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Author Topic: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida  (Read 37188 times)

Offline U47

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2009, 04:21:52 PM »
When I visited 'Lyrec Canada' last month, I noticed that the Mark II machine had a scrape flutter roller/filter attached.

Rich Brown
Acoustic Arts
Portland, Oregon
Technics 1500 with King/Cello playback electronics, Stellavox SP-7, Technics 1500/Ampex MR70, Tascam BR-20 .

Offline ironbut

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2009, 07:25:09 PM »
That would be very cool if these machines could become more accessible to N American users. I'd love to hear from you guys more of the technical details such as head manufacture, transport designs etc?
steve koto
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Offline hticheno

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #17 on: March 01, 2009, 11:05:32 AM »
Here is the technical sheet from the 1992 sales brochure. All my machines appear to exceed these specifications>

Harold
Simon Yorke S7 tt/Lyrec Fridas r2r/Technics 1500s r2r/Sony TC 770 & 772 r2r/Tandberg 3014 cassette/Tandberg 3001 tuner/Tandberg 3015 cd/Musical Fidelity 3D cd/Pioneer DV-AX10 sacd/Musical Fidelity M3 integrated/B&W 804s/Dolby A301 and 330 decoders/Ashley PQX572/and a whole mess of master tapes

Offline ironbut

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #18 on: March 01, 2009, 12:06:18 PM »
Excellent! Thanks Harold. It seems like the Canadian Broadcast Corp. has a pretty long history of using some nice reel to reel machines. I see used Studers (A80's for the most part) from time to time that were used by them. Do you (or anyone else) know if there were standard machines used nationwide? Or for that matter, if NPR here in the states did?
steve koto
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Offline hticheno

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #19 on: March 01, 2009, 12:24:20 PM »
I really don't think Lyrecs were ever used by either the CBC or NPR. I've gotten all mine from Europe.  I'm not sure what CBC radio used. I know in video CBC were probably the last users of the Ampex 2" format in the world. When I was producing films over the years delivering to the CBC on 2" was always a hassle when everyone else expected 1"!

Harold
Simon Yorke S7 tt/Lyrec Fridas r2r/Technics 1500s r2r/Sony TC 770 & 772 r2r/Tandberg 3014 cassette/Tandberg 3001 tuner/Tandberg 3015 cd/Musical Fidelity 3D cd/Pioneer DV-AX10 sacd/Musical Fidelity M3 integrated/B&W 804s/Dolby A301 and 330 decoders/Ashley PQX572/and a whole mess of master tapes

Offline docb

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #20 on: March 01, 2009, 12:29:57 PM »
My ATR 104 came from CBC in Vancouver.
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President for Life, Bottlehead Corp.
Managing Director - retired, The Tape Project

Offline hticheno

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #21 on: March 02, 2009, 11:53:00 AM »
Further to your questions: The tape heads in the later Fridas are built by Advanced Magnetics in Belgium. The transport is fairly direct and handles tape quite well. It will rewind and fast forward at an extremely high speed...scary in fact, rewinding a full 2500 feet in less than a minute. There is a goto button that will take you back to the last stop point or if pressed twice back to zero. The transport appears to be based on a constant feedback monitored series of optical sensors.  The feed and take up motors are regulated to approximate the speed you have selected, and then the capstan motor is designed to lockin at either 3.75, 7.5 or 15 ips.  This too is feedback monitored and yields a very low wow and flutter when locked.  The Frida does not like cold I have learned and will not lock at 15 ips if its below about 50 F. This can be a problem on startup after sitting all night; you need to provide sufficient warmup time. There is a varispeed as well which is very nice when editing and can even close in on a fair approximation of 30ips, but certainly not without some wow. Level, EQ and bias trimmers for each speed are readily available under a flip up cover between the key board and the heads.  There are also switches for NAB/CCIR, Calibrated and variable record and plaback, tape speed or timer select and some self test contacts in the Frida I that allow the internal computer to check all electronic functions.

As Rich Brown previously mentioned the Frida II has a scrape flutter roller and if this part can be located it could clearly be retrofitted to Frida Is.

The PPM meter on the Frida II I suspect has an adjustable response rate. I am hoping to confirm this when I get the newer manual.  What I noticed was that on mine it seems to read like a ballistic VU meter. I think this is probably adjustable since the earlier Fridas all work on instantaneous response. 

When in the horizontal position (which is my preferred way of using the machine as opposed to vertical rack style positioning) the front panel under the keyboard is easily removable and allows access to all the trimmers.  Lifter and pinch roller position and tension, feed and take up tension at speed and rewind/ff, Odb Level, erase bias level, speed lock and stability trimmers are all front accessible.  I usually leave these panels off all the time except when transporting the machines.  Each time I do a dubbing session I do a full run through of these settings per the operation manual.

The lines in and out on the rear are balanced XLRs, and the operating voltage level and fusing is readily accessible.  One drawback is that the Fridas are a bit noisy in operation. I think this is because they are so small and do not include any sound insulation. And certainly the way I use them with the front  panel off this is aggravated. On mine I have disconnected the cooling fans which are only needed if the ambient room temperature is around 100F.  I have also disconnected the tiny playback monitor speaker since it is automatically on when you go into adjustable playback level which may be needed during dubbing.  It would be very easy to retro fit switches for both of these functions.

Rich Brown mentions that the headphone playback is "crappy," but I certainly haven't found that to be true using my Sennheiser HD590s. According to the manual it is also an aux unbalanced line out and has its level controlled by the variable playback pot.  I never use it, so my opinion here might not be particularly reliable.

On the back of the main audio board are a series of jumpers to adjust the input/output/record/pb level ranges of the machine, but for the life of me I still haven't figured them out. On all my machines they have come set in one position, so I just leave them there. From talking to the Lyrec staff before they went out of business these can be used to accommodate different studio line level standards against different flux recording standards. Supposedly it covers .775/1.23/1.55v SLL and 250/320/510.  I operate my units to a studio line level of 1.23 volts and at 250nW/m.  Occasionally I will reset a machine to 320NW/m but I find using Agfa PEM 468 the 250 level gives a very nice recording.

I doubt these Fridas are for everyone. I got into them because I travel a lot with my recorders and with a bad back a professional machine at 25 pounds is a lovely find. If you have a permanent setup I imagine the heavier machines are just fine.  I used Techincs 1500s in ATA travel cases previously and still have them. They are certainly very dependable, gentle on tape and sweet sounding. But the weight of them has led me to retire them and I imagine now that I am settled on the Lyrecs the 1500s will be available to a new home soon.   
Simon Yorke S7 tt/Lyrec Fridas r2r/Technics 1500s r2r/Sony TC 770 & 772 r2r/Tandberg 3014 cassette/Tandberg 3001 tuner/Tandberg 3015 cd/Musical Fidelity 3D cd/Pioneer DV-AX10 sacd/Musical Fidelity M3 integrated/B&W 804s/Dolby A301 and 330 decoders/Ashley PQX572/and a whole mess of master tapes

Offline ironbut

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #22 on: March 02, 2009, 12:53:43 PM »
Wow, excellent info Harold! I would imagine that even if you were unable to obtain those OEM flutter filters, John French could outfit one of the ATR/MDI teflon or even adapt one from a Sony APR-5000 series machine. He does some custom headblock work for the restoration/archivist community and the work I've seen has been first rate.
 I guess I hadn't looked closely enough at the spec sheet you provided. 25 pounds! That's super light for a machine of that pedigree. Aside from location work, sending it out for servicing ( or demos ) wouldn't be nearly as scary as it is for the heavy weights. That's a big plus!
I noticed that you have a collection of master tapes. If you don't mind me asking, were these projects you worked on or ones you've collected?
Thanks again for your contribution to our collective machine knowledge. It's always a treat to have someone from the industry give us amateurs a lesson.
BTW Nice web site!
steve koto
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Offline hticheno

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #23 on: March 02, 2009, 03:11:58 PM »
That's a great idea about John French retrofitting scrape flutter filters. I had him do all my Technics machines and his work was superb.  I'll follow up on that.

Actually for servicing, the Lyrec's modular construction is fantastic.  I had a speed problem with one of my machines and by swapping boards etc I was finally able to isolate it to the capstan motor assembly. I pulled that and sent it off to Charles King (Stellavox) and he was able to test it in a Frida he had in his shop and isolate the problem to the optocoupler on the capstan itself.  Shipping each way was only a couple of bucks and the standard issue optocoupler is also not an expensive part. The whole job came in at far less than shipping a machine one way would have been.

As to the tape masters I have, they are classical studio and production masters from most of the major labels from the 50s through the 70s. 

And thanks for the compliments on our website. I actually recently retired from active film production, but the company still has me up there as president.  I'm now concentrating on other loves, including fine classical stereo listening and dubbing.

[email protected]
Simon Yorke S7 tt/Lyrec Fridas r2r/Technics 1500s r2r/Sony TC 770 & 772 r2r/Tandberg 3014 cassette/Tandberg 3001 tuner/Tandberg 3015 cd/Musical Fidelity 3D cd/Pioneer DV-AX10 sacd/Musical Fidelity M3 integrated/B&W 804s/Dolby A301 and 330 decoders/Ashley PQX572/and a whole mess of master tapes

Offline Brian

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #24 on: April 04, 2009, 08:04:58 AM »
I'm new to the Forum - and also new to Lyrec ownership, having just purchased a FRED RB-04.  Anybody have a source for a manual (preferably in English)?
Also, any experiences with the FRED - particularly anyone this side of the pond that would be good to work on one?

I've been "lurking" on this forum for a while and have been impressed with both the level of technical knowledge as well as the good on-line etiquette.
I used to do motion picture sound, location classical/jazz recording, and a little facility design work but have recently focused more on audio forensics.  I look forward to helping in the forum where I can and - learning from you folks where I can't.

Brian
Brian Downey

Offline hticheno

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Re: Lyrec Fred and Frida manual
« Reply #25 on: April 04, 2009, 09:26:28 AM »
Hello Brian

The Fred should be great for audio forensics, which must be fascinating work.  I have sent messages to my contacts in Europe and hopefully will be able to supply you with a pdf of the manual. For those members who have Fridas and don't have manuals I now have pdf manuals for both the Frida I and II and will be happy to email whichever you need to you if you send me your email address and serial number. 

As to service for the Fred I think Charles King (Stellavox) in New York State has had one in his hands. I don't know whether he services them but I suspect they are fairly easy to work on.

Harold
Simon Yorke S7 tt/Lyrec Fridas r2r/Technics 1500s r2r/Sony TC 770 & 772 r2r/Tandberg 3014 cassette/Tandberg 3001 tuner/Tandberg 3015 cd/Musical Fidelity 3D cd/Pioneer DV-AX10 sacd/Musical Fidelity M3 integrated/B&W 804s/Dolby A301 and 330 decoders/Ashley PQX572/and a whole mess of master tapes

Offline Brian

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #26 on: April 04, 2009, 12:27:20 PM »
Thanks Harold, I'd appreciate it.
I've also seen the FRED being used as a low cost QGB 10" reel adapter for a Nagra 4S.  Should be fun to play with.
Brian
Brian Downey

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #27 on: April 17, 2009, 12:26:06 PM »
Hi Brian

Check your email. I sent you the RB-04 manual a few minutes ago.  Let me know if it comes through all right.

Harold
Simon Yorke S7 tt/Lyrec Fridas r2r/Technics 1500s r2r/Sony TC 770 & 772 r2r/Tandberg 3014 cassette/Tandberg 3001 tuner/Tandberg 3015 cd/Musical Fidelity 3D cd/Pioneer DV-AX10 sacd/Musical Fidelity M3 integrated/B&W 804s/Dolby A301 and 330 decoders/Ashley PQX572/and a whole mess of master tapes

Offline Brian

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Re: New Toy from Denmark- Lyrec Frida
« Reply #28 on: April 17, 2009, 12:49:43 PM »
Hi Harold:
Thanks!  Came through great. 
Brian
Brian Downey

Offline hticheno

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Lyrec Frida parts
« Reply #29 on: August 11, 2009, 12:50:34 PM »
Since my last post I have acquired a supply of parts and boards and a number of heads for the Frida I and II. In particular I came across about half a dozen time code heads from Applied Magnetics of Belgium.  These I don't need but I am always on the lookout for new playback heads from the same company. 

Harold
Simon Yorke S7 tt/Lyrec Fridas r2r/Technics 1500s r2r/Sony TC 770 & 772 r2r/Tandberg 3014 cassette/Tandberg 3001 tuner/Tandberg 3015 cd/Musical Fidelity 3D cd/Pioneer DV-AX10 sacd/Musical Fidelity M3 integrated/B&W 804s/Dolby A301 and 330 decoders/Ashley PQX572/and a whole mess of master tapes