Information on Reel to Reel tape machine?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Daniel Y
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Daniel Y

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Recently acquired an old AKAI reel to reel tape machine. Not really familiar with the unit. Anbody know of a good resource for information on recording to tape in general (care/maintenance/setup etc.). Thanks in advance.
 
If the machine came with a manual, sit down and read it as many times as necessary to absorb all the model specific info it will offer you. If it didn't come with the manual, make every effort to source one out.

Cheers! :)
 
Do you know what model of Akai it is? IIRC the 4000 was one of the most common ones.

EDIT:
Akai machines are almost exclusively consumer models. They are good for recording and playing back 4-track stereo tapes, but that's about it. (Though they can be useful if you're into experimental / LoFi stuff)

They are not especially useful for things like multitrack recording (though some models can do it at a pinch) or creating a stereo master.

A lot depends on what you're planning to do with it.
 
Its the GX635D. Not really looking to make it a centerpiece of my studio or anything like that. Its more of an experimental project for my own curiosity. Thanks for the suggestions, was able to track down the manual, definitely feel though that I need to learn a bit more how these machines work generally speaking to get the most out of it.
 
Daniel Y said:
Its the GX635D.

I need to learn a bit more how these machines work generally speaking to get the most out of it.
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Nice deck! :) Second from top of the line in Akai's line up with only the 747 being above it with some fancier looking meters and a hideaway panel for some of the controls. The specs are about the same though. Too bad neither of them could run at 15 IPS.

As for how these types of machines work in general, are you asking about the mechanical end of things or in terms of how they work electronically and affect the sound?

If its about the sound, recording levels are going to be the biggest variable factor in all that. Record at too low a level and the tape hiss will start to become audible as your deck's signal to noise ratio is 65 db when running at 7.5 IPS and with normal levels of around 0 Vu. If your record levels are too low, that spec will drop. If you record at too strong a level, where the meters are buried to the right on the meters, the sound may become audibly distorted, which you may prefer as this type of harmonic distortion is akin to over driven guitar amps and also introduces a bit of tape compression when the tape runs out of room to record anything louder db-wise. And that's what a lot of folks are after with tape are those specific effects. If you run it at the "recommended" or normal record levels, the sound will just be essentially clean sounding plus any frequency bumps and dips that the heads will naturally introduce to the recorded signal...otherwise known as warmth to many.

Because your machine is a 3 head deck, it means that you can live monitor the recorded results as the recording is taking place, so it makes it pretty easy to just monitor the tape signal and adjust the recording levels untill things sound right to you rather then just relying on the meters alone to get a sense of how hard or softly you're pushing the tape. So experiment with some different types of musical content and play with the record levels while doing so to see where the signal will sound closest to what you were wanting to do to it.

Hope that helps a bit.

Cheers! :)
 
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