Very informative Michael as was your previous one on dismantling and cleaning the deck. Like you I went on a trial and error journey with an older, all silver 4000D which I've now got running really well and sounding great. I've put new wooden surrounds on and invested in the Akai metal spools (they do look the business!). I use it mainly to record from my turntable to save stylus wear and the reproduction is extremely close to the source.
Hi Norman, sounds like you have done a really nice job on your deck and I can see these reel to reel machines taking up a lot of time to tweak just right, I am tempted in getting some metal spools myself, but I need to get my unit to sound a bit better first as it seems to be a bit lacking in the highs at the moment.
I enjoyed that Michael, great video.. I seem to remember prerecorded cassettes being rather dull & lifeless too.. I would end up constantly tinkering with the head height to brighten the sound up.. We would record Sunday's Top 40 with Dolby on then play it back with Dolby off to give the recording a little 'sparkle'.. Those sure were the days..
Just acquired a 4000DS MK2 to digitise a box of 38 year old radio archive tapes. Works really well, excellent sound quality still. Many thanks for the very informative video!
I was a big R2R avid back in the 70s so have a large quantity of tapes recorded at 3.75 & 7.50 originally recorded on Philips machines (4308 & N4404). As a retirement project decided to get these recordings digitised on to my computer so recently purchased an Akai 440DS MK2 for the job which I sourced on Facebook marketplace. Was in good condition and after a bit of a service and replacement of the main drive belt, it's doing the job (so far) very well at both tape speeds. I find it best to keep the tape selector on "Low Noise" for a true reproduction. Thanks for your tips and your related video on changing the drive belt was really useful.
Thanks for the comment David, for me this is pretty much the first time I have had a R2R apart for a few small 1 7/8 and 3 3/4 recorders wayback when. I used to pretty much recorded everthing on cassette, untold to be honest and only wish I kept them and had them now. What fun it would have been now to listen back to them, I dare say there would have been a few suprises on the way as well.
i have one of this ,i think it came out in the 1970 catalog it worked till today with very clean and smoth sound and it as a cover like in turntables, made hundreds of recordings and only in 82 i bought another reel deck from akai ,i have also a litle one from the same year as this model ,i´ve cleaned it and perfect playing and recording and the tape you have there is suposed to be also very good, regards
Akai must have made 1000's of these back then, was the budget entry level deck. But you would have got a lot of deck for your money. An iconic piece of HiFi from the day. Built like a Tank and most still sounding good and going strong today. Though that said mine needs to be re-aligned.
I've got the opportunity to get a Bang and Olufsen beocord 2000 delux,,, would you recommend it as I'm new to reel 2 reel and was going to get this Akai but I'm torn!!?? Great vid very informative
Its is a matter of choice, as a newbie I would maybe recommend the Akai as maybe easier to get parts, a simple design so if anything mechanical goes wrong should be a straight forward fix and looking at the specs goes slightly higher in top end frequency, think the b&o is 20khz and akai 23khz, but again that is with good heads and aligned properly. But ultimately the choice should be yours and as long as you are not paying to much and wanting to have some fun with either I think you will be happy with either.
Thank you for this upload. Bought , well swapped a very nice vintage Amp for one of these, and long story short was a bit , well, very disappointed the thing played far too fast. Oh well, its mint and I can use it for doing some recordings but it struck me why would they make a nice quality R2R which cant play pre recorded tape at 3 and 1/2. No way I could see to change the speed so wish I had known that when I did the deal. You can imagine after watching this that just by unscrewing that thingy and stowing it on that redundant looking peg you get playback at the speed I most wanted it for. To say Im happy would be a slight understatement . Thank you Michael Yates. If we ever bump into each other I will buy you TWO pints of whatever beer/ lager you wish. Have a very happy Xmas and great New Year. Oh, -Subbed!
HDTT ( High Definition Tape Transfers) make finely recorded tapes . Reasonable prices also ( one jazz album was 22 bucks) Gutenberg gas a video on them. I’m new also to R2R
Something wrong with record function, loosing quality. I have teac 2340r and it sounds same as cd, you just can hear some ssssss but i heve no problem with quality. Thank you
what do you think people used back in the day to record a studiosession before pressing it onto vinyl? Tape is the only way for a good analog recording. After recording you can keep it on tape or get it mastered for vinyl.
Shouldn’t have this much treble roll off. At 7 1/2 ips, it should be indistinguishable from the source material - easily able to capture all information from a vinyl record, regardless of stylus used. The playback head is probably toast
It should make quite a difference. Those GX heads are made with glass, which usually last an extremely long time. However, if they were mistreated, they can develop pits or cracks. This can sometimes lead to steep treble roll off above 7kHz. Kinda sounds like the issue you’re having.
I got one of this units, but when I compare the source vs the tape recording, the tape sound much brighter and thinner than the source, that has not any sense right? It would sound warmer and a bit darker I guess. Do you know which could be the problem?
A few things spring to mind. Head cleaning or re alignment might help if this is the same for pre recorded tapes as well, could be the record and playback board could do with re-capping. Tape heads are worn
just one thing 1/2 and 1/4 tape for the money 1/2 is better for the money i have tascam 34 38 the 38 is better for the money as there's alot of parts about if you are recording end to end of a tape this model is ace if you need to edit tape get a old deck as the deck could get cut's all over the face plate i see this all the time when buying used decks in i have a scully 280 14 just to big for the home
hi this is the kind of deck i am used to working on yes they are big decks i am making a new video about the deck with better lighting the akai'ss i used to have why big decks it's getting hold of the used tapes in the past there was alot of mix models of tapes were a right pain to del with no one says things about it i will big time Starlight: How A Reel To Reel Tape Deck Works P .2 sorry to be a pain it's time somebody said somthing i will soon you can bet on me to do it an up set them out there
Thanks for the comment Bob, that is some deck you have there. A very nice 16 track deck. I am looking forward to your videos on these type of reel to reels, so will be many others I think. Here is a link to the video you mention in your comment for others to look at as well ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vvK8BE9CS-Q.html
hi michael i see why you will get alot of mail make video's on things that are sell all time on ebay you will get alot watching i love tascam 30 line decks tip don't over make to many video pull out over time you do very well i have been there and top end gear you don't have to do i have a acc with RS for along time they are very good over 20 years i phoned them they can tell when i had it yours one with out hair bob
I would not put ypu off, I have managed to get a bit more detail out of this deck now, but since buying this I have also bought another 4000 and that one sounds very nice, but did have a faulty record IC that I replaced. So I think as long as its cheap enough and sold as working then you might be ok, but nothing like going to buy in person where you can have a listen for yourself. Good luck if you do end uo going for one.
Sounds too dull on playback - loss of high end. I have the generation before yours and it sounds practically indistinguishable from the source, other than some tape hiss. You should try adjusting the heads. It is possible the heads are worn out as well. Despite what others are saying, this does NOT have the glass heads. The later GX models are the ones with the glass heads.
Thanks for the comment, yes I did end up finding out that the GX models have the glass heads and think the heads here are some what worn as I was expecting better myself, also a recalibration might help a tad to. Buying these 2nd hand and being old can be a bit hit and miss I think
Thanks, I did not realize that there seems to be a 16mm capstan sleeve that you can use, just finding one maybe the problem, but I will have a hunt around now as a matter of interest.
Gracias Pablo, desde entonces he ajustado un poco la cabeza y esto ha ayudado. Pero podría ser cabezas desgastadas, pero como dices, vale la pena mirar el preamplificador también.
Yes these units were quite cheap around £45 when they first came out and I think they are ok for someone starting out with a cheap setup. But audiophiles will give these a wide birth.
