Editing Tape recorder (section)

=== Modern tape recorders ===
[[File:Ton S.b, tape unit.jpg|thumb|right|Magnetophon from a German radio station in World War II]]
Magnetic tape recording as we know it today was developed in Germany during the 1930s at [[BASF]] (then part of the chemical giant [[IG Farben]]) and [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] in cooperation with the state radio [[Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft|RRG]].  This was based on [[Fritz Pfleumer]]'s 1928 invention of paper tape with oxide powder lacquered onto it. The first practical tape recorder from [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] was the [[Magnetophon K1]], demonstrated in Berlin, Germany in 1935. {{ill|Eduard Schüller (engineer)|lt=Eduard Schüller|de}} of AEG built the recorders and developed a ring-shaped recording and playback head.  It replaced the needle-shaped head which tended to shred the tape. Friedrich Matthias of IG Farben/BASF developed the recording tape, including the oxide, the binder, and the backing material. Walter Weber, working for {{ill|Hans Joachim von Braunmühl|de}} at the RRG, discovered the [[AC bias]]ing technique, which radically improved sound quality.<ref name="fenster"/>

During [[World War II]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] noticed that certain German officials were making radio broadcasts from multiple time zones almost simultaneously.<ref name="fenster"/> Analysts such as [[Richard H. Ranger]] believed that the broadcasts had to be transcriptions, but their audio quality was indistinguishable from that of a live broadcast<ref name="fenster"/> and their duration was far longer than was possible even with 16&nbsp;rpm transcription discs.{{efn|The Allies were aware of the existence of the pre-war Magnetophon recorders, but not of the introduction of high-frequency [[Tape bias|bias]] and PVC-backed tape.<ref>Information from ''BBC Engineering 1922–1972'' by Edward Pawley, page 387.</ref>}} In the final stages of the war in Europe, the Allies' capture of a number of German [[Magnetophon]] recorders from [[Radio_Luxembourg#World_War_II|Radio Luxembourg]] aroused great interest. These recorders incorporated all the key technological features of modern analog magnetic recording and were the basis for future developments in the field.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}