Fostex 80 Reel to Reel

[Rockn4JC]

I've just purchase a Fostex 80 R/R and was wondering if anyone could give me any hints as to the plus/minus's of this unit.
Thanks

[kristian]

fostex 80? im familiar with the a,b,e,g,r 8/16/24 but i dont think ive ever heard of that model. is it really old?

[Dom Franco]

Tell us a little more about it....
1/4" tape?
7" reels?
Tape speeds?
Dolby Noise reduction?

Sincerely;

Dom Franco

[monty]

I picked up a model 80 ten years ago. Still works great. The remote is very handy. With auto locate all you have to do is punch the return-to-zero button and you are ready to go again. It also has auto-play which makes it do a loop. Punch-in, punch-out. I've gone digital since then, but still occasionally use the 80 for certain applications, like initial tracks before transferring to digital. Seems to be built like a tank. I've heard they were the work-horses of their time. People have made albums with a model 80, and a lot of television music production was done on mine before I got it (the 'Cop Rocks' tv show in the 80's). I know I will be keeping mine. I have a couple of the old 4 track Teacs that I use for catching those stray practice riffs, and the quality is also good enough to transfer to digital. It helps save a lot of disc space and archives the original tracks for as long as the tape retains the magnetism. Tape is cheap. Sometimes digital, sometimes analog. Depends on what you're doing, but it's nice to have the option. If you don't have a manual for the 80, let me know and I will send you a zerox. Another good thing about a descent tape deck is they can be maintained and serviced and not just thrown away.

I just saw your other post about the tape and the VS880EX. Were you using the EZ routing button for recording? In four hours you should have had an entire masterpiece. When you pick the EZ routing button it will ask if you want to use the template. Push yes and all tracks with red lights are ready to record. Turn off the tracks you don't want to record by pushing the corresponding status buttons until they light green.

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 02-07-2000).]

[Rockn4JC]

You can see a picture of it here.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI...item=243635676

It has 7 inch reels, 1/4" tape, NR, the picture tells most of it. I just got it today but haven't really had a chance to mess with it too much. I'm looking forward to laying down some tracks, now I wish I hadn't sold that Boss DR5 drum machine.