Teac a-6010

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nate_dennis

nate_dennis

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I just found a TEAC A-6010 for an absolute steal!!!! I'm told that it is a four track recorder, but it only has two VU meters. I guess you can record two tracks then "flip the tape" and do two more. But what I really need to know is, can it operate in a mix down deck capacity? I don't have a ton of time to make this decision, so your help is very appreciated!! Thanks as always.
 
you can use it for mixdown but you'll only be getting 1/2 the quality of a proper 2-track mixdown deck in the sense that the track width is smaller. i believe as well that the deck can only go to 7.5 ips as well. the benefit is you can use both sides of the tape (like a cassette), so tape will last longer.
 
Why only half the quality? Yes it runs at 7.5 but I believe that'll be fine for my music which is kinda lo fi anyway. I went ahead and bought it just because of the price. I'm excited to see what all it can do when I get home.
 
Half the track width...its not a half-track master deck, its a quarter-track consumer format deck.

You will likely be please with the sound though...1/4" quarter track gives you the same track width (approximately) as a 1/2" 8-track deck like the 80-8, 38, etc.
 
So, I'm feeling dense. It's a four track machine with only two VU meters? I bought it, I have the manual, but I'm on family holiday and don't really have the time to sit down with it. Is it two tracks on each side of the tape? If so do I need special tape for it since normal tape has a "black side" and a "brown side?" Thanks for all of your help.

PS
My grand-dad took a look at it and said he was very impressed with the condition of it. I'm increadibly pleased with my score. I'll post pictures when I get home.
 
The 4 tracks refer to the entire width of the tape when you add together the 2 on the A side and the 2 on the B side, just like a consumer cassette deck where you'd flip the tape to hear the other stereo recording.

Your deck has a second play head so that you don't have to flip the tape over to play the B side but when you make the initial recording on it, you will still have to flip the tape. Later versions we're called "auto-reverse" because they could automatically sense when the end of the tape had been reached, (via magnetic sensing), and would then automatically reverse direction and track monitoring so you could hear both sides of the tape without flipping the reel or even needing to get up to press the reverse play button on your deck. These were also 6 head machines, 3 for each direction. Yours is a 4 head, which has the 3 for one direction recording and the 4th head, which is only a playback head for the B side. This was considered a very handy feature for all those commercially produced open reel pre-recorded tapes of the day.

Your machine only has two VU meters because you can never hear any more then two tracks at a time.

Cheers! :)
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the two simultaneous tracks aren't side-by-side like they are on cassette, right? If you're listening to a consumer stereo deck, left and right are channels 1 and 3 respectively?
 
So, i think I'm catching on. The 1/4" tape will record two tracks each taking up 1/8". I can do this on both sides of the tape effectively giving me twice the tape? This model is auto reverse. I noticed (after i bought it) that there is another marking displaying "TEAC AR-60" so I'm going to see what that is. I appreciate all of your help and all of your patience with my denseness.
 
yeah, it's NOT a 4 track deck. It would be considered a stereo or two track deck.
Yes, you can flip the tape and record the other side but since it can only record or play two tracks at a time it's a stereo deck.
The autoreverse is cool for just listening but not so useful for mastering.
 
Lt. Bob said:
yeah, it's NOT a 4 track deck. It would be considered a stereo or two track deck.
Yes, you can flip the tape and record the other side but since it can only record or play two tracks at a time it's a stereo deck.
The autoreverse is cool for just listening but not so useful for mastering.
Click to expand...

Exactly the info I needed worded in a way my idiot head can understand!!! Thank you so much. I'm stoked!!!!! I don't think the dude knew what he had. His credit card machine was still the old paper/imprint type. So I don't think he knew that these things are becoming used again. I got this plus a reel of tape (not sure the kind, not real hopeful) and a take up reel for $25!!!!! The transport is slow, but I'm looking forward to learning how all of this stuff works. Thanks for all the help!!!!
 
Congrats on the price, that's killer. I think there is a lot of confusion between four track and quarter track...not necessarily the same thing.
 
Woa...

No, message 8 above is wrong.

The machine has 4 tracks over the one and only magnetic side of the tape, so each track will be less than 1/16th". When you record, you use tracks 1 and 3, which are not adjacent on the tape (looking the same way at a cassette recorder, there you use tracks 1 and 2 one way, and 3 and 4 the other side). Then NORMALLY to play the other 'side' (which is actually the same magnetic side of the tape) you turn the spools over which means that what WAS tracks 2 and 4 now become 1 and 3 (like turning over a cassette) and away you go. If this machine has auto-reverse and a second play head, then the machine will play the other way and you don't need to manually flip the reels, and the second head will be aligned to read tracks 2 and 4. I assume though that it will record ONLY to tracks 1 and 3? Auto-reverse is playback ONLY.

I hope that's a bit clearer.

Geoff
 
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