The sound of analogue tape is still revered, but acquiring and maintaining your own machine presents a unique set of challenges. At least a generation has grown up without hearing high‑quality analogue tape recordings, and with no experience of using reel‑to‑reel machines, but as more people move to digital recording, the old technology is becoming more affordable, and there's a resurgence of interest in tape. There are plenty of reasons to want to use it ('Analogue Warmth' in February's SOS explores them in detail), but buying and maintaining a tape machine can be a minefield for the unwary... Look Before You Leap! Let's start with a reality check. If you want good results, a tape machine can be expensive to run and is likely to become more so over time: there are lots of moving parts in even the simplest machines, and they spend their time slowly wearing themselves out. No big manufacturer has built new machines for years, so some spare parts are