My Akai reel-to-reel

[applejax]

Now, ive never done any analog recording... But I have this AKAI 4000DS MK-II (2 track i think...but I read some where's its 4?) and I want to record a track (or two) on it and sync it with my digital gear (roland vs2480). Now there is some sort of pin on the back of it... go HERE and scroll down ALL the way and look at the in/out and left/right RCAs... then in the middle? what the heck is that for lol? I think it fits my midi cable...if i remember correctly I tried it a year or so ago and it worked to plug it in. So, could this be sync'd to my digital gear via midi?

This is what one site says:
4-TRACK STEREO / 2-CHANNEL
3-HEAD
OPEN
REEL TO REEL
1/4" TAPE DECK
WITH
"SOUND-ON-SOUND"
Circa 1976-78

Could anyone can give me a price for what this unit goes for? It's in excellent condition and works great. Also, what is the Sound-on-Sound? and do I have control over multiple tracks? (i dont think I do lol...) I read also that it's just best for a MixDown?

Anyways, I'm not at all good at analog gear or do I have any know-how about it lol, but help would be greatly appreciated

[The Ghost of FM]

The machine you're looking at is a "home stereo" component.

it is a stereo recorder only. Even though it has a sound on sound feature that allows you to layer tracks, it is a one shot process and if you make a mistake you ruin the original track that you added your dub track at the same time. It does this by turning off the erase head when you record the dub so the original stuff on the tape doesn't get erased.

It talks about having 4 tracks because all stereo home tape recorders, reel to reel or cassette have 4 tracks in total and that means a stereo pair in each direction or side of the tape. You know how cassettes have side A and side B? That's what this is.

Lastly,

The weird midi looking connector on the back of the recorder is called a DIN connector and it basically duplicates what the RCA pin jacks do only the plug style is different to be compatible with mostly European gear of the era that used that single connector instead of the four separate RCA jacks. There is no midi signals available in there!! Midi didn't actually exist when that deck was built in the 70's. Midi basically borrowed that style of plug because it wasn't being used any more by the time it came out a number of years later.

As for a fair price for that unit in today's used market; probably 50 to 125 bucks is the average selling price on ebay.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!

[arjoll]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of FM

The weird midi looking connector on the back of the recorder is called a DIN connector and it basically duplicates what the RCA pin jacks do only the plug style is different to be compatible with mostly European gear of the era that used that single connector instead of the four separate RCA jacks.

The DIN connector works on a lower signal level - about 100mV peak to peak from memory - and the input appears on the 'mic' level controls, so you can mix with the 'line' inputs from the RCAs.

The 4000 series recorders were a single motor deck, the DS being a mid-70's model with no built in power amp and no NR. The 4000DB added Dolby B but is essentially the same deck (my father has one). These will be worth less than the 3 motor models (like the GX265 etc) and are more likely to give problems with belts etc. With any deck of this age you'll need to do things like clean the switches etc.

Cya
Andrew

[applejax]

Hey guys thanks alot for the cool info. I figured it was a "home stero" reeltoreel. Thanks for all the info about it and what it does I guess it's pretty useless to me then eh? LMAO!