Update: I stopped cleaning up my 4-track hiss and the tapes actually sound better
I used to run every demo through noise removal on my Tascam 424 to kill the tape hiss. Last month I left it alone on a 7 song batch I recorded in my buddy Dale's basement in Akron, and the drums punch through way harder now. The hiss was kind of gluing the whole mix together and the cleaned up versions sound thin and dead to me. Anyone else leave their tape noise in on purpose, or am I just used to the mud at this point?