Do you ever record to 24 channel analog tape? I never have, although I've seen it done. I think it would be fun to experiment with, but I don't have a reel to reel.
Never recorded to one but had to clean the the heads, and check the tape alignment on one at a recording studio I worked at back in the early 80's, running 2" tape. It was an old MCI tape machine that ran at 30" per sec. to keep the S/N ratio at a minimum between the tracks. Luckly I never had to adjust the bias on the individual tracks on the cards down below. When recording it looked like it was recording on fast forward, it blew my mind the first time I saw it in action. After that I've always been amazed at how fast the ampex tape ran through that machine.