The First Session with the Master Tape

Steve prepares to listen to a master tape in his studio, the first step in remastering a classic album. This is a heavily modified Tascam deck, used by Steve to determine which actual mastering deck the music needs; a vintage Ampex tube deck, or a more modern machine. The Tascam has a very gentle transport system that is very easy on the old tapes.

A significant improvement in performance comes from having the tape deck suspended on Double Stack Rollerblocks with the Tungsten Carbide ball upgrade. This "cleaned up" the sound considerably that came out of the master tapes, enabling Steve to hear more into the mix.