frilyd
New member
Hi there!
This is my first post on the forums, but I have been lurking around here for years. Now the time has come to join: I need help, and I don't know where else to turn.
I recently got a Fostex 80. I used the same machine around 2000-2001, and it worked perfectly back then. I am almost certain it hasn't been used much since. Before I even started using it after I got it, I cleaned the tape path (isopropyl alcohol) and demagnetised all metal parts in the tape path (very slowly and carefully). I bought new RMG LPR35 tape, and I've spent some time testing the machine. In short, it doesn't work nearly the way it did back in 2001.
After treading it correctly, I recorded a few minutes of vocals on all tracks. Only track 4 and 5 work really well - the rest is muffled, unclear, or/and has sudden drops in recording volume and high frequency response. The strange thing is that track 2 and 7 are worse than track 1 and 8. In effect, I now have a 2-track machine :-/
I'm not able to diagnose this. If the machine had come out of alignment, I would expect the HF response to get worse the nearer the edge tracks I got. Track 1 and 8 are definetely muffled, but not as bad as track 2 and 7. As it is now, I'm a bit confused, and would be grateful for any help.
If needed, I can post pictures of the heads (they have some wear, but should have plenty of life left) and sound clips of the affected tracks. If you want to hear me singing out-of-tune this close to Christmas, that is. Anyway, I could take this possibility and wish you all a warm, analogue Christmas and a correctly biased new year!
This is my first post on the forums, but I have been lurking around here for years. Now the time has come to join: I need help, and I don't know where else to turn.
I recently got a Fostex 80. I used the same machine around 2000-2001, and it worked perfectly back then. I am almost certain it hasn't been used much since. Before I even started using it after I got it, I cleaned the tape path (isopropyl alcohol) and demagnetised all metal parts in the tape path (very slowly and carefully). I bought new RMG LPR35 tape, and I've spent some time testing the machine. In short, it doesn't work nearly the way it did back in 2001.
After treading it correctly, I recorded a few minutes of vocals on all tracks. Only track 4 and 5 work really well - the rest is muffled, unclear, or/and has sudden drops in recording volume and high frequency response. The strange thing is that track 2 and 7 are worse than track 1 and 8. In effect, I now have a 2-track machine :-/
I'm not able to diagnose this. If the machine had come out of alignment, I would expect the HF response to get worse the nearer the edge tracks I got. Track 1 and 8 are definetely muffled, but not as bad as track 2 and 7. As it is now, I'm a bit confused, and would be grateful for any help.
If needed, I can post pictures of the heads (they have some wear, but should have plenty of life left) and sound clips of the affected tracks. If you want to hear me singing out-of-tune this close to Christmas, that is. Anyway, I could take this possibility and wish you all a warm, analogue Christmas and a correctly biased new year!