2" tape

  • Thread starter Thread starter Beathoven
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Beathoven

Beathoven

New member
Hi all,

I don't know jack about analog recording but I heard Dr.Dre was using 2" tape to record his stuff. I would like to know more about that...

1- Can anyone direct me to products that will record 2" tape?

2- Is an ADAT and the same thing as a DAT machine?

Only questions that come to my mind for now...

Thanks in advance,
Beathoven
 
2"tape machines will start around$4000 or so for a "fixer upper" special on up to $50,000+ or so. Tape costs are on the steep side as well. A DAT and an ADAT are the same in that they both store digital data on magnetic tape. DATs are stereo, ADATs are 8 tracks per machine and multiple machines can easily be synced together to run as on big multi track.
 
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Take a look and you tell me why you think they might be.
 
Here is my dream machine.They only want $32,000 for this one hehe.

Prod256.jpg
 
I must be getting REAL old

In my day every single recording studio I ever worked, played or just "hung out" in had at least one of these.

24 track was synonomous with 2" open reel.

I'm guessing that there are studios out there now that don't have such beasts in them anymore.

How times have changed.
 
Track Rat said:
2"tape machines will start around$4000 or so for a "fixer upper" special on up to $50,000+ or so. Tape costs are on the steep side as well. A DAT and an ADAT are the same in that they both store digital data on magnetic tape. DATs are stereo, ADATs are 8 tracks per machine and multiple machines can easily be synced together to run as on big multi track.
Click to expand...

Don't foeget the cost of maintenance. :eek:
 
Oh yeah. If you want to run one of these big dogs either learn to do your own setup, biasing and allignment or be prepaired to pay to have it done.
 
One studio quality 2" machine consist of: one 24ch recording head, one 24 ch replay head, one erase head, 2 HQ reel motors, 1 HQ capstan motor, quartz speed regulation electronics, 24 x HQ line input amps with EQ, 24 x HQ output line amps with EQ, 24 x biasing electronics, 24 x sync output amps, 48 x noise reduction electronics, 24 x HQ metering ( VU ), frame and other details.
Price = quality x quantity
 
HOME Recording

Is there no middle of the road?

I have had and hated a cassette tape based 4 track porta studio from Fostex when I was 16. So I made the digital plunge and got a pretty good rig for a Digital Audio Workstation. Now I am older and wiser and still love the warmth of analog tape. Before I was naive and thought that digital meant clearer, and clearer menat better. This was probably because I was too stupid to learn how to use the 4-track protastudio properly so everry track had an unbelievable amount of Hsssssssssssss on it.

Now I would like to have an open real multi-track recorder but I can not afford $4,000-$40,000. I was thinking more along the lines of $1,000-$1,500. Nice home budget. But the higher end of a home budget. Not $350 for a 4-track. A good descent quality, not necessarily 24 tracks. 16 would be fine. Maybe even more than fine. 8-track would be a bit lean in the track department... but any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am more intersted in the quality of componants than the track count, because I will probably use this analog machine to record some digital tracks from my Digital Audio Workstation. This might be seen as kind of a best of both worlds. Tracking digitally, mixing, monitoring and all that jazz in the digital domain. But then bouncing it all down to stereo analog to pick up the warmth of analog, then mix down to CD, back through the PC.

That is only an idea of an application. I would be mostly interested in learning how to get good result on an open reel tape multi-tracker. But I can't spend a fortune.

Any product suggestions in the $1,000-$1,500 range?

Thanks guys,

Mike
 
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