Tape for an Akai GX210d

  • Thread starter Thread starter jpmorris
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jpmorris

jpmorris

Tape Wolf
Okay, I finally broke down and am getting a GXD210d, ostensibly for for casual listening - I guess we'll see how that goes, since I do like the convenience of ogg/mp3 on the PC :rolleyes:

Anyway, with this machine in the collection I'll have something that can play back 4-track stereo, and with a little patience and trickery I should finally be able, in theory, to play back virtually anything in 1/4" format (though not necessarily at the correct speed).

My question is this, though - for CD->tape transfers, what tape is the machine designed for, being a 1975-era consumer deck? Any ideas? I'm thinking a 407 workalike is probably best, say, Zonal 840.

Also, what would be the best approach for aligning the thing mechanically? MRL tapes tend to be full-width rather than having the One True alignment for a quarter-track stereo deck...
 
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I'm guessing LPR35 would be fine. Do you have a manual or anything. As far as tape goes, the Teac A-3300SX manual has a whole bunch of recommended tapes, which I use as a sort of cross reference.

Also, do you already have a 1/4" alignment tape? Again, I would think you'd need a manual to know which trimmers to trim. I think you just pick the tape width, speed, and flux level.

http://home.comcast.net/~mrltapes/mrl-cat-nrs.pdf
 
Blue Jinn said:
I'm guessing LPR35 would be fine. Do you have a manual or anything.
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Unfortunately, no. Looks like the previous owner was using some kind of Maxell tape, though.

Also, do you already have a 1/4" alignment tape? Again, I would think you'd need a manual to know which trimmers to trim. I think you just pick the tape width, speed, and flux level.
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Yes, but not strictly for this machine. It's a 15 ips NAB tape at 200nw. The akai is probably set up for more like 185, though I haven't asked. I think I do have an old TEAC tape at 185/7.5 though.

EDIT:
LPR35 is not easy stuff to obtain here, unfortunately.
 
I have a x-ref for Zonal, not handy at the moment. I don't know if I can extract the pages from the PDF. I'll look up and post here tomorrow.:)
 
Zonal 840 is supposed to be close to LPR 35 or Ampex/Quantegy 407.
 
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