TEAC X-3 mk2...

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architeq

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Just bought one these in great condition... I know it's not the cream of the crop reel to reel recorders, but I'm thinking of using it for mastering my digital productions to give it a certain lo/hi-fidelity (if you get what I mean).

Does anyone think that this would work well or would just ruin the recordings?

I need to buy tapes for the damn thing aswell and have no idea where to get em in the UK. It's 1/4" Reels that go onto a 7" Diameter Spool...

What would be the highest quality tape I could buy for this machine and would using better quality make a noticable difference to the fidelity of the recordings...???

Thankis for your time

Architeq
 
It's not ideal for mastering, but if you must, Quantegy 407 tape is super.

The X-3 is a nice consumer hi-fi deck, but I would look at a Tascam 22-2 half-track if I were you. It's built on the same chassis, but runs @ 15 ips with twice the track width -- a marked sonic improvement over the X-series.

-Tim
 
architeq said:
I need to buy tapes for the damn thing aswell and have no idea where to get em in the UK. It's 1/4" Reels that go onto a 7" Diameter Spool...
Click to expand...

I get my tape here (River Pro Audio are still only stocking 467.. ?):

http://www.studiospares.com

..as for what you need, I'm not sure what the X3 was designed for, although it's probably something like Quantegy 406 (407 is the same, but longer and thinner).
You should also be able to use 456 (or 457.. again, longer and thinner) although it might need to be calibrated for it.

Zonal 675 should work too. You can get that second-hand on ebay, or apparently new from here:

www.zonalmedia.co.uk

...but their email address bounced for me, and I haven't picked up courage to phone them. Zonal 700 is supposed to be Ampex/Quantegy 456-compatible, but I'm not sure if it's available yet (Like Quantegy, Zonal died but rose again on the third day)
 
Beck said:
And I was going to say maybe JPMorris would be along with tape sources. :)
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Cool.. I'm getting a reputation.

Beck said:
Try these guys too. (I had to look up my links)
http://www.svs-media.fsbusiness.co.uk/wa5.htm
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Ouch. All I can say is that I'm glad I don't use 14" GP9.

Good to see that SVS seem to be fully stocked again. When I tentatively reordered last year, it was like SVS were rationing the stuff. Pre-orders a month in advance, wait your turn, etc.
 
Beck said:
It's not ideal for mastering, but if you must, Quantegy 407 tape is super.

The X-3 is a nice consumer hi-fi deck, but I would look at a Tascam 22-2 half-track if I were you. It's built on the same chassis, but runs @ 15 ips with twice the track width -- a marked sonic improvement over the X-series.

-Tim
Click to expand...

I'm bringing back this thread because there is an X-3 for sale locally that is in nice shape. I understand that it only runs at 7.5 ips vs 15 for the 22-2, but why would the track width be different? They both use 1/4" tape, no?

I was listening back to stuff I did on my cassette 4-track before I went digital a few years ago. Man, I miss tape. I want a 2-track deck for mastering to and/or doing some stuff straight to 2-track. I do mostly location recording, so a big multitrack deck is nowhere near practical.

Thanks for the help.
 
leddy said:
I'm bringing back this thread because there is an X-3 for sale locally that is in nice shape. I understand that it only runs at 7.5 ips vs 15 for the 22-2, but why would the track width be different? They both use 1/4" tape, no?
Click to expand...

Hello,
The X-3 is a consumer deck, which means the tapes run in two directions, just like a consumer cassette machine.

The X-3, although it can only record and play 2 tracks at a time (stereo), still separates the tape into 4 tracks. When you're finished with one side of the tape, you flip it over and can play back the other side, just like a cassette.

-MD
 
themaddog said:
Hello,
The X-3 is a consumer deck, which means the tapes run in two directions, just like a consumer cassette machine.

The X-3, although it can only record and play 2 tracks at a time (stereo), still separates the tape into 4 tracks. When you're finished with one side of the tape, you flip it over and can play back the other side, just like a cassette.

-MD
Click to expand...

Got it. Thank you.

I guess I'll keep looking...
 
leddy said:
Got it. Thank you.

I guess I'll keep looking...
Click to expand...

For reference the 22-2 is the same size as the X-3. They are built on the same frame. Nice and light for location recording… one of the reasons I like the 22-2.

:)
 
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