Thoughts on Akai 1730D-SS reel to reel? Should i buy it?

[Stepwise]

Hey... Just got offered an Akai 1730D-SS reel to reel 4 track recorder for $50, but i'm unfamiliar with it -- and rell to reels in general, actually -- so i'm lookin for some advice here. I usually work pretty much entirely in the digital domain, but i'm looking for a good tape/reel recorder to warm up some recordings (ie. bass). Being that i'm pretty inexperianced with these analog recorders, will the Akai 1730D-SS be an ok place for me to jump in?

Thanks!

Stepwise

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Akai was known predominantly as a strictly consumer line when it came to making open reel tape recorders back in the early 1970's which, is when that deck was most likely manufactured.

Though Akai did go on to build a respectable line of studio gear from the 1980's and onward, this deck was not part of that brain-trust.

Don't get me wrong; Akai, later on, made some excellent open reel decks for the consumer market with special GX glass heads and impressive specs and construction quality; the GX-747, I believe was their ultimate expression in consumer, analog, open reel equipment but...it is still just a home use deck and is not the best approach to take for truly experiencing what professional open reel analog can sound like.

To experience broadcast standard analog open reel gear, you should consider nothing less then a 1/2 track stereo, 15 ips recorder that uses the entire width of the tape to hold a stereo track. This type of machine, almost regardless of the make and model will offer you a fullness of sound that must be experienced to be believed and once you've tasted real Black Angus Prime Rib, it makes it a little harder to go back to a regular soy burger after the experience.

Cheers!

 

[Dr ZEE]

...it is still just a home use deck...

which makes the purchase right on target.

...and is not the best approach to take for truly experiencing what professional open reel analog can sound like.

I totally agree. Not to say that it is the wrong or a bad approach to take for making great musical recordings though.

/respects

 

[Dr ZEE]

..will the Akai 1730D-SS be an ok place for me to jump in?

No.
********
But you can use it to record your instruments, experiment with with different tapes, recording levels and speed and get some 'unique treatment' for your recorded takes before recording to what ever digital system you use.
I don't think you can overdub, but you can record up to four tracks at once, which may be used for example for recording up to four mic(s) (or combination of mics and line/instrument sources) and then mixing down from the tape to two or to mono and then recording to your digital system... (this may be useful fro recording acoustic instruments, vocals, drums, micing guitar/bass amp or what ever....
It's a great tool. (if it works, of course, to begin with )
manual found here (kind of hard to read, but better than nothing, especially if you have little experience with r-t-r machines.
QJ said it's cool , but then again, what's not on any add?

/respects