tascam 22-2 Wrong Machine??

[miloandmolly]

Hi
I would like some advice. I have some old Reel to reel tapes the I used to reord John Peel show.I now need to transfer these on to cd. Ibought what i thought was a bargin tascam 22-2. In need of 'minor'repair. The problems are:
1. Speed: is the tascam twin speed, I have some recordings that run on I think 31/2 inches per second(does that make sense??), and
2. The tape I have are recorded on both 'sides' of the tape making it four tracks, two one way two the other. Will this be able to play on the tascam??
please help. I think I may have wasted £50.

Thanks

[Beck]

The 22-2 is 2-track 2-channel in one direction. The speeds are 7 1/2 ips or 15 ips.

It is not the same format as a hi-fi consumer deck, so it will not work for your purpose.

You need a 4-track 2-channel, such as the TEAC X3, X300, X7, etc. Those have speeds of 3 3/4 ips and 7 1/2 ips.

The 22-2 is a very nice product for mastering music. If it's in good condition, £50 is a good deal. You should be able to resell it for more than that if you've seen to the repairs.

-Tim

[jpmorris]

I think what you probably want is an Akai 4000DS.. they're supposed to be good machines, they are extremely common and they support the 4-track 3.75 IPS format.

[arjoll]

If you can find an Akai "GX" series machine you'll be set. These are generally 4 track / 2 channel, usually run at 3.75 and 7.5 ips and the glass heads are virtually indestructable.

One word of warning - these decks date from the mid 70's and may need some work to get in good condition if they've been abused. I have a GX265D which only needed the switches cleaned (especially the speed EQ switch) but I suspect that other, rougher units will need more work.

If you get desparate a 4 track machine like the Tascam 34 or 22-4 might work, but you'll need to run it at 7.5 ips and sample at 88.1 or 96 kHz, then halve your sample rate to get to the right speed. Not nearly as good as running at the correct speed and track format to start with, and a good Akai will cost you less than a good Tascam.

Cya
Andrew

[Beck]

Originally Posted by arjoll

If you can find an Akai "GX" series machine you'll be set. These are generally 4 track / 2 channel, usually run at 3.75 and 7.5 ips and the glass heads are virtually indestructable.

One word of warning - these decks date from the mid 70's and may need some work to get in good condition if they've been abused. I have a GX265D which only needed the switches cleaned (especially the speed EQ switch) but I suspect that other, rougher units will need more work.

If you get desparate a 4 track machine like the Tascam 34 or 22-4 might work, but you'll need to run it at 7.5 ips and sample at 88.1 or 96 kHz, then halve your sample rate to get to the right speed. Not nearly as good as running at the correct speed and track format to start with, and a good Akai will cost you less than a good Tascam.

Cya
Andrew

Yeah, the Akai GX machines are very nice. I have a GX77 (mid 80's). It looks and runs like new. The glass heads will outlive me, I'm sure.