Gearspace of the UK has published a detailed review of the T-⁠RackS TASCAM Tape Collection, awarding it the maximum score of 5/5 in all four categories: Sound Quality, Ease of Use, Features and Bang for the Buck.

The author gives some historical background on tape recording in general, discusses each tape machine of the collection on its own, and presents the array of features the four machines share.

It's satisfying reading for anyone desiring to learn more about the TASCAM Tape Collection with details on how the controls function and interact and how it all comes together to offer an impressive amount of sound-shaping.

From the review

"Tape was a pain and I do not miss it one bit. But there is the undeniable "tape sound" many of us grew up with and early digital technology was "cold" and "brittle" by comparison.

"But digital audio today can replicate every nuance of analogue gear (despite some people still failing to grasp this), so we can enjoy the distortion, tape compression, mechanical defects like wow & flutter, and other weaknesses of tape recording that sometimes sound "good".

Of course to reproduce the details of magnetic tape recording requires a lot of technical expertise to emulate the subtle interactions of the magnetic, electronic and mechanical effects of a real tape deck. IK Multimedia have accomplished this extremely well.

How does it all sound?

"I spent hours and hours listening and measuring many combinations of tape types, speeds where applicable, bias, record levels, etc. and found they certainly do interact in complex ways! I can say that these emulations provide a wide range of tape compression, frequency response and harmonic distortion, but when used with their optimal settings, they sound as good as magnetic tape recording can sound."

Pros

• Very intricately modelled tape machines that capture the complex interactions of electronics, mechanics and magnetics.
• Comprehensive "under-the-hood" adjustments as well as all the original controls.
• The feeling and sound of magnetic tape recording without the pain.
• Continuously variable GUI size from 390 x 866 pixels to your full screen width.
• The Factory Presets (Tascam 388 and Teac 3340S have five, Porta One and TEAC 6100 include six) demonstrate a good range of possibilities.
• Each recorder model works as a standard plug-in or inside the T-RackS 5 stand-alone mastering application.
• Intro sale price is very tempting, and the regular price of the four unit bundle is reasonable for the quality provided.

Overall Gearspace score: 5 Stars

Learn more on the T-⁠RackS TASCAM Tape Collection

Read the full Gearspace review HERE