Revox PR99 tape recommendations & advice.

[trancedental]

Just picked up a Revox MkIII PR99 machine as DHL wrecked my Studer A807 but that's another story!

As this Revox was a "BBC Chart Show radio broadcast" machine with VU's but no level controls, I assume looking at a .pdf manual I have that it was originally set up for BASF / EMTEC 468?

I have a dozen or so tapes at present including one BASF 468, some old but unused BASF 911 & new boxes of EMTEC 911 & know that these are all similar level tapes, I was just wondering about the bias differences between 911 & 468 or even 456?

I've done quite a few test recordings using the BASF 468 / 911 so far but can't really tell if there is that much of a difference in sound?

What I'm asking is can I use the machine biased for 468 with 911 tapes until I get it serviced or learn to do it myself?

 

[cjacek]

Just picked up a Revox MkIII PR99 machine as DHL wrecked my Studer A807 but that's another story!

As this Revox was a "BBC Chart Show radio broadcast" machine with VU's but no level controls, I assume looking at a .pdf manual I have that it was originally set up for BASF / EMTEC 468?

I have a dozen or so tapes at present including one BASF 468, some old but unused BASF 911 & new boxes of EMTEC 911 & know that these are all similar level tapes, I was just wondering about the bias differences between 911 & 468 or even 456?

I've done quite a few test recordings using the BASF 468 / 911 so far but can't really tell if there is that much of a difference in sound?

What I'm asking is can I use the machine biased for 468 with 911 tapes until I get it serviced or learn to do it myself?

As this was a "BBC Chart Show radio broadcast", you really don't know which tape it may have been re-calibrated for (if it was). While it is generally recommended to have a machine of this age (and one especially without a detailed history) re-aligned / re-calibrated prior to use, I feel that if you're getting a good (and audibly accurate) sound with the tapes that you have on an "as is" machine, then certainly you can make use of it and wait until you have it serviced, either by someone you trust or by yourself.

Quantegy 456 and 911 share the same bias and levels. The 468 differs in that it needs more bias and therefore may sound too bright (on a machine set for the former tapes).

A simple test that you can do is record / playback something recorded to all 3 tapes and if 468 sounds a bit too bright in comparison to the source and the other tapes, then your recorder was most likely set for Quantegy 406 / 456, 911.

Try to record (using your PC or CD) several test tones on the tapes that you have, alternately monitoring from source and tape and see how close it is. Pick the best sounding tape.

 

[FALKEN]

that's sort of what I did to determine what level to bias my otari at. The tape manufacturer recommended -3 db and otari recommended -4db in the manual (or the other way around, forget which). Anywayz I tried recording at several different bias levels to see which sounded best, for that tape. (you will record on several different tapes to see which is best for the bias level). Hopefully both channels are even, or mono recordings will sound somewhat stereo (some frequencies will be more prominent on one side or another). biasing with a test tape isn't that difficult. Oh yeah, I was going to recommend doing the listening tests with real music to see what sounds best.

 

[cjacek]

Yeah, whenever I took possession of a new deck, I always dubbed a commercial music CD to it, closely listening to the playback and if the source and playback were near to or dead identical then I didn't touch the machine.

 

[jpmorris]

The BBC use (used?) Zonal 675 and SM468. I actually have a BBC-surplus box filled with 5-inch SM468s.

 

[trancedental]

Cheers Guys!

I've actually worked out that the 3 x NOS Emtec Studio Master reels that I thought was 911 as the seller said is actually SM468 as written in dark lettering on the side of the box & on the tape itself.

I've tried some of this Emtec SM468 & this is what the PR99 is biased for as there is hardly any difference between the source & recorded material apart from slight compression & the usual warmth of tape.

The 2 reels of BASF SM911 I have some slight treble loss & are more bass prominent compared to the source which could be useful in certain situations I suppose?

There is a slight difference between my reel of BASF SM468 & the Emtec SM468 to my ears as well, I think the Emtec has more depth & sparkle to it IMO.

I'll also buy some Zonal 675 to try later on.

 

[cjacek]

The 2 reels of BASF SM911 I have some slight treble loss & are more bass prominent compared to the source which could be useful in certain situations I suppose?

The loss of treble means your machine is biased too high for SM911 but just right for SM468 (as you've already found out).

If you want SM911 to sound right, then re-bias it.

 

[trancedental]

The loss of treble means your machine is biased too high for SM911 but just right for SM468 (as you've already found out).

If you want SM911 to sound right, then re-bias it.

As I've got 7 reels of Emtec / BASF SM468 & only 2 old BASF SM911 I think I'd better leave the machine biased for SM468!

There seems to be more NOS Emtec SM468 tape for sale than SM911 over here at the moment?

 

[cjacek]

As I've got 7 reels of Emtec / BASF SM468 & only 2 old BASF SM911 I think I'd better leave the machine biased for SM468!

There seems to be more NOS Emtec SM468 tape for sale than SM911 over here at the moment?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with 468. In fact, it could be argued that it's the best tape of the lot so I'd stick with it, especially that your machine is already setup for it.

Yes, there indeed is a lot of NOS 468 going fairly cheap and it's amazing that more people haven't caught on what a great tape it is.