I went through almost exactly the same thought process around two years ago, I ended up getting ... an AKAI 4000 DS ! and I love it. I deliberately bought one that didn't say it had been refurbed as I knew I wanted to do it myself anyhow, even though it was fully working. Good thing is parts are generally pretty easy to get for these. A strip down, new belts, lube, adjust spindle slip and yes clean & demagnetize heads! - not hard - just keep the thing away from tapes and motors! and away it went, just have to agree with everything you say about the process of operating it is just somehow so nice. Tapes are expensive Tapecity is about the only place to get new in the UK £28 ish for lpr35 48min each way at 7 1/2. BEWARE old tapes - Some may shed their coating, literally falling off in flakes - no major damage to the machine but heads need a real good clean after and tape is unplayable. Tape can stretch and expand or shrink with temperature (and humidity I think) maybe timing problem? also tape tension looks like yours could be a little tight with the swinging arm right up at the top. Power switch just determines if its always powered or swinging arm switches it on and off (auto stop when in rew or ff). Use the pause lever and start button when recording to avoid the playing when switching. Let me know if there's anything else you have trouble with I've all the service manuals and some stuff I created when tweaking mine. Thanks for all the Vids.
Tape issues happen mainly due to misadjutsments on mechanical side. Poeple do not put enough care for it. They worry nly when tape stops tbut even worse is when tape is pulled too strong. I have a bunch of old ampex , shamrok , Scotch which I had to refurbish due to sticky problem but later after some even 10 years are working with no issues. But I had even to improve original transport. Unfortunately many R2R producers made them to operate in vertical position but were not provided with enough good automatic pulling in transport because it is too requiring . In my opinion it is safer to have horizontal playing R2R beacuse it assures automatic pulling forces. Studio recorders were horizontal BTW this recorder has up to my memory FX glass heads and it is exceptionally important.
Awesome ! The bit in the vid where you are admiring the tape deck in awe when it's playing is just priceless. I suspect a lot of reel to reel lovers totally understand that satisfaction. I've certainly felt that way with the tape machines many, many times, and even after many years, they do not fail to please. They ARE beautiful. Congrats on jumping into the world of reels............ :)
This was SUCH a fun one. What I love the most is just hearing your perspective. It’s silly how some people think everything has to be perfectly logical, as though any human being is or should be above feelings and passion and personal affection for things. Good for you embracing your humanity in defiance of the naysayers. Enjoy yourself! It’s fun watching someone who is enthusiastic about something like this.
I recently bought a standard cassette deck (compact cassette) to bounce tracks to/from for that analogue, potentially compressed sound - including the possibility to incorrectly adjust bias or worse (for example purposely destroying tapes) for that warbley, wow & flutter, dropout induced mayhem. Perfect for adding some retro effects to otherwise pristine modular synths. I think with a reel-to-reel recorder you have many more creative opportunities. Enjoy!
Tape sounds fantastic when the machine is in fully working order. The problem is, people are selling recorders with worn out heads, cracked up pinch rollers, bad drive belts, all trim pots out of alignment, bad capacitors, and other electronic or mechanical issues. Welcome to the vintage analog world. You better take some courses in repair / maintenance, just saying. I know, because I own several machines, from small 2-tracks to huge 24-tracks. By the way, your machine sounds healthy so far. Good luck!
At 54 years of age I still use the reel to reel format. I was introduced to RtoR as a toddler. My parents had a console stereo with a Sony tape deck. My ears were weened on analog tone. From then on I was hooked . I was given my first reel to reel for Christmas 1980. While my friends were using albums, 8-tracks and cassettes, I was transferring albums to RtoR which gave the music a boost of sonic power. I hope you enjoy your experience with RtoR as I have through so many years. Cheers!
You did fantastic getting hold of that machine. It will make you even happier to know that Pink Floyd mad a demo tape for a radio station using the akai 4000ds mk11. I owned one in the 70's and gave it incredible abuse! Trying to look after it of course, taking it to bits and oiling all the moving parts under the silky silver front panel. I took it all over the place to mates houses into my garden up a tree, yeh the akai mic that came with it had a short lead, so it also had a few knocks and bruises but didn't damage the machines quality at all. This brilliant machine is a wonderful editing tool in itself. If you put the deck into record mode on pause you can gently move the spools in the reverse direction which will erase, so if you want to cut something out just turn the spools while in tape mode and you will hear the stuff just before it gets erased. Handy when I used to record the top 40 on the radio, I would clip of the bit where the dj introduced the record and talked to within a nano second of the record beginning, to discourage people from recording from their radios I think? Maintenance on these reel to reel machines is basically exactly the same as a cassette deck but easier cus you have more access to the heads. Nothing needs adjusting once set up azimuth etc unless someone has been fiddling with the heads or a new type of tape is being used, then the bios should be adjusted if need be to suit the tape. I use to use the 3/3/4" setting for the tape sound for the same reason you said, nice and bright and crisp although you can adjust the pots inside the machine to sound more or less exactly as the source. the wide range switch never did anything for any tape I found? Anyway I am sure you will get a lot of enjoyment from this silky dream machine you have.
Made it 10 minutes in before I had to subscribe. I was born in 96, and even though I always bought CDs when my favorite artists released an album, the vast majority of my engagement with music has been through an iPod, an iPhone, a TV, a laptop, etc. I played in bands early on, but why put up with other 14 year olds who don't take music as seriously when I can download FL Studio and have control over every aspect of the music? That decision sent me down a path of more than a decade of chasing my own tail with infinite plugins, infinite samples, infinite tracks available to use, the whole time becoming more and more disillusioned with creating music, until I gave up what had defined my entire life up to that point, and I didn't make a single track for almost 2 years. Things got dark during that period of time. But luckily I made my way back, thanks mostly to Koala Sampler, which re-introduced limitation and had me making tracks out of stuff recorded around the house. Organic. Spontaneous. Tangible. Now I'm close to daw-less, using gear that I bought for $75 or less apiece, and having more fun than I've had in years. If there's anyone out there considering leaving the digital world behind, I encourage you to do it. Not because analog has some "magic" to it that can't be recreated, but because music is a physical phenomenon. Life is imperfect, messy, and rarely what we envision it will be. Art should be too. I'll be picking up my first ever tape deck tomorrow, and I can't wait to start dubbing my own mixtapes. They're going to sound like shit, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm so grateful for this video, in which you articulated thoughts and feelings I didn't even know I had. It has helped me immensely on this cold December evening. Thank you.
I’ve been working with a producer making our new songs on analogue a and tape. The way round this syncing issue is to send the output signal back to the DAW and you’ll have a perfect digital copy of the analogue sound.
I found this exact tape recorder model some 20-odd years ago - put out for trash! I took it home, thinking it might somehow be beyond repair, but all it needed was a cleaning of the heads and transport, then it worked perfectly! Later I bought a Nagra IS very cheaply at a Danish National Broadcast (DR) flea market sale. These things are sturdy... - Good luck with your machine!
congratulations! I really follow your initial reflections on how alienating computers, menus, etc. can be. There is somehow more equality in the meeting between and analog hardware and human. I love your drive to seek creative impulses!
Tape playback timing is always an issue. If you take a line from the tape that monitors the playback whilst recording to it there will be difference of the distance between the record & playback heads. From that you should be able to slide and be in synch which means you can blend the direct to computer recording with the direct from tape recording - using the tape machine as an effect. if you're not taking the signal from the playback head you won't get the tape noise, saturation (if you recording at high enough levels, at high enough speed) that the tape may offer. WIPING the tape before recording over it is a good move - you could degauss the tape or, easier, run the tape through on record with no input signal.
It was your willingness to try without fear of potential failure that gave me the courage to start into Eurorack! I say follow your passions! Good on ya Robin!
Nice. I found my AKAI 4000DS MK-II in someones trash heap on the side of the road in the early 90s in full working condition. I used it for a number of years and recorded some great stuff on it before going digital. I just busted it out after 20 years and it still works! Be sure to play with the "sound-on-sound" function for some really cool delay effects.
The reason you probably have a problem with syncing the tape with everything else is the capstan flywheel is on a rim drive in these kind of machines, so speed isn't 100 percent perfect. A more professional deck would definitely fix that issue. It's impressive that it's that close from the beginning to the end. There's a tiny bit of WOW and flutter when it comes to tape. I'm not knocking it, it's just the nature of the machine. If it was digital tape, it would be right on because it's servo controlled.
I’ve been working with a producer and came up with the idea of outputting the tape signal live to the computer so you get the tape quality but no syncing issues.
Dear Robin, this beauty has three heads. So, what another commenter already suggested: you can route back the machine to your pc while recording (you have to set the reel2reel to ‘tape’ instead of ‘source’ of course). Due to the distance between the record-head and the play-head AND speed there will be a delay, but you can shift that back. You realise that this machine has a detachable ‘capstan’ adapter? So you can make the capstan smaller or wider, thus switch between tape speeds? The lower, the more distortion (what you may want for the effect!) Also, experiment with ‘saturating the tape’ with high audiolevels! Good luck! PS: this ‘tape-drifting’ was challenged with LTC time-codes on studiomachines. I worked with a Tascam 16 track tapemachine with the LTC timecode on track 16 and synchronized it with video using a Zeta-3 synchronizer, wich constantly controlled the capstan-speed. Pretty neat tech in the ‘80’s/90’s!
@MoltenMusicTech I Don't know if anyone has said This yet, but here it goes: It would turn of if the lever before the takeup reel would be down. That turns the motor on or off as far as I can remember. Even if it is turned off. Funny to see somebody so happy with a reel to reel recorder. Don't get me wrong, I would be too! The one that I have doesn't work anymore...
You can record in a daw through your tape deck while live performance. You will have it digitally real-time and if it crashes you will have a tape and can load it in again
It's a tape machine and a time machine too (transports you back decades at the turn of a paddle). I inherited my ex-father-in-law's Akai GX-4000D and beautiful it looks too! Perhaps this is just the inspiration to spin those reels? Wonderful video Robin.
you should have recorded in realtime to the tape and onto the digital recorder at the same time .This is the only way to do it. You need a three head tape machine to do this!🤘
Isn't that what I did? This does have 3 heads? I recorded through the tape machine to the computer at the same time as recording to the tape? Not sure i get what you're saying, sorry.
Yes but when you do the switch between "direct source" and "from tape monitoring" you get the delay caused by the distance beween the recording head and the play head. But at least this little delay is constant, it's not a delay caused by the speed discrepancies in the tape deck, you just have to fix it once in the begining if you want to synchronize everything with images (images like like somebody playing an instrument)
Right, but i wasn't doing any switching. I was monitoring through the tape desk and recording to both the computer and the tape at the same time. I found that regardless where I lined it up on screen it was always out somewhere else. So a little bit of adjustment as I swap cameras will probably be enough to keep things together. It's the least of my worries though.
Found a old Grundig Tape recorder cleaning out my dads loft that I use to record songs on as a kid. Weighed a bloody ton hope u don’t fall off your bike! Have fun.
I have been searching for my parents’ old reel to reel because we used to jam out to it when I my sister and I were growing up! But my dad chucked it out😭 I hope you have fun with yours😎
Oddly enough my dad dig out my grandads tape machine from like the 1950s. It’s in a box in a corner where I put things that some day I might have the chance to fiddle with. But yes this Akai thing has been brilliant
I agree with you. I've always wanted a reel to reel. I particularly wanted a Grundig reel to reel. About nine years ago I purchased a Grundig TS 1000. I love the machine. When I was in my twenties, the cost was too prohibitive. There is something about the mystique of the reel to reel machine and its format. There is definitely a resurgence of the old formats. Such as vinyl, cassette decks and their tapes. Oh and I cannot forget the turntable. I still have my Sony CD player/recorder. I have an old Super VHS Toshiba VCR. The sound the VCR is outstanding. Back around 1982, I purchased a Sherwood Integrated amplifier. It finally gave up the ghost September of 2021. I would say I got my money worth. I wound up purchasing a tube integrated amplifier by Muzishare 7. I love it. So I just stepped in a new genre of the physical format. But I had to purchase a preamplifier to get everything under one umbrella so to speak.
I went through this …. And actually bought three tape machines including a Fostex X28 … which is the only one still working whose belt or transport hasn’t stopped working … and I multitrack record simultaneously to a DAW and record the tape out of the whole performance on one or two tracks …. Still on the journey
Ah :) the first tape machine I ever owned, £52 when new. To answer your comments: The two positions of the mains switch--one works in conjunction with the take-up spool tension arm so that it will switch off when the tape runs out. It is not a good idea to leave it like that or you will get a dent in the capstan pinch roller rubber. The two positions of the EQ switch are for compensating the two speeds. These are set by the diameter of the capstan, if you unscrew the cap and take off the outer cylinder you will get 3.75ips. Don't lose it! The playback speed increase is probably related to this. Check that the capstan is clean metal and not brown, the latter means that your tape oxide is shedding and building up, changing the diameter. Get a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and some cotton wool buds and clean the entire tape path of any deposits, especially on the heads and capstan. Do not scrape the heads with anything hard. You will need a splicing block, single sided razor blades and splicing tape to make tape loops. Use pro SP (standard play) tape rather than domestic long, double or triple play which is thinner to get longer play times, but stretches and tangles more easily. Tape output level has improved since this machine was new so you can record hotter on new tape. Old tapes may be shedding or "sticky" which will gum up the tape path and is tedious to remove. You can record with echo. Go in the DIN connector and use the Mic level to record and then connect the phono outputs to the inputs and use the line level to set the repeats. Crossover left and right for ping-pong echo. If you intend to keep a recording Play it onto a spool tail out rather than use rewind or fast forward to get a neater winding.
I have a number of mag tape machines, from clunky 8-track, to 4-channel cassette, to 1/4" tape and up to 1/2" tape (a Tascam 38). They don't all work well, but I grew up on little machines with 3" open reels of maybe 20 minutes a side. I learned how to play things backwards, and also the rudiments of tape maintenance. MY very first distortion unit was the mic preamp of an old tube-based Roberts tape machine. I'd plug my guitar into it, saturate the bejeezus out of it, and feed the line out to my guitar amp. Hey, if tape is good enough for Hainbach and Robert Fripp, it's good enough for me.
I keep reminding people that compression..."squishiness"... *IS* the sound of rock and contemporary pop music. Latecomers don't realize that limiting and compression were always a requisite for achieving optimal S/N ratios on mag tape without oversaturating the tape, a part of getting the most music on each side of a 33-1/3rpm vinyl album, and a necessary part of every AM and FM broadcast studio to achieve optimal sound within the limits of the transmission electronics. So the sound of saturation and "squishiness" is simply what we've grown up listening to, such that it becomes "the way things are supposed to sound", rather than being perceived as some sort of imposition on a pristine signal with maximal dynamics.
I should also say just put a mix through Not Recording then record back it back to your daw and it gives the sound what I call a nice analog hug very cool
Go for it! Tape does open up another world, which is noisier but simpler. I have a couple of Philips N4506’s with one set up as a tape delay. A MT4X does the multi tracking. I do find an old fashioned but new analog mixer makes life easy. Clean the heads, buy TDK or Maxell tape. Buying tapes secondhand often means you get some music already recorded on it, which you have never heard! Record as much as you can…☺️☺️ leave it on.
I started off recording with exactly the same deck! It took me some time to figure out how to use sound on sound. Later I bought myself a tube driven Watkins Copikat echo, which added a special flavour with wow an flutter, and a little bit of distortion. And the smell of warm tubes and tar of the transformer, ahhh! Enjoy your Akai 4000 and the clunkety clunk of the transport mechanism!
I think that peoples renewed interest in analog is partly due to a psychological need to have and get back more a feeling of control over their lives, and that makes it not a small thing.
Very relatable content. I was chuckling at your self deprication around the pie-in-the-sky romance of the whole thing. I also had a whale of a time when I borrowed the school four-track on weekends in the 90s and then going to a studio with my band to record on 16 track tape with our arrangement and track plan all worked out and rehearsed. The only thing we used a computer for was to run the master out into it to create digital masters to go on to CD. Then DAWs came along and they're absolutely incredible, but there really is something about the pure musicality of just playing something through and recording it to an analogue format. And you're right, you do then get stuff finished because you can't twiddle about with it. I drew the line at going back to tape because I've created too many vintage challenges for myself already, but I've found a great compromise. I have two vintage mixers with gorgeous EQs that drive and saturate in a beautiful way. I plug any FX I need into the auxiliaries and the stereo performance goes into my computer where it's captured. I can't edit or mix afterwards, that's it. Done. It's so liberating. I've done a whole album which I'll release when I'm less busy. Anyway, very enjoyable Robin. I was very much with you.
That is also my way - all tone EQ, volume EQ , settings and FX is done in my recordings on analog side and then complete recordiing is recorded else to tape or digitalized to store on HD and then on CD - eventual applicable corrections after are to balance of channels and general volume only . And my recordings equal to best done by recognized music producers When I experimented on digital side after digital was recorded it was by ear less surprising . . You may see and listen some my recordings done with average class 3Head R2R and many with PC on my chanell which are - unfortunetely those here are sounding quite simple. Now I use better R2Rs - Uher (1/4 band widith ) or Bang& Olufsen (1/2 band widith) . I came to conclusion that I do not need tape speed more than 9,5 cm/s - tape has so much potential that I made for fun one organ recording at 2,3cm/s, many at 4,5cm/s and I enjoy them too
Robin, an enjoyable video as usual. I've had a brief relationship with tape again after 30 years but maintenace and lining up is all too tedious. I've still got a Mackie 24 track HD system which negates all the tape issues but it's still a lengthy process. I totally agree speed and spontaneity are key factors for me now. I usually just record a stereo stem from the mixer and that's it. No multitrack, no editing, no endless pissing about. I rarely ever play it again anyway as I've always been a follower of something happening once in time and never again. Finally for me - the best thing about DAWless recording is you don't see any audio - ears only! BTW, can I say you look 10 years younger without the long beard. 😁
I know exactly what you saying, great story and a walk through memory lane a bit for some of us :) I think there was something we wanted back then, we wanted the perfect sound, digital hi-re! Then later we realise that the more real and close the recordings are to the performance itself, the more initimate and special they are, good old tape days, funny if you think that before CDs (digital recordings) no one was complaining about sound quality. Great video, thanks. And yes sound much better on tape even here on RU-vid, the tape recording was a little louder as well perhaps? Curious to hear ho they would sound at the exact same loudness level.
Nice. But one of the nicer things with reel to reel of this calibre is not having to thread the leader tape, or having to turn the tape over to hear what is on the other side of the tape; Even if you have made notes. Answer = an Ampex 2100 machine. - lt self threads the tape, and plays the other side without having to turn it over. - made in 1967!
A real beauty your vintage recorder! I have a Sharp with line outs and aux ins. A system with speakers built in . Last time it didn't work as it should be. I will look at it this weekend.
good point in the video i had one from age of 16 and dads before 16 years old i am over 50 now danger they can be money pits i have worked on alot over the years i will say i still love the 4000ds decks as they are tanks to all the show of out there this is a good deck yes do have better models but they do play up all the time i am doing a real life channel on youtube this year what each model is like to have on a day to day using it NO LIES i still think it take alot to take on akai reel to reel decks
I’m a fan of the music now thanks, gonna have to get me some of that. I’d like to have a tape machine to mess around with too, I just can’t justify it. It is mesmerizing though, love old tech.
That is interesting observation about speed of reproduction. Last time I watched the reproduction of vinyl LP in RU-vid. The same which I often listen with my turntable at home. By ear I noteced in video presentation speedof audio was slightly slower. Checked by counting rev/min my turntable (Bang & Olufsen) and it was hard to tell because accuracy by eye is hard to recognize between +/- 0,25 rev. anyway as it looked near 34/min I corrected my turntable (which is very old) a bit. to equalize by ear to video. It came about 32,5 rev/min to be equal with video. Started to doubt and counted revolutions on video - it was 33,3/min took my stroboscope and checked my turntable with 50Hz - as expected too slow . Who knows? Maybe it is 51Hzin mains? Anyway I returned to up to make it again faster than video and counted again - looked by eye my own was 33,3/min checked with video -(still faster). - the same 33,3. My conclusion is that it is timing if video was non consistent with it's sound and who knows which one to blame .
Great, great, great video , went through this myself but with an Akai tape deck, which I still use. It's all analog harmonics and saturation that you're hearing and it sounds great. When your deck gets tricky maybe opt for the electron analog heat to perform these duties. I found it added those things I was wanting to hear without the maintenance and with the modern tactile interface. thanks so much for creating this video and making the effort, Bravo to you old chap, will watch more, cheers, might even give the euro rack stuff a shot.
Way back in the distant mists of time when I was fiddling with this sort of kit, the guy that owned the reel-to-reel was convinced that you needed to run the tape completely onto the RH reel and then back again before starting to record. Perhaps he was out of his tree. Perhaps it was to try to prevent the tape slipping slightly --- which might explain why your playback was a couple of seconds quicker? It tensioned up a bit while recording?
I like how you are keeping it real... One should probably treat it like an effect baker. It applies the characteristics of tape to a clean signal. If you wanted perfect reproduction. Tape would be foolish.
Welcome to the wonderful world of head alignment and recapping. But hey that’s child’s play for someone who’s building a DD! Techmoan did a nice one on R2R’s: The most expensive music format (in the world).
Congrats! Beautiful machine! I have a Teac 4 track and I love it ! I am also looking for a two track like yours!They really are so much fun! Loved your video!
This is nice hobby. Some ppl sell their equipment and go digital. Most of plugins can produce all this even in 64bit depth which is 352 db of dynamic range. And at end, you can round them to sound same as analog. Unless you have very bad sound card that produce harsh digital crap sound. Than you still believe that analog is better. In that case, it is.
Equalisation is relevant to tape speed. Playing back on the wrong equalisation will give brighter sound. Don't understand the speed sync problem - it should play back at the speed it was recorded. There should not be a sync problem. The on off switch refers to whether the auto-stop facility on the right hand tension arm stops the tape when the arm falls. Low Noise and wide range refer to the type of tape requiring different bias - ferric vs high bias tape. Most tapes are the normal type. For long term recording and storage of tapes one wants two track full width running in one direction only, and storing "tail out".
@@MoltenMusicTech If you want a permanent archive of your work, digital files are at risk of disappearing on old equipment considered in the future as junk. But a tape will always be recognisable. If you record in one direction only and store tail end out, any "print through" from one layer to the next will cause an echo rather than a deja vu of what is to come. The echo is easily cut out or is masked by whatever's next. This is why it's good to put white, yellow or green at the start of a tape and a red leader tape at the end. If you record at 7 1/2 ips and use equalisation for that speed and then playback at the equalisation for 3 3/4 you'll get the bright treble boost. Playback at the correct equalisation should give you the same sound that you recorded without boost.
So have you demagnetized it yet? C'mon! I kid - I still have an 8 track 1/2" Tascam reel to reel... and 2 demagnetizers! Got a SMPTE/MIDI sync device for it that eats up one track. But you know I haven't used it in 25 years. It's still mint if parts haven't petrified from lack of use. Beautiful machine.
Nice listen to hear you thoughts and goal in getting a reel 2 reel... I have one some years now and use it regularly (I found a guy nearby who is into maintenance these machines). Maybe it is an age thing to have this development of thoughts.... How I use is? Record my modular - play back on a slower speed an play over it - I just love it. Have some reel fun 🙂.
Seems like you've managed to find a balance with the online incessant feedback ...well done. And congratulations on your new acquisition. Yes it does look and sound wonderful. Perhaps, (and this is coming from someone who is also totally inexperienced, so feel free to ignore), drums only might be best put through this as a master effect and something cleaner /more pristine for the strings etc, before ending up in the DAW? That said, I preferred the "Tape" to the "Direct" because it did sound brighter and with more sonic character. So are you Reelin' in the years?
You have just proven the theory of the irregularities of recording known as wow and flutter! Drummers will do this to their performance to avoid the mechanical robot or machine sound like early drum machines put out.
As the tape recorded version finishes early, the actual tape speed when recording must have been a little slower. As you've got 4 tracks, you could maybe try recording something else on one of them like a tone to compare when you playback or re-record your track as mono on the left track and the tone on the right for example.
Ironic that the next product emanating from Chase Bliss Audio will be a pedal explicitly intended to mimic "problems" and artifacts specific to tape...only achieved digitally (the Generation Loss pedal). Actually, there are already several pedals on the market that aim to emulate/model tape artifacts, like the Demedash T-120.
Tape drifts indeed, I have had this same issue trying to sync tape audio with a digital version culled from video and it can easily put you right back into "in the box surgical editing mode" if you are not careful.
Great video, thank you. Have you tried lowering the pitch to 432? I only record and perform in this tuning and gives me much warmer and pleasant frequency response. It has changed my entire music perception. Best regards!
i like that Akai tape compression. how much dB+ did you puch it? i like to be in the region of 6 to 8 dB plus, it's there magic things starts to happen. i use technics, kenwood and luxor 1970/80's tape decks & tascam 246, yamaha mt3x, and fostex x28s cassette porta studios. no compressor between mixer and tape, just full on to tape. tape emulation plugins are great, but how fun is it!? good talk on why you use this obsolete technology too. push that old Akai over the edge in the next video please... +12dB or more 😂
note buy the way alot of my decks came from free add and carboots late 80's to now i be repairing them and i had to put them in my wheels that go on my ebike lucky there was train lines at alot of carboots back in the days
The tape sounded louder, and everything louder sounds better.... but I thought it sounded more 3d, more stereo and more lively... been craving a reel to reel since watching Pulp fiction, and this didn't help with the GAS ;-)
