Talk to me a about reel to reel tape

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by dnuggett, Sep 27, 2014.

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  1. MrRom92

    MrRom92 Forum Supermodel

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    I should mention that the rumored deck in question is actually referring to a newly designed/manufactured machine and to my knowledge has nothing to do with the offerings from J-Corder or UHA. Which are, as you've mentioned, refurbished decks. Very good ones if I may add.
     
  2. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Yes, but the rumored deck is not all new. A certain company by the name of Studer since the takeover by Harman does not have the ability to make new machines. ReVox hasn't made a machine in some years (since 1996) Nagra is not making new ones nor StellaVox. So, that is your big 3 Swiss tape machine makers. Only Otari is offering an all new open reel machine. And they are not Swiss, but Japanese.
     
  3. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I've thought about it over the years - I always wanted a good rtr deck when I was a kid - but a bunch of consumer-grade tapes have to be on the verge of wearing out at this point. And if it's recording you want to do - of vinyl or whatever - you'd be better off investing in a good 24-bit, 192kHz A/D converter.
     
    rockclassics likes this.
  4. Shak Cohen

    Shak Cohen Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    A great deck for SQ is a Nagra IV-S. Only drawback is that it's designed for 5" reels which would mean very short running times at 15ips (the real deal), although you can get adaptors that will fit larger reels I believe.
    Very, very robust, iconic and classy, very easy to operate and switch between speeds CCIR and NAB EQs. I would love to own one. I consider myself lucky to be within travelling distance of Surrey, there is a company there called Richmond Film Services who have been servicing, maintaining and hiring out Nagras for decades.
    I got one for a weekend back in 2012, to use as a mixdown deck to 'warm up' some DAT and CDR mixes of my project. I took the deck to a mastering studio I use (loaded it into Sadie Workstation). My ME was suitably impressed - and he's a real analog cynic - the sound was rich, wide, full and dynamic and had no hiss whatsoever! It made the mastering process so much easier.
     
  5. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Another good domestic RTR that's been used as master tape recorder and effects unit ( fripp) is the Revox G36 (12 tube monster ).
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  6. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Nagra IV-S is 1/2 track Stereo. It was manufactured for field recording and film sound. And does not play back 1/4 track pre-recorded tapes. And parts severely expensive. Overkill for home use.
     
  7. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    The G36 is an amazing little machine, very well built, not to mention wonderful fidelity. I purchased one from ebay back in 2002 from someone who said is was calibrated and lined up by a former Studer tech. Well, when it arrived it was in nice cosmetic condition, but this was an ebay disaster. The left channel would not record at all, and the rt channel playback level was very low. He included spare tubes, nice because there were two Amperex Bugle Boy 12ax7 and Philips 12at7.

    The short story, I refurbished it, cleaned all the tube sockets, cleaned all switches, micro polished the contacts, (no sandpaper, a no no) lightly buffed out the plastic parts with 3M professional micropolish (love that stuff) got the brakes working properly (soaked the bands, oil contamination) and had to replace an A77 roller guide that did not fit exactly right. The seller did ship the original non-roller guide, thankfully.

    So the G36 was practically stripped to the frame, put it back together, lined up the heads, and THEN it operated perfectly. I was stunned by the sound quality it produced. Eventually I had to sell to pay the bills. MY buyer received a beautiful vintage tape recorder. It shipped to South Korea.

    The pics are on disc, I'll post when I find it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2014
    alexpop likes this.
  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Sony TC377 great bang fOr a buck rtr in 1974.
     
  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    I've got two, one HS.
     
  10. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    Here is the G36 I refurb'd, the photos are bluish, taken with a 2.0 mp HP camera (not very good)
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
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    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2014
    alexpop and vinyl13 like this.
  11. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    What a beauty! What was that upside-down ECC82/12AU7 for? First amp out of the heads?

    What kind of brakes, something trouble free? (My old Teac had leather pads, not the best design at all.)

    That thing is a tank. I was looking at specs and it isn't far from mid-'70s nicer gear, mostly in S/N.
     
  12. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    Thank you Bob, looking at the schematic to refresh my memory, the first stage from the pb head is V 10, ECC83, the shielded tube second from the bottom as viewed in the photo. The upside down tube is V12, the bias oscillator for the Rec and Erase heads. From what I remember, this was back in 2005, the brake lining was a densely woven cotton-like material, not sure of the exact material. So to be on the safe side, I soaked them in regular dish soap solution without additives, (Ajax) to not disturb the glue. The linings were in excellent condition other than being contaminated by oil, only a minute amount will cause the brakes to slip excessively. Once rinsed and dried, they were good as new.

    The G36 electronics is engineering genius and a work of art. The first time I opened it up, I was impressed by its tidiness and simplicity of the layout and absence of messy wiring harnesses. I found it to be very easy to service!
     
    BuddhaBob likes this.
  13. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Also, remember these necessary facts on open reel!

    Is the machine in top condition?
    Can I get spare parts?
    Can I get service?
    Is the deck reliable?
    Is the machine well built?

    Right now, I recommend these machines!

    1/4 track!

    ReVox A 77
    ReVox B 77
    A series Teac
    Pioneer RT 707
    Pioneer RT 909
    Crown 700 series
    Crown 800 series
    Other Pioneers

    1/2 track!

    ReVox A 77
    ReVox B 77
    ReVox PR 99
    Otari MX 5050 B II or B III
    Crown 700 series
    Crown 800 series
    Teac A 7300 aka Ampex ATR 700
    Most Tascam machines save for those which use Teac X series transports

    Machines I do not recommend as a rule

    Akai anything
    Teac X series
    Looks Decks (especially as they are overpriced late models which fetch more than their useful value)
    Sony single motor decks (pressure pads, shorter head life, idlers and rubber cost more than their worth)
    Technics (very hard to find parts, no better performance than a stock Otari MX 5050 which is better supported)
    Tandberg machines post joystick control models
    Fostex anything
    Dokorder anything (last models OK but unobtainable parts)
    B&O Belcanto or Beocord open reel
    ReVox A 700 (very hard to get IC chips and rare parts)
     
  14. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    A couple of those Revox have unobtainium IC chips in them, although I seem to recall someone having a discrete circuit DIY replacement. Also, if you can find a X- at a reasonable price and working well, it may be good bang for the buck. I love my Teac X-2000M. Records/plays 2 track and playback 4 track. If it did 3.75ips I wouldn't keep any other machine around.

    The X- Teacs have unobtanium chips also, but should be less expensive than almost any working Revox and work well for someone wanting to get into R2R.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2014
  15. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    ReVox A and B 77 machines will outlast X-1000 or X-2000 machines. X-2000 headblock is also a poor design which causes uneven head wear. X-1000 the better of the two. But not built to the standards of say, the A 7300 (the best Teac deck made, actually a Teac made Ampex design, the ATR 700). ReVox A and B 77 parts supply among the easiest to get of any machine made. The ReVox A 700 does have some unobtainable IC chips in that.
     
  16. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    Agree with all and I must have read about the A700 in commenting earlier. My main point was that for a newbie it might be easier to find a Teac X- at a reasonable price. You get what you pay for, absolutely. Especially if you can personally inspect the heads and the operation of the machine, an X-series can be a great machine for someone who isn't going to run it ragged. My X-2000M has no problems with the heads and it came from a community theatre with moderate use. Perhaps the auto-reverse models suffered more from the headblock design problems? A Teac 6010 is also a good choice. One thing about the X-2000M that makes it so much better than my A-2300SD, 3440 or 3340S is the tape handling. The old design Teacs had wonky braking. Still love my 2300SD though.
     
  17. DaveyF

    DaveyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    La Jolla, Calif
    I LOVE vinyl:righton:, BUT I have to state that at its best, reel to reel/tape can sound better to my ears.
    I have been contemplating getting into R to R, BUT so far I am still on the fence as to how...and the cost involved.
    So, perhaps members here who enjoy and use R to R can show us their set ups. I would like to get to know more about the way to enter into the world of reel to reel along with the pluses and minuses:-popcorn:.
     
    Mister Charlie likes this.
  18. smctigue

    smctigue Forum Resident

  19. crimsondonkey

    crimsondonkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midlands, UK
    Revox are good starters. Easy to use and domestic professional quality. I've got a B77 with 7 1/2 and 15 ips speeds and it sounds sublime. Make sure you buy one properly serviced and set up.
     
  20. Jack Flannery

    Jack Flannery Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    I bought a Revox some time ago and don't even know why. Tape is too expensive so It sits. If you were in Houston, I would give it to you.
     
  21. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Open-reel recording always sounds better than its LP counterpart ... :agree:
     
    Mister Charlie likes this.
  22. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    I really like my Teac A-2340 4-track!
     
    Mister Charlie likes this.
  23. I bought a Pioneer RT-909 about 4 months or so ago, but haven't yet done anything with it. :hide:

    [​IMG]
     
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  24. Captain Wiggette

    Captain Wiggette Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    See also: http://www.tapeheads.net/forumdisplay.php?f=4

    I have a Reel to Reel machine, it looks nice, but I haven't done much with it either. The challenge is getting high quality material to play on it, which is very expensive. Someday when I have a lot of money I might get a really nice machine and play around with it, but for now it's definitely still a pricey and very niche area.
     
    Johnny Vinyl likes this.
  25. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I sold mine to my HS buddy 40 years ago. He told me it is still working great. Back in the day, the deck was entirely built in Japan using only Japanese parts ... :righton::agree:
     
    action pact likes this.
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