Eric Altizer said:
Sounds good. I will check into getting the capstan collar for the 7.5 ips. Some of my reels are marked that they were recorded at 1 7/8 ips. I know that this is the standard speed for 'cassette' recordings. How would I go about playing a 1/4" reel at this speed? Would I need to get an even older deck that plays at this speed or could I play it on a Tascam with speed control? I mean was there a time say pre-1980's that reels were recorded at 1 7/8 ips?? Or is that not possible?
Tascam varispeed is only usually +/- 15%, sometimes 10%. Unless you can
get a consumer deck with this speed (or perhaps a Tascam 34-L, which was
used for logging.. think the interrogation recorder in 'The Usual Suspects'),
you will probably have to play them back at 3.75 ips and halve the speed in
software.
For Windows, Goldwave is quite nice but it is shareware. Audacity is free and also works in MacOS and Linux, but is a tad ugly and tends to save as useless .aup files unless you remember to use 'Export' instead of Save.
Pretty much anything that can edit audio should be able to change the sample rate.
*EDIT*
My Uher Report 4000L can run at the following speeds:
7 1/2, 3 3/4, 1 7/8 and 15/16 ips. (That's fifteen sixteenths, not 15ips).
This particular machine is mono half-track, but there was also a 2-track
stereo machine, the 4200, and I believe the 4400 was 4-track stereo, like
the Akai. You haven't actually mentioned the track format of the tapes. When playing them on the Akai, do the tapes have two sides, or only one?
If they can be turned over, you'll be needing a 4-track stereo machine.