We have recently recorded one of our bands rehearsals with a few dedicated microphones to get a better sound than with the Zoom H1 which we are normally using. We had one large condenser mic for the drums, one shure sm57 for both guitar amps and a DI box from Atelier der Tonkunst for the bass, recorded through a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 into Reaper.
We had a few nice ideas for new songs which were recorded and later mixed by me. Then I thought I will do something special and record one of those jams onto a compact cassette via a ONKYO Integra TA-6711 tapedeck just to see how it would sound.
I connected the tapedeck to my Focusrite interface, recorded the song straight from Reaper onto a Sony chrome cassette and then recorded it back into reaper from the cassette.
I tried to match the two resulting files in average loudness (RMS) and would like to know if people can figure out which is which by just listening to the two versions, without looking at the waveforms because that would give it away I guess. Just try to listen to it back and forth. Personally I was surprised how close both versions are and have doubts whether I could tell them apart on cheap headphones.
So remember, its just a rehearsal room jam – not a finished song, right? Here are the two 24bit/48kHz aiff files for you. Let me know in the comments which one you think is which and I will resolve it in a few days:
Bonus Question: Which one do you like better?