[geoman]

I am search for a Teac X-1000R or Tascom or Revox reel to reel

 

[mkmelt]

Here's one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=1602

 

[Orpheus]

you know, i was originally gonna buy one for backing up my digital masters.... however, after thinking about it, i realized it wouldn't be practical. to keep these things in good condition, many studios have techs that service these things every day. even my Tascam 122 tape recorder came with a manual that recommended maintenance every 5 hours!? of use. crazy. plus, those reels of tape are damn expensive.

anyway... either you know what you're doing... and you can ignore me if you do....

OR, you don't know what you're getting into. analog studios are going out of business for a reason..... of course for fidelity reasons, but also because analog is so damn expensive to maintain and use!

i say save your money and get a good computer interface.

unless if you're rich of course.... then hell, you can get whatever you want...

(i still have that Tascam 122 by the way... with outboard DBX type I noise reduction. i have barely used it since the last time it was serviced.... if you want it, make me an offer.)

 

[mkmelt]

[OR, you don't know what you're getting into. analog studios are going out of business for a reason..... of course for fidelity reasons, but also because analog is so damn expensive to maintain and use!]

The majority of studios may be already digital, but at least one studio is bucking this trend. Toe Rag Studios in London uses only equipment from before 1964 (microphones, amplifiers, consoles, even drum kits, and of course multi-track reel to reel analog tape). Quite a few current artists are booking time at this studio to capture that "analog sound" for their latest projects. White
Stripes recorded their recent album 'Elephant' at Toe Rag. Here is the link to their home page:

http://www.toeragstudios.com/

 

[Orpheus]

yeah, there is definately still a large following for true analog recording. i'm just saying it's really expensive (and time consuming if you don't have a tech)... you can get really good results, but you have to invest a lot more money than just the equipment itself.

also, these studios are not using the teacs or tascams that this thread is about... they use MUCH higher end stuff. i don't know how great of a sound you can get from a simple 1/4" recorder like this one.

 

[nately]

What about reel-to-reel for home use? The old pre-mastered recordings are pretty cheap, and the sound supposedly rivals high end vinyl. I'd considered it, except the hassle of taking care of something with all those moving parts, that takes up so much space, just seemed like too much of a PITA.

 

[Orpheus]

really!? where do you buy these "pre-mastered" tapes? i'd love to check some out....

(and by the way, they will ROCK your vinyl. vinyl's measured specs are very much inferior to CDs, and that's a fact no matter what people will say subjectively. these master tapes however of course hold the original recordings... so they are theoretically the best you can get. and not only that, they are true analog, given no digital stuff was used while recording. good reel to reel systems can have specs that actually surpass CD quality though... but you need machines much fancier than these tascams and teacs.)

 

[nately]

Talking about vintage jazz and classical, which you can get for $5-10 a pop. There's a wealth of music there, and less competition on the buy-side than with vinyl these days.

try this:
http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/Sal...1603&catref=C1

Get some, and tell me how it sounds!

 

[Orpheus]

hmm..... most of these tapes are very low resolution. they are 4-track tapes (interesting)... and recorded at 3-7 ips. so, i wouldn't expect the sound quality to be all that great. these aren't really master tapes though... more like the final product that your vinyl, tapes, and CDs represent. i wonder what they expect you to do with 4 tracks?--are you supposed to mix them yourself?

so, without noise reduction, these reel to reels will also be inferior to CD, by the numbers anyway. the descriptions don't mention if they use noise reduction. probably not then. and costs $2.50 for media mail?--these tapes are probably pretty light then... not the good stuff.