A820 1" 2 channel - The ULTIMATE audio format by Studer

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2 channel Studer A820 recording at 45 IPS on 1" tape.
Tape duration is only about 22 min for this extremely expensive tape format, but simply NO OTHER MEANS can record and reproduce like that! Droooooling :-)
Music is an introduction to the 2012 Novellara Blues Festival.
Audio is coming from the main monitors of my workshop but it was too loud for the microphone of the iPhone, hence some passages are slightly clipped. Being here resembles the LIVE performance...
The empty reel I've placed on the left is for normal 1/4" tape, 10.5" in diameter, just to make comparison.
Note that the recorder is still to be refurbished, so the pinch roller is not the right one, two lamps inside the left meter are blown, capacitors are still to be replaced and so on. Also the tape is not a proper audio tape, so bias and levels were not set correctly. The video is just to see how the unit is running fast.
EDIT: as of July 2021 the recorder is still to be refurbished and modified. Too little time available to invest in research now. Before going to extreme 45 IPS standard, it will be set to act as an editing recorder for the tapes recorded with this particular A80:
• Studer A80 1" open ree...
More pictures of this and other machines can be found here:
www.monoandster...

Опубликовано:

30 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 241

@amberola1b560 11 лет назад

45 fucking inches per second??????daaaaammmmnn nite that skins like IMAX clarity in the sound. I love your tape recorder

@GearZenChannel 9 лет назад

I can smell the heads smoking from here!

@Spacekriek 10 лет назад

One advantage of having the tape run at this high speed is that the inherent tape hiss and noise gets lifted above the highest frequency threshold.

@vinylcity1599 7 лет назад

they really should go back to recording albums on this format! then no matter what lower format you transfer it to, you'll always have that opportunity to go back to the best quality as soon as people come to their senses and start appreciating good sound again!

@EarslimeRecords619 Год назад

Recording to tape takes 1) real musicians 2) foresight 3) real engineers … all three of which our current music industry is lacking more and more

@themotownboy1 9 лет назад

It is a neat video to watch, but why didn't you directly feed the signal from the tape machine into the video? I see this so many times on these videos. It defeats the purpose of hearing just how good these machines sound when you are using the microphone from a camera for audio.

@AR7271 8 лет назад

Probably because they are, ironically, recording with a cell phone. Which doesn't have an easy means to record off the tape machine.

@DandyDon1 7 лет назад

...and a Hammond organ only has the range of AM Radio. It's all done before 7.510Khz.

@canaldavidaproducoes 6 лет назад

Truth

@antigen4 6 лет назад

because you wouldn't really be able to appreciate the sound quality that way- woudlnt get you too much closer really

@saitovrr 4 года назад

Ширина 1", 45 IPS скорость - зверюга!!!

@vladimirz.5534 3 года назад

Где тогда такую ленту покупать?... Очень много надо её при такой скорости.

@RODALCO2007 8 лет назад

Never knew that 45 IPS speed existed, always thought 30 IPS was the highest recording speed.

@StringerNews1 6 лет назад

30 IPS is the fastest standard tape speed commonly in use before development ceased. This recorder is using varispeed to get the 45 IPS speed.

@scottstrang1583 6 лет назад

I think there was even a 60ips mode. Never have seen it.

@HamtaroEL 4 года назад

30ips and 60ips were more common in instrumentationally recorders like data.

@hipstercrab5886 4 года назад

200 ips machines also exist

@HamtaroEL 3 года назад

240ips

@hdvs 11 лет назад

The speed is easily reached in the standard varsipeeed deviation, which can be used in RECORD too. I'm modding the unit to extend bass frequency response and to introduce a new speed calibration bank, discarding the lowest one (3.75 IPS).This part is not that easy and requires some time...

@HamtaroEL 4 года назад

At least you got 7.5ips.

@adam207321 2 года назад

understandably so. You need quite the insane ampliffication at the low end. Considering the gap width is probably low. I wonder how is tape noise if you use a a high speed and a relatively large gap width. So that you can reproduce audio effectively, highs and lows too and require a 7,5ips eq to do the 45ips tape speed. So I wonder if tape noise would still be lower with a larger gap width instead of going with a tiny gap and record only from 100Hz but up to 100kHz (is what I would assume the machine is capable of relyably at those speeds)

@BigTrouble324 Месяц назад

I run my multitrack on 30ips and my mastering machine at 15ips. Still sounds good, and reasonable cost effective.

@MrDaveFerrier 10 лет назад

45 ips..!!?? Do ye you lose alot of low end?, or you got special extended heads on there?

@princetonaudio 8 лет назад

1" 2 track, wow, this is absolutely fantastic! Thanks Scotty!

@douglas787 10 лет назад

Incredible piece of equipment. I didn't know there were any 1 inch half track decks. I had only heard of 1/4 and 1/2 inch mastering decks.

@bellab2510 7 лет назад

Heads won't last too long at these speeds....

@hdvs 11 лет назад

Yes, 45 IPS is really a tape and head consuming speed! As far as I know, Studer made very few units like that I've goto from EMI. It probably was the only one in Italy. The unit has some modded electronics, firmware and mechanical parts, in order to handle 1" reels. Te electronics recognizes the 1inch headblock and shows 1" near to tape A/B preset on the matrix LCD. Yes, there is a picture of that machine at page 80 of the book "Die analogen Hitmaschinen".

@nosay2930 8 лет назад

45ips!! I bet that sounds amazing in the flesh.

@megabojan1993 7 лет назад

45 IPS is just too excessive. I'm sure that 15 IPS would be sufficient for Master recordings.

@hdvs 7 лет назад

I agree, it's sufficient, even more then sufficient.

@megabojan1993 7 лет назад

hdvs Yeah, today's tapes are made of such high quality material that can produce amazing sounds even at 7 IPS.

@hdvs 7 лет назад

I don't know your age, but, being in the field for 35 years, I'm sure that tapes made today are much much worse than those in production 20 years ago. I'm technically speaking, not jest "sensations". I refer to mechanical issues on the tape like uneven oxide deposit, out of tolerance height, too evident print-through effect and so one. Many emails spent with the R&D of a famous media producer, but really few refinements followed my suggestions... Problem is that in the market there is actually only one tape manufacturer. No competition means no effort to make things better. This is one of the reasons why I decided to leave the music label I founded some years ago. There is too bad quality in new tapes....

@megabojan1993 7 лет назад

hdvs I was comparing the tapes from the 1950's with the ones from the 1990's. Today nobody uses tapes anyway, and I'm glad about that. I had many problems with tape recording when I was a kid (my dad bought me a reel to reel deck) and when I switched to digital back in 2002 I was very happy about that, because I could make good recordings without much effort.

@hdvs 7 лет назад

I don't know if you mean just blank media or programmes on tape of the Fifties. Blank media 60 years old can't be compared to the latest formulations of tape discovered in the late 80's / first 90's. I don't even know what kind of recorder you used, if professional or consumer grade. Anyway to say that today nobody uses tapes isn't correct, just look at the column to the right of this text and you'll nothing but tapes and reels ;-). I respect you choice to use digital. I use digital too with good satisfaction and great comfort, but not to get the very best.

@evzentikovsky3592 8 лет назад

what i know...higher speed of tape loses bass..

@jjcale2288 4 года назад

no way!

@PhilipvanderMatten 3 года назад

Good luck finding replacement heads for that! I hope you don't need them.

@hdvs 3 года назад

Thanks for your wishes, Philip :-) Fortunately I have five sets of heads available and can have more, if in the need. They will outlast me even if running at 90 IPS.

@PhilipvanderMatten 3 года назад

@@hdvs That is just wow.

@chriscunningham6362 7 лет назад

CRAP! I can barely afford 1/4 tape at 15ips! I can't imagine 1 inch tape at 45ips! Perfect fidelity for some Pink Floyd I would think!

@richardm.9821 10 лет назад

Beautiful machine. I use Studers, have for a long time.

@ROBERTLONGIN1 8 лет назад

Probably has frequency response up to 100Khz.

@greg1030 3 года назад

No tape lifters, way less oxide shedding. Ampex really missed out on including that in the otherwise superb ATR-100 series.

@ЮрийЛуценко-щ4ш 7 лет назад

моя илеть перематывает медленнЕе

@Wizardofgosz 11 лет назад

22 mins at 45 IPS?

@hdvs 11 лет назад

What you hear in this video is not a master tape but a recording test form a digital source. I do have the original music programme recorded on DAT at 48KHz 16 bit, during the live session of the concert. The concert was never edited till now and is not available to the end user. I can send some samples anyway.

@victorpantel8743 7 лет назад

REVOX STUDER A 820 Professional recording

@lutello3012 7 лет назад

half an inch per track?

@jeffreyhunt1727 7 лет назад

Good luck finding a mastering facility that accepts this format...

@toastyplatters70 4 года назад

Better yet, open yer own.

@jjcale2288 4 года назад

well, this is already a mastertape.

@jeffreyhunt1727 4 года назад

@@jjcale2288 I'm talking about mastering for vinyl or cd, hence "mastering facility"

@jjcale2288 4 года назад

@@jeffreyhunt1727 👍I got it!

@thomashoffmann9646 7 лет назад

Where can i buy this music ? :-) Great !

@frankhugh2052 9 месяцев назад

Wonderful.dont suppose you have a link to this music? Couldn’t find? Thanks for uploading

@hdvs 11 лет назад

This was just to try if the recorder can safely handle the tape, running at something like 114,3 cm/s. I'm developing a special equalization that will optimize frequency response in the lower end. This unit will be used only to produce session tapes from which we will produce master tapes.

@jonathanhjgaardjensen7653 2 года назад

45 IPS? Shiiiiiit... how does the low end spec out like that? On 2" 24 track the low end can be a bit underwhelming but it's alright on 2-track 1/2" so I guess you're good in that department, I'm just curious on the specifics...

@hdvs 11 лет назад

That's right. Running time of a 50 µm thick tape at 30 IPS is about 33 min. 45 IPS speed reduces the lenght of 33,3%, so 22 min in total.

@johnedwards484 8 лет назад

That's true beauty and craftsmanship stunning I miss analog and reel to reel.

9 лет назад

113 CM/s impressive

@hdvs 11 лет назад

No, I've introduced a special equalization to compensate for the LF drop and frequancy extension at low end is very flat. In the future, before the end of this year I'll publish some measurement's results of this "monster". The PR was taken from the 1/4" machine, which I also have, just to try this recorder since its original was completely melted. Now I've got the spare and it is of the right size.

@sumanthbhat1041 5 лет назад

No Bose bullshit in front of Studer. Ultimate!! Nothing can beat studer

@3pan1 2 месяца назад

Best audio quality on the planet, period.

@Vladislaw81 5 лет назад

HDVS, did you made the necessary adjustments in the electronics of this A820 (bias, etc)?

@birdscds47 4 года назад

I wonder was it biased up for that tape speed (45 inches per second) as each tape speed needs a different bias level, so just turning up the speed may not be technically correct. I can see it was set to 30ips.

@am74343 2 года назад

Those heads must need to be cooled with all that tape friction causing heat!

@alexeykokh8240 7 лет назад

it is interesting how equilisation is done on the machine

@stingintl 5 лет назад

I would like to turn mine into a 1" recorder. I have all of the transport parts from another 1" 8 track A820 tape machine with less than 1,000 hours use. Need the 1" 2 track heads and the proper Hubs.

@philippeperez2886 Год назад

Je m associe. Pas grand intérêt d utiliser cette vitesse avec les bandes actuelles. Surtout dans la mesure où ce que l on peut éventuellement gagner en aigu on le perd en grave. 38 cm/s est bien largement suffisant.

@ericberger6966 8 лет назад

This is a real rare machine because of 1" 2-tracks and 45 ips. But it shows why they died. These machines are highly expensive ever since. They had been produced only by order in very low quantity. The quantity of produced 1"-Tape is also very low ever since. Therefore in the early 80's a reel was about 300,- DM. And the maintenance is also extensive and expensive too. The machine has to be cleaned and demagnetized regularly. Additionally the machine has to be calibrated regularly because of normal aging. And also ever since, the deviation between the production batches of the tape is an critical issue. Even compelete batches where not accepted by large companies because the necessary recalibration of all machines costed to much time and efford. The sound is special and thats the reason why are plugins for DAW's are available. But today various execellent sounding digital master-recording solutions are existing for use at the end of an analog production process which are far cheaper.

@jjwarner9419 8 лет назад

+Eric Berger Do you think it would be possible to use 1" Type A/B/C videotape for one of these? It might be in larger supply.

@ericberger6966 8 лет назад

+JJ Warner Dispite of size and look videotape is different in so many ways. You could not use as audio tape.

@2711Lex 3 года назад

As you can see, there is no limit to perfection.😉

@rty1955 2 года назад

That's very true of anything analog. With digital u need to change a "standard"

@nrdesign1991 7 лет назад

Now that is some fine gear!

@anilkumarbandyopadhyay5235 2 года назад

Is second hand gadget available in India?

@anilkumarbandyopadhyay5235 2 года назад

Is second hand gadget available in India?

@hdvs 11 лет назад

The project of converting the machine is not finished. When ready it will be used to produce the session tapes which then will be mastered on 1/4" inch tape.

@grunzelsepp 6 лет назад

Where did you obtain the 1" 2-track heads from?

@hdvs 6 лет назад

JRF Magnetics

@juano402 4 года назад

hdvs so the heads aren’t original studers

@ruffrecords 8 лет назад

WOW

@stevegruenwald3822 2 месяца назад

Tape is so transparent

@dhampex3631 6 лет назад

45 IPS WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW I know the clarity is high running that speed. Does it naturally vary up to 45? Ive seen an atr-102 do 45 nut i know it was modded.

@swettyspaghtti 2 года назад

Heads need a coolant system XD

@Daaremikkel 6 лет назад

At 45 ips you could use an FM modulator and have no low frequency loss...or hiss. In a previous job I used Bell & Howell System 80 tape machines running at 120 ips (max 240) with 19,200 feet rolls of 1" tape. These machines were used to record fairly high frequency signals. No low end, obviously.

@drums122 2 года назад

76 speed? As fast forward

@bigboss885 3 года назад

Самый крутой Shuder

@tomkent4656 Год назад

Overkill speedwise.

@bluzrok-Oleg 4 года назад

Круче некуда

@jamesavdelis6610 4 года назад

Who's going to buy this machine? Suggestion: Teac x-2000r. $1000.

@hdvs 4 года назад

james avdelis not my problem, it’s not for sale and there aren’t many around.

@andershammer9307 6 лет назад

Looks like its playing in fast forward.

@hdvs 11 лет назад

Hello Stefan, nice to hear from you again. Unfortunately I only have the Serial Remote Controller and not the Serial Interface kit. 100 cm/s... almost breaking the sound barrier ;-)

@77easylis 10 лет назад

45 IPS = 114 cm/sec. bit to much, i know 19, 38 and 76 cm/sec. speed

@jjcale2288 4 года назад

Now this is what I call recording headroom. You don't even need any amplifier, just listen to the fcking heads 😃😃😃

@Roger_Maxell 4 года назад

Esa es el mismo modelo que aparece en el video clip Patience de Guns N Roses

@MarkTuson 7 лет назад

Quite like the music, do you have a direct transfer anywhere or is there a CD available of it...?

@morlock9216 3 года назад

45 inches per second? It looks like rewind. ))) Of course, this is the ultimate and exclusively studio format. My system has only 15 ips, Revox-A700.

@norasirbou6999 9 лет назад

Potrei sapere come siete in possesso di un registratore della EMI ITALANA?

@bellab2510 7 лет назад

Anyone knows source where to get A820 ?

@lutello3012 6 лет назад

Only two channels on the whole 1" width? They make heads like that? 22.5 square inches per second per channel? Nucking futs!

@ppanzer7243 5 месяцев назад

Do yot know how many of them where made? Do you sell this machine as it is?

@hdvs 5 месяцев назад

I believe just three units were equipped with 1" transport in origin. I don't know of any other survived. In the meanwhile 2-track heads have been installed and the unit is now totally restored. And no, it isn't for sale.

@sc0or 3 года назад

A Mercedes in your room! You are lucky to live in a hot climate. Otherwise your wife will never swap her fur with your Studer )))

@Artem_BollArt 9 лет назад

And what of the singer composition?

@scottwolf1131 7 лет назад

Simply magnificent. In the late 70's I was using their B 77 biased for the 1/4 inch, Ampex 456 Grandmaster tape I'd purchase from a recording studio in Berlin CT @ 15ips, just to archive my albums. Listening through Stax Mk3/SRD 7's powered by their B750 integrated amp and B 790 TT, I couldn't perceive a difference between the vinyl and tape playback. I've since moved onto vacuum tube amplification from Transcendent Sound, with pre amplification based on the 300B and for bass, OTL's( Output Transformer Less) using the 6C 19PI running Class AB and mid-highs using single ended Class A OTLs with JJ 509's. In between I was building my own Class A electronics based on Hitachi MOSFETs. From my own observation only, solid state cannot compete with tubes, correctly implemented. How does your Studer's performance compare with the DSD format in performance vis a vis, live recording?

@eddisc4205 6 лет назад

Scott Wolf Have you had much SSS issues with the 456 ?

@bobhoskins9595 4 года назад

I find once I get to 45 IPS tape running direct into top end Audio Research mono tube amps feeding Pipedreams you really don't need a woman anymore. Sort of. I never was good at dusting. (Kidding!)

@tiromancino_tt 2 месяца назад

nessuna differenza tra vinile e nastro ? Ma allora non avevi un reel to reel al top . Qui si sente eccome la differenza !

@jonvincentmusic 11 лет назад

Didn't realise any decks surpassed 30ips. Thanks for sharing.

@hdvs 11 лет назад

You can ask audiohouse in Switzerland (add a DOT ch to find their website) or, if you like to get your old one re-rubbered, search for "terry rubber rollers" and pick the first result.

@juano402 3 года назад

che spreco...

@royshashibrock3990 4 года назад

I am not familiar with this machine. What type of dynamic range preservation scheme does it use to overcome the lackluster dynamic range (usually

@laszlotakacsy4895 4 года назад

Hello, I just saw this video, amazing. Can you please tell what specs did this format result in? Flux level, S/N mainly. I am interested what is the possibly achivable limitation of magnetic tape recording for audio, and this setup is close to that I think.. Thanks in advance.

@rty1955 2 года назад

Haha audio frequencies are a piece of cake! Try a video tape machine that needs to have a 6MHZ bandwidth!! Thats insane engineering! In order to record such a high bandwidth you need to have a very fast speed of tape pass over a head quickly. This is known as writing speed. The normal thinking was "increase tape speed!" Or to make the head gap smaller. There were many many problems with this design. As u can see here a fast tape speed requires very large reels. Try recording 90 min at this tape speed.. So AMPEX had a BRILLIANT idea! Make a rotating head! Now if you understand electronics at all, the tape still has to move past a head, but now the head can rotate at extremely high speeds. In fact the heads rotate at 14,400rpm!! Ball bearings could not tale that speed for long, so AMPEX again invented air bearings for the heads to spin on! So professional 2" quad video tape machines are a thing of engineering marvels!

@robfriedrich2822 6 лет назад

Didn't know yet. What I found amazing was 1/2" with 30 ips. 45 ips is much more, than the initial 1 m/s, what tape recorder prototypes had.

@yavamaystudio8380 7 лет назад

Pls next time record sound direct .

@philkoolemagic 10 лет назад

Hey Mike, I think we're listening to playback anyway as the machine is in "Repro Mode". :-) Recording but monitoring the playback head.. :)

@ha2khaak 11 лет назад

Hi, where did you get new 1" pinch roller? I need replace my old sticky one.

@drstefanschmitt 11 лет назад

I did 100 cm/s/2.54 = 39.37 ips on my machine. of course varispeed scales as usual but I did not yet try 45 ips caring about the heads of my machine.- Queston: are there more 1 inch machines in Italy which are converted in non-standard Studer manner ? I think one used Studer A820 Multichannel parts for tape guidance, but also tape tension auf A820 2CH is not fitted for 1 inch, as well as the NAB seem to come from the multichannel machines. In a book about tape recorders a saw a similar machine

@derekmark3847 11 лет назад

That is sweet, But isnt 45ips a little fast to replicate the bass accurately? I guess that wouldnt be a problem with a 1" though honestly, haha. That pinch roller looks like the wrong size though.

@ha2khaak 11 лет назад

hi guys, I plan to rebuild my Studer A820 1" 8track to 2track mastering version. HDVS> Please do you have schematics of modded electronics? And could you make video of your head block? ..btw. I'm programming PC interface for serial controlling A820. cheers from prague

@harveysvintageaudio 9 месяцев назад

Wonderful machine, wish I had one.

@tracyscott3261 4 года назад

lol

@petascalecomputing 6 лет назад

Impressive!

@Meteotrance 11 лет назад

Damn this is realy fast like rewinding the tape XD i hope it didn't shred the tape, it's so insane, but the dynamic seems to be awesome XD !!! did you released that on any SACD or other high resolution PCM format ?

@Turboy65 7 лет назад

How does it compare to audio mastered at 24 bit 384 KBPS?

@yavamaystudio8380 7 лет назад

Are you kidding?

@chriscunningham6362 7 лет назад

It'll kick digitals ass!

@mossfred 11 лет назад

Great music, how to get a copy?

@fabiogasparri 2 года назад

Fantastico

@Xantylon74 Год назад

Why was there no Dolby on the big mashines?

@jonvincentmusic Год назад

Not needed with these trackwidths and speeds. Even 1/4” 15IPS doesn’t really need Dolby

@wayneblake4596 7 лет назад

HACK!

@Turboy65 7 лет назад

I love tape. I love the mechanical and analog nature of the beast. It sets the standard for sound quality. BUT...if you were to take a deck like this in absolutely top condition and record its output to a perfectly aligned DAW at 24/383 and then dump that output back to the monitoring system, NOBODY could tell the difference between the live from tape feed and the digitized, looped thru feed. Not if the test was done double blind. Even at 96 KHz, the largest magnitude errors are too fine to be detected after it's been through a tape machine.

@chriscunningham6362 7 лет назад

Digital can sound as good as tape but I prefer tape because the added tape saturation adds a richness that digital lacks. I'll put one of my 15ips tapes against digital any day! Thankfully, my old ears are still good enough to hear the difference!

@bobhoskins9595 4 года назад

Remove the D/A converter and that might have a chance of being true.

@adam207321 3 года назад

now this...this is a proper studio master tape recorder. I am 100% sure