The high sound quality of the Magnetophone baffled the Allies. Right before World War II in 1935, the Germans created the Magnetophon-a reel-to-reel recorder with a magnetic film. Magnetic audio recording tape is the audio recording method many people are most familiar with in reels. These steel tape recorders were mechanically difficult and laborious to handle, making them rather inconvenient. He brought the technology to Great Britain when he emigrated and the Blattnerphone was used to record King George V’s speech during the India Round Table Conference in November of 1930. Originally born in Germany, he used the original format of a wire recorder and transmitted that technology to steel tape. The earliest steel tape recorder was the Blattnerphone in the 1920s, named after its licensor and innovator, Ludwig Blattner. Before film-based reel-to-reel recordings, the only recording methods available were phonograph records and very early, low-quality editions of the electrical recording. The usefulness of a higher-quality audio recording on film outweighed the dangers, however. This steel tape was the exact same material as razorblades and was known to shatter under stress-creating hazardous metal shards. Reel-to-reel audio recorders originally used steel tape to record upon. We’ll also look at some of the old materials that were used in reel-to-reel tape recording and their advancement. This historical flashback will focus on the history of reel-to-reel audio tape recording and how it went from an innocent entertainment medium to a tool of war, before making its way back to entertainment again. History is an essential part of audio, film, and photo preservation. While you’re working with obsolete audio formats, it’s important to know where they came from and how the format came to be.

Reel to reel players where to buy