Comparing Stereo Recorders

JOHN LECKIE PRODUCER : BE BOP DELUXE, XTC, etc PREFERRED CHOICE : SONY DASH

You said you thought format B (Sony DASH) was the best. What were you listening for ?

I was listening for realism to the original because I thought the original live sound was really good. The formats other than B seemed to have exaggerated low ends and E in particular (Mitsubishi) seemed over compressed or something. B seemed to be the most faithful to the original whereas E I thought was particularly bad in the bass and top end. On the saxophone, E sounded brittle and edgy.

Everything like pitch stability and noise levels were fine on all machines.

Would you have liked to listen to other types of music - is trad your bag dad ?

No, it's not. I don't know how the system would have responded to rock or folk music - acoustic guitar or a powerful singer.

The format you preferred, B, was the Sony DASH.

Oh really.

A was the Studer with Dolby SR and the one you didn't like, E, was the Mitsubishi .

Was it ? 1 didn't like that at all.

Why ?

The first thing I noticed was the sax ; it just wasn't right. It sounded like someone had over EQed it or used a cheap mic.

Was it a valid exercise ?

Yes, they're all top of the market machines. I do most of my work on 15ips 1/4inch and nobody as yet has told me what is wrong with that ! But then again that's the type of music I deal with. I expected the digitals to sound a bit rough around the edges but as it was they were all close and I couldn't spot anything that was distinctly analogue sounding.

You've now heard the most expensive 2 track machines available, do you think there is a lot of hype involved ?

Yes. It's not going to change the way I work. I've worked in some not exactly first division studios and sometimes I've found that when the 2 track machine hasn't been lined up properly, it actually sounds better. Maybe that's why I like working on l5ips 1/4inch - I like what it does to the sound. But it's been an interesting exercise.

	Studer + Dolby SR	Sony DASH	Otari + Dolby SR	Studer DASH	Mitsubishi ProDigi
Format	A	B	C	D	E
Preference	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	3rd

HOWARD KILGOUR ENGINEER, THAMES TV FILM DEPT, JAZZ SPECIALIST PREFERRED CHOICE : MITSUBISHI ProDigi

My experience in recording jazz comes from a little while ago at Island Studios, when they were known as Basing Street. In that time I ran their mobile unit for a couple of years. I also help out Peter Bolam with the jazz label Mole, so I still keep my hand in.

I thought there was a reasonable difference between A (Studer + Dolby SR) and E (Mitsubishi) but between the others not so much. Once you start flicking through them a couple of times you start to lose track of which one you're on.

I liked E. It might have been because I flicked through them and caught it at a better section of the music but it sounded closest to the original to me. I'm eager to find out the results.

	Studer + Dolby SR	Sony DASH	Otari + Dolby SR	Studer DASH	Mitsubishi ProDigi
Format	A	B	C	D	E
Preference	5th	3rd	2nd	4th	1st