Reel to Reel

I never used to use Dolby when recording to be honest (my deck had Dolby B, I think). I used to find that it used to strangle the dynamics and detail something terrilble. I couldn't actually notice much of a reduction in the 'noise' that it claimed to offer and recordings sounded better without it to my ears.

 

The only Dolby worth using on a 1/4" was SR, though A wasn't too bad...
Line up's a minor faff, but noise levels were significantly reduced without seeming to affect recorded sound quality.
Dolby SR units must be cheap as now everybody uses digits..

 

Meant to add that was with cassette. Never have used a reel-to-reel deck.

 

I would stay away from Sony and TDK media at present.

 

Why, out of curiosity?

 

Sorry one more thing, whats the deal with demagnitisers? Are they essential items to get right from the start or something to pick up later?

 

Bad media supplies recently, problems with the ferrous lamination, also a change in the formulation of coatings has caused some issues. Mostly causing large amounts of media debris build up and increased error rate.
This applies to what i see day to day but that is in data backup devices and not audio, but AFAIK the same factory is used for both.

 

Aha - makes sense - thanks Penance

Anex - demags are useful to have; I've got that Nakamichi one that's for both open reel and cassette - although I still can't suss out how to get into my Akai CR81D 8track cartridge deck to demag that...

Basically, magnetised decks will create more noise on playback, potential partial erasure to tapes, and degrade recording quality. It's always useful to demag the heads/capstans/guide pins if you can.

 

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that there were a few auto-reverse 1/4" decks made. Certainly by Akai, Sony and TEAC. I think there may have been a Pioneer too.

As for the Akai 4000 DS, my comments apply only to the original. The Akai GX 4000 D(S) is a different animal and performs much better as it has the GX heads from machines higher up the range.

As for demagnetisers, there's one here for a riduclous £39.99:

http://www.taperecorder.co.uk/accessories.htm

Don't whatever you do pay that. I have one just like it (but for the colour) which you can have for a tenner.

Nice Sony here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-TC730-Re...yZ116868QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Nice (sold) Akai here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AKAI-GX-4000D...25172253QQcategoryZ109002QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There's a Revox A77 here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Revox-A77-ree...26502437QQcategoryZ109002QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Bet that'll fetch a good price, as will this B77: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/REVOX-B77-MK-...yZ109002QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

You've got me tempted now

 

I'm buying Leonard's PR99 but thanks for the links anyway
Yeah the demagnitzer would be useful, thanks. At work atm but will send you a pm tomorrow (watching bands tonight)

 

And if anyone is looking for serious noise-free 1/4" replay and recording, this is the beast:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dolby-363-Noise...ryZ23792QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

If you want to get the PR99 serviced, look here: http://www.revox.freeuk.com/

 

or get yourself a telefunken m15, I'm using it taping from leak troughline, very hard to hear differences. Not the most beautiful but much better than those standard revox machines.
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roor bong pictures

 

Not convinced by that...
The best 1/4" replay, IME, was always the Studer A80..
Best portable recorder the Nagra 4S, with the Nagra T being the best dubbing/timecode machine - though it's replay wasn't up with the Revox PR99.
The Telefunkens always had a "vintage" sound nearer to that of the aged Ferrographs we had when I first trained...

 

this is true but a studer a80 is not a simple revox. and a telefunken costs 200-400 euro in good shape, a nice studer is way more.
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homemade vaporizer

 

Here you go Chris:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TECHNICS-REEL-TO-REEL_W0QQitemZ5827893341QQcategoryZ109002QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

From what I read that ones better than the one you posted isn't it (1583?)? Not cheap though

 

Yeah, I'd seen it. I don't really need one. And I haven't really got room for it.

 

Yeah, just thought I'd share, you know you want it

 

£350 for the Technics?
They're having a giraffe!
Double that and you could just about have a Nagra 4S, just like the funny looking bloke out of "Diva"!