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Topics - Teeg

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1
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

2
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

 

3
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

4
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

5
General Discussion / The Sound and The Story
« on: November 22, 2010, 10:35:43 PM »
  Interesting recording link...tape to vinyl

http://www.archive.org/details/SoundAndTheS

Tj

6
Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Ampex 350 playback only question....
« on: November 18, 2010, 06:51:02 PM »
  This is a tough one, but I'll ask anyway. I am putting together a 300 'playback only' rig with 350 (tube) electronics....headstack is original Ampex with one repro head and one dummy head. Does it matter to the tube electronics whether or not the record/erase heads are present?
  At one time someone mentioned that you can pull the unused tubes in the 350 record/bias sections if playback only, but apparently this is not a good idea, and looking at the schematic it makes sense to leave them in. But I am not sure what effect the absence of the heads would have in the same circuit.

Tj

7
Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Storing tapes under (Studer) tape deck OK?
« on: September 22, 2010, 10:38:45 AM »
  My A80VU roll-around cart has two cross braces at almost floor level; at first glance it looks like it would be easy to fabricate a shelf that could sit on the braces and allow storage for perhaps a dozen or more NAB reels in boxes. The reels would wind up sitting a few inches from the mechanicals on the underside of the transport. I'm not sure if this is a good/bad idea or not an issue at all....thinking in terms of any possible magnetic energy that could harm the tapes. I see people put tapes on top of the bridge assembly all of the time, never seen any under the transport. All of that storage area is appealing in my tight audio room. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tj

8
General Discussion / For all Stellavox/Nagra fans....
« on: September 05, 2010, 03:49:56 PM »
  Pretty interesting, not sure if its been mentioned here before, the Art of Recording with Georges Quellet:

http://www.reel2reel.tv/transformer/recordings_intro.htm

Tj

9
General Discussion / A nice visit with Sonicraft
« on: June 26, 2010, 09:37:40 AM »
  Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few hours over at Steve Puntolillo's Sonicraft A2DX lab. Well-known in the professional music industry, Sonicraft specializes in transferring multitrack analog formats to digital. As their shop is just across town, I dropped Steve a note and asked if a visit would be possible.

 My main interest was seeing their 440 machines. An Ampex 440B is my primary two-track playback machine, and while I consider it a decent deck, the guys at Sonicraft have come up with a few mods that take performance to a new level. After seeing theirs in action, I hope to replicate at least a few of those mods on my Ampex's.

 Many of their machines are, in fact, extensively modified to provide the best transfer possible. Maintaining all of that gear must be no small task, especially when you consider the array of equipment necessary to support all of the possible tape formats that have been in use. I was amazed by the effort they put out to keep all of their machines impeccably clean, ready to go to work.

 Steve was nice enough to take a few hours out of his busy schedule to show me around; you couldn't ask to meet a nicer fellow, especially one who is so knowledgeable about audio tape. I learned quite a bit in that short time, but of course there's always more to cover and I hope to make it back some time.

 Anyone who is a big fan of tape will find a wealth of technical info at their site.

http://www.sonicraft.com/ 

Tj


10
  My wife kept asking me what the odd or musty smell in the basement was, oddly enough I spend so much time down there that is goes unnoticed by me. She pointed out, and is correct, that my older Ampex decks, 350's and 440's, have an unusual smell to them, which I attribute to the motors and/or transport parts.
  I had wanted to put my Ampex's in a rack and move them to our upstairs audio room which is adjacent to the bedroom, but now I dont think that will work, given the wife's comments.
 The decks work fine and nothing is overheating or burning; they just have that funky old electronics smell. I really cant pinpoint it let alone try to remove it. Any suggestions?

Tj

11
Reel to Reel Tape Machines / RS1506 odd problem in play mode
« on: March 03, 2010, 09:46:59 AM »
   My spare deck, a well used but generally good-condition 1506, has been packed away for a few years. After taking it out again, it developed a problem where the pinch rollers do not drop onto the capstan while in the play mode. All of the other functions associated with tape handling seem to work, but neither the pinch rollers (and I am going to assume the tape lifters) operate.

 Any ideas where to start looking? Normally the 1500 series decks wont drop the rollers if at least one of the tension arms is not down, and although the arms move freely and 'click', I dont know what this translates to mechanical-wise.

Tj

12
Prerecorded Tapes / How and where does everyone store their tapes?
« on: December 08, 2009, 09:26:51 AM »
  The topic has likely been covered before; I've read some of the papers put out by the major tape manufacturers and looked at the charts. My concern is that you cant always maintain those conditions in the average home.

 I have to 'pack up' the majority of my music media, including the tapes. We are renovating the basement, which includes plans for a dedicated room, and the tapes/LP's simply cannot be in the area where the construction is going on.

 We have an unused bedroom upstairs that would hold all of the media. The upstairs has its own heating/cooling zone; being off the main hallway, the room is typically 68~71 degrees. Humidity is a concern and is probably low due to the forced hot air, and I am awaiting delivery of a humidity meter.

 Does anyone see a concern with using this area for temporary storage of the tapes? The adjacent room is my current audio room and conditions are roughly the same, but I do not keep more than a few tapes in there at one time and have not noticed any detrimental effects.  For short-term storage I felt it deserved a bit more thought.

Thanks,
Tj

13
Reel to Reel Tape Machines / A80 weight?
« on: October 16, 2009, 07:05:33 AM »
  Does anyone know the approx weight of a 1/4" A80 on the roll-around stand? I have the opportunity to purchase one but it would have to be crated and shipped.

Thanks,
Tom

14
Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Ampex 440 w/seduction?
« on: August 26, 2009, 02:52:20 PM »
  It doesnt seem to have been discussed here before.....can the seduction be mated to a 440 transport?

Tj

15
General Discussion / Odd tape dilemma...
« on: August 23, 2009, 11:52:45 AM »
  I purchased a collection of studio tapes, all 7.5 ips 1/4" 10.5 NAB reels, that contain various music titles; each reel arranged by genre. Best guess is that the tapes were originally masters for radio stations to build playlists from. Problem is that the tapes are wound upside down on the reel (the oxide is out). The boxes are marked 'tails out', and at first glance that seemed correct, but the tape is definitely wound incorrectly.
  I cant figure out how one would do that in the first place, let alone fix it. All of the tapes (around 200) are like this. Has anyone run across this before, or know how to un-do the incorrect wind?

Regards,
Tj

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