anyone know anything about reel to reel?

[oldtownrobot]

i am looking into reel to reel technology and wondering if anyone has any hints, tips, or suggestions for me...

 

[mikeh]

Buy your tape bulk - always store recorded tapes tails out - store tape in celan, dry area - learn how to splice - demagnatize often and with due caution - clean heads often - never place tape near magnetic or energy fields (speakers, power amps, etc.) - backup everything - be prepared for lots of downtime while you constantly shuttle tape back & forth - tape machines require a fair amount of maintenance & allignment, learn how to do this!

I suspect you want to use tape because you've heard that it is "warmer and provides "natural compression" etc. Having gone from tape to hard drive recording, I'm not convinced that the pro's of tape outweigh the cons.

That being said, if you have done your research and understand the pros & cons - I would suggest you look at Tascam, they have always done reel to reel well.

 

[oldtownrobot]

thanks

yes. tascam is the way to go seems to be the general concensous

 

[OneArmedScissor]

The way I always took it was that if you grew up working with tape, then you know it like the back of your hand by now, so you are one of the few people that it is worth bothering for.

For everyone else, be extremely happy there is digital recording.

 

[oldtownrobot]

nostalgia

i think it s for the nostalgia... that and i m sick of robots. i DID begin recording onto cassette tapes with a little 4 track recorder about 9 years ago.

 

[Lambo]

I still think my old Tascam 38, 8 Track 1/2" reel to reel had the warmest sound of any recordings I've ever done. As others have said though, they're a pain to maintain but well worth the labor of love IMHO.

 

[mikewahlquist]

tascam 38

i have a like-new tascam 38 with less than 20 hours on it that i could be convinced to part with. it would be quite heavy to ship tho'.

 

[Raw-Tracks]

yes. tascam is the way to go seems to be the general concensous

Studers are actually a little better than Tascams.

 

[Outlaws]

Studers are actually a little ebtter than Tascams.

Are you fucking serious??????


Pay no attention to anything this guy ever says again.



Thats like someone wanting a nice mid-priced luxury car and you go and tell em to get a Rolls Royce or Bentley because they are better.

 

[Raw-Tracks]

Are you fucking serious??????


Pay no attention to anything this guy ever says again.



Thats like someone wanting a nice mid-priced luxury car and you go and tell em to get a Rolls Royce or Bentley because they are better.

Easy Outlaws, First of all, I did not see any mention of price range or track count. Upon reading oldtownrobot's thread I thought he might be looking for a 2-track machine. Now, upon further review of the thread, I can see he is probably looking for a multi-track.

Telling someone who is looking for a 2-track to look at Studers is not like telling them to look at a Rolls-Royce. I have seen Studer B67 1/4" machines go for under $500.

While I appreciate your concern, Outlaws, I do think you are over reacting to my mis-interpretation to the original posters questions. I certainly meant no harm.

 

[oldtownrobot]

how much you want for the tascam?

price? location? any other info i might like to know about?

thanks.

 

[oldtownrobot]

how much you want for the tascam?

price? location? any other info i might like to know about?

thanks.

 

[A Reel Person]

Analog reel-to-reel?

Analog reel-to-reel is glorious! Tremendous! Fantastic! A breeze! A joy to work with!

Hassle? That's the DAW crowd.

Go analog.

 

[Middleman]

One of the problems with tape is the hiss noise. If you pick up a reel to reel try to score one with the associated dolby expander which was used to reduce tape hiss. Nice thing to have if you plan on working back and forth from analog to digital.

 

[OneArmedScissor]

If you record stuff to tape, and then send it to your computer for editing and mix down through some really kick ass A/D converters, do you retain the "warmth?"

It's not like I could afford that or anything lol, I just wondered if that really worked, or if you lost out in the conversion part no matter what, because of sampling rates and stuff not really being "good enough."

 

[kragbax]

I cut my teeth 12-13 years ago on a Tascam 38 a friend owned in his basement studio. I loved it. I loved working the board, outboard gear, etc. Now after a long long time of basically being out of recording altogether - I decided to go analog/digital now that I'm getting back into it. Alesis HD24 digital recorder, that basically works like a tape machine, and a 24 channel analog console (I'm using a Mackie 24.8). My set up is a lot like how I remembered my old days with the Tascam, but there are just too many advantages for me with using the digital recorder. The foremost probably being the 24 tracks. Functionality is as easy if not easier. And no more having to wait to rewind the damn tape between miscues/mistakes, etc

There are pros and cons to everything/option, and everyone likes to try to convert others to their way, which of course is the best Do your research, find out what you're really getting into (up front cost, maintenance cost, limitations of the specific equipment, possible upgradability, etc.) then just plow ahead. Recording on a 1984 tape recorder is better then not recording at all

-Krag