Where does Otari stand in the grand scheme of things?

[Aloha]

Quality wise how well do they compare to studer, ampex, sony, or MCI?

[The Ghost of FM]

Depending on which model you're talking about, they are at least still standing!

All but Studer, from your list of names has ceased to manufacture reel to reels.

They are also the slightly more serious Japanese manufacturer too compared to TASCAM and Fostex, who also, have little to nothing to do with the open reel market these days.

Cheers!

[reel buzzer]

Thanks for asking. It does depend on which model you are talking about. The MK5050 MKIII 1/2 inch 8 track is excellent in value and sound compared to its counterparts from the other brands. Has a nice bump on the low end too. Shall I continue?

[Aloha]

Shure

[reel buzzer]

Reqarding reliability:
When they built the Otari 8 track MX5050 MKIII they made sure that the motors would last a long long time. I've been in busy studios where they left this machine on constantly, realigning it sometimes 2 or 3 times a day to get material off of reels that were recorded at different studios and to get material off of reels that were brought out from storage to remaster to CD or DVD. Also I know of one that was used at a planetarium as a synchro master and audio playback. The tech only had to clean it, nothing else. One time one was knocked off the table when some musicians got into a fight at a studio, the only thing that broke on it were 2 pots in the preamp. The thing is built like a tank.

Regarding function:
Not exactly the best punch in and punch out for continuous signal, but those are functions that you would expect from the expensive 2 inch tape machine and their controllers. Besides, to me a song sounds best when the musician plays the part from begin of the song to the end. All other functions like sel/repro, auto input mode, edit/splicing, rewind speed, and adjustments via the back panel are superb and stand up well against the other brands.

Regarding sound quality:
Here is where opinion come in, because even though the output levels on all the brands are comparable, the frequency curves are different. It is my opinion that the curve on the Otari MX5050 is good for pop/rock music with high levels. When properly aligned the curve rises above zero just below 40hz the comes back to zero at 100hz. The bump between is perfectly round, peaking at +2, and this gives a lot of sweetness to the bottom end of recording on this machine. For classical or chamber music, I prefer a 30 ips machine like Studer A-80 1 inch 8 track.