I picked up a Teac X1000R last summer. . .

[Carole McIntyre]

at an auction. Nobody there seemed to know what it was, and it was accompanied by boxes of recorded and blank Maxell 10 1/2" tapes, so I won't be hitting the wall in that direction anytime soon.

I had it worked over at a sound shop, and the sound on the recorded tapes that came with it has me grinning ear to ear. I'd like to do some recording with it, but there's something I don't know. I give it a feed, put it into record mode, press both the forward and record buttons, and it doesn't do it. The tape remains blank, although the VU meters indicate that something is coming in. On another forum I was looking at, someone said something about it also having to be in a "standby" mode to record, but I can't find anything that indicates how to get it there. What am I doing wrong, or failing to do?

What I also want to know is whether I can record from computer downloads, and secondarily, is that sound "compressed" so that it won't record well on an analog like this? If quality of sound has been lost along the way, the Teac can't replace it.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Armistice]

Computer downloads - as in stuff you get from the net, will be compressed to varying degrees - high quality downloads sound pretty good, low quality ones can sound crap. Have a listen to myspace pages for crap compression applied to online music.

I'm not understanding why, however, you would want to put download files on a reel to reel?

I understand the sonic properties of music recorded on tape in the first instance, just not what you hope to gain by putting them on tape later....

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I Googled the make and model and found several interesting resources including a video demonstration.

You ought to be able to record from any analog audio source. Of course the recorder can't replace any discarded or lost information, but it will impart something of its own sound. Whether that's a good thing or not is up to your ear.

 

[one guy]

If you can hear it there is a way to record it tho quality is a concern,

 

[grimtraveller]

I give it a feed, put it into record mode, press both the forward and record buttons, and it doesn't do it. The tape remains blank, although the VU meters indicate that something is coming in.

When you say you simultaneously press record and forward, do you mean fast forward or play ?

 

[Carole McIntyre]

I mean "play" and "record."

As to why I'd like to record from on-line, there's just so much stuff out there! And it's so easy to access. I sort of hate to just download it onto my computer, because I've had a couple of computers just quit, taking whatever was on them to the great void. But if it's on tape, that's not going to happen.

The same guy who had the Teac also had an H.H. Scott wideband FM tuner. I suspect that a lot of the tapes he recorded were done from that source. There's a lot of classical music, and the stereo is really inspiring. It may be that I'll wind up doing something like that, but I have a lot to learn about this beast on the way. I was sort of hoping to find someone on this forum who was very familiar with this particular machine, who would have the patience to escort me through its pathways.