Hell, if I knew, several years ago, the road I'd go through, buying used and 20 year old gear, no matter the condition, I'd opt for a brand new recorder, if I had the budget and, most importantly, the experience.
Who gives a shit, thinking outloud to myself now, that I could have bought 10x the amount of older gear, for 10 cents on the dollar, when all I would be buying is aged electronics and machines not up to par in just about every way.
The amount I spent, in the last 3 - 4 years, on machines with various issues, many of them damaged through bad packers and not to forget the time wasted and stress associated therewith, I could have just bought 1 good and new machine and not some new-old-stock one either but a freshly made one.
Yup, I basically spent the equivalent of a new Otari 1/2" 4 track machine, on mostly junk gear, with a couple of exceptions, thinking what a great deal I had, that I was "saving" money and that I was on a "budget".
The stuff that I have, that is in truly low use, clean condition, is really a blessing and I'll continue to use it but age doesn't lie and electronics are definitely way past their middle age. I'm def not getting up to spec performance and I can't see the machines going for another decade.
Unless one loves to play around with changing capacitors and the like, I feel the best advice would be to snap up a brand new recorder now and have peace of mind for the next 30 years, if one plans to be recording for that length of time.
Added all up, it was insanity and not about being too poor to afford a nice recorder.
If I had to do it over again, I'd spring for that Otari or whatever machine was available at the time. Now I have another chance and I'm not going to let it pass by.
...and really, why does one need to have more than 4-8 tracks, especially the typical home recordist ? 4 tracks on 1/2" tape is really quiet and sounds HUUGE!
As always YMMV.
Ok, rant over. Sorry.
