Tascam 38 Alignment tape

[dodgeaspen]

I was wondering if anyone has an alignment tape for my Tascam 38 for sale CHEAP. Or is it possible to have someone record a copy for me? Any help with this I would appreciate. Thanks.

[Victory Pete]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply about the DBX units. I recently bought a short MRL tape for my collection of TSR-8's. When I have at least 2 aligned I should be able to make a copy for you. As long as I maintain strict alignment procedures, The copy should be very accurate. You have to make sure your 38 uses IEC EQ. It will be IEC or NAB.
Victory Pete

[dodgeaspen]

Victory Pete you are the man. I will have to do some research to find out about the NAB & IEC in the Manuel. I would assume it would be NAB. When I find out I will message you. Thanks again for the willingness to help me.

[dodgeaspen]

Thought people would be burning up their keyboards to give their advice and or opinions on my request. I was wrong! So I thought I would post on this thread and read my comments.

[A Reel Person]

A "fake" MRL will not be quite the same as an actual MRL tape, but it might be sufficient for you to do a "fake" mini-alignment. You could set playback levels & do all the bias & record-side alignments, but I'd hesitate to try using that for an actual physical head alignment. Anyway, a fake-MRL might be better than no cal-tape at all. You might want to think about popping the $200-or-so for a real one, in the long run. Good luck.

[dodgeaspen]

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

A "fake" MRL will not be quite the same as an actual MRL tape, but it might be sufficient for you to do a "fake" mini-alignment. You could set playback levels & do all the bias & record-side alignments, but I'd hesitate to try using that for an actual physical head alignment. Anyway, a fake-MRL might be better than no cal-tape at all. You might want to think about popping the $200-or-so for a real one, in the long run. Good luck.

Thanks for the post. I will buy a MRL tape as soon as I can afford the $$ I will only use a copy for a general test only. Thanks again. For the help I will try to give you some points if it really helps.

[MCI2424]

Originally Posted by dodgeaspen

Thought people would be burning up their keyboards to give their advice and or opinions on my request. I was wrong! So I thought I would post on this thread and read my comments.

You can't copy a legit alignment tape and use it for alignment. Legit tapes are full track. If you copy a full track tape, you end up having to align your machine to the specs of the machine that the tape was copied from and it might not be aligned at all!

You COULD make your machine worse than it already is.

[dodgeaspen]

Thanks for the post MCI2424 Can I at least use the tape for a 1KH tone to set up my DBX 150 units?

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by MCI2424

You can't copy a legit alignment tape and use it for alignment. Legit tapes are full track. If you copy a full track tape, you end up having to align your machine to the specs of the machine that the tape was copied from and it might not be aligned at all!

You COULD make your machine worse than it already is.

I have 2 "new in box" TSR-8's that I am currently aligning to a new MRL test tape. If I maintain strict alignment tolerances I think the copy will be very accurate especially when you consider it will be used on a very similiar Tascam-38. I am curious to see how well this actually works, If Dodgeaspen still wants to try.
VP

[dodgeaspen]

Originally Posted by Victory Pete

I have 2 "new in box" TSR-8's that I am currently aligning to a new MRL test tape. If I maintain strict alignment tolerances I think the copy will be very accurate especially when you consider it will be used on a very similiar Tascam-38. I am curious to see how well this actually works, If Dodgeaspen still wants to try.
VP

Sure!!! Why not. I will use it for a general test. I am looking for a 1KHz tone to set up my DBX 150's.

[Sanchez]

Hi...can anybody helpt me? i just bought a Tascam BR20 and is not sound great on a regulat reel tape...it sound just like there were 2 melodies at once (when playback)...when i record the sound is very good but if i put the record tape on another reel to reel its sound like there were 2 melodies at once? what is the problem? the head's are not calibrated? ther is not a good alignament of the head's? thanks

[evm1024]

Originally Posted by Sanchez

Hi...can anybody helpt me? i just bought a Tascam BR20 and is not sound great on a regulat reel tape...it sound just like there were 2 melodies at once (when playback)...when i record the sound is very good but if i put the record tape on another reel to reel its sound like there were 2 melodies at once? what is the problem? the head's are not calibrated? ther is not a good alignament of the head's? thanks

The BR20 is a half track mastering deck. "Regular" reel tapes are most likely recorded in 4 track stereo. This means that you are listening to side 1 in forward and side 2 in reverse at the same time. THe BR20 is a great deck but will not play 4 track stereo tapes correctly.

Regard, Ethan