Recording and playback levels on a A-8 reel-to-reel

regebro

regebro

Insane Genious!
When I record on my A-8 with the VU's bobbing around jus below the red, during playback the VU's will hit the roof. According to my VU's, the playback levels are WAY higher than the recording levels.
Is this normal, or is my A-8 weirdly trimmed?

I'm using Quentegy 457 tape, btw.
 
Try a new tape... Clean the heads, demagnetize take 2 asprin and call us in the morning....

Seriously; if you do all these things and still have the same problem, then you must recalibrate the record/playback amplifiers.

There will be several trimpots for each track, If you are lucky they will be labeled.

If you try this yourself, get a calibrated tape with test tones.

Good luck.

Dom
 
Thats what I suspected. Yes, there are trimpots, yup, they are labelled. I'll try to get my hands on a test-tape then, and I suspect a service manual could come in handy?
 
Yes...
Here's the basic idea. Play back test tones
and adjust the VU meters to read 0. Then record your own test tones at 0 VU and play back. Adjust record level and play back level accordingly. Just do this on one track at a time to avoid screwing up the whole machine! If you find some frequencies are too soft or too loud, you may have to adjust record bias, because your heads may be worn and not reproducing highs very well.

I have done it without a testone tape. You will need a Volt/Ohm meter. If you measure the output of a synth or organ and set level at 1 Volt AC (peak to Peak).
you can record at 0 VU and it will be consistent. Some keyboards play different notes louder or softer, so measure each tone carefully.

Sincerely;

Dom Franco

[This message has been edited by Dom Franco (edited 07-21-2000).]
 
Thanks. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do it. I have my Nord Modular which will work great as a test tone generator! I already used it as a noise generator to measure frequence responses.
http://home.flash.net/~mrltapes/ has LOADS on info on tape calibration and stuff like that.

(But as I understand it, most equipment use either +4dBm or -10dBm levels, which correspond to 1.25V and 0.315V respectively, calibrating it for a 0dBm line level doesn't make sense to me. Am I confusing things?)
 
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