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Reel to reel Tape Recorders

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RODALCO

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Does anyone on this forum still use Reel to Reel Tape Recorders ?

I admit that I do, and enjoy watching the reels turn around.
I copy CD tracks or Vinyl onto 3 or 6 hour reel to reel Tapes and mix them all up.
I use an Akai GX 620 almost daily and a Akai GX 747 occasionally, I need to check the relays on the reverse option which sometimes drop one channel out.
Then i have an older Akai 4000DS MkII and an X201D which are 7" machines in good working order.
Also a Philips N 4450 i have under repair and suffers from logic control problems.

Just interesting to know that there are still more analogue music lovers around.

Regards, Raymond
 
I used to love my old tape to tape recorders and still have an original "Sgt Peppers" album on tape somewhere.

Not used one for probably 20 years now though.
 
I love analog audio.
Some peoples still use tub preamps for their warm sound. When a reel to reel is over driven the distortion is much less than a digital recorder. I miss sitting in front of a studio R-R with a magnet trying to fade out a bad note in a song.

Now days:
I have and am looking for more audio processing gear that will add the peak limiting of a tub preamp or the soft limiting of tape. I do miss the warm sound.

I love recording 16 tracks at a time and then using 30 or more tracks in the final mix. I do not miss 2” tape. I do not miss tape hiss. For the ‘practice tape’ the girls love CDs. They love to sing while driving and can jump from sing 3 to 9 with the push of a button.

I remember the day I retired the reel to reels. It was a hard day.
 
I used to use nothing but open reel and had two REVOX 10" reel units with NAB hubs. Excellent units. Now I use a Teac reel to reel which performs nicely, but to be honest, as far as tape medium goes, audio cassettes have advanced so far that they are far more convenient and sound just as good aside from the very high-end broadcast/studio grade reel decks.
 
I love the sound of vinyl. To my mind, it's an aesthetic that is pointless to argue, for instance, in comparison to CDs. Yeah, the integrity of the original recording might be better preserved in a digital format, but there's something special about having the only Frampton record that does that little pop every time it gets to the second chorus of "Do You Feel..."

I don't know if it's because it's vinyl, or the original recording, or how it was EQed for the movie, but the soundtrack to Shawn of the Dead* has this great part with a (I think) Chicago song. It's only on for about two seconds, but if anyone knows can they clue me as to whether that sounds like a realistic representation of the original recording, even as it might exist on CD? I just love the sound at that part in the movie - takes me back.

*As I was thinking about it just now, there's a subliminal commentary to this movie on vinyl. Anyone who's seen the movie knows what I'm talking about: the juke box in the pub, the late-night scratching session, the attempt to use vinyl to kill zombies. What's the message? I dunno, maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens.
 
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It is Fine Rodalco,
I feel finally music is analog whether played from CD or iPOD. as the 'ones' and 'zeros' streamed can't be directly heard.

One disadvantage i find of these analog Tape to Tape or cassette payers, the motor spped variation plays a vital role in maintaning the quality of the music output. Many times i Find the tape or cassette getting stuck up ( don't mean across the pinch rollers) due to non frequent use and also due to storage inconsistancies. we used to completely fastfoward and then rewind the tape so as to frre it from self sticking.
wow and flutter - another probmem with analog magnetic recordings.

anyway as your equipment is old and you love to hear on them in the times to come-- while wishing a the best of reel -to- reel audio, i suggest that you may try to procure the service manuals and few magetic record and play back Head as lifetime spare- lest you may not see these items in service market.
 
mvs sarma.

Good 3 motor reel to reel tape decks generally don't suffer from fluctuation in speed.

On one motor decks the slipping of belts and intermediate idler wheels may cause uneven tape speed.
Also a dirty capstan or damaged pinch roller may cause uneven speed as well.

I'm well aware of the convience of more modern stuff like cassettes, cd's and ipods, but we as humans are analogue, and i find listening to cd's more tiring than old tapes and vinyl records, and so what a bit of hiss or a crackle, that adds to the charm of the older technology.
 
If you shop around and take your time at it you can pick up an Otari, a Studer Revox or similar reel unit for cheap. They will blow away anything made by Akai, Teac, Pioneer and the rest of the standard Japanese stuff. Their construction is very robust and their electronics is superb. I have seen used Revox and Studer recorders sell for as little as $150.00 U.S. These pro units often feature 7ips speed at full track stereo for maximum fidelity and low signal to noise. The quality of tape used is also important. My Revox reel units operating at 7ips, using hi-bias chrome tape, produced barely noticable tape hiss.... superior to any other cassette deck or lower priced open reel decks.
I own a Revox single disc CD player that weighs 28 lbs! It has 3/8" machined brass rack & pinion gearing for the tray eject/load mechanism, the power supply is very well filtered and shielded, the switches are million+ cycles spec., the circuit cards plug in vertically to a mother board and the D/A converter is sonically superior to even the best of the consumer grade units. My power amp weighs 58 lbs. and has 14 industrial rated, output transistors per channel mounted on massive cast aluminum heat sinks. The circuit boards are extra thick glass/epoxy type. The output transistors operate at half their capability. It's construction like this that helps equipment to last a very long time.
 
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