Fostex b16d 30 ips Can I slow it down?

Ryan Murphy

New member
I have a Fostex B16d that is the 30ips variety. I do not need this. It is to trebley for my taste. I have to use like 4 tracks together to get good bass.

Is there a way that I can reprogram the thing for 15 ips? Lets discuss this. I like clarity and detail too. Will the cut kill my clarity over additions I get with bass. Is a 30ips machine worth more than a 15ips machine? I can sell it and get a slower one with the money.

https://youtu.be/Mck0axmvxeM

I saw a video from when I had a Tascam Tsr 8 and noticed how much slower it was... That was 15ips.
 
The 30ips option was an available factory mod which entailed not just motor speed but changing values in the record & playback electronics. The heads may also be different but I don't know for certain. Unless you get the documentation, parts, and do it yourself, it's not worth it. I have a an E-16 30ips unit and bass response has never been a problem. Assuming a healthy machine, getting your machine aligned for the specific tape you use should get the performance you want.
 
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Yeah it worked and all... I think it would sound better at 15 ips. Treble reaponse out weighs bass for sure.

It's like an unhealthy crack addiction.

What do you mean by align? It seems aligned to me. All the tracks on the tapes are where they're supposed to be. Rec and playback work fine. I used it for 2 months and I have come to this conclusion.
 
Aligned to industry standard. At the very least you need a test tape, an outboard meter that is accurate at all frequencies, the extender card that allows you to get to the play/record electronics trimmers, & an oscilloscope. If your frequency response is off kilter, those trimmers aren't set properly. Analog tape machines need to be properly setup and routinely maintained. Otherwise, you don't get "as designed" performance from them.
 
I'm intrigued by your need to use 4 tracks for bass? Never had to do it with any multitrack I owned. You don't have an excess of HF normally, you just have extension upwards which is usually what the point of the higher speed is. It sounds like yours is simply aligned for different tape, or somebody fiddled. Bias current and level matching was always a personal thing and people would experiment and fiddle to get the machines to a performance they liked. 30ips is too limiting for me - as in running time, but fans are willing to sacrifice it for the higher frequency ability. It shouldn't impact the bass end - and actually can improve it normally as tape saturation from heavy bass levels gets spread over a greater surface area, which helps a bit.

I think your alignment is out - for your way of working. Have you tried recording a pink noise source to it, then examining the output on a scope (real or in a DAW) to see how flat and extended it actually is before you do anything rash.
 
#1 I have tracks that are sharring channels
... So that doesn't help. But I get a much fuller richer bass if I have muliple tracks using it.

So this is analog not digital. The amount of sound takes up physical space not represented as either a zero or one. More detail higher quality is going to take up more space.

The higher speeds are going to spread out these low frequency wave forms... Its going to need twice as much width to achieve the same low freq sound.
 
#1 I have tracks that are sharring channels
... So that doesn't help. But I get a much fuller richer bass if I have muliple tracks using it.

So this is analog not digital. The amount of sound takes up physical space not represented as either a zero or one. More detail higher quality is going to take up more space.

The higher speeds are going to spread out these low frequency wave forms... Its going to need twice as much width to achieve the same low freq sound.

I'm out of here. You know nothing about audio and refuse to learn or accept any help.
 
#1 I have tracks that are sharring channels
... So that doesn't help. But I get a much fuller richer bass if I have muliple tracks using it.

So this is analog not digital. The amount of sound takes up physical space not represented as either a zero or one. More detail higher quality is going to take up more space.

The higher speeds are going to spread out these low frequency wave forms... Its going to need twice as much width to achieve the same low freq sound.

I don’t mean to offend or disrespect, but there is pretty much nothing correct about what you are stating here.

A given tape machine has a response curve...+/- so many dBs from X Hz to X kHz. When you double the tape speed, like from 15 to 30ips, it generally takes that response curve and shifts it upward on the frequency spectrum. There is a phenomenon called a LF “head bump”. This is a bump in the LF range of the response curve. Often times it is in a sonically pleasing part of the frequency spectrum, but you double the speed and now maybe it’s in a less desirable part of the spectrum, or it just sort of gets neutralized. So that is something to contend with on a 30ips machine, but really truly the first thing you need to do is do a full alignment which includes lining up the meters, reproduce electronics and record electronics, including levels and frequency response. Very importantly it also includes biasing your machine to the tape you are using. What tape are you using anyway? If your program material sounds better by doubling or quadrupling tracks to get better LF content, it’s probably because of comb filtering. Do a full alignment including any tape path checks/adjustments first and that will tell you if your machine is performing to spec.
 
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