First of all, and others will agree, be less concerned about brand and more concerned about:
- condition
- proximity
In other words, you want to find the best condition deck that is closest to you so you can go and see it before you buy it and personally transport it. You'll find all sorts of opinions on what the "best" or "better" or "preferred" uits are, but it is worth nothing if it won't function properly or needs $$$ to get it up-to-snuff or gets completely obliterated in transport. I'm not being dramatic here either. I would say you're much more likely to find a deck that needs a little work than one that needs nothing done, and anytime you load a 50-100lb chunk of gear into a box and hand it off to the shipper of your choice you are potentially signing a death warrant. Se the sticky at the top of this forum on packing 101.
Questions:
- How many tracks do you want/what will you be doing with it?
- how much do you want to spend
- Do you plan on maintaining it yourself or having somebody else do that? If it is the former be prepared to spend some money on the tools end gear needed to maintain it properly yourself...if it is the latter then I suggest you find somebody you trust and who is reputable before sinking your money into an atr.
So do you want to be able to play back consumer reel-to-reel tapes or will you only be using it to record and play back your own programs? If its the former then yes you need a four-track "quarter track" deck (stereo in one direction, stereo in the other...like the way cassettes work). If you are solely going to use it to record and playback your own programs or material then I'd look for a 1/4" "half-track"...that means 2 tracks in one direction only. The head element width is roughly twice that as a 1/4" quarter-track (because your stereo program is recorded/reproduced from the full head-height) and you are still taking advantage of the relative affordability of 1/4" tape. The downside is you don't get as much program length per tape because you can't flip it over and use the "other side" of the tape. Does that make sense?
Ah! I wondered if that was what you were talking about...then you're already familiar with the Technics 1500.
Okay. You are definitely wanting a stereo 1/4" quarter track deck then if you are wanting to playback tapeproject tapes.
First of all, and others will agree, be less concerned about brand and more concerned about:
- condition
- proximity
In other words, you want to find the best condition deck that is closest to you so you can go and see it before you buy it and personally transport it. You'll find all sorts of opinions on what the "best" or "better" or "preferred" uits are, but it is worth nothing if it won't function properly or needs $$$ to get it up-to-snuff or gets completely obliterated in transport. I'm not being dramatic here either. I would say you're much more likely to find a deck that needs a little work than one that needs nothing done, and anytime you load a 50-100lb chunk of gear into a box and hand it off to the shipper of your choice you are potentially signing a death warrant. Se the sticky at the top of this forum on packing 101.
Questions:
- How many tracks do you want/what will you be doing with it?
- how much do you want to spend
- Do you plan on maintaining it yourself or having somebody else do that? If it is the former be prepared to spend some money on the tools end gear needed to maintain it properly yourself...if it is the latter then I suggest you find somebody you trust and who is reputable before sinking your money into an atr.
My nose is brown but I'm just following what I learned from you, Daniel...