2 inch multitrack reel-to-reel

At Greatbear, we carefully restore and digitise 16-track and 24-track recordings on 2" open reel audio tape.

We offer a range of delivery formats for our audio transfers. Following International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives TC-04 guidelines, we deliver 24-bit / 96 kHz high resolution Broadcast WAV files, together with MP3 audio file or audio CD listening versions. We're happy to create any other digital audio files, according to your needs. We can also digitise to 24-bit / 192 kHz, if required.

We can provide the appropriately-sized USB delivery media for your files, or use media supplied by you, or deliver your files online. Files delivered on hard drive can be for any operating system - MacOS, Windows or GNU/Linux and filesystems (HFS+, NTFS or EXT3).

2" reel-to-reel tapes vary widely in duration and in the extent of physical tape degradation, so we always assess tapes before confirming the price of a transfer.

We offer free assessments - please contact us to discuss your project.

For an introduction to our assessment and treatment processes, please see our guide to "what happens to your audio tape".

At the Greatbear studio, we are able to make high-quality transfers of 24-track and 16-track recordings, made at speeds of 15 inches per second (ips) or 30 ips, using our Otari MTR90 Mk III multitrack tape recorder.

16 and 24-track 2 inch reels very commonly suffer from binder hydrolysis because Ampex was the predominant manufacturer of this tape, even though non-Ampex brands tend to become sticky too. They therefore need to be treated by gentle baking in our customised incubator prior to transfer.

2 inch tape is heavy with a large surface area and therefore there is greater risk of friction as it moves through the tape transport. Due to the massive strength of the motors on large format multitrack machines, which move tape at great speeds, 2 inch tape needs to be wound in an even, controlled manner.

Problems with tape pack deformation due to age, poor winding or other stresses are exacerbated in 2 inch context, because the size of the tape and the speed of the transfer can result in severe damage to the tape and motor winders.

Problems can also arise with the back coating which was often added to professional-quality magnetic tape to help provide a more uniform tape pack wind, as it helps reduce tape friction and distortion when the tape moves through the playback mechanism.

Another significant problem common to the transfer of all magnetic tape is machine obsolescence. 2 inch large format multitrack tape machines were used almost exclusively in a professional context which means they are rarer than the ubiquitous ¼ inch domestic tapes machines, and often heavily-used. Head wear issues and a lack of spare parts is also a pressing long-term concern. On the plus side, as they were machines used in the professional recording industry they were built to be serviced and maintained. Later model Otari machines (the model we use to transfer your tape) remain robust, and with regular servicing continue to function well.

The history of large format professional multitrack analogue recording and late 20th century popular music go hand in hand. Key albums, such as the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, pushed the boundaries of 4-track multitrack recording, and placed studio experimentation at the heart of musical creativity.

Until the development of Ampex’s prototype 16-track recorder in 1967, which used 2” tape, multitrack tape capabilities were limited by what could fit onto a 1” tape. 16-track recording studios boomed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, followed by the introduction of 24-track studios. Plans to develop 3” tape, which would have potentially extended multi-track capabilities further, were devised but never implemented – if they had been they would have been monstrous tapes and machines, given how heavy and big 2” tapes are!

Large format multitrack recording persisted in the recording industry until the 1990s, when it was gradually phased out in the wake of digital tape machines and file-based digital recording technology. People still record to analogue tape today, of course, but it is gradually getting more and more expensive, given the cost of the tape itself and the limited number of studios with working multitrack analogue machines.