Steve, Ninohernes, Yesman, etc. - 16/24 track 2" Machine Question

I AM NOT currently looking at buying one of these, but I do like analog sound, and they have been appearing with some regularity on Ebay of late, as everyone's goin' digital. SO, that being said, what would be your choice of machine, if money was no issue (or maybe even if it was), based on sonics and/or ease of use and/or reliability. I'd just like to hear some opinions. Seems that the Studers were the kind of defacto quality machine in studios in the 80's, was that justified, or were there better machines available? MCI, Sony, Otari? Just curious, thanks for any input.

P.S. In regards to WHAT kind of music I'm thinking of, rock/pop. To my ears, and to my taste, Pink Floyd represents the pinnacle of good analog rock sound on albums like Wish Your Were Here and THE WALL. I also enjoy the sound of Tom Petty's albums. Early AC/DC lp's. The Eagles. Etc. Dunno if it's audiophile, but I likes it.

 

Well, like I said, I'm not really looking. I will soon begin my first engineering gig for a friend of mine, whose putting an album together, but that's going to be a low budget affair, recorded on a p.c., but I'll take the good luck for that, thank you. I guess my question was more like, what kinda sports car would you like to drive, Corvette or Ferrari? In other words, what kinda machine would you like Studer or 3M, stock or souped up? That kinda thing.

 

I owned a 3M M79 24/16 track in the late 70's early 80's. I could swap head assembly's so I had both formats to use. Yes, the 16 had lower noise, due to wider tracks, thus greater flux energy level to the PB head so more voltage down the head wire so less gain on the preamps, ergo, less playback amp noise output. But a lot of producers/customers wanted the extra 8 tracks to work with, so would sacrifice some tape noise ( hiss ) to get it. In the end, the music production was served before the technical aspects were. I had to work a little harder to keep the noise down, by more closely driving the record levels to near saturation, or muting more channels during mix-down when they were'nt contributing sound, but just hiss. Things like that. RE

 

I would want an Ampex ATR-124 2" 16 track machine. It sounds soooooo good!!! My second choice would be the Ampex MM-1200 2" 16 track, it is almost as good as the ATR-124, but it does not have a pinch rollerless transport like the ATR does. Also, the Ampex machines are VERY reliable. Truly workhorses! Parts are redily available from ATR Service.

My third choice would be an Otari MTR-90, and my foruth choice would be a Studer A820. They sound good, but they are kind of cranky.

Here is a pic of the Ampex MM-1200 2" 24 track

 

Stop it Joe, you got me drooling now

-Aaron

 

Here is a pic, with the doors open

 

I love looking at pictures of these machines!! Speaking of which,....this Studer 24 I've been working on at Tiny Telephone in SF is pretty smooth....

 

You may also find this thread helpful:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=42125