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Author Topic: interesting Studer info  (Read 5780 times)

Offline ironbut

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interesting Studer info
« on: January 03, 2008, 11:31:27 PM »
by way of Sony APR/MCI studio machines. This is a reply from Richard Hess, restoration maven and a bottomless source of info regarding reel to reel;

Hello, Carl Stephen

What I initially liked most about the Sony APR series was its ability to store the presets for 12 different head assemblies in memory and that it was an excellent machine. At the time it was being designed, I recall conversing with some of the Sony/MCI people who were aiming to beat Studer. I don't think they achieved that in all regards, and, Studer didn't match Studer in some areas on their own machines, either.

While I am sure I would like a Studer A820/2CH, the cost of these machines is very high and the electronics are the same as the A810 which I do have. The A810 didn't fare as well in a shootout with the Studer A80RC as I had hoped. The APR did slightly better, but didn't match the A80. Now, I don't know precisely where the difference lies technically, but it's in openness and clarity of the sound. The A80 is essentially an all-discrete design.

So, for me, the A80 is used for the high quality tapes. A lot of my work, however, is transferring terrible tapes that are the only (or best) surviving/available copy of someone speaking some important words. I am not convinced that the A80's improvements would be as audible here as they are on high-end music. I already had the APRs set up for this prior to obtaining the A80s and making the A80s do the oddball tricks that I can already get the APRs to do would be a LOT of work. If I had to start all over with what I know now, I would probably make the A80 my major/only transport/platform, and would modify it to do 4-tracks and limit myself to 1-4 tracks on 1/4 and 1/2-inch tape as that is the bulk of my business.

But, I digress. There is nothing wrong with the APR, and I do own 27 or so machines in various states of (dis) repair. About a third are very good to excellent, a third have hope, and a third are carcasses.

Plusses in addition to the setup memory are:
--pretty good tape handling
--very gentle tape handling
--large ceramic capstan
--ceramic tape lifters (bypass or buy for parts any older models
   with metal lifters
--ability for modified threading to bypass any fixed guides for spooling
   (similar to the A810 and native to the A80's standard threading)
--speed adjustable from 1.88 in/s to 45 in/s
--rigid tape block that in its common form accepts the 5/8-inch-square
   Nortronics heads that Joe Dundovic has a cache of
--ease of azimuth adjustment with a 2mm hex driver
--no screwdriver tweaks as all the settings are increment/decrement
   so they can be stored.
--the 12 head assemblies can be assigned to either low (3.75-15) or
   high (7.5-30) and for each of the three official speeds has three presets
   I use Preset 3 for 3.75 for 1.88 in/s (using an MRL 1.88 in/s tape)
   and it comes pretty close

Not only do I have 27 APR-5000s, I also have the only APR-16 ever made, so my parts support is common across the 1/4-1/2-inch machines as well as the single 1/2-1-inch machine.

Parts are either stock electronics parts, stripped from carcasses, or manufactured...and I've gone all three routes, with John French doing the manufacturing for me -- a from-almost-scratch new headblock for the APR-16. Fortunately, the MCI decks had a lot in common with the multitrack APRs, so I think he used that plate as a starter.

Cheers,

Richard

If you haven't seen his site, it is chock full of great stuff.
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/index.htm
steve koto
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Offline rbwtapeinterlink-Bob

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Re: interesting Studer info
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2008, 12:35:21 AM »
Hello Steve,

I happen to stumble accross this fine gentleman's web site and you're right he is a bottomless pit of information about all things tape recorders. I sent him and email and got a response from him within the hour. I am so impressed to have you guys and others not a part of the "Tape Project" effort to draw from. Everyone should visit Mr. Hess's web site. Finally, this gentleman spent much time sharing his thoughts and suggestions about why I should consider the purchase of the Otari MTR-15 rather than the Sony APR-5000 since there is virtually no support for this recorder. He noted that both recorder offered superb performance and stability. Based on what he said I am going to take a real hard look at the Otari as a possible purchase.

Bob W.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2008, 09:56:01 AM by rbwtapeinterlink »
Bob W. (African American) VPI, Ref Standard Grado, Denon 103r, Threshold, DecWare tube pre and Classe pre amp, Jolida tube phono pre amp, (Peter Gunn) modified Magnapan 1.6, Tascam 32-2B & 42B tape decks, Parasound belt drive CD transport, Pacific Valve tube DAC, VPI  TT, various upscale cables.