Topics

1

General Discussion / where to get flanges

« on: June 07, 2013, 12:14:08 PM »

I've started buying pancake, and i'm going to need reels for it. Since it is already on hubs what i really need is flanges.

Instead of getting a mishmash of reels and flanges, I'd like to get all the same - i'd even consider moving all my existing self recorded tape to these flanges (pre-recorded would stay on their own flanges). This gives ma a "house look" to my big reels that really appeals to me.

I could talk to local CNC companies, but I'm wondering where does the tape project get it's flanges made?

I'm willing to put money at this project and would need 60 - 100 flanges so i might be able to take advantage of numbers (set being the biggest cost in these things).

Nothing too complex - here's a mockup - the artwork would either be silkscreen or rubdown transfer (i have a source for making screens and for making transfers).

2

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / crown sx-822

« on: January 14, 2013, 09:15:51 PM »

there is a crown sx-822 near me for about $500. Serviced recently by John Haines in Indiana. I haven't seen it, or the heads, but do i need an 8th deck?

my thinking is that i would turn my Tascam into an IEC machine (easy enough to do), use the 822 for NAB and put the B77 in the family room because it's the purty one :)

i've read the other thread on Crown 800s, but i'm wondering if anyone has anything else to add.

3

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / belt for otari 5050

« on: February 13, 2012, 08:01:45 PM »

friend of mine opened up an old otari 5050 and had the drive belt disintegrate on him it was that old. now he is having a heck of a time finding the size of a replacement or a source. he doesn't care much about the counter belt - which is also dead and gone.

it's a flat belt, 3/8" wide and about 16 or so inches in length. he's contacted otari who gave him a big dunno shoulder shrug.

he's found out that various iterations of the 5050 were belt driven or direct drive but can't discern how to tell which machine is which and which is his, making a parts list for the belt hard.

does anyone have any pointers that he might follow to size and source the correct belt?

4

Prerecorded Tapes / lot(s) of advent dolbys

« on: November 19, 2011, 01:20:53 PM »

i've good and bad about the advent outboard units, but they seem to be the dolby decoder most used. i have a 100A myself, which seems to have given up the ghost so i'm prowling for another.

just thought that i'd pass on that there is a fellow on ebay with 7 of them for sale. a bit overpriced when shopping for one, but i'm wondering if getting a selection would be a good way to assemble one set of working cards...

anyway, FYI if for nothing else.

5

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / otari 5050 levels

« on: August 22, 2011, 09:44:11 PM »

is the otari 5050 BII2 +4 broadcast or -10?

6

Suggestion Box / rabbit ears

« on: March 07, 2011, 09:11:14 PM »

Windham Hill had a side-label called Rabbit Ears that put A-list actors and musicians together for readings of children's books. One side of the album was the reading the musical background and the other side was the music alone.

Jack Nicholson reading Rudyard Kipling with Bobby McFerrin doing music - that sort of thing.

I was mentally cataloging reels this morning and thought that this series would be interesting, they are OOP as far as i know, and hard to find even on the 'bay.

7

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / driving distance for prosumer models

« on: December 06, 2010, 09:44:00 PM »

i've been trying to get my new room built which will have a HT system and a sonic frontiers Line Two preamp (with bypass) for the two channel side.

i'm having trouble placing the equipment, and one set up has the reels (B77, Tascam 32 and Teac 2234) sitting in view. nice.

but the distance from those units to the preamp will be about 40 feet.

one of the 10" will feed through a dbx type I machine that pushes balanced out (the Line Two has balanced in) but the other 10" will be running that 40 all single ended.

The little Teac will hit an outboard dolby before the pre, but again that will be a single ended run.


how far can a standard pro/consumer machine push single ended signal? and will the dbx/dolby units have better push? my electronics isn't strong enough to look at the voltages and know the answer.

i will however be running goo quality unbalanced cable that i build from Canare star quad with the braid detached at on end only.

thanks.

8

Tape Project Machines / picking a TP machine

« on: November 12, 2010, 10:42:25 PM »

hi, new here - been a r2r fan for decades. currently i have a Teac 2200 series, Pioneer 707, reVox B77, Akai GX400D (in need of a belt job and general tuneup), Akai GX270D, Tascam 32 and a grundig portareel that needs unobtanium batteries.

I have outboard dbxI for the revox and Tascam and outboard dolby for the Teac and Pioneer. That's a lot of decks, and it would be great to turn one into a TP machine instead of getting another.

The first option is to build a NAB to IEC equalization box and use it on the reVox. The revox has two sets of outputs - RCA and DIN. I'd connect both the the preamp and run one through the NAB->IEC equalization box. Then I'd just select inputs based on tape equalization. The down side is that the equalization is not a true IEC curve and there might be some ground issues with both the DIN and RCA output connections to the preamp at the same time, although a switch box, or a switch built into the NAB->IEC equalization box would help that. The up side is one less 10" reel in the rack, but is that really an up side?

The second option is to convert the Tascam to IEC as per the manual and just run that as the TP machine. The down side is that I'm losing my secon 10" NAB machine, although i would still have the 400D if I fixed it up. Te upside would be a better IEC curve for TP tapes and the great look of two 10" machines in the rack.

Are there any other up or downs to the two options that I'm overlooking? Given the choice between the two  I suspect that the Tascam solution would get the better sound, but what do you think?


Thanks