Can you believe it? Tape Project is ten years old! Thanks to everyone who has supported us in introducing studio quality tape reproduction to the audiophile community!

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - dfel

Pages: [1]
1
Tape Project Machines / Flexible Good Machine Help Please
« on: July 23, 2014, 05:02:42 PM »
Hi,

I am new to tape and very interested to get into it. I am no stranger to analog and have a high end phono kit, but I am looking forward to exploring a new analog source. After doing some research I am confused, and I was hoping that you guys can help me out so I can select a flexible machine, which will be used mostly for playback only. The focus is on playback, but I will be doing some recording as well, so it can't be a total clunker for recording.

1. Does 1/4 and 1/2 mean: (1/4 inch tape and 1/2 inch tape) OR (4 track and 2 track)?

2. Can you play 2 track tapes on 4 track heads?

3. Are there machines that have both 2 track and 4 track playback heads ?

4. Is it possible to get machines with both IEC and NAB equalization (push button) ?

5. Are most commercial tapes IEC or NAB?

6. Some commercial tapes have Dolby encoding, and different types of dolby Do you need a special machine/repro/head for these tapes, are these formats common  and worth accommodating for?

7. What are the accessories that are absolutely essential to running a tape machine demagnetizer, Alignment tape, etc.?

8. Do all tape machines need a step up transformer when fed into a regular hifi preamp ?

9. Do most machines have the capability to handle 7" and 10" reels, what is most common for commercial tapes?     

10. Is it necessary to have a machine that does 7.5, 15, and 30 IPS, or are most tapes out there 15 IPS or lower ?



Those are the FAQ type questions that I do not completely understand at present, I would greatly appreciate some help.


My last question is: What tape machines provide the flexibility of being able to play most of the common formats (speed, size, track count, and equalization type). I am looking machines that come with "decent" sound reproduction/playback electronics and "good" stock heads, that would be good enough to get my feet wet in reel to reel tape (both commercially pre-recorded and  tape project).   

Pages: [1]