1/4 track heads on a Studer A-810?

[draka1032]

Has anybody done this? I have a 1/2 track A-810 and as thinking of getting another and fitting 1/4 track heads, perhaps Revox, to it for playback of my prerecorded 1/4 track tapes. Opinions?

[Tim]

To the right of the capstan shaft, there should be enough space for a technician to mount a quarter-track play head.  A time-code head usually goes there.  A switch would then be mounted on the headblock to switch between the two play heads.  BTW, with servo-controled tape-tension, it's ok to mount a head on the other side of the capstan shaft.

I have performed this mod several times on the model A700.  It was actually designed for this, with pre-drilled mounting holes for the head switch and the extra play head. 

[Dan Robertson]

I had Steve Smith replace the record head on one of my 812's with a 4 track Revox playback head. Both 2 and 4 track playback heads are wired to bypass the internal playback electronics. This setup works very well for me, as I use the other 812 for recording.

Dan

[Teeg]

  How about 1/4 track heads on an A-80? From what others have said, it is supposed to be one of the smoothest transports as far as handling delicate consumer pre-recorded tapes.

 Tj

[Ki Choi]

Although it is technically feasible to replace TC dummy heads on A810 and A80 with a quater track repro head, I would question the move of playing quater track (pre-recorded) tapes on machines with valuable 1/2 track heads that will make contact with the with tape as it plays quater track tapes - eventually causing 1/2 track heads wear...

I personally don't have enough numbers or qaulity quater track tapes to justify wear down of half track heads on my Studers, Sony APRs, or Nagra T Audios, etc.  I thought about converting the Otari III for quater track repro but decided to decidate a prosumer machine for the duty.  On the other hand, if you have a spare machine like Dan's extra A812, it would make sense.

[Teeg]

 Ki-

  I did not read the first post close enough.....the part about putting the 1/4" head on what is a 1/2" machine. I am taking delivery of an A80VU early next week, which is a 1/4" two-track machine. If was from this point I asked about the quarter-track head option.

In this case, is it a worthwhile mod? On my ATR-800, adding a quarter-track head to to the unit was not an easy (or cheap) job, as the machine was originally 1/2" converted to 1/4", the optional head switch was never installed. Perhaps easier on the Studer?

Tj

[Ki Choi]

Hi TJ:

Sorry I have confused you.  I was talking about half track and quater track heads and not 1/2" tape. 

The Studer A80VU has low impedence repro head than the A80 RC model with higher impedence head.  So you would want a matching 1/4 track repro head if you would proceed with the head addition.  I don't know of any compatible head from top of my head but you can study the Studer head list document and find one with similar impedence.  Send me an email, I will forward the document to you.