Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: 10.5 inch Plastic Reels & Happy Fathers Day DADS

« on: June 16, 2012, 08:15:38 AM »

  Got some from Splicit a while back, but looks like they are currently out of stock:

 http://www.splicit.com/plastic_tape_reels.html

Never had any luck with used ones from eBay...all too warped, but I suspect many of them were warped to start with.

  As you mentioned having some of your metal reels colored, are you going to paint them or try re-anodizing them? According to a local plating shop, reels which are already anodized would have to be chemically stripped before the process could be repeated. The reel flanges are thin however, and cross-cutting one revealed the anodizing to be fairly deep into the aluminum.
 
  If you have any success with this please let us know how it comes out.

Tom

2

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Source for Nagra Parts, Supplies?

« on: February 06, 2012, 09:00:36 AM »

 Are there any good parts sources for the little Nagra machines....III, 4.2, IV, etc? At the moment the only thing holding me up is a pair of the little reel retainers...or 'fixing nuts' as they are supposedly called, but of course it is helpful to have information on other parts if necessary.

Thanks,
Tom

3

General Discussion / Re: New photos at Sonicraft

« on: June 17, 2011, 08:09:01 PM »

   I believe the main focus at Sonicraft is tape to digital transfers; I've had the opportunity to observe a few sessions and all were playback and digital capture. Steve is a perfectionist and his lab, as well as the machines, are as clean & tight as they appear in the photographs.

  You should see 'Phatzilla' in person....it's one heck of a rig........

Tj

4

General Discussion / New photos at Sonicraft

« on: June 17, 2011, 09:24:58 AM »

  Steve Puntolillo updated the Gear/Tech Info page at his Sonicraft A2DX website, including some new photos of his amazing machines. Definitely worth a look.

  http://www.sonicraft.com/A2DX/a2dx_tech.html

Tj

 

5

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: [Troubleshooting] - Issues with an Otari MX-5050 BII-2...

« on: March 18, 2011, 05:22:00 AM »

  The 'tan-colored Chiclets' are probably OK, film/tantalum/mica caps rarely go bad. It's the electrolytics, the cylindrical 'soda can' looking guys you should check. And these are polarized, their orientation in the circuit board matters. Replacements should match the originals for capacitance and rated working voltage.
  That being said, unless you have some experience working on printed circuits, avoid fixing something that is probably not broken.

Tj

6

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: What hardware are you using?

« on: March 15, 2011, 07:25:14 PM »

 
  Doc said:

1" 2 track machine running 7.5 and 15 ips with Bottlehead playback electronics, for use with our 1" 2 track format 15 ips Tape Project running masters.

  Whoa!

   Now that's cool.........

Tj

7

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Studer Head Mod for 1/4 Trk

« on: March 14, 2011, 08:50:06 PM »

Thanks Teeg,.. even I can see them now! (heck, I couldn't even see the placeholders before)
JFR does some really nice work huh?

  I like to tinker with my tape machines as much as anyone else around here, but when it comes to head work it's best to put the job in the hands of someone who can get it done correctly. Not only does JRF do great work, but if you ever have to just pick up the phone and talk to them, they're really good folks.

Tj

8

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: What hardware are you using?

« on: March 14, 2011, 05:29:30 PM »

   ATR-800 1/4", converted from 1/2" four-channel by ATR Services. All three heads NOS Ampex, electronics are stock. Direct-head output wired from headblock but have not tried other electronics. Cabled to preamp by Mogami XLR.

  Previously mentioned capstan-less Studer A80 VU MKII, stock electronics, two track playback on stock heads, 1/4 track Flux Magnetics playback head mod by JRF Magnetics with headblock mounted gold switch.  Photo here:

https://sites.google.com/site/twotracktape/_/rsrc/1300144148506/temp/studerA80.JPG

 Ampex 300-2  7.5 & 15 IPS playback only machine with both AG350 (NAB & IEC) and 350 (Tube, NAB only) electronics. Custom headstack in the works containing two playback heads for listening with either electronics. Viscous damper as on MR-70. Tentrol constant tension kit on supply reel. Mounted in rack swiped from Sonicraft. Currently under rebuild, transport almost ready, working on electronics. Cables are various Ampex/SignalCable/Mogami.

 Photo here:

https://sites.google.com/site/twotracktape/_/rsrc/1300144127902/temp/300Ampex.JPG


  Ampex MR-70 1/4" two track, currently undergoing restoration, plan is to keep everything on this stock.

Not currently a TP subscriber, hope to fix that soon.

TJ

9

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Studer Head Mod for 1/4 Trk

« on: March 14, 2011, 09:23:11 AM »

  Sorry about that, guys. For whatever reason photos stored at my freebie Google site only link if I am logged into the site. A link to the photo URL does seem to work, however. I replaced the photos with links to the same.

 Ki- John took measurements from my existing two-track head before ordering up the 1/4 trk unit, approx 11 mH each track. From what I gathered this mod is done on more RCs than VUs.

TJ

10

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Studer Head Mod for 1/4 Trk

« on: March 13, 2011, 09:25:32 PM »

 Are my pictures showing up? I saw them on preview but not after posting...

Tj

11

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Studer Head Mod for 1/4 Trk

« on: March 13, 2011, 06:37:50 PM »

  I've wanted to do this for quite some time...add 1/4 track capability to my Studer A80 VU MKII. The machine handles tape so well it seemed like a good candidate for the conversion. That, along with its ability to handle almost any type of reel in both IEC/NAB would make it a nice playback rig with the addition of the extra head.

  John French and I talked about the mod, which would require removing the record head and installing the new unit in its place. A switch on the top of the headblock would select between 1/4 ~ 2 track. Since the machine was already apart due to a ticking noise coming from the capstan, it seemed like a good time to go ahead with the conversion.

  John turned the unit around in just a few weeks, complete with selector switch, new Flux Magnetics 1/4 trk playback head, and of course he gave the head assembly a good cleaning and lapped the two-track head. Unfortunately I can't give a listening impression as my capstan motor is on its way to Athan for a rebuild. More to follow, but just wanted to share the excitement....

TJ


https://sites.google.com/site/twotracktape/_/rsrc/1300061587861/temp/headblock1.JPG





https://sites.google.com/site/twotracktape/_/rsrc/1300061587861/temp/headblock2.JPG

12

General Discussion / Re: Hardware/software recommendations for dubbing media

« on: February 24, 2011, 10:53:11 PM »

 That's good information, thanks. Audacity seems to have a strong following and I've played with it a bit, but not enough to be proficient. Heck, I've spent countless hours just trying to get a good rip with EAC; cant wait to try burning a DVD with 24/96. Digital can be tough.
  I've been ripping CD's and making compilations of favorite songs, but these currently exist only on CDRs. None have made it to tape yet.

Tj

13

General Discussion / Re: HeadCase Meet

« on: February 19, 2011, 06:19:41 AM »

Steve,

  Your headphone amp is set up for IEC?

Tj

14

General Discussion / Re: fake stereo vs. mono

« on: January 22, 2011, 10:05:06 AM »

  A friend of mine collects and listens mainly to mono (vinyl) recordings, claiming that there is more detail available as the needle does not have to divide its attention between two tracks of information; more resolution.  His system consists of older Marantz gear feeding Klipsch corner horns, sitting quite far apart with a tight toe-in angle...obviously 90 degrees from the listening point.
 
  I've often noticed on his system that the mono discs present an image which is definitely not point-source as you might expect, in fact I've had to ask at times if the recording currently in play was stereo or mono. This does not apply to all recordings; some offer more stereo information than others, yet there are discs where the stereo recording seems to contain little difference between tracks (or sides of the groove, whichever is correct). I don't know what it is about his setup or placement that affords the illusion of depth to his mono recordings, but it does seem to be there.

  Some time back I purchased a few boxes of tapes, blues/jazz professionally recorded on 10" reels. The seller indicated they were stereo recordings but sampling a few indicated they were mono (I do have a mono 440 deck). Perhaps its time to dig them out and have a second listen. If they are indeed mono it might be interesting to see what kind, if any, of an image the present on my stereo setup.

Tj

15

General Discussion / Hardware/software recommendations for dubbing media

« on: January 16, 2011, 10:36:05 AM »

 In the past I've had quite a bit of fun dubbing older media onto new 10" reels....favorite 4-track tapes, vinyl etc, using 440/350 machines in the tape loop of an inexpensive preamp. Recently I've tried taping digital media, fairly easy from a CD player in previously mentioned fashion, more difficult from the PC as I own neither a decent soundcard or software to edit/manage audio files.
 
 Transferring lossless digital files to open reel tape adds that magical analog 'something' to the final product. Studios still do it in final mixdown, creating two-track final tapes from their multitrack masters, or with fancy software plug-ins on their DAWs.

  For dubbing analog media to tape, I'd get better quality transfers with some sort of mixer/fader in the line-level loop; something that would let me attenuate the source signal a bit or drop it out completely between songs. With so much equipment available from pro audio stores, I don't have a clue as to what piece of gear fits the bill.

  The second option would be to outfit a PC with a good sound card and good audio editing software, and rip the analog media straight to lossless digital, and use the software to control what winds up on the tape. Again, without much experience in this field I am not sure in which direction to go to get started.

  Where am I going with all this? No further than just making a few nice tape collections for my own enjoyment. The tapes I've made so far have been pretty good, even considered 'very good' when demoed to my non-audiophile buddies.  I just feel there is a bit more improvement that could be had in the transfer process and I want to experiment.

Regards,
Tj Bassi