<P> The heyday of prerecorded reel tapes was the mid-1960s, but after the introduction of less complicated cassette tapes and 8 - track tapes, the number of albums released on prerecorded reel tape dropped dramatically despite their superior sound quality . By the latter 1960s, their retail prices were considerably higher than competing formats, and musical genres were limited--classical, soundtracks, original cast albums, major pop stars--to those most likely to appeal to well - heeled audiophiles willing to contend with the cumbersome threading of open - reel tape . The introduction of the Dolby noise - reduction system narrowed the performance gap between cassettes and open - reel, and by 1973 the prerecorded open - reel offerings had almost completely disappeared, even from record stores and audio equipment shops . Columbia House advertisements in 1978 showed that only 1 / 3 of new titles were available on reel - to - reel; they continued to offer a select number of new releases in the format until 1984 . </P> <P> Sales were very low and specialized during the 1980s . Audiophile reel tapes were made under license by Barclay - Crocker between 1977 and 1986 . Licensors included Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Argo, Vanguard, Musical Heritage Society and L'Oiseau Lyre, so there was a large selection of high quality performances with great artists . Barclay - Crocker tapes were all Dolby encoded and some titles were also available in the dbx format . The majority of the catalog contained classical recordings, with a few jazz and movie soundtrack albums . Barclay - Crocker tapes were duplicated on modified Ampex 440 machines at four times the playing speed, unlike popular reel tapes which were duplicated at 16 times the playback speed . All of the known pre-recorded reel - to - reels on the market are all documented at the Reel To Reel Index Website which focuses on the last reels made during the 1980s and includes photographs of all of them . David Winter also released the complete list of 1950's EMI and Barclay - Crocker tapes . </P> <P> Pre-recorded reel - to - reel tapes are also available once again, albeit somewhat expensively as a very high - quality audiophile product, through "The Tape Project". Since 2007, The Tape Project has released their own albums, as well as previously - released albums under license from other labels, on open - reel tape . The German label Analogue Audio Association ("AAA") has also re-released albums on open - reel tape to the high - end audiophile market . </P> <P> When Ampex broke apart in the 1990s, Quantegy Inc. was formed, later becoming Quantegy Recording Solutions in 2004 . Quantegy (and formerly Ampex) led the field in reel - to - reel technology, and Quantegy was the only company left making reel - to - reel tape in the world for a period of two years . In 2007, Reel Deal Pro Audio purchased the majority of Quantegy's reel to reel audio tape and accessories and began to sell it on their website . In 2006, Recorded Media Group International (RMGI) in the Netherlands began manufacturing EMTEC specification tape in Oosterhout; at that time, it was then the only open reel tape manufacturer in the world . As of 2011, Pyral in France was making perforated 16 mm, 17.5 mm and 35 mm audio tape.In January 2012, Pyral SAS in France bought out the manufacturing equipment and intellectual property of RMGI with the intent to manufacture the tape in France . http://www.rmgi.eu/rmgi.asp?Id=25 The RMGI plant at Oosterhout was closed in April 2012. ATR Magnetics LLC began manufacturing analog open reel tape in 2006 and is now in full production of all sizes of professional open reel recording tape . Jai Electronic Industries in India are currently making audio tape in 6.35 mm (1 / 4 ") and 12.7 mm (1 / 2") width, and perforated 16 mm and 35 mm audio tape for the film industry . </P>

How do reel to reel tape recorders work