Messages

1321

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Tape head to preamp cable

« on: February 14, 2007, 01:38:46 PM »

I found this reply sent to someone who was asking me for suggestions for low capacitance head cabling a couple of years ago:

-- Belden 1505F, 1694A (it's kind of thick and a lot stiffer), and 89259 (pretty stiff too, but Teflon instead of Polyethylene). They are all roughly 17-18 pF/ft. 89259 is what I used on my Ampex 934. --

Those are all coax, BTW. By comparison 8450 is 40pF/ft. conductor to conductor - but on the plus side it's twisted pair, more flexible and quite a bit smaller diameter than 89259. I just looked up 89841,which is stranded shielded twisted pair, but at 12pF/ft. conductor to conductor and with Teflon insulation it looks pretty interesting in spite of the hassle of solder prepping stranded wire. A RoHS compliant 1000ft. spool is $2517.25!!!!

1322

Suggestion Box / Welcome

« on: February 12, 2007, 09:52:32 AM »

Welcome and thanks for the great suggestions. I'm realizing that the layout of this forum doesn't do a very good job of directing members to the sticky regarding posting rules. I'm not picking on you here at all Scully280, as this is a great post! Since I know a lot of folks will look at it I'll use this as a good spot to ask everyone to check out the rules about signing our posts with our real names:

http://www.tapeproject.com/smf/index.php/topic,2.0.html

It's easy to set up your member preferences so that your signature is automatically added to each post as you see at the bottom of this one. Go to the Quick Links menu pull down in the upper right of this page and select Edit Profile. Scroll to the bottom of that page and you will find Signature. You can put your name in there and it will be added automatically to all your posts.

1323

General Discussion / Re: Colour-coding leaders...

« on: February 12, 2007, 09:18:13 AM »

had short lengths of tape ready-made for this purpose, with their logo pre-printed on them.

Oooh, I like that idea...

1324

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Otari III

« on: February 11, 2007, 09:53:22 PM »

Thanks for the clarification, Steve. Your experience with MX-5050 condition is similar to our experience with RS1500s. Even so called low hour machines we have acquired have had problems. It bugs me think of prices rising crazily on machines that are clapped out just because a feeding frenzy has started. That reminds me of the guys who pay thousands of dollars for rusted out Western Electric theater amps. After a while the reality of how the amps actually sound - if they even function - has absolutely nothing to do with what collectors are willing to pay. It's just a commodity being exchanged for profit. We have been hoping that folks will realize that virtually any 30 year old tape machine is going to need money put into it to get it working at its best, and that a buyer ought to make their offers with the expense of this additional service in mind. 

1325

The Number White / Re: Jacqui Naylor - Number White mixing session photo

« on: February 09, 2007, 07:34:36 PM »

This pulled back shot gives a little better sense of the size of the space used to develop the echo. This Bill Putnam designed room at Coast Recorders just sounds sooo good.

1326

The Number White / Re: Jacqui Naylor - Number White mixing session photo

« on: February 09, 2007, 07:29:56 PM »

Here's a detail shot of the echo chamber setup: two pairs of Meyer HD-1 monitors, stacked, splayed, and firing into the control room glass with several hard surfaces arrayed around them. Back in the middle/rear of the room are two stereo mic trees. Headphone talkback allowed the guys to direct me from the control room as I moved the mic trees to the sweet spots.

It was loud in there.

1327

The Number White / Jacqui Naylor - Number White mixing session photos

« on: February 09, 2007, 07:15:58 PM »

Thought folks might get a kick out of a shot of the boys in the office. This is Michael at the Neve V3, mixing Jacqui Naylor's The Number White, with Paul in the foreground tweaking some faders for the reverb being generated in the live room, which was set up as an echo chamber during the mixing session.

I must shamefully admit that I'm posting a photo here that is lacking in tape machines only because of my lack of forethought. There is a Studer 827 controller hidden behind Paul, and Paul's 1" ATR is out of frame to the left. Duoh!

1328

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Technics RS1500 head rewiring

« on: February 06, 2007, 12:22:36 AM »

Your description of the bands on the heads sounds accurate. The way the wiring is shown in the RS1520 service manual is what I described. So it sounds like yours heads are wired to the opposite sets of wires from what the manual shows. This is certainly possible. I would suggest some experimentation with a prerecorded quarter track tape if you are still uncertain. You would hear both sides of the tape with the half track head and only one side with the quarter track head - assuming the heads are in pretty good alignment.

1329

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Technics RS1500 head rewiring

« on: February 05, 2007, 08:37:19 PM »

Try doing the way I suggest, through the head selector switch and stock cabling, first. The switch is a good quality one and you will retain the ability to play both 1/4 track and 1/2 track tapes.

I don't know which channel is which right and left wise, but on the 1/2 track head one channel is brown + yellow -, the other channel is blue + black -. For the quarter track head one channel is white + yellow -, the other channel is red + black -.

Coming off the output of the switch orange corresponds to red + 1/2track/blue + 1/4 track and violet corresponds to brown + 1/2 track/white + 1/4 track.

1330

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Rack ears...

« on: January 31, 2007, 09:41:59 AM »

Nice write-up from Danny! ( it could use a little copy-proofing though )

Yeah, it was very nice. If you're reading this Danny, thanks! I did edit the quotation a wee bit with the hope of better matching Danny's intented meaning. Re the edits - that's always been a funny thing about PF. I've been told the magazine articles are seldom if ever edited before publishing.

Thanks for your input on the RS 1500 rack ears. The more folks who chime in here about getting a pair of rack ears, the sooner we could move ahead.

I have not seen the battery adapter.

1331

Service Resources / Studer technical support

« on: January 30, 2007, 05:04:56 PM »

This was posted by A.F. Thal to the Studer list:

Martin Berner (Studer Professional Audio GmbH) has asked that I share the following information
with Studer list readers:

Studer Services is refocusing. In the future we will concentrate on our core business, Digital
Technology. The main reason for this is to enable us to focus our knowledge on new products and
to, subsequently, guarantee exceptional Service.

In order to ensure our customers receive immediate service for Studer analog products, we have
decided to outsource the Service for those products to the following company: audiohouse.ch gmbh.

audiohouse was founded in January 2002 by Marcel Cattani, a former employee of Studer Professional
Audio GmbH for 17 years. Mr. Cattani is skilled especially in analog equipment installations and
service. We are positive that we have found the perfect solution in cooperation with audiohouse.
Therefore, starting January 1st, 2007 audiohouse.ch is your contact for analog products whether it
is for repairs, spare parts or for service requests.

Contact address for audiohouse.ch gmbh
audiohouse.ch gmbh
Schuelgass 16
Postfach 336
CH 6215 Berom?nster
Tel.: +41 41 930 46 88
Fax: +41 41 930 46 87
email: [email protected]
www.audiohouse.ch

1332

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Rack ears...

« on: January 30, 2007, 04:44:50 PM »

I have a couple pairs of RS1500 rack ears. One pair had extra holes drilled and came pretty cheap, the other pair is in original condition and I paid pretty dearly for them. They aren't for sale, but if there is enough interest I could send the nice pair to my man Mike Paschetto to look into having them copied. They aren't particularly unique other than the fact that they have holes in the right places and the color matches the RS1500. They do have a Technics logo - which is almost impossible to see when they are attached to a machine.

1333

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: RS1500 hub adapter spacers

« on: January 26, 2007, 10:11:51 PM »

OK, we need to clarify here. The Technics RS1500 series machines came with a very specific, unique Technics hub adapter that inserts into a 10-1/2" reel from the front. This is to be used in tandem with the .67mm thick rubber spacer between the turntable and the reel, in order to center the reel hub with respect to the tape guides. That adapter is a bad design, IMO, because you have to shove the thing into the reel before you mount the reel on the cinema style 7" reel spindles. PITA.

However, a lot of folks are using different brands of hub adapters. Some of these mount over the spindle first, then the 10-1/2" reel mounts on the adapter. One example is the Revox adapter we used at CES. In this case I don't know that you need the rubber spacer. I think it would be a good idea if we sorted out just how all the different adapters that folks are using locate the reel with repect to the tape guides. Then maybe we can offer a more definitive description of how each adapter should be implemented with the RS1500.

1334

General Discussion / Re: Reviews of your tapes and press coverage at CES.

« on: January 26, 2007, 03:15:25 PM »

We have been approached by one of the magazines you mentioned. We're not quite ready to send out the final product, so it will probably be a little while before there is much press coverage beyond the announcements that were made right after CES.

1335

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: RS1500 hub adapter spacers

« on: January 26, 2007, 01:32:45 PM »

I just measured a stock spacer and it averages about 0.67mm thick. These are of course designed to go with the Technics bass-ackwards hub adapters that mount from the front of the reel rather than the back side. I don't know if you need them with more traditional hub adapters that mount on the turntable, then mount the reel. I guess this calls for some measurin' and figgerin'.