MX 5050 4track recorder-2track playback

[jimkjr]

How/Can you playback 2 track tapes on a 4 track machine that has 4 meters

[ironbut]

Hi Jim? (we use our real names on this forum,.. you can put it in your signature so it'll appear at the bottom of all your posts)

Yes, you can play back 1/2 track tapes (all stereo recordings are 2 track) on a 4 track machine (as opposed to 1/4 track which won't). If you want more info regarding tracks and the difference between 1/2 track, 2 track, 1/4 track and 4 track, check out the "Beginners Guide" located in a sticky above the General Forum. Steve Williams wrote a very nice comparison between the machines and tape formats toward the end.

It's certainly preferable to listen to 1/2 track tapes with a 1/2 track head since the 4 channel playback head doesn't "read" as much of the recorded signal. You could even get a little bass emphasis because of "fringing effects" (perhaps as much as a 3dB boost in the lower frequencies).

In other words, if you're thinking about buying a four channel machine for listening to 1/2 track tapes, don't. If you already have a 4 track Otari, you can listen to them and may or may not find the difference in reproduction a problem.

[High and Outside]

Is this a 1/4" machine or a 1/2" machine? I don't think I've ever seen an MX5050 four track that wasn't 1/2". It's not a good idea to play a 1/4" tape on a 1/2" machine.

[jeri]

Yes, Otari made 1/4" 4-track machines.  The MX-5050BQII and MX-5050BQIII are the four track versions of the MX-5050BII and MX-5050BIII that have been suggested for TP machines.

[docb]

Actually what you are describing is more properly termed a quarter-track machine. There are two bands that are roughly 1/4 the width of the tape, staggered so that the tape can be flipped to play one stereo program (i.e. album "side") in one direction, and another in the other direction.

The term "four track" more appropriately applies to a machine where the heads record and play four channels at once, in only one direction of play of the tape. Unfortunately the record labels almost universally used the improper "4 track" term for 1/4 track tapes when they produced prerecorded tapes for home playback back in the day, and this confusion has remained ever since.

A quarter track machine can play 2 track tapes, with some slight loss of info compared to playback with a 2 track head. Not optimal, but doable.

[jeri]

Dan, the Otari MX-5050BQII and MX-5050BQIII are exactly what I said they were.  They are 4-track, 4-channel machines capable of recording on all four tracks at once.  They have four inputs, four outputs, four VU meters, four rec/rep amplifiers, and 4-track 4-channel record and reproduce heads.  They are not quarter-track machines at all, but I suppose they could be used to play four-track stereo tapes by selecting tracks 1&3.

Since you brought it up, Otari did make a quarter-track machine as well but only in the MX-5050BII series.  That machine was the MX-5050BII-4.  It had the usual 4-track, 2-channel record and reproduce heads for four-track stereo tapes plus an additional 2-track reproduce head.

Other models were:  MX-5050BII-F (full-track mono record & reproduce plus an additional 2-track repro), MX-5050BII-2 (2-track record & reproduce plus an additional 4-track, 2-channel repro), and MX-5050BII-2E (same as MX-5050BII-2 but with DIN 2-track).

The MX-5050BIII series discontinued the 4-track, 2 channel heads, so the only other models were MX-5050BIII-F, MX-5050BIII-2, and MX-5050BIII-2E.  None of these had the additional repro head.

All these were vertically oriented machines for 1/4" tape.  Otari's MX-5050MkIII and MX-5050MkIV were the corresponding horizontal machines.  In that version, four-track machines were always for 1/2" tape.

[docb]

Yes my apologies, i missed the "Qs" when i read your post. Try playing the two track tape using tracks 1 and 4.