Teac A-3300SX and MRL Tape

F

fstrat76

Member
I just picked up a Teac A-3300SX 4-track deck in very good condition. However, I still want to do a full calibration on the deck.

Couple of questions:

I have an MRL tape I use for my Tascam 42. That MRL tape is a 250nWb/m, 15IPS tape.

Would the Teac A-3300SX, which is only a 7.5IPS machine, normally be setup and operate for +3 tapes, 185nWb/m?

Also, is there some way I can use my 15IPS 250nWb/m MRL tape to calibrate the Teac?
 
So long as you work out the math correctly, that hotter calibration might be usable to set the repro levels but I'm not sure what the math would be to accomplish that properly.

For starters, you could try just playing it to see where the levels are on the meters to see if you need an up or down math conversion. But if the meters are pegged, then no, that tape will not be usable.

Cheers! :)
 
Well, playing the 15ips MRL tape at 7.5ips on the Teac, the first 1kHz tone on tape (which would be 500Hz at 7.5ips), shows pretty close to zero VU.

I guess my confusion is about the flux level at a slower speed.

Dumb question, but is 250nWb/m always 250nWb/m no matter what speed?
 
fstrat76 said:
Well, playing the 15ips MRL tape at 7.5ips on the Teac, the first 1kHz tone on tape (which would be 500Hz at 7.5ips), shows pretty close to zero VU.

I guess my confusion is about the flux level at a slower speed.

Dumb question, but is 250nWb/m always 250nWb/m no matter what speed?
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What does pretty close to zero mean? Is it just a bit lower or higher?

If it's lower, then it would indicate that if the tape is 250 @ 15 IPS, then it might also indicate that its 125 @ 7.5 IPS, which answers your "dumb question".

Cheers! :)
 
250nW/m is 250nW/m regardless of the speed it is played at.

You can use this at 7.5ips with some allowances on the meter readings. See the MRL web site for a comprehensive set of conversion charts. Interesting point noted on the web site is that if it is an IEC tape played on IEC machines there are no allowances necessary at all, apart from knowing that the frequencies are all halved.

Regards

David Ollard
 
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I saw the MRL conversion charts. To calibrate it to factory settings, I need to calibrate the deck to show +3 VU using the MRL tape that I have.

The service manual indicates -8 at the outputs is 0VU, so it should really read -5 instead?
 
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