Picked up an Otari 2-track

[ofajen]

I was in KC this weekend with my younger son for his soccer tournament. During a break between his games, I stopped by a local studio that had an Otari MX-series 2-track for sale and listed on Craigslist. It's one of those very common BII-2 machines. Not the prettiest, but it's fully working and even set up for ATR tape. Did a test recording at the studio and it worked great. So, now I also have a newer mix machine that has gentle tape handling, quiet capstan motor and ability to do both IEC and NAB eq. I'll try to post a picture soon.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Congrats!

Pics would be nice, yes!

Cheers!

 

[sweetbeats]

Yeah...nice teaser, Otto!

So what kind of stuff will you use the 3M for and what will call for the Otari? Is it mainly a matter of having a mix deck in the studio that is quiet? I guess what I'm driving at is what are the limitations of the 3M that are superceded by the Otari?

I am of the mind that I'm going to be selling my Tascam BR-20T in favor of my 3M deck but your thoughts on this would be appreciated. I have already made up my mind that a noisy machine can be dealt with in favor of a better sound.

 

[Bristol Posse]

Man, I'm jealous. I was real close to getting one about six months ago but let the opportunity slip. Now I really regret it. Now I'm constantly prowling the classified, Craigslist, pawnshops, garage sales, going out of business sales in the hope another good one comes up

 

[ofajen]

Yeah...nice teaser, Otto!

So what kind of stuff will you use the 3M for and what will call for the Otari? Is it mainly a matter of having a mix deck in the studio that is quiet? I guess what I'm driving at is what are the limitations of the 3M that are superceded by the Otari?

I am of the mind that I'm going to be selling my Tascam BR-20T in favor of my 3M deck but your thoughts on this would be appreciated. I have already made up my mind that a noisy machine can be dealt with in favor of a better sound.

First there is backward compatibility with all my old M-79 mixes with IEC eq.
Second, this machine sounds great, too.
Third it is quieter and my place is pretty small.
Finally, I may want to do a few tweaks on the M-23 and this ensures I have a working mix machine.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[ofajen]

So what kind of stuff will you use the 3M for and what will call for the Otari? Is it mainly a matter of having a mix deck in the studio that is quiet? I guess what I'm driving at is what are the limitations of the 3M that are superceded by the Otari?

It will take a bit of time to figure out if there is much difference in the sound of how they record and play back. I'll need to find out for example if the Otari can record as hot as ATR tape can handle without electronic distortion. I expect the M-23 can or can be modded to.

Either way, I expect the Otari will see a fair amount of use.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[ofajen]

Did a quick record alignment last night on the Otari to set the bias for SM911 and make sure the levels were set properly. Whole process took maybe ten minutes. Good sound and good spec. Overall 15 ips NAB performance was within 1 db from about 30 Hz to 25K, the latter being the highest the iPhone app could do, except that the lower head bump might have been a tad over +1 dB. About 3 dB down at 20 Hz, IIRC.

Reminded of something the seller had posted on CL, the 7.5 ips setting is disabled for some reason. Predates his ownership, but for whatever reason, the capstan doesn't run at the low speed setting. No biggie, as I never really have use for 7.5 ips on a two track. I do have the schematics in pdf form and may look that over and see if I can find the likely culprit.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[ofajen]

Overall 15 ips NAB performance was within 1 db from about 30 Hz to 25K, the latter being the highest the iPhone app could do, except that the lower head bump might have been a tad over +1 dB. About 3 dB down at 20 Hz, IIRC.

Yeah, call it +1.5 dB at 60 Hz.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[ofajen]

One other thing. Had to order a couple of rubber feet, as one was broken off, so I ordered a pair of 1" high cabinet feet from Parts-Express. In the mean time I'm going to build the same sort of low, roll-around box I use with the 8-track: about 16" wide and 20" deep, with plywood top, bottom and sides and about 10" tall, just the right height for the thing to lay horizontally on top of and be at a good, seated working height of about 24". Picked up some 3" casters at Harbor Freight for $3 each and I have plenty of plywood scraps to make the thing.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[ofajen]

Built the roll-around stand yesterday from a few plywood scraps in the shed. There is a gap built into the top of the cart to allow access to connectors and controls on the back (bottom) of the unit.

Here are a few pictures:

Cheers,

Otto

 

[ofajen]

OK, these pictures are less under-exposed:

Cheers,

Otto

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Looks pretty cool, Otto!

Though I'm surprised you didn't build a slight tilt to the cart to make seeing the meters a bit easier?

The machine looks to be in pretty good shape too. Just of bit of dust and grime here and there.

Congrats on the cart and the machine working well!

Cheers!

 

[ofajen]

Though I'm surprised you didn't build a slight tilt to the cart to make seeing the meters a bit easier?

Had a few precious minutes to get something done so I went for simple cuts. I may pull the side pieces when the rubber feet arrive as the machine will have to come up to install them. Right now a tape reel box is holding up the left rear corner. The thought of doing a slant crossed my mind. The lazy way will be to just add a strip of wood under the rear feet once they are installed.


Cheers,

Otto

 

[ofajen]

OK, I seem to be missing something. I have the pdf instruction manual from AnalogRules.com for this unit, along with the schematics file, but the electronic alignment section only deals with the record side. I'd prefer to have the original guidance on repro alignment, rather than just winging it, based on the diagram showing what the various trim pots do. Does anyone here have the document showing repro alignment procedure? This is an MX5050 BII-2.

Thanks!

Otto