Interview with Dr. Edward Pong of UltraAnalogue Recordings

LL: And there’s a feedback tab on your website.

EP: Yes, and so far we have had quite a lot of feedback. Interestingly enough, I sent a tape to the guy who wound our transformers in Vegas. Now he wants to use our tapes to demonstrate their equipment at CES!

LL: Do you plan to have your own booth at CES?

EP: No. We’ll just carry a few tapes under our arms, and see who will have the machines to play them. The guy even offers to sell them for us. I’ll bring along a few, and if people want, they can order it on our website. Realistically I’d be happy to sell just a handful of them, just for fun.

LL: It’s certainly a great way to share your soirées musicales with music lovers all around the globe.

On my machine here I can choose CCIR or NAB equalizations. On my website, you can choose it before checking out. At The Tape Project (http://www.tapeproject.com) they use CCIR throughout. But Roger feels that NAB offers better sound. In my own recordings I have found NAB to have a fuller lower register. Modern tapes can take higher level in terms of dynamics, because there’s more bias. The 2 Studer A80’s I own can record at a higher bias level than the earlier famous tubed Studer C37. Therefore, by creating these special tube amps for the recording and for playback, we have the benefit of combining the tube aspect of the Studer, the modern transport, and the bias that can take modern tapes.

LL: So by using these two boxes, you’re essentially bypassing the built-in amps of the recorder?

EP: That’s right. We only use the equalization function of it. I have tubes for the output section. The playback has the same thing.

LL: I can see that your kitchen has become the setting for the production line. Do you make a dubbing of the master first?

EP: Yes, and it takes most of the time. Every time you copy, you lose something. I want to increase or decrease something based solely on the type of tape I’m using. So once I’ve got that set up, I have to experiment with many different parameters to get the most ideal sound.

LL: I guess it’s like dark room technique of yore, like burning-in and making contact sheets if you will! What’s the type of tape you use for the master?

EP: I like to use the Quantegy 499. Quantegy came after Ampex. First there was the 3M 996 which I have a lot of pancakes of. It’s like the 499 but it’s older. Quantegy bought out 3M. The other one is GP9. It’s very popular but it records hotter, with more volume, and a rougher character. I think 499 is more refined. GP9 and 499 share the same bias but their characteristics are very different. The sad thing is that you cannot get GP9 or 499 anymore.

LL: I suppose you’re not in the habit of recording over a pre-recorded tape?

EP: Well, with 499 we do it because it erases very well. And I like to make the first dub on 499 because I think it has the best character. So I try to keep the first copy the same type of tape as the master’s. What the customers get will be the RMG SM900. That’s their top tape.

Every tape of mine features a 30-second test tone which allows you to set your playback level to zero, meaning that your machine and the tape get to be calibrated to the same level, thus preventing overload. I give it for free.