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Quadraphonic open reel tape

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A 4-channel reel-to-reel tape unit from the 1970s, one of the few ways to achieve true 4-channel sound at home

Quadraphonic open reel tape or Q4 was the first medium for 4-channel sound recording and playback. It was based on reel-to-reel tape, and was first used in European electronic-music studios by 1954[1] and introduced to the American market by the Vanguard Recording Society in June 1969 as "Quadraphonic open reel tape (Q4)" tapes.[2]

All available 4 tracks where used in one direction on the ¼-inch tape, playing at a speed of 7½ inches per second (twice the speed of the regular 4-Track reel to reel tapes).[3][4] The 4 fully discrete tracks had full-bandwidth (unlike Q8 cartridges which had limited dynamic range).

Like other quadraphonic formats, it was unsuccessful and had disappeared by the late 1970s.

References