Quote Originally Posted by ralpht View Post
Yes, in its most simple sense, the tape moves quickly over the heads and this allows the sound to "breathe" and not distort.
It's better for high frequencies. And, since there is less tape hiss at higher speeds, there is no need for the use of noise reduction like Dolby or dbx, although there are many 30 i.p.s. [[inches per second) masters or copies that were encoded with them.

The problem with using noise reduction is that one has to have the same unit and have it perfectly calibrated for the tape. It is more often used on 15 i.p.s. tape.

The reason an engineer would use 15 i.p.s. tape, [[as Motown typically did in the 60s) was to conserve tape. Also, some producers today like the bass bump around 260 Hz.

Ralph, I believe 30 i.p.s. came into fashion somewhere in the mid-70s.