The Best Equipment & The Finest Ears

Gear & Engineering

The Tape Machine

We own a very special custom all tube Ampex 351 tape machine. This Ampex 351 was painstakingly revised, modified and converted to half inch 15/30 ips operation for absolute best sound quality by some of the best technicians in the US, a process which took over two years. We wanted to get closer to the sound of the great recordings of the fifties and sixties when the Ampex 351 was the machine of choice, and also have the better quality and lower noise floor of half inch operation at 30 ips. 

We were inspired in part by the great sounding David Jones recordings for Connoisseur Society, recordings which were done to a half inch Ampex at 30 ips, as well as by the James Boyk recordings done in the eighties to a custom half inch Ampex 351 he called the Magnesaurus, at 15 ips. 

Our machine is one of the only half inch Ampex 351 in existence capable of recording at 30 ips, quite possibly the only one at this point, and we think it sounds glorious. It’s also remarkably flat across the audio band (+/- 0.5 dB from 40 Hz to 16 kHz at 30 ips), and has very low wow/flutter (DIN peak weighted 0.03% at 30 ips, 0.04% at 15 ips). 

Our machine has brand new custom heads from Flux Magnetics. Resistors and capacitors have been changed for reliability and sonics, while keeping the original values, so as to stay faithful to the original Ampex design. Resistors, depending on position, include the Z-Foil Texas Component TX2575, Shinkoh, Audio Note, Riken and Takman Rey. Capacitors include VH Audio CuTF, Miflex and Jupiter. We are also using upgraded mechanical parts from Athan. 

The AES EQ for 30 ips operation was implemented by John Chester, who also did a lot of work on optimizing the transport and electronics, as did Ampex specialist Dave Dintenfass. 

This tape machine was used to mix Jerome Sabbagh’s Vintage. Heart was recorded live to two track tape directly to it, by James Farber, at Power Station in Studio C. All our records will be either mixed to this machine from multitrack tape, or recorded directly to it, live to two-track tape.

The Consoles

We own two very special tube recording consoles, an Altec 250SU and an Altec 230B. These consoles grow out of the legacy of Western Electric, and were state of the art when they were designed in the fifties. They still are. Due to the amazing quality of their transformers - some of the best ever made -, their lack of unnecessary features, and their all tube signal path, they sound fantastic, and, in our opinion, much better than most of what came after them. Many great recordings were done with them. These consoles have an immediacy, fidelity and vibrancy that are instantly recognizable and very appealing. 

The Altec 230B was used by Rudy Van Gelder from 1954 to 1956, on some of the best sounding and seminal mono jazz recordings of the fifties, such as the four Miles Davis Quintet albums Relaxin’, Cookin’, Steamin’ and Workin’. Our Altec 230B was converted to stereo operation and brought back from Los Angeles to New York over a five day road trip. 

Both consoles are being revised and customized to sound as good as they possibly can, and to better interface with current studio equipment. Like the Ampex 351, they are portable, and will be used on subsequent records. Stay tuned!

The Tape Stock

We have tried the three currently available professional recording tape stocks, ATR master tape, SM900 and SM911. They all sound different, and on our Ampex 351, we strongly prefer ATR master tape, so that’s what we use. 

The Engineers

Our records are engineered by famed engineer James Farber and Analog Tone Factory co-founder Pete Rende. 

James Farber is considered by many to be the greatest living engineer for jazz. He has recorded many seminal records of the last forty years - and some of the best sounding ones - including albums by Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Dave Holland, Brad Mehldau, and Chris Potter. He is one of the few engineers working today who is known for recording musicians all in one room with no earphones and mixing live to two-track analog tape. 

For more about James Farber, read his interview with Tape Op.

Heart, Vintage and No Filter were mastered and cut by legendary mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, directly from the analog tape, using an all-tube system. As no EQ was needed, the mastering board was bypassed for ultimate fidelity. Bernie Grundman used his newly upgraded cutting head with diamond stylus for Vintage and Heart. 

The Speakers

We have been using Proac Studio 100 and Duntech Princess speakers, but following Stenheinm’s support, all new Analog Tone Factory records will be monitored on Stenheim Speakers.

The Pressing Plant

Analog Tone Factory records are pressed at Gotta Groove Records, in Cleveland, OH, one of the best pressing plants in the US, and one of the few that has come up with a new technological advance in record manufacturing, their proprietary GrooveCoated Stampers.

The Best Equipment & The Finest Ears

Gear & Engineering

The Tape Machine

We own a very special custom all tube Ampex 351 tape machine. This Ampex 351 was painstakingly revised, modified and converted to half inch 15/30 ips operation for absolute best sound quality by some of the best technicians in the US, a process which took over two years. We wanted to get closer to the sound of the great recordings of the fifties and sixties when the Ampex 351 was the machine of choice, and also have the better quality and lower noise floor of half inch operation at 30 ips. 

We were inspired in part by the great sounding David Jones recordings for Connoisseur Society, recordings which were done to a half inch Ampex at 30 ips, as well as by the James Boyk recordings done in the eighties to a custom half inch Ampex 351 he called the Magnesaurus, at 15 ips. 

Our machine is one of the only half inch Ampex 351 in existence capable of recording at 30 ips, quite possibly the only one at this point, and we think it sounds glorious. It’s also remarkably flat across the audio band (+/- 0.5 dB from 40 Hz to 16 kHz at 30 ips), and has very low wow/flutter (DIN peak weighted 0.03% at 30 ips, 0.04% at 15 ips). 

Our machine has brand new custom heads from Flux Magnetics. Resistors and capacitors have been changed for reliability and sonics, while keeping the original values, so as to stay faithful to the original Ampex design. Resistors, depending on position, include the Z-Foil Texas Component TX2575, Shinkoh, Audio Note, Riken and Takman Rey. Capacitors include VH Audio CuTF, Miflex and Jupiter. We are also using upgraded mechanical parts from Athan. 

The AES EQ for 30 ips operation was implemented by John Chester, who also did a lot of work on optimizing the transport and electronics, as did Ampex specialist Dave Dintenfass. 

This tape machine was used to mix Jerome Sabbagh’s Vintage. Heart was recorded live to two track tape directly to it, by James Farber, at Power Station in Studio C. All our records will be either mixed to this machine from multitrack tape, or recorded directly to it, live to two-track tape.

The Consoles

We own two very special tube recording consoles, an Altec 250SU and an Altec 230B. These consoles grow out of the legacy of Western Electric, and were state of the art when they were designed in the fifties. They still are. Due to the amazing quality of their transformers - some of the best ever made -, their lack of unnecessary features, and their all tube signal path, they sound fantastic, and, in our opinion, much better than most of what came after them. Many great recordings were done with them. These consoles have an immediacy, fidelity and vibrancy that are instantly recognizable and very appealing. 

The Altec 230B was used by Rudy Van Gelder from 1954 to 1956, on some of the best sounding and seminal mono jazz recordings of the fifties, such as the four Miles Davis Quintet albums Relaxin’, Cookin’, Steamin’ and Workin’. Our Altec 230B was converted to stereo operation and brought back from Los Angeles to New York over a five day road trip. 

Both consoles are being revised and customized to sound as good as they possibly can, and to better interface with current studio equipment. Like the Ampex 351, they are portable, and will be used on subsequent records. Stay tuned!

The Tape Stock

We have tried the three currently available professional recording tape stocks, ATR master tape, SM900 and SM911. They all sound different, and on our Ampex 351, we strongly prefer ATR master tape, so that’s what we use. 

The Engineers

Our records are engineered by famed engineer James Farber and Analog Tone Factory co-founder Pete Rende. 

James Farber is considered by many to be the greatest living engineer for jazz. He has recorded many seminal records of the last forty years - and some of the best sounding ones - including albums by Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Dave Holland, Brad Mehldau, and Chris Potter. He is one of the few engineers working today who is known for recording musicians all in one room with no earphones and mixing live to two-track analog tape. 

For more about James Farber, read his interview with Tape Op.

Heart, Vintage and No Filter were mastered and cut by legendary mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, directly from the analog tape, using an all-tube system. As no EQ was needed, the mastering board was bypassed for ultimate fidelity. Bernie Grundman used his newly upgraded cutting head with diamond stylus for Vintage and Heart. 

The Speakers

We have been using Proac Studio 100 and Duntech Princess speakers, but following Stenheinm’s support, all new Analog Tone Factory records will be monitored on Stenheim Speakers.

The Pressing Plant

Analog Tone Factory records are pressed at Gotta Groove Records, in Cleveland, OH, one of the best pressing plants in the US, and one of the few that has come up with a new technological advance in record manufacturing, their proprietary GrooveCoated Stampers.