Analog Audio Design

THE FUTURE OF REEL-TO-REEL IS BEING BUILT IN FRANCE

Reel-To-Reel tape has returned to the highest levels of high-fidelity audio, but Analog Audio Design is not simply recreating the machines of the past.

The French manufacturer is building a new generation of open-reel tape players and recorders from the ground up, combining traditional analogue principles with modern precision mechanics, microprocessor control, touchscreen operation, remote access and contemporary electronics.

Based in Pleumeur-Bodou, Brittany, Analog Audio Design was founded by engineer Christophe Martinez, whose background included around 25 years developing flight-simulator electronics and software before he later worked with Mulann / Recording The Masters. He then spent four years developing the original TP-1000 platform.

This was not conceived as a cosmetic revival of a vintage recorder.

Martinez developed the machine’s mechanical architecture, equalisation and gain electronics, tape path, transport control and a sophisticated strain-gauge tape-tension system. The TP-1000 also introduced a large multifunction touchscreen as the control centre of the reel-to-reel tape machine.

INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL RECOGNITION

The specialist press quickly took notice.

The Absolute Sound devoted a major review to the TP-1000 in its July/August 2024 issue. Reviewer Jonathan Valin highlighted the unusual combination of modern usability and serious analogue engineering, later selecting the TP-1000 for a 2024 Golden Ear Award. The model also appeared again among The Absolute Sound’s Editors’ Choice selections for 2026.

French magazine Diapason described the TP-1000 as an extraordinary engineering achievement, particularly praising the remarkable silence and precision of its tape transport and the sense of unrestricted bandwidth and dynamics when reproducing master tapes.

Classica Magazine also reviewed the machine, noting how its outwardly traditional reel-to-reel appearance conceals thoroughly modern technology, including its touchscreen interface, Ethernet connection, remote-control functionality and software-update capability.

Haute Fidélité presented the TP-1000 as the uncompromising project of an engineer determined to manufacture a new tape machine in Brittany, praising both its mechanical precision and its analogue reproduction.

More recently, Positive Feedback produced an extensive evaluation of the TP-1000. The reviewer praised its modern interface, extensive control facilities, quiet transport and exceptionally smooth operation, ultimately describing its sonic performance as “spectacular.”

That praise is significant because the TP-1000 was being considered alongside decades of experience with classic professional machines and modern rebuilds. Positive Feedback specifically highlighted how ANALOG AUDIO DESIGN had chosen a far more difficult route: designing a genuinely new reel-to-reel platform rather than simply restoring or modifying an existing Studer, Ampex, Revox or Tascam chassis.

ANALOG AUDIO DESIGN - THE NEXT GENERATION

And now Analog Audio Design is moving the REEL TO REEL TAPE RECORDING forward again.

AAD TP-1100 - REFERENCE TAPE PLAYER

The new TP-1100 extends the playback concept into a three-speed machine supporting:

30 ips / 76.2 cm/s
15 ips / 38.1 cm/s
7½ ips / 19.05 cm/s

It remains a ¼-inch, two-track, two-channel machine accommodating reels up to approximately 30 cm / 11.8 inches. AAD specifies speed accuracy within ±0.05%, while the reel motors have evolved to direct-drive DC servo operation.

That 30 ips capability is especially important. It places the TP-1100 much closer to the operating territory traditionally associated with professional mastering and studio machines.

The familiar AAD philosophy remains: precise tape handling, microprocessor management, professional connectivity and a contemporary user interface without sacrificing the physical and sonic character that makes magnetic tape unique.

AAD TR-1100 - REEL TAPE RECORDING RETURNS

The more important development may be the forthcoming TR-1100, scheduled by Analog Audio Design for availability from November 2026.

After approximately five years of development, the TR-1100 brings full professional-quality recording and playback to the new-generation AAD platform.

And this is where the machine becomes particularly interesting.

The TR-1100 incorporates an integrated:

Waveform generator
Audio analyser

These are used for automatic calibration of:

Bias
Recording level
Equalisation

That potentially transforms one of the traditionally most demanding aspects of professional analogue recording. Instead of relying entirely on manual alignment procedures, the recorder is designed to optimise itself for the tape formulation being used.

The TR-1100 retains the professional ¼-inch, 2-track / 2-channel architecture and supports the same three speeds:

30 ips / 15 ips / 7½ ips

For serious studios, archivists and analogue recording enthusiasts, this makes the TR-1100 far more than simply a luxury playback machine.

It is intended as a genuine modern recording instrument.

⚙️ MODERN ENGINEERING — ANALOGUE PURPOSE

What separates Analog Audio Design from many contemporary reel-to-reel projects is that the company is not simply restoring historical technology.

The original TP-1000 already incorporated features rarely associated with traditional tape machines:

Touchscreen control
Microprocessor-controlled tape management
Switchable NAB / IEC equalisation
Selectable reference levels
Balanced XLR connectivity
Ethernet / RJ45 interface
Remote operation
Firmware updating
Precision pitch and winding control

The TP-1000 specification included switchable 320 nWb/m and 514 nWb/m reference levels, professional XLR connections and network access for control and firmware updates.

The TP-1100 develops this engineering further, particularly with its new reel-motor arrangement and 30 ips capability.

🎛️ OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES

AAD also offers dedicated accessories, including the:

RC-1000 Remote Control

and a 19-inch rack accessory for installation-oriented systems.

The RC-1000 extends the modern-operability philosophy of the machines, allowing essential transport functions to be controlled away from the front panel.

EDITORIAL VIEW

What makes Analog Audio Design particularly important to the reel-to-reel renaissance is not simply that it manufactures new tape machines.

It is the philosophy behind them.

For much of the analogue revival, reel-to-reel enthusiasts have depended on machines originally manufactured 40, 50 or even 60 years ago. Studer, Telefunken, Ampex, Revox, Otari and Tascam built extraordinary equipment, but servicing, component ageing, calibration and parts availability inevitably become part of ownership.

Analog Audio Design asks a different question:

What would a serious reel-to-reel machine look like if we designed it today?

The answer combines the physical principles that made professional analogue tape so compelling with control systems, electronics and usability that simply did not exist during the golden age of magnetic recording.

The TP-1000 proved that this concept could work.

The TP-1100 now extends playback to 30 ips.

The TR-1100 brings recording back into the equation with automatic bias, record-level and EQ calibration.

That progression makes Analog Audio Design one of the most interesting contemporary companies working in magnetic recording.

Not because it is trying to reproduce the past.

Because it is trying to determine what reel-to-reel should become next.

ANALOG AUDIO DESIGN - THE RETURN OF THE OPEN-REEL MASTER MACHINE

OpenReelToReel Hub - music selected for the machines capable of revealing it.

Keeping the Reel-to-Reel Renaissance in Motion.

Made in Brittany, France - Engineered for master tape.
Designed for the future of analogue recording and playback.

The reel-to-reel renaissance is no longer only about preserving classic machines. It is also about creating the next generation.