle and let an electromagnet slide down the wire. In the 1890s, Dutch technician Valdemar Poulsen was working at the Copenhagen Telephone Company when he became interested in the possibility of the magnetic recording of sound. To accurately explain the origins of R2R audio recording, we must travel back to the 19th century to learn about the inventors who laid the foundation for the R2R tape recorder. Reel-to-Reel (R2R) tape recording has a fascinating history filled with unique characters and curious coincidences. We’ll answer that question and more in our unwinding of the history of reel-to-reel tape recording from its humble origins in Copenhagen to its modern-day revival! Origins of Reel-to-Reel Audio Recording But how did reel-to-reel recording come about? There’s certainly nothing wrong with that.Before digital streaming, CDs, cassette tapes, or even vinyl records, there was reel-to-reel tape recording. They will do what audiophiles have done since the term was invented, pursue increased sonic excellence in a home-based audio system. They will search high and low for tapes in genres and by artists they like and cherish. Audiophiles with the means to afford reel to reel, and the temperament to make it happen, and the acceptance of limited music will incorporate it into their component lineup. I suspect even today, where stunningly stratospheric costs for audio equipment is very commonplace, R2R will continue to grow. And of course, almost any show will include United Home Audio demoing their lineup of machines. It sounded like the symphony was actually in the room. At one audio show, I heard a system by Nick Doshi of Doshi Audio with a R2R that absolutely stunned me while listening to classical. Several of the better sounding rooms had them. When last audio shows actually walked the Earth, R2R was notably conspicuous. R2R had / has the advantage of greater dynamic range than vinyl yet because still analog, produces the warm, lush sound LP aficionados prefer. Many were ¼”, 7-1/2 or 15 ips formats that set the bar for recorded media in a home-based audio system. All who did thought they sounded magnificent. They could then be transferred to a conventional tape or LP format the general public could use and enjoy. Many of those oxygen deprived systems had a component which then as now was thought to be the pinnacle of sonic excellence – the reel to reel (R2R).īefore digital, recordings were made on tape, most using a 2” master. These were systems costing in the back then range of $50K and up when almost every other system in the high end sold for less than five thousand. There were, however, audiophiles living in that rarified air that we now call “world class” audio systems. In that long ago age, we audiophiles had mostly one thing about which we worried – what record to play next.

Reel to reel player