wjm (04/17/83)
The main reason half speed mastering improves recording quality is because by slowing a recording down by a factor of 2 it also reduces the power requirements by a factor of 4. Even though the Neumann lathes used by high quality record companies have 200 w/ch amps they can clip on things like the cannons in the '1812'. This way, one has 4 times the headroom and much less distortion. As a bonus, one can cut at higher levels and improve the S/N ratio.