Messages

1

Tape Tech / NAB or IEC standard on Revox A77, etc?

« on: May 24, 2009, 05:37:41 PM »

Hi Tape folks,

I just got my Revox A77 tape machine back from a local shop that sold me and prepped the unit for use.  I'm new to reel to reel so I've probably got some real novice questions so please forgive my ignorance.  I've got a decent amount of NOS Ampex 641 reels and the machine has the bais set for this tape.  However, on the input selector thier is a switch for NAB and IEC; I think I should use NAB since it's supposed to be for a "north america" standard EQ setting? 

Also, if anybody could recommend some basic operating instuctions for a newbie would be really appreciated and thanked!  I mainly want to record some 1st play LP's, personal digital recordings, and some CD's to tape.  I will mostly use 7 1/2 ips, but a longer tape would be cool too for parties, etc. 

thanks so much for any replies in advance,

sincerely,

Donnie L.

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Raw Tape / Re: ampex 641 tape "professional"

« on: April 12, 2009, 09:50:57 AM »

Hi Iron,

thanks for the reply...I'm finding this stuff fairly cheap and I suppose most people are looking for higher grade and thicker backing.  When did the higher grade of tape come out, like chrome tape for cassette?  And then later metal tape became available soon after the chrome?  I'm sure the price will be higher for better quality tape.  I know from many older recordings by the grateful dead they used some of the older tape and they're recordings sound pretty good.  Alot of their stuff was at 7 1/2 ips, but then later on certain projects they would upgrade to 15 ips.  I think I will still get a decent sound but with some "noise", but I do worry about breakage using 7 1/2 ips.  thanks again for the rapport

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Raw Tape / ampex 641 tape "professional"

« on: April 11, 2009, 10:59:07 PM »

Hi tape folks,

just wondering what kind of consensus with NOS sealed ampex 641 "professional" tape is for "home" recording purpose, not "mastering".

thanks in advance for any replies...

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General Discussion / Re: new to group - future Revox A-77 owner !

« on: April 10, 2009, 07:14:32 PM »

Thank you so much for the reply...I'm pretty sure that the A77 model that I'm going to get has barely any hours...it came from a estate and was givin to the store becuase the family didn't want to sell it or anything , they simply wanted to get rid of it.  I'm getting it for a decent price, and basically the local shop is just checking it out getting it up to par.  The owner believes that it's been in storage for over 25 years.  I'm not sure what model it is though.  I'm probably going to stick with 4 track, if I want to get really HQ I would get a machine that can handle 15 ips.  I'm fairly sure that A 77 highest speed is 7 1/2 ips stock.  So far, I've got 2 NOS sealed reels of 7" Ampex 641 tape, and just ordered 40 reels of Ampex 641 "generic" from a guy in Tx.  (hopefully, I didn't get ripped off since I'm newbie)  I probably have better s/n ratio with my Yamaha KX-630 cassette deck with dolby HX pro and a metal cassette, but I don't think I will get the tone with cassette that I will with open reel, nor the brink of saturation.  I find the HX pro on my cassette deck to "bias" sounding and thin.  My biggest challenge will be cleaing and alignment.  I might be doing some on location Jazz recording in my town; I've been blessed by the local scene to record many local and national acts.  It would be neat to be able to get some LP's pressed from some pure analog recording; however, a better machine would be better. ( I still run my digital rig too ) However, in due time , in due time :)

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General Discussion / Re: The Ampex Story (as told by the Germans??)

« on: April 10, 2009, 07:01:21 PM »

From general conversations with friends...it seems that the Germans had a very intergral part of the development of tape recording.  Evidently,  many allied gov'ts were perplexed of the frequency of Hitler's broadcast propaganda; the main reason was no surface noise from transcription discs that was the standard form of media for recording at the time.  Eventually, the allies gained alot technology from the spoils of war and tape had been one of them.  In fact, Bing Crosby had been one of the main investors in Ampex, and I believe that the rock guitarist Steve Miller's father had been part of the early development of Ampex.  This was  how  Steve Miller met Les Paul, as Paul had been very interested in tape recording, Les Paul had been Steve Miller's guitar instructor for a while.

6

General Discussion / Re: The SACD vs Tape Challenge

« on: April 06, 2009, 07:55:42 PM »

Hi I'm new to the forum, so forgive my ignorance....I grew up with digital CD's and at the end of the tape/vinyl age...mid 80's.  I thought CD was the way to go, it was so easy to cue and relatively balanced but I was listening on fairly cheap consumer equipment.  I finally got some money and got some decent speakers and a good ES Sony amp...well, in the course of about 2 years both top end Sony ES amps had failed...so I was doing the same thing with my guitar amps...I finally went to tube amps for guitar and later decided to go with moderate priced tube stuff for a home audio...

my experience is that CD is great for no hiss, but the dynamic range, depth and soundfield sucks compared to a good clean LP...I'm hoping for a similar experience with reel to reel audio, but I know there will be hiss with my Revox A77 at high speed...however, I feel confident that a half inch or inch reel at 15 ips is going to blow any CD or SACD, or any digital recording away regardless of sampling rate and resolution....digital at 24 bit , 96 kHz is good, but you really have to have your own master recordings to do that...other than a few master stuff I've recorded myself and a small batch of conversions in the Grateful Dead tape scene I don't know of too many out commericially available  to get that kind of digital with out doing it myself  but I don't see much benefit taking a "remaster" CD or a SACD and converting it to tape....it may warm it up and do the saturation thing, but it's only as good as the master in many ways...

I will say that digital amplication is not very satisfy-ing...it may have great specs, but I've only heard a few solid state guitar amps that sound good - and the ones I have are low impedence, mainly the early polytones from the late 70's

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General Discussion / Re: new to group - future Revox A-77 owner !

« on: April 06, 2009, 06:59:42 PM »

Hi Iron,

thanks so much for the replies...here's what I do know about the machine...I'm getting for a decent price...it's very clean, one owner and from what I've seen looks brand new somewhat...he said, it came from an estate (it had donation written on the post it, so I know he didn't pay anything for it)  it was purchased from the leading audiophile store in the 70's in our town...he said, he needs to put it on the bench have somebody go through it to make sure it's all ready to go - the store is "magnetic tape recorder co." in Louisville, ky.  it's been there for a long time, and Charlie Green has been the owner since the early 70's or so...he's a nice down to earth guy...that's not a flim flam guy and his tech's seem to be very competent...I took my Dynaco ST-70 and he treated me right with a nice NOS tube plus service for about 60 bucks...

I'm a local musician that plays with tube amps and vintage equipment, and my local shop and I seen to have hit it off and remember the old days...I feel pretty good with him and his tech's...I try to promote his biz, so I would be one of the last people to want to treat badly...alot of musicians and local stores take stuff to get fixed there becuase his guys can fix alot of things...I hope to start a  "analog audiophile group" in my city sometime soon for others to get together and socialize (trade tapes, etc.)

I suppose the only thing I'll need to learn is how to maintain my machine...alignment, cleaning , etc.  hopefully, folks here in the forums and in conjunction with my local shop I'll be able to figure it out...

thanks again - funbebop

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General Discussion / Re: new to group - future Revox A-77 owner !

« on: April 04, 2009, 09:17:33 PM »

Hi Guys,

thanks for the replies...I'm new to the reel thing...I knew it would have hiss, etc.  Like I said , it's more of hobby...sure, I think it's cool to watch the reels spin :)   However, I do believe that there is some tone that comes from these nice machines from yesteryear...of course, the tube machines ooze tone, but also have alot of issues especially with wow/flutter and mostly pitch...I thought the Revox would be decent since it was mostly a Studer "design" and it had servo motors...however, the hiss really doesn't bother me as bad as some might think...if it did, I will result to "digital" but the analog has a breathe quality and a dynamic and tone I just don't hear with digital especially with music originally recorded analog...the 15 ips thing kinda scares me because of the cost and then I'm almost in a master quality issue...I'd like to get the revox modified to 2 track but that's gonna be a poor investment overall...I probably should look at a different machine...my next big question is: where to get decent reel tape that's not crap, nor too expensive...?

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General Discussion / new to group - future Revox A-77 owner !

« on: April 03, 2009, 12:52:20 PM »

Hi Tape folks,

Hi I'm new to the forum and will be a newbie owner of a Revox A-77.  Thanks to everybody for composing the "Beginner's Guide"; it will take me a little while to understand and grasp that information.  I'm purchasing a Revox A-77 if very good condition from a local audio shop that deals in repair and sales of all types of equipment.  However, they do deal in vintage audio products of many types.  I'm wondering what I'm going to get into owning such vintage equipment.  I'm somewhat used to older equipment and love the analog sound after years of digital experience.  I still choose to use digital in multi-track applications for music recording, but for casual listening to music, I prefer the pure analog pathway to a degree.  I've heard the difference between a nice clean LP and CD, and there is a give and take on both sides, but I really prefer the analog sound. 

I did see the post about converting a Revox A-77 to half track, and I like the option but I don't really like the expense and hassle to see this happen.  I did some preliminary research on the A-77 and it seems to have favorable reviews for home "consumer' use, it seems to have parts and service somewhat still available.  I believe that the A-77 has servo motors, right?  I guess I'm looking for a experience of taking my sealed LP's and making nice reel recordings, and also my own original recordings (not for mastering uses).  I believe that there is a "tone" that comes from this type of equipment especially in tandem with decent analog amplification and good quality speakers.   

Here's what I'm using so far:

Thorens TD-125 MK II w/ SME 3009 arm (R2), Grado Cartridge ZF2, (stylus?)>TEC 753LC RIAA phono preamp>Dynaco ST-70 Tube Amp>Bose 301 Series II

Sony consumer CD player>optical out>TEC-7510 D/A converter (w/ Burr Brown PCM 1716 IC chip)

OK, the weird part is all of that before it goes to my Dynaco ST-70 tube is fed into my DAT with Super Bit Mapping

Sony DAT ZA5ES  analog in and analog out to the dynaco , this is a very HQ D/A conversion, that in my opinion warms up the analog signal so well and gives it nice "color" very warm and wet sounding....so in effect, I'm taking all that analog putting it into digital then analog as well....it does sound good and I don't hear anymore S/N issues , I'm sure it could be measured, but it sounds so good even on these little 301's....I"m looking at some Klipsch La Scalla II's from the mid 80's for speaker upgrade...I might ditch the DAT conversion, but it will probably still sound good. 

Thanks for the bandwith...drop by my myspace site to hear some beatle covers and other cover stuff, and requests are appreciated !!!

www.myspace.com/donnieloeffler

www.jazzcrafters.com

any ideas or advice to a future reel to reel owner is greatly appreciated! - THANKS