Ampex machine's high price tag. Ampex sold only about 50 or 60 ATR-124 machines, and withdrew from the professional audio tape recorder market entirely in 1983. By the 1990s, Ampex focused more on video recorders, instrumentation recorders, and data recorders. In 1991, Ampex sold their professional audio recorder line to Sprague Magnetics. The Ampex Recording Media Corporation spun off in 1995 as Quantegy Inc.; that company has ceased producing recording tape. Starting in the early 1950s, RCA, Bing Crosby and others tried to record analog video on very fast-moving magnetic tape. As early as 1952, Ampex developed prototype video tape recorders
Sunset Sound Recorders 200 Gold records have been recorded at Sunset Sound, including Prince's "Purple Rain", the Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main St.", the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds", Linda Ronstadt's "Don't Cry Now", part of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy", Janis Joplin's posthumously-released "Pearl", and hit albums for Elton John, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. In addition, the Doors recorded their first two albums, "The Doors" and "Strange Days", at the studio. In 1981, Sunset Sound Recorders owner Camarata purchased The Sound Factory, another Los Angeles recording studio founded by Moonglow Records and later purchased and developed by David Hassinger. The two studios