The Reel-to-Reel Rambler

01/06/2026

Just one month after the incredible (and now sold out) RHINO High Fidelity Reel to Reel release of Workingman's Dead, Rhino have done it again!

Don't miss out on this groundbreaking heavy rock / proto-punk cult classic: If you're in the UK this is even on the UK Rhino Store for the ridiculously reasonable price of just £223.

Could this be the coolest master quality reel to reel tape release to date?

Check out thereeltoreelrambler.com for the full review coming soon!

https://store.rhino.com/en-gb/products/fun-house-rhino-high-fidelity-r2r?variant=50735432761590

20/05/2026

Check out my latest review:

Workingman's Dead: undoubtedly one of the most exciting reel to reel releases to date:

Four months feels like an eternity when you’re waiting for something special. But the moment the promised one finally arrives, all that waiting collapses into a faint little shadow behind you. Back…

20/05/2026

It's great to see reel to reel hitting the mainstream hifi press:

https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/forget-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tapes-are-the-last-word-in-sound-quality-and-theyre-making-a-comeback

Forget vinyl, reel-to-reel tapes are the last word in sound quality – and they’re making a comeback.

We’ve had the vinyl revival, now comes the reel renaissance.

10/05/2026

STUNNING NEW Rhino High Fidelity Reel to Reel Reviewed!

The last Friday in April was worth waiting for: as promised many months ago, April was the scheduled release month for the third Rhino Reel to Reel tape: ano...

07/11/2025

Hell, YES…! ‘The Yes Album’ from RHINO High Fidelity Reel-To-Reel – a review

Well, folks, this is the moment! Having championed the resurgence of reel-to-reel tape, with a particular leaning towards ¼” 15ips R2R master copies, for around a decade now, it seems that my Holy Grail has finally materialised…

Not that I’ve been starved of incredible choices, mind. The past ten years have seen some very significant happenings in the world of tape. Analogue Productions launched their awesome Ultra Tape series, Hemiolia did their deal with Ermitage to add some absolute ‘must have’ titles to the reel-to-reel tape catalogue, and then there was the purchase of Horch House by Revox and the introduction of the new Revox B-77 Mk3 R2R tape recorder.

Ten years ago, all this this would’ve seemed like fairy dust, right? ‘Impossible’ dreams! And now perhaps the biggest news of them all, IMHO, is a major record company releasing their own catalogue of reel-to-reel flat master copies. That company is Rhino Entertainment, essentially the back-catalogue division of the Warner Music Group.

The list of labels that fall under the Warner Music Group umbrella makes for a staggering read. For us reel-to-reel fans this is astoundingly exciting news. So, as soon as the announcement came last month, I dived straight in and ordered both of the first new titles! To be honest, I would’ve almost certainly done that regardless of what those titles were, out of curiosity and in order to review them here on my Reel To Reel Rambler webzine. But who knew that one of those two releases would be an album that’s in the top five albums from possibly my all-time favourite band… SHUT. THE. FRONT. DOOR.

To read the full review please visit: https://thereeltoreelrambler.com/2025/11/07/hell-yes-the-yes-album-from-rhino-high-fidelity-reel-to-reel-a-review/

14/10/2025

Rhino High Fidelity announces brand new R2R series – opening with Yes’ ‘The Yes Album’ & T Rex’s ‘Electric Warrior’!

MASSIVE master tape news here folks!!

LA-based Rhino High Fidelity announced on Friday that they’re launching a new Reel-to-Reel (R2R) series of releases, “reviving the legendary reel-to-reel tape format”.

Rhino is a major outfit – basically the archive division of Warner Music Group, so it manages the back catalogue of labels such as Atlantic, Elektra, Parlophone and of course Warner. I’m pretty much beside myself with anticipation here in terms of the possibilities this could bring…

And we’re off to a really promising start, as the first two releases are biggies: T-Rex and Yes!

From the press release: “The series launches today with two landmark titles: T. Rex’s Electric Warrior (1971) and Yes’ The Yes Album (1971). Each release in the series will be limited to 500 copies worldwide and available exclusively at Rhino.com for $299.98, or a bundle of both titles for $569.98.”

“Each title is duplicated in real time from a 1:1 copy of the original flat analog master tape, faithfully reflecting the source. The result is a master-quality listening experience that captures the full dynamics of the recording without the surface noise or groove wear of vinyl. Produced to the IEC standard on premium RTM LPR90 tape stock and housed on 10.5-inch reels, these 15 i.p.s. half-track 1/4″ reel-to-reel tapes releases are designed for exceptional longevity when stored in a cool, clean place away from magnetic fields.”

Obviously I got straight in there and pre-ordered both titles and I can’t wait to discover how they sound. Watch this space for reviews and videos to come…

If you’re in the market, don’t hang about – I can’t imagine those limited edition runs of 500 will stay ‘on the shelves’ for too long. Here are the links you need:

https://www.rhino.com/article/the-return-of-reel-to-reel-rhino-high-fidelity-announces-brand-new-series-with-yes-the-yes

https://store.rhino.com/en/rhino-store/special-edition-shops/reel-to-reel/

LAUNCHING TODAY WITH T. REX’S ELECTRIC WARRIOR AND YES’ THE YES ALBUM, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES EACH AND AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT RHINO.COM

30/05/2025

The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out is one of those absolute essential jazz classics. I’d personally rate it right up there alongside Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue as one of those albums that even non-jazz fans are likely to know, listen to and enjoy, if not have in their collection.

Released in 1959 (as was Kind of Blue), Time Out was an instant hit, and of course the mega hit track on the album – ‘Take Five’ – is undoubtedly one of the most well-known and much-loved jazz compositions of all time.

Time Out was certainly a massive favourite of mine when I first started listening to jazz. It wasn’t quite the first jazz album I bought, but it was one I got very into very early on.

Several years later, let’s say around fifteen years ago, I’d amassed around ten different pressings of this classic album, as had my very dear friend, the late Tony Bolton (who some of you will know as a hi-fi reviewer). At one point, Tony and I decided to meet up and conduct the ultimate ‘shoot out’ of the 13 or so different pressings of the album that we had between us. As you can imagine, this proved to be a pretty enlightening experience (and a whole heap of fun!). From then onwards, I began targeting my ongoing record collecting towards earlier – and ideally original – pressings. Why? Because the outcome of our test was both interesting and conclusive.

Now, another decade later Hemiolia records have released this seminal album on 15ips 2-track tape: a 1:1 copy of a new 2024 all-analogue master by Hemiolia's Pietro Benini. And how does it sound? You'll have to read my full review to find out!

https://thereeltoreelrambler.com/2025/05/30/review-dave-brubeck-quartets-seminal-time-out-on-copy-master-tape-from-hemiolia-records/

25/03/2025

Unboxing a new delivery from Hemiolia records: part 1 of 4.
Sketches of Spain

14/02/2025

Review: Tibor Varga 100th Anniversary from Swiss label Triston Masters.

I came across this one pretty much by accident – or, depending on how you look at things, by one of those roundabout, serendipitous routes. I’d been in conversation with Horch House’s Volker Lange about various things, and happened to notice that he’d taken on distribution of tapes from a Swiss ‘ultra-purist’ label called Triston Masters (I’ve also written another blog to accompany this one, Introducing Triston Masters, which includes a bit of an interview with its owner Jürg Schopper).

Anyway, anyone who’s described as ‘ultra-purist’ is always going to pique my interest, so I had a chat with Volker about checking them out and asked him for a steer on which recording to start with to get a good flavour of their work. He recommended Tibor Varga, along with ‘Might of Coincidence’ – neither of which I’d heard of – and I’ll write more about the latter in another ramble / blog a bit later. First, let’s start with Tibor Varga.

Like I said, I’d never heard of Tibor Varga until now but as soon as I started on a bit of Googling, I realised that perhaps I ought to, since he has quite a cult following and looks to be widely regarded and highly acclaimed...

to read the full story please visit: https://thereeltoreelrambler.com/2025/02/12/review-tibor-varga-100th-anniversary-from-swiss-label-triston-masters/

14/02/2025

Introducing: Swiss tape label Triston Masters, from Jürg Schopper.

There are few things I love more than discovering a ‘new’ (i.e. new to me) source of music on reel-to-reel tape, and then sharing my discovery with you folks here on The Reel-to-Reel Rambler. In true rambling man style, it gives me a great excuse to delve into the details and the back-story, and to seek to meet, or at least chat or exchange a few emails with, the folks behind the label. If a trouble shared is a trouble halved, then perhaps a pleasure shared is a pleasure doubled!

So here’s my latest discovery: Triston Masters, a Swiss record label whose website says is “dedicated to the analogue domain with a passion for the duplication of music audio tapes from the original master tape”. It also refers to an archive of numerous, very rare original recordings for which it has been able to acquire licenses, and the best of which it plans offer on record and some on tape in the future. So far, so promising…

At the helm of the label is Jürg Schopper, who says, “As a passionate music lover, I have fulfilled my wish to turn my passion and hobby into my career.” Right off the bat, we have something in common. Digging a bit deeper, I discover that Jürg is degree-level trained in electronics and had quite a successful career as a musician before taking over the family audio business – for the full story please visit: https://thereeltoreelrambler.com/2025/02/12/introducing-swiss-tape-label-triston-masters-from-jurg-schopper/