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Tape Machines Everything Analog

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  #21  
Old 02-16-2018, 01:26 PM
Rex Anderson Rex Anderson is offline
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Thanks for the offer. These days it's more like a case of Lafite....
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  #22  
Old 03-29-2018, 06:40 PM
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FreddieFerric FreddieFerric is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rex Anderson View Post
Thanks for the offer. These days it's more like a case of Lafite....
LOL. Suppose I'll just limp by.
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  #23  
Old 03-30-2018, 03:28 AM
aKnyght aKnyght is offline
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i somewhat remember the r2r in the house when i was a kid. it gave way at some point to an 8-track player (sad!)

just wondering how the average home user back in the day dealt with all the mechanical and electrical calibrations discussed here that are required for quality playback? if i had to guess, if they did anything it was maybe clean the heads infrequently and then just take it in for servicing if/when things got bad.

anyway, long way of saying / asking that its seems like these issues make r2r a technical challenge for users without the necessary tools or experience?

i am curious what current r2r users here are doing for these regular maintenence proceedures?

Last edited by aKnyght; 03-30-2018 at 12:03 PM.
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  #24  
Old 03-30-2018, 01:51 PM
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FreddieFerric FreddieFerric is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aKnyght View Post
i somewhat remember the r2r in the house when i was a kid. it gave way at some point to an 8-track player (sad!)

just wondering how the average home user back in the day dealt with all the mechanical and electrical calibrations discussed here that are required for quality playback? if i had to guess, if they did anything it was maybe clean the heads infrequently and then just take it in for servicing if/when things got bad.

anyway, long way of saying / asking that its seems like these issues make r2r a technical challenge for users without the necessary tools or experience?

i am curious what current r2r users here are doing for these regular maintenence proceedures?
Bear in mind that what Rex Anderson is talking about is maintaining studio tape decks to peak performance, because the commercial nature of the application demanded it. That said, most home enthusiasts only concern themselves with having their deck calibrated only so often at best. That usually occurs when something goes wrong or the deck just starts sounding bad. The easiest way to maintain a vintage deck (assuming that it works properly) is to keep the tape path clean and to use it regularly.

As to the initial question of tape resolution; I think many will be surprised to find out how truly excellent it can be.

Read: https://www.atrtape.com/sound-of-tape/
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  #25  
Old 04-07-2018, 08:49 AM
aKnyght aKnyght is offline
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Originally Posted by FreddieFerric View Post
As to the initial question of tape resolution; I think many will be surprised to find out how truly excellent it can be.

Read: https://www.atrtape.com/sound-of-tape/
some very good information at the ATR link regarding tape resolution - the rest of the site is interesting as well. thanks for posting.

also, thanks for the clarification and further information on the care and feeding of a home r2r - good to know.

general question here: what is the availability of r2r recordings of any type: new, NOS, used? i suspect quite small as i have only been able to uncover a very few places online with each only having a handful of titles.
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  #26  
Old 04-07-2018, 02:59 PM
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FreddieFerric FreddieFerric is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aKnyght View Post
some very good information at the ATR link regarding tape resolution - the rest of the site is interesting as well. thanks for posting.

also, thanks for the clarification and further information on the care and feeding of a home r2r - good to know.

general question here: what is the availability of r2r recordings of any type: new, NOS, used? i suspect quite small as i have only been able to uncover a very few places online with each only having a handful of titles.
A good starting point:

http://tapeproject.com/

https://www.horchhouse.com/mastertapes/

http://store.acousticsounds.com/cat/397/Reel_to_Reel

http://www.openreelrecords.com/

http://www.mastertapesoundlab.com/Ma...Catalogue.html

...And there are others...
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  #27  
Old 04-07-2018, 03:00 PM
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Mark J Mark J is offline
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New prerecorded tapes are produced by The Tape Project. Top Quality, limited.
NOS tapes will be rare
Used are everywhere, both the early 7˝ips and later, tape saving 3-3/4ips with a bit lower sound quality. Finding a nice collection and buying it is a good way to get some prerecorded tapes. They can sound nice. I know ehoove (Jim) has done that and he enjoys listening to tapes now and then. You can see by the pricing that the format is getting more popular.

There are also folks recording certain records or copying tapes and selling them on the bay, copyright infringement, that folks seem to want to buy for way too much money. If I need a tape of something, I'll record it myself.

The current home use of RtR machines is growing and some go to the trouble to have the machines refurbished to work properly. There are some tape technicians out there for the different brands that do excellent work and I was lucky enough to find a Crown SX-724 that got a complete recap and mechanical rebuild then I sent the headblock and the electronics (a 13 pound package, not 65 pound for the whole machine) to the current Crown guru, Chuck Ziska. He lapped the heads (they had a slight bit of wear but are like new now) and installed them and the electronics on one of his transports and set up the bias and eq for the tape of my choice.

Today we see some do that but most are just happy to have a tape machine and then use the deck without getting it set up for a tape. Since these machines were set up for TDK, Maxell, Scotch or Ampex of the 70s they won't be best with today's tape without an adjustment and some older machines might not adjust for the best tapes today.

When I got my first machine, Tandberg 10X, I had it set up for the case of tape I purchased about the same time. Maybe like others, haven't redone that adjustment but the machine has been playback only for a few years, hence the acquisition of the Crown, its easy rebuild and set up, now allowing the recap of the Tandberg.

The look of the reels spinning is just mesmerizing and the sound for these fine machines is very good. Was excellent but cartridges, tonearms and phono amps have gotten better. Digital is not analog so I don't discuss it, it is different.

Last edited by Mark J; 04-07-2018 at 03:04 PM.
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