AXPONA 2024

With AXPONA a little over a week away, we wanted to get an early jump on looking at some of the cool new products we expect to be checking out firsthand at the show. First up, we’re already quite intrigued by French manufacturer Analog Audio Design’s TP-1000 reel-to-reel player, which is finally making its stateside debut after being introduced in Munich last year.

According to Analog Audio Design, the TP-1000 consists of a “completely new mechanical-electrical design” that took the company five years of development before it reached production in early 2023. Following its aforementioned Munich 2023 debut, AAD’s open reel-to-reel player is finally available domestically, having already made its presence known stateside at the Southwest Audio Fest in Dallas in mid-March, prior to what we’ll see of it in person soon enough at AXPONA.

The TP-1000 is a 1/4-inch 2-track tape player — not a recorder, though AAD does offer one (the TR-1000) — and it supports 15ips and 7.5ips speeds, with switchable NAB or IEC EQ curves. The unit offers a “completely new” DC motor, sports a belt-drive design with a microprocessor for precision mechanical control, and it boasts a more modern-looking touchscreen display and user interface. The overall design and performance goals for the TP-1000 are, in Analog Audio Design’s own words, “inspired by the tape flagship [models] from Studer, Telefunken, and Tascam.”

All of the TP-1000’s mechanical parts are made in the company’s own facilities, and “all units” are assembled in their HQ in the northern region of Bretagne in France. The belt-driven reels and capstan using low-torque, Swiss-made DC motors “in the best Studer Digitec tradition,” as AAD puts it. The constant tape tension is microprocessor-controlled, in combination with a “unique” strain-gauge design that is said to maintain voltage within 1ms and with an accuracy of 0.5g.

Besides the touchscreen indicators for all of its playback parameters, the TP-1000 also features two classic VU meters. AAD supplies an optional infrared remote for the player, but the TP-1000 itself sports an RJ45/Ethernet interface so that it can be controlled via Wi-Fi on a smartphone or tablet. The integrated web server also enables internal firmware updates and external maintenance.

Some additional company background now. Analog Audio Design was founded by Christophe Martinez in France in 2020. An engineer with extensive experience in electronics and firmware who worked on flight simulator design for 25 years, Martinez also had previous association with the Mulann Group, the French industrial conglomerate that “currently holds all the knowledge and the processes for high-quality magnetic tape that originated in Europe,” and owns the (all one word) RecordingTheMasters brand.

Finally, the Analog Audio Design TP-1000 reel-to-reel tape player has an SRP of $26,000. Undaunted by that price, we are very much looking forward to experiencing this tape player in person in the Pro Audio Listening Room section at AXPONA.

For more about Analog Audio Design, go here.
To find out how to order an TP-1000 direct, go here.