Today, we’re going to take a look at the Studer J37 tape recorder, a true legend in the world of tape recording.
Find out how to use the Studer J37 used for this test, as well as all the video explanations on Youtube:
The Studer J37 is the successor to the C37 and was Studer’s first multitrack tape recorder.
I’d like to thank the sound engineer “Poussin” from DES studios for allowing me to carry out this test on his Studer J37 magnetophone. This legendary magnetophone is part of a collection of magnetophones used to restore the greatest French artists. Find out more about these studios (part1 and part2) which, in addition to restoration, also produce stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes for all types of media, including concert films.
It’s your reference recorder, used by some of the biggest names in music, from The Beatles and Pink Floyd to French artists such as Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour. The goal today is not to listen to recordings made with the J37 at the time, but to take more recent recordings and see what they sound like when played back on the J37 , and how the J37 will transform the musical rendering.
Before we start testing, let’s take a look at the sleep characteristics of the offen J37. This is your 4-track tape recorder, which uses a one-inch tape width of 2.54 cm. By way of comparison, a 1/4-inch tape recorder like the TEAC A-3440 is also a 4-track tape recorder, but uses a quarter-inch (0.63 cm) tape.
So, the Studer J37 uses a quarter-inch (0.63 cm) for one track, whereas the TEAC 3440 uses 4 tracks.
This is an important element in understanding the quality of this tape recorder, as it’s partly linked to the width of the tape used for each of these tracks, and also to its running speeds of 19/38 cm per second (7.5 or 15 ips).
The characteristics highlight a bandwidth that goes from 30 to 15,000 kHz (+- 2 dB) and a signal-to-noise ratio that is truly exceptional for its period, at around 76 decibels in RMS weighted measure.
To achieve this superb result, the J37 uses tube electronics, with just over 50 tubes used for playback and recording.
Now that we’ve seen the main characteristics of this tape recorder, we’ll proceed to the bandwidth and background noise test to get a feel for the characteristics of this recorder before we do the listening tests.
The above measurement shows an extended bandwidth that attenuates a little above 17 kHz, but remains very linear throughout the spectrum. The background noise is very well controlled, but for its time in 1964, it does better than later tape recorders using only a quarter-inch tape.
The spectrum above shows the response of the Studer J37 (white curve) with a 1 kHz input signal, compared with the original digital signal (blue curve). The background noise and distortion peaks characteristic of analog tape recordings can be seen.
One step before starting testing is qualibration.
Qualibration uses a reference tape to check that the J37 is correctly adjusted.
For the listening section, we’re going to compare samples before and after recording in the J34. We’ll therefore find 10 extracts with different styles, different recording qualities and also different dynamics, some of which are compressed in terms of dynamics, as can be seen in the analysis of waveforms before and after recording.
The waveform from the Studer J37 is more dynamic than the original (See the Dynamic Range table below.). This subject was addressed in this article “Does analog media force a dynamic on music?“, which explains that the use of brickwall limiters, specific to digital, is not compatible with the operation of analog media. After recording, a dynamically compressed sound will come out “more dynamic”. But this phenomenon is due to the fact that analog media should not be treated like digital media with a brickwall limiter. In reality, distortion is generated.
| Original | From Studer J37 | |
| Sample 1 | DR9 | DR13 |
| Sample 2 | DR11 | DR11 |
| Sample 3 | DR12 | DR11 |
| Sample 4 | DR7 | DR8 |
| Sample 5 | DR13 | DR14 |
| Sample 6 | DR12 | DR12 |
| Sample 7 | DR8 | DR10 |
| Sample 8 | DR13 | DR12 |
| Sample 9 | DR8 | DR9 |
| Sample 10 | DR7 | DR10 |
You can compare the digital and Studer J37 versions of 10 samples below. Enjoy your listening.
Sample 1: Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
The sample of the song “Get Lucky” comes from the 24-bit 88.2 kHz Qobuz digital file.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 2: Sinéad O’Connor – I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
The sample of the song “Nothing Compares 2 U” comes from the CD.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 3: Lang Lang – Saint-Saëns
The sample of the song “Carnival of the Animals, R.125: XII. Fossils” comes from the 24-bit 192 kHz Tidal.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 4: Anna Lapwood – Luna
The sample of the song “Flying (From “Peter Pan” Soundtrack)” comes from the 24-bit 96 kHz Tidal.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 5: Dire Straits – On Every Street
The sample of the song “Calling Elvis” comes from the MOFI’s SACD.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 6: Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
The sample of the song “Money” comes from the 24-bit 192 kHz blu-ray.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 7: The Beatles – Red
The sample of the song “Love Me Do” comes from the 24-bit 96 kHz Tidal MAX.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 8: Tears For Tears – The Hurting
The sample of the song “The Hurting” comes from the 24-bit 96 kHz Blu-ray.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 9: Norah Jones – Visions
The sample of the song “Running” comes from the SACD.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
Sample 10: Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s version)
The sample of the song “Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)” comes from the 24-bit 48 kHz Tidal MAX.
The graph below shows the spectra of the original version in blue, and the J37 transfer version in white.
Both samples (24 bits/192 kHz): digital original and transfer to J37.
In a future test, we’ll compare the Arturia TAPE J-37 plug-in emulator with the real J-37 on these 10 songs.
