Looking at an MSR-16 monday evening- anything I should look for?

Chris Shaeffer

Chris Shaeffer

Peavey ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm afflicted. I have this 16 channel mixer taking up all this room in my home rig and nothing but an 8 track to feed it. Must....feed....the....mixer... :D

So- is there anything about the MSR-16 that is known to wear or break? Anything, other than the usual, I should look at?

Thanks,
Chris
 
Well, I think you know what obvious things to looks out for.

The one time I checked out an MSR-16, it had a tape torque problem, and a wobbly takeup hub. The tape would often slack out on the right side every time the transport stopped, requiring the user to wind the slack back up before restarting the transport, due to the roller not being activated, which turns off the capstan.........blah blah blah. Plus, the takeup hub was wacky and off balance, making the tape rub against the flange on every rotation. These are common glitches with the MSR-16, so I've heard, and are fairly pricy to fix. The guy who owned it had pampered the machine, and even had it refurbed in '98. But two years later, it developed those two problems, even with proper maintenance and storage.

Also, keep in mind of the disadvantages of the 2-head design (lack of ease of calibration, and no fun John-Lenin tape delay effects :( )

Don't forget about that track width issue. The MSR-16 I saw had TERRIBLE cross-talk. A hot track could be heard in the adjacent 4 or 5 tracks if it was hot enough, so...........you know. A common problem with 1/2" 16 trackers.

That's all I have experience with to look out for.

After buying a Fostex B-16, I QUICKLY decided that I would much rather have 8 PHAT, reliable tracks, than 16 not-so-phat, not-as-reliable tracks.

How cheap is this deck?

I've seen MX-70's go off for just above 1,000 if you're in the market for something more PRO, and you don't mind the price of 1" tape. (?)

-callie-
 
Thanks, Callie.

He's asking $900 obo for a one owner machine that been "immaculately kept."

Close enough in price to the 1" 16's I've been watching on ebay, but 1" tape IS a cost factor since the 16 track machine is promarily for my use at home. I have a 1/2" 8 for the studio where all the good stuff is.

Good point about the crosstalk. I'll check that for sure! I'm not sure I'll be happy with a 1/2" 16 but that's part of why I want to go check it out. $900 is about the right price IF its in as good a shape as the guy says. And I don't have to risk shipping or drive to LA to pick it up.

We'll see. I have my MRL tape, a homemade test tone tape with a song to play with after the tones, and some blank tape to check record and playback on each channel. Bringing the multimeter and my own mixer, too. I'll just camp out until I *know* what condition the machine is in...

Take care,
Chris
 
I have both the MSR-16 and the TSR-8. I've never had a crosstalk problem with the 16, not even with acoustic music.

-MD
 
Well, the cross-talk is virtually invisible when there's stuff RECORDED in adjacent tracks. I suppose it's not a huge problem.

But when using fresh tape, and recording a hot trumpet track onto track 8, I could hear that it crossed onto tracks 6, 7, and 9 and 10, just enough to be heard. Kinda annoying, but I'm sure it's no huge big deal.

-callie-
 
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