Originally invented in Germany in the 1920's, reel to reel player recorders have a long history. The format had no name, originally, since it was used by all forms of sound recorders at the time. However, with the advent of cartridges and cassettes in the 1960's it became known as reel to reel tape recording to distinguish the format.
American audio engineer Jack Mullin, with assistance from Bing Crosby, developed the reel to reel player recorder format commercially in the late 1940s. The
system he developed was originally meant for film sound track recording
and was in itself a development of the format conceived by German
companies Telefunken and BASF in 1934.
Many artists, even today, prefer the natural, warm sound of reel to reel player recorders.
The harmonic distortion, which causes the bass to thicken up and the
high end to become slightly depressed, gives the illusion of a fuller
sound, which is a more natural effect to the human ear. It is not
uncommon for artists to re-record digital tracks to analog reels. Many
rock and blues artists find the unique form of distortion, caused by
tape saturation, very pleasing.
Today it is still possible to acquire vintage reel to reel tape recorders that have been manufactured by Akai, Pioneer, Ampex, Revox, Sony, Teac, Toshiba and many others and it is still a popular way to record and listen to music sound tracks.