There is a photograph often circulated on social media of a cassette tape and a pencil lying side by side. The caption says something to the effect that kids today have no clue about the connection between the two. Yet for those of us above a certain age, the image never fails to elicit a smile. For true audiophiles, though, analogue sound is no smiling matter—sales of vinyl records have never been higher over the past few decades, and there are whispers that even the cassette might nudge its way back. Analogue sound and magnetic tapes are serious business because nothing else can replicate the experience of “being there”. As Roland Schneider of Ballfinger said, “Digital media is great, but experiencing music is more than just listening to a sound file—it’s sensual, it’s reels that turn and can be touched.”

In fact, the German design house Ballfinger recently caused much excitement in the hard-core audiophiles’ camp with their Ballfinger M063 open-reel tape and record players, a customisable machine with design and build quality that is second to none. This is good news for serious sound connoisseurs not only because the M063 eliminates the need to track down and tinker with antique players to play their tapes, but because Ballfinger haven’t simply reproduced a piece of vintage hardware—this is a modern machine, with specially created components, and a new tape-tensioning system that makes it easier to wind the spools. Make no mistake, this is as high-end as you get.

As for the technical stuff, the M063 is an analogue two-channel tape recorder and player. It has a digital display, a dynamic three-motor drive that runs at 7.5 or 15 inches per second, and an aluminium chassis with front and rear panels that can tilt upwards. It can play reels up to 30cm, and its low-noise amplifier technology with minimal distortion delivers the promised sound quality.

Ballfinger offers four models of the M063 reel-to-reel tape recorder—H1, H3, H5 and HX. As you might have guessed, it isn’t cheap. Prices range from $11,500 to $25,000, automatically putting it out of range of the casual hobbyist. Apart from the H1, the others can be completely customised. The top model also comes with an editing system and wooden side panels in black, white and walnut. Though the makers have set their sights on audio professionals as the target audience, but the machine can be configured easily for use by mere mortals.

Reel-to-reel tapes were the mainstay of the professional audio industry for most of the 20th century, peaking around the 1960s and petering out from the 1990s onwards when digital sound made things easier and cheaper. Even today, audiophiles who yearn for the pureness of high-fidelity analogue sound have their jobs cut out trying to source tapes to play on their vintage hardware. The few manufacturers who do produce tapes are also hampered by astronomical production costs. As a result, breathtaking though the sound quality might be, tapes could can upwards of $500 each.