We vividly remember our first reel to reel tape recorder. It was a Craig 212, complete with external microphone and the wonderful smell of 3M Mylar recording tape for just $34.99.

After listening to the ever more scratchy playback of our LPs and 45s, the quality of a reel to reel, even with all that hiss, was something special. Graduating quickly to a Sony TC-280, we could accommodate 7 inch reels and enjoy a full hour of music, at 3 3/4 inches per second, or if we were feeling particularly indulgent, 30 minutes of ultra high quality audio at  7 1/2 ips.

Dr. Zhivago was the first professionally produced reel to reel tape in our library. We still remember listening to the overture with my David Clark headphones. It felt like we were transported to the studio, in the midst of the MGM Orchestra.

And who could forget how some manufacturers incorporated their technology inside furniture quality cabinetry? Once such item was the Arvin 8648 Solid State Stereo Tape Recorder. It came complete with a demonstration tape, narrated by the famous radio announcer, André Baruch and featured lush tastes of the music of Bobby Byrne and Enoch Light.

By today’s digital standards, reel to reel tape and it’s bargain basement cassette and 8 track versions sound pre-historic. But we’ll never forget the first moments we were transported from vinyl to mylar and got to hear what the studio engineers heard in the days when multi-track recording was still pretty darn cool.