2" Tape Machine

wes480

wes480

New member
If I wanted to get into a 2" recording machine...at a reasonable price, what would I be looking at?

I don't know what "reasonable" is..but, something that would be worthy of doing tracks for an album.

I would just be using it for tracks here and there to get that saturated sound...

Obviously I can't afford really hardcore pro stuff...

Is there any company that makes new consumer aimed 2" machines?

I assume E-Bay would be my best bet for something...

But, I'd just record to the tape, run it through a mixer and into digital...

thoughts?

-wes
 
I'll admit I am the world's biggest ignoramous when it comes to tape. But the concept of "consumer aimed 2" machines" seems really funny.

Kind of like asking if there are any "consumer aimed" nuclear reactors out there. (Maybe on e-bay?)
 
first learn alignment....a 2" machine must be adjusted, taken apart cleaned and degaused constantly...learn it and it will be a labor of love, DONT learn it and you will HATE it and it will be a pox upon you.

That JH-24 is a fine machine sony or mci version...not the greatest sync options or autolocator but good nonetheless

I have seen a few ampex MM series go on digibid for under 5 k lately..remember we used to say MM stands for " master muncher" on some models you CANT hit stop or itll split the tape...but they sound great
 
2" machines are not targeted at a "consumer" type market. They are all professional machines, some better than others.

TASCAM made a 24-track 1" machine, I think the MSR-24. I think the track width is a bit narrow and if it's running at 30IPS, you'll loose some low end. That's just too many tracks for me on that width of tape. 16 on 1" is much better.

I'd love to have a 2" machine, but I don't have the technical know-how to take care of it, though I could learn. I don't have the room, and 2" tape ain't cheap. It usually runs at 30IPS, which on a 2500' reel gives you roughly 16 minutes of record time.

Think about the overall cost of operation and not just the purchase price when considering a 2" machine.
 
On the budget side of 24 track land there is the Fostex G24S for around $3000 to $4000. I saw a Tascam MSR24 for $2000. Also some of the older Otari's are good deals running from around $5000 to $8000 with a little less than a 1/2 life on the head stack. Whats that mean to you and me.... Well to me Im looking at a new head stack in a few years. Another thing to consider is the maintenance costs of calibrating, its not a set it and forget it machine. Tape cost for 2" is pretty expensive for 15 minutes of music. If ya want, here is the place I shop for used everything. http://www.odysseyprosound.com/about.html

Have a great day!

SoMm
 
Sennheiser said:
2" machines are not targeted at a "consumer" type market. They are all professional machines, some better than others.

TASCAM made a 24-track 1" machine, I think the MSR-24. I think the track width is a bit narrow and if it's running at 30IPS, you'll loose some low end. That's just too many tracks for me on that width of tape. 16 on 1" is much better.

I'd love to have a 2" machine, but I don't have the technical know-how to take care of it, though I could learn. I don't have the room, and 2" tape ain't cheap. It usually runs at 30IPS, which on a 2500' reel gives you roughly 16 minutes of record time.

Think about the overall cost of operation and not just the purchase price when considering a 2" machine.
Click to expand...

TASCAM also made an ATR-80 2" machine but thats hardly "consumer".
 
As noted above (and based on what little I know), nobody every made a 2" machine that wasn't a hardcore pro machine. The tape alone runs six or eight dollars a minute (at 30 ips, anyway).

In sort of the last-generation of more-than-4-track analog tape recorders, it seems to me that:

2" would a full-on pro format.

1" (16 or 24 tracks) would be a lower-end pro format, or a semi-pro format. 1" 8 tracks was a common full-on pro format in the "olden days" (as was 1" 4-track).

1/2" (8 or 16 tracks) would be a semi-pro or prosumer format. Tascam and Fostex made a number of these.

1/4" (8 tracks) would be a prosumer format, as would 1/8" cassette (8 tracks). Fostex made a number of 1/4" 8-tracks and Tascam made one (the 388). Tascam and Yamaha made cassette 8-tracks.

The only really mainline "consumer" reel-to-reel format (in recent years) was 1/4" quarter-track stereo. (Based on my understanding of "consumer" and "mainline," anyway). I guess quad (1/4" 4-track) was a consumer format, though back a few years.
 
A cheap alternative if you intend on just using the tape's effect on sound. Buy a 1/2" 4 track, or 1/2" 2 track which are more common. You will probably only be running kick and snare at the same time, or vocals, or something else. Make sure it is a 3 headed machine. Send your direct out of your mixer into the IN on the reel to reel. You can try various input levels, into the red, peaking in the red, or staying out of the red. Depends what you are looking for. Then have the OUT of the reel to reel hooked into whatever digital medium you use. This will be like monitoring the tape a fraction of a second after it gets recorded, except now it will be patched into recording in the digitial world. A cheaper, and actually better alternative to 2" tape. 2 tracks on 1/2" is a twice the track width that a 16 rack on 2". So better frequency response and saturation abilities.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top