reel to reel tape machines

[CountingToes]

Hello Gents, im looking to buy a reel to reel tape machine, prolly a 2 track is fine im guessing. I make house n techno etc, I wanna get it to add warmth n compression to my beats n basslines but im clueless as to which to get, at college we used akai but i cant remember which model number, any advice would be just mmmmmagical, cheers
M

[drezz]

Depends on how serious you are about tape and how much you wanna spend! If you just wanna warm up your ITB mixes then bounce the taped mixes back to the Computer something like a Revox B77 would be a good one to go for as they're good enough quality (running at 15 ips) and pretty good value........Otari's are also good machines.......Studer A80 can be had for a bit more and are larger and bulkier but they're killer machines!! Search on Ebay, you want a machine that does 15 ips really (tape speed).........
Stuff like Sony, Akai, Tascam and Fostex are more on the consumer side of things and will probably only run at 7.5 ips..........
There are some nice machines out there, but you'll have to do a bit of research before pulling the trigger..........
You also wanna make sure that the machine is functionally good and the heads are in good condition, if buying from ebay, make sure there is a good description and photos especially of the heads!!!
Happy hunting.........

[CountingToes]

thanks man that helps alot
M

[soupking]

Sounds like you could go with a quality 2-track.

That means, if you can help it, stay away from the TASCAM realm. Yeah, it's tape, but back then it hissed like crazy so for commercial radio, advertising, yeah they used it, but put a bunch of DBX noise reduction to kill it.

If you don't mind the sound of noise reduction units, go for it. Maybe you have some unique sound, but don't get upset when certain tones you like on disc aren't shining through. However, baseline...you want to try and get 1/8 inch per track at 15ips.

Search for that if you want a real tape machine. MCI, Studer, pro, consumer, whatever, the physics of tape lie around those measurements.

This is not bounced feedback. I have experimented myself. I personally use MCI machines, but I also have a great friend who is an audio tech. That being said, condition of the machine is worth it's weight and then some. My MCI machine is sturdy as a rock despite the horror stories of yesteryear.

[Lance Lawson]

Reel to reel is perhaps the all time best recording solution ever devised. However tape for them is now only available from 2 companies RMGI and ATR and its not cheap. Finding a good R2R is not that difficult but when you consider that most are rather old expect to do some servicing on them. Also since the tape market has all but dried up the fine new tapes still offered will require your machine to be rebiased. Don't be surprised that once you've got a good working R2R that digital will begin to show its sonic weaknesses of which there are still quite a few.

[Roland]

I would advise against buying a 2 track machine now. Outside of the cost factor or buying a good machine (it's not much point in buying a cheap or poorly maintained example), you need to factor in servicing, repairs and the fact that as pointed out above, limited, expensive, supplies of what is probably inferior tape in comparison to what was available.

Much of the benefit of tape requires that not only are you using quality tape and a quality machine, also it has to be set-up just right and operated correctly. As you pointed out above, you don't have any experience in using tape and you would have to learn how to do even the basic functions such as properly cleaning and aligning, biasing etc.

Regards


Roland

[cjmnash]

Originally Posted by Roland

I would advise against buying a 2 track machine now. Outside of the cost factor or buying a good machine (it's not much point in buying a cheap or poorly maintained example), you need to factor in servicing, repairs and the fact that as pointed out above, limited, expensive, supplies of what is probably inferior tape in comparison to what was available.

Much of the benefit of tape requires that not only are you using quality tape and a quality machine, also it has to be set-up just right and operated correctly. As you pointed out above, you don't have any experience in using tape and you would have to learn how to do even the basic functions such as properly cleaning and aligning, biasing etc.

Regards


Roland

hey roland,

you make some good points, but i'd like to make a couple of counterpoints. i restore & sell MCI machines, and much to my surprise most of the people that buy machines from me have little or no experience with tape and/or machines- which i think is awesome! you really don't need to know how to align a machine to start using it- the machines i sell are restored, aligned, and even come with a warranty. so my role migrates a good bit into an educational one, and i'm all for it! i shoot little instructional videos on how to clean the machine, thread the tape, and what the basic functions are and how to use them in different situations.

after that every button is clearly labelled: play, stop, record, etc.

and tape isn't THAT expensive- 1/4" ATR is $60 +/- and at 15 IPS you get 33 minutes of record time. plus, you can use the same reel over and over if you dump your mixes back into your DAW.

just my $.02.

chris mara
www.nobraineraudio.com
www.welcometo1979.com

[Lance Lawson]

Originally Posted by cjmnash

hey roland,

you make some good points, but i'd like to make a couple of counterpoints. i restore & sell MCI machines, and much to my surprise most of the people that buy machines from me have little or no experience with tape and/or machines- which i think is awesome! you really don't need to know how to align a machine to start using it- the machines i sell are restored, aligned, and even come with a warranty. so my role migrates a good bit into an educational one, and i'm all for it! i shoot little instructional videos on how to clean the machine, thread the tape, and what the basic functions are and how to use them in different situations.

after that every button is clearly labelled: play, stop, record, etc.

and tape isn't THAT expensive- 1/4" ATR is $60 +/- and at 15 IPS you get 33 minutes of record time. plus, you can use the same reel over and over if you dump your mixes back into your DAW.

just my $.02.

chris mara
www.nobraineraudio.com
www.welcometo1979.com

Up to a point I agree with this post. For the purposes that the OP stated one reel of tape can serve for a long time. However if you're beyond the stage of dumping digital mixes onto tape to warm them up then the stark realities of R2R analog recording will present themselves with a number of demands. I do believe that tape is expensive. In a studio environment where the client is paying for the tape then cost is not a huge factor for the studio and may be an income generator too. But in recent times I've encountered a few negatives when dealing with R2R recording. Since in my region R2R tape is not found on dealer shelves all tape must be ordered. If you're unlucky enough to find yourself with problematic tape (and I have) you simply can't walk into any electronics store and buy fresh reels.

Also if you're tracking live performances (which I am) you do run into the issue of tired tape. I don't subscribe to the idea that recording tape can be recorded and wiped a great many times. Back in the all analog early 80’s when I was studio recording my engineer would get antsy if we’d wiped the tape more than 5 times and this was when 16 track 1” was retailing for $100 at the studio. Considering that it costs at least 3 times that now for a reel of 1” or 2” tape every inch does indeed come with a price tag to be mindfull of.

I seriously would like to know if any professional analog studio would suggest to a client that 20 wipes and records is nothing to worry about.