THE BEST SOUNDING FORMAT (part 2b): 2 Track Reel to Reel Tape & Recorders 

What a great video. I loved it. I've never owned a 10.5" machine so all the various spooling arrangements were completely new to me. I could have listened to more of the Miles-John tape you played at the end.

Fantastic, these reel to reel tapes comments really broaden my horizon on open reels tape recorders, really.

Back in 1998 to 2012, I had the job as a production master tape librarian for a record company. We went through sticky shed with Ampex 456/499 and various 3M formulations about 80 percent of the time when were transferring analog master tapes to digital Pro Tools archive masters, which we transferred to 96/24 or 192/24 PCM files to send to mastering engineers for vinyl or CD mastering. We had to "bake" the tapes and we had one shot to do the transfers. We had some masters that came from Europe on EMI and Agfa tape, that didn't have the sticky shed issue and were a breeze to transfer.

Good work. Quite proffessional for a regular user, but very comprehensive. Excellent job.

I love your videos the sound is amazing on that record you play for us great job explaining how it all works

Great video and very informative. I have various tape machines in a multitude of head configurations, ie four track stereo, two track stereo.

Friend of mine practically gave me a Tascam 32 from 1983 it's a 2 Channel recorder producer I thought I needed a 4-channel but after seeing this I think I'm going to be pretty happy with it once I put the new belt on and cleaning up good video thank you!

Thank you for explaining why the recording Tapes I order alway come wound counter clockwise. Now that I understand why and it makes sense I will redo my collection. Thank you for all the great information.

Really informative series of videos, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

Fantastic!! Good stuff!

What 7” machines are food? A run down of their technology features and points of interest as you did here. Love this review!

To our RU-vidr: How do you think about the problem of archiving music for several centuries with analogue technology? Imagine the great recordings of the 20th century shall be available in the 22nd, 23rd, 24th century and so on. Analogue technology like tapes has the problem of degrading over time. Digital only needs a proper backup on a new hard disk before the old one starts to deteriorate. But what is for sure is that the tapes in this video sounded great, even over the speakers of my Mac. I understand your passion for analogue technology and it's absolutely right to go for it! :)

Hi ! I found a video to explain how can I calibrate my Akai GX- 4000D , in details with tones and the exact point in the main board to make it . Thank you ! Great videos here with precious informations !

You should make a video showing you entire reel to reel tape collection

Very informative. Superb

Been recording a lot of my own productions in recent years and in my opinion, the best new production tape in existence is ATR Magnetics master tape. I've compared it with Pyral SM900, Quantegy 456, Maxell 35-90 and 35-90b.

Excellent video, thanks a lot. I have a studer A812, and I am trying to get the AEG DIN adapters, but here in Mexico is a kind of difficult.....

Very informative video, thnx! You should make a list of affordable reel to reel tape recorders for beginners or musicians/composers who wish to start working with tape.

Very interesting video series. I've learnt a lot about tape and tape machines so far. I'm not an audiophile, being quite happy to listen to 320Kbps AAC's and MP3's on my computer, but my only reason for having an interest in tape is actually as a retro/lo-fi recording medium and for realistic tape effects to include in my music, for which purpose I have recently bought some micro and mini cassette dictaphones (very lo-fi), a normal cassette dictaphone with variable speed, a normal stereo tape recorder, which turned out to be very good, as a reference deck, and a few hundred cassette tapes in bulk, planning to re-record on old ones for poorer sound quality - again for special effects. While I was in the middle of doing that, a reel-to-reel tape machine came up for sale locally on eBay, so I now also own a reasonably well-maintained mid-60's Lafayette consumer portable tape recorder, which even came with its original microphone, which is great, and playing back the piece of tape that came with it, I really liked the sound of it, even through its built-in mono speaker. And I just love using it, its mechanics, the sound of it when it is switched on and when the motor is running. If I find myself using it a lot and want to upgrade some day, I'll have got a lot of useful advice for my next reel-to-reel purchase from your videos. I might budget for a Nagra if I save up for a few months.

I have bought around 20 used BASF tapes and they all work well. I also bought 10 new NOS BASF tapes and they are all perfect. But I have bought Sony, Scotch and Ampex too, but they all have been garbage with the "Shed/Sticky syndrome" , I had to remove the tape and trow it away to keep at least the reel!

I have an AMPEX tape left over , It is brown god knows why , cost £10 , started scweeking months after . Its not my type of music but the tape played at the end realy did sound spot on !

hello from Tokyo. I recently got TEAC A-6700DX, I haven't played it yet though. Anyway your contents are really enjoyable!

Very informative,eventually i will buy a Studer A810 or something but for now my Nakamichi DR-1 will do haha :D

When I ran a company called Teletape in central London we used to stock everything from Sony, to Studer / Revox and Technics, and some Akai thrown in for choice. I have a friend who worked for a production company and he said they used a Narga studio machine. Vangelis Liked Revox John Entwistle like Technics. You pay your money and make your choice as they say. Jeremy Travis Formerly of Teletape London.

I like pancakes, but sometimes I use waffles. Really, it's all about using REAL butter & REAL maple syrup while recording & playing on your own swing.

Nice video :) I want to buy a Revox b77, but i recently found an Akai 1000 PRO , which is very rare and nice. However, the Akai is NAB standard and doesn't have a switch to choose NAB or IEC. It has an Equalizer switch , but it just has the 3 speeds i can select. Most of recent audiophile recordings and not only use IEC... so that makes me lean towards the Revox, although the specific Akai is a collector's piece, great sounding, just the EQ is NAB :( What are your thoughts on that? thank you so much

P thanks for your continued videos. Here in Canada, NAB stands for National Association of Broadcasters.

On the Boston: Third Stage album, they noted inside the gatefold jacket that one of their original master tapes became so sticky, the tape machine shut-off with a literal "BANG!"... so as a solution, the tape had to be run between two pinched fingers, coated with petroleum jelly to add the necessary lubrication--as it ran through the machine!

hi 50c for 4 to 6 hours the 8 hours baking for 2 inch they get hot beware of ampex reel the nab get small when baked

It was a fantastic video! I have a question regarding "stycky-shed", what do you think of ART magnetics tapes? I bought some of them and they look like old Ampex tapes but they leave small (like coarse dust) parts of them in the machine ... the sound is very nice!

Very thorough and informative review. It complimented Part 1 very well. I was wondering what ever happened to Tandberg and Tascam master recording machines? Were they any good? Although you may have planned to do this already, please make a video on cleaning and maintenance of the reel to reel tape decks. I am hoping you have a good source for rubber roller cleaner and rejuvenator (quality products are so very hard to find). Also, do you ever find it necessary to demagnetize the heads on your machines? Enough questions. Now it is time to go and watch it again (and again). Ottimo presentazione! Grazie mille!

Hello, Nice video. Do you have some tips to find master recorder like Telefunken M15, Studer A80/A816 & Nagra A80 ? Thanks

I have a question regarding 4 track vs. 2 track. Im sorry if you made already a video in the meantime about it but is the 2 track with 15ips speed superior to a 4 track with 15ips? Thanks for the answer and explanation.

Hi, do you think tha revox pr99 and the studer a810 has the same sound and abilities of playback?

Hi I like your video very very good and interesting. I have one question, I used to many decks .I have Technics RS-B 85 and Rsb-727 . The best deck Technics RSB -100 . What do you think to rsb-85 deck? Another deck Akai - gxc 750d and Aurex toshiba-pc-x88ad . Thanks All the best Csaba

HI I'MLOOKING FOR AN AKAI 400DS2 SERVICED. I LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU THINCH IT IT A GOOD RECORDER OR THERE ARE SAME SIMILAR TO CHECK FOR BUY? MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR TIME

I have an Otari MTR-15 and think its the best deck in the world, you briefly display this deck in your video but don't say much about it, everything I could read says it beats the Studer in every way hands down, it would be nice to see you compare these two decks

I was just checking my AKAI GX-630D and noticed that the NAB adapters needed to be mounted differently to the machine depending upon whether you were using metal or plastic 10.5" reels. This is due to the thickness of the plastic reel sides being thicker than with the metal version. Do all reel to reel players have this option ??

Such a great set of videos! 👌 I wonder if from your experience using pancake reel vertically is safe? Blank tape is much cheaper this way, but I don't want to put my deck horizontally.

Thank you very much for the very informative, well-thought and well-presented videos...I have a Lyrec PTR-1 FRIDA MK1 recorder though always wanted a Studer A807 or A810...food for thought...How would you compare the portable Nagras IV-S (and even the Stellavox machines or even my FRIDA) against the "desktop" Studer workhorses A807 & A810 and Telefunken in terms of playback quality, reliability but also parts availability? Grazie!

I just got a tape recorder. What does the SOS button do and the Start Push button do? Thar same with the EQ button. It doesn't have a manual. Also what is the best setting for the Output knob?

hi' im looking for studer 810 for sale do you know where i can find one?

Hi, Thanks a lot for fruitful comments. What about the Studer A 807? Blessed 2023 and beyond.

Germany has the standard to have the Ferro oxyde layer outside, as known from compact cassette and not inside, as known from home reel to reel recorders.

I have two questions upon watching the video: 1. Is there a such thing as reel-to-reel player that plays per-recorded music without recording features? 2. Is there a model that is capable of playing all 3¾ ips, 7​1⁄2 ips and 15 ips reels?

Hi, Guido. Great video. Sadly, I have to make do with my Otari MX-55N. One small quibble: NAB means "National Association of Broadcasters." The word "American" is not part of it, although it is an American association.

As I am long time using reel to reel machines, in my opinion using "Pancake" reels and the tape is in open, mostly are suitable for professional people that they go every day from 9:00 to 5:00 working in the studio. From morning to the evening they work on this machines and tapes. Other than professionals, I think the only one to use is the regular one being plastic or metal. For people who are Amateurs also like me, why should we go to risky thing. The tape can get loose and loose and then you cannot bring it back to its original shape. Thank You.

Could you tell me where you bought that Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet tape?

Hello. Have you Reel to Reel vs SACD or DSD same file? Thanks

very best

What speed was that Miles Davis master tape? 15iips?

Question: is it advisable or okay to use pancake reels when the recorder is in a vertical position? Second, where can you find AEG-DIN pancakes? They look very vintage. Thank for the video.

Try this on a Tandberg TD20A SE. the sound is good, but I think the Tandberg is better. At least to my ears.

So you have a 30 ips player? I want to buy one for recording gigs, but there's a problem, a question circulating the internet- does it cut off frequencies below 40 hz? (some say you should record rock at 15 ips because 30 can seriously chop away the low frequencies). Are those extra low frequencies lost, or are they just quiet? Maybe an experiment if you have a 30 ips player- record frequencies below 40 hz and see if they're quiet, or just not there. I hope they're just quiet as you could probably boost the eq when cutting to vinyl

I'm going to record dub techno on a akai GX 4400D is this a good idea or do you recommend another unit?

How does humidity impact tapes, and how much humidity is too much? I understand that for records humidity keeps static in check.

hej , i have an Akai M-8 what do you think is the best tape to use for it ? thanks !

there is another solution to sticky tape syndrome that always works but requires great care. with the deck in fast forward mode, using a cloth soaked in methylated spirits, run the cloth along the oxide side of the tape for the entire length of the tape. clean the tape path after, and repeat the process to take the excess methylated spirits off the tape.

how many minutes recording on the 30 inch per second?

Great video, but before playing a production tape or master tape you should calibrate the playback levels to 0dB at 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz so that the EQ of the playback is as intended and with a A810 it's easy

Ciao Guido siccome sono venuto in possesso di un Revox A77 MKIV hispeed 2 tracce stavo pensando se potesse valere la pena riversare dei bootleg che ho in file FLAC ad alta risoluzione nei nastri tramite appunto il Revox. Io però come computer ho “solo” un portatile con un uscita hdmi e jack 3,5 mm; che mi suggerisci di fare?

I normally see tails out as having red leader tape . . . . with white or yellow at the beginning

Nagra was also standard in recording the sound for TV. The Reporter had Nagra and microphone, the camera man a 16 mm camera, both were quartz synchronised (technology exists since the 1960's)

Something I have seen no real proper comparisons of are the speeds compared to quality, with say a look at the waveforms and spectral analysis of the same recordings, could that be something you cover?

Can you show a R2R connection to your amp? I can’t believe it is not on RU-vid. If it’s output to input I got that, is it that simple?

Ampex sticky shed tape can be baked at 150F for several hours and it will firm up the coating long enough to make a good duplicate. All Quantegy tape was good and the very last Ampex tapes were good.

Hi sir do you know someone that could fix my revox 215 tape deck I can't wait to buy me a wheel to wheel beautiful machine you have so cool 👍😎

Ummm... I know almost nothing about these recorders, but I need one. My band wants a reel to reel to run our tracks through it to add analog compression to them before routing the tracks back into the computer (or "the box"). We kinda hate digital for audio. haha ...but there's nothing we can do about where the world is at these days. We don't have a huge budget, and for our purposes we shouldnt really need much. The $300 range (or less) is where we are at and I see a lot of them on eBay in that range. I just don't know what to buy. You probably operate far above our pitiful budget, but was wondering if you had a recommendation or advice on what to look for. ?? Thanks very much

Just go solid state digital. It's a lot less hassle, and sounds a lot better, because of it's much higher fidelity. Nothing to rewind or fast forward.

Time to Bake the tape. Not the cake, but the tape! 99c 4 ours in hour own risk 😋

Very nice and informative video for the tape people. I am a bit sorry you forgot to mention the two very best master recorders from Stellavox and Lyrec. But whatever. You also forgot to mention that what you call the very best Studer, the A816, was actually the AEG Telefunken M20/21 made into a Studer after Studer took over AEG Telefunken. Even though you claim that the Telefunken M15 & 10 should be better soundwise than the M20/21, you also claimthat the Studer A816 is the best master recorder ever. That's contradictions. But that does not change the fact that your video for sure is great and informative for non-experts. You also have a calm rethorics, very usable for the viewer. ;-)

How do you pronounce cinematic? Try using the first half of the word in the same context.

so your sayin these are the org master tapes from miles davis ..real?

One of the units was a player for editing, no recording but a scissor.

wow that A810 is WAYYYY out of calibration for that tape - but i guess you knew that - those slate tones should be coming up at 0VU for all frequencies

HI i bake my tapes fill my oven up with them. i went over to zonal tapes i love otari mtr 10 12 units easy to etid tapes on

How get thes tape???

red color on pancake core ( "Bobby" ) indicates 15"/sec (38cm/sec.) speed, not AGFA`s company colors!!! 7,5" will be blue!

The biggest advantage of the AEG platter is, that the tape needs automaticly less space, you haven't to care for the right reel size.

Come on you guys, you can't tell me that unless your tapes are brand new ($$$$) or tapes older than several years were always stored in a very stable temp and humidity controlled room that you're not finding globs of oxide build up on your heads-and especially on the tape lifters during fast wind modes. The more oxide particles peeled off the tape the more frequency response and dynamic range you lose-permanently. Many years ago Sticky Shed Syndrome broke my heart when I discovered bad oxide shed with almost any tape from my collection played on my Ampex ATR-102 machine. Even if you VERY carefully bake a tape there's no guarantee that it will not shed oxide even on a rebuilt and precisely tuned tape transport. And even if it does play without shedding for some passes, within a month it will almost always start shedding oxide again. That's why if the data on tapes really matters to anyone they spend serious money on an A/D converter and digitize their tapes as soon as they bake them. If I'm wrong about any of this please let me know.

Wow you didn’t say ‘typology’ not once!

19 cm/s on two tracks was the initial format, to cut cost, they doubled the tracks, set the speed to the half and so you could do in mono on 360 m about 1 hour of music.

30ips, you bet!.

from my experience. AGFA tapes are very bad nowadays because of end of age . you can't play a 1 minute without losing a frequency. too much dirt and sticky . you have to clean the tape several times . and even that you can't guarantee that the problem is solved. yes it is a master tape and high quality sound but the tape age is expired

Pancakes are only viable on horizontal machines, otherwise they are at risk of destructing Master pieces..........

"If I Were A Bell!"

A lot of those 'master tapes' are for cutting laquer, and wont sound as great as an actual 'master'

If you think that is fine, so be it, you will learn, when your most prized possession is turned into mangled plastic on a rewind. Have you ever seen what rewound circles look like when they wrap themselves together at 100 MPH and you watch a prized performance die due to your own wilful negligence? Avoid this

:-)

I know this is 3 years old. The splices are normal.

Why bother to buy master tapes? You never get what music you want, you just get something that sounds better. Could you explain why this hunt for master tapes? For me at least, reel to reel isn't something about quality or looks, even if from my POV it excels in these categories, it's about the science behind it, how it works and what memories it brings back, same with vinyl, witch to me, sounds like crap (but i never really got into vinyl to get a decent machine) but i still like it. If you think about it, a technology from the 50's is better in some ways then our modern tech, that's a burn for digital. I believe that if you never hear something better then what you have, you'll never complain, as an example, my Hi-Fi is a Sony HCD-RG495 (although online it's found as MHC-RG495); it's the best thing i've ever owned and i am 100% happy with it... until i hear something better :) I own a modified Sony TC-377 (yes, i'm a sony fanboy), nice machine, but in a totally different category then your Studer machine, i record my own music onto it and listen it back. at 19cm/s (7.5ips) i can't hear any difference from the original, so that satisfies me. (Modified in a sense that i replaced it's circuits to work better, it can reproduce sigals up to 35kHz (of course no one would hear them), and up to 24kHz in 9.53cm/s, but 19cm/s looks cool) Yes, i know a master is a master, even if it's a master copy, but come on, is that "Master" label so important?

Three fools and one decent copper

Just to let you know "cine" is pronounced like cine like in cinema.

The younger generation will look at reel to reel and cassettes as dinosaurs and their thing will be any form of digital like CD

Look here: www.studerundrevox.de/info-wissenswert/wissenswert/tonband-vorlaufbaender/

Why use a digital camera and upload this digital signal to RU-vid 🤣

I will take my Otari MTR-15 over any Studer deck hands down

AMPEX tapes were rubbish.

09:59 "[this tape] is terrible; a CD is probably better than this" 😊😂

The problem Sir is that you are a very bad SNOB Feeling justified to flaunt your wealth as a way of making you feel justified. Your arguments are feasible but lack conviction. How much did that Studer cost you, and how did you finance it. All very odd questions is your life................