Otari MkII MX5050

[cpl_crud]

G'day.
I'm looking at getting one of these units (cheap ebaying..) and I was wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to upgrade the heads to 4- or 8-track heads, instead of the usual 2/4-track heads?
And I've heard rumors that they're not a bad deck, does anyone have any opinons on them? cheers

[ausrock]

Otari made numerous variations of the MX-5050 and they generally aren't/weren't a bad deck, however, many of those still around have seen a lot of use and wear and tear to the heads and transport could be an issue.

If the unit is the one currently on Ebay Aust., then it may or may not be worth the $150 starting price. The NAB hubs he is offering to include if the selling price is high enough should really be included with the deck although if you only use 7" reels you wouldn't need the NAB's.............which come to think of it, he is grossly overestimating their secondhand worth. I priced new NAB's a couple of months ago and they aren't that expensive.

In regard to converting to 4 or 8 tracks.............NO!!!

The MX-5050 normally (there were variations), had 2 track (1/2 track, 2 channel stereo) recording ability with the option on the repro heads to playback standard 1/4 track, 2 channel stereo, consequently, the electronics are designed for this format. Every now and then you will see an MX-5050 1/2" 8 track on Ebay.

[cpl_crud]

thanks for that.
Yeah, it is the $150 one, I figure for a price that low it's probably worth the risk.

I didn't intend to buy the hubs off that guy, nor to let the bidding get to his $275 cut-off (there's usually a 5050 each week for around the $150-$200 mark out here, but they don't usually get much higher than that).

Chances are I wouln't be needing to use any reels bigger that 7" anyway (i mostly record heavy rock stuff.. short, fast and loud), so centre/NAB hubs are on the bottom of the list... under a HDR and a new computer...