N00b Question - Why get a reel to reel?
- Thread starter 04blackmaxx
- Start date
icenine
Super Member
Factory cassettes are only $.50 or even cheaper at the thrift store. Many suck but many do not depending on what cassette deck you have to play them on. Beats throwing away $50 or $100 bucks on a classic rock factory reel on Ebay, many of which are not tested and sold by people who do not have a deck to test the tape on.
I have 4 decks and about 100 reels of varying quality but rarely listen to them anymore....cds and cassettes are easier.
I have 4 decks and about 100 reels of varying quality but rarely listen to them anymore....cds and cassettes are easier.
Jody Thornton
Just Enjoying the Music
I returned to the biz quite recently, but back in 1991, we had a pair of similar Otari decks at a Cambridge, Ontario station. They were nice.
SX550
Well-Known Member
I started looking into vintage hifi just a few years ago, and i just had to have a R2R, i love the way they look, and the mechanics of it.
And I prefer the sound over cassettes. But they do need a little more maintenance than a cassette deck. But that's nothing if you really care about your gear.
Here is my Akai GX-270D running at full speed without hesitation after more than 30 years of age.
In the 2 years ownership i'v had no problems.
And I prefer the sound over cassettes. But they do need a little more maintenance than a cassette deck. But that's nothing if you really care about your gear.
Here is my Akai GX-270D running at full speed without hesitation after more than 30 years of age.
In the 2 years ownership i'v had no problems.
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mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
heh... when they do hesitate, you can end up with a quarter-mile (or even more) of tape on the floor...
;-)
;-)
Tinman
Super Member
Hey, did the tape twist at the pinch roller?
Here's mine... Sorry for the crappy ipad photo.
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God, me as well. Those were the days. Splicing. What a lost art. I was a god with a razor blade and some tape.
We ended up selling ours, fully kept up and in great working order, for I think 50 bucks a piece. We had 3, I think.
This was before I had any desire for one.
Dammitdammitdammitdammitdammit.
Still trying to get them to sell me the Technics SP25 they still have.
SX550
Well-Known Member
thanks!
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
I don't think so -- but, that said, there may be some mis-alignment; the deck is "as-found" (it was one of three; freebies from CL, to which my attention was kindly called by AKer "Barncats"). I haven't gotten too far past "it works"... although it actually sounds pretty darned good.
rufusx
Active Member
Reel to reels, back in the day (I'm talking late 70's here) allowed me to put together my music, in my order, with just the songs I wanted. Unlike today, there were no playlists created with a click of a button, no instantaneous playing of virtually any song via Spotify or Pandora...it was either radio or vinyl.
In other words, reel to reels gave me control I didn't otherwise have.
Cassettes didn't offer me the amount of playing time that a 10" reel could provide, so adding a reel to reel to my system was as important to me as any other of my components.
Jeff
This mirrors my experience, plus had a lot of friends in bands who let me copy live and studio/demo recordings they'd made. And, so of course, I still have the RT-909, and tapes.
rufusx
Active Member
In addition, putting new vinyl on tape is a great way to preserve it. I have quite a few albums that have only been played once, or maybe twice - to record them.
fortycoats
Super Member
No not at all!!!!!
Good for you...... Enjoy some GOOD analog music now
As long as you can find a good analogue source... (Is your vinyl all analogue or just digital converted to it? Your FM is almost certainly that.)
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
oblomov
Well-Known Member
Yeah, Jody, that was about my timeframe. Basically the end of analog stations into the digital age...after that I was learning the new playlist computer programs...what fun!
I left our station to pursue other things in the 90s and returned to find the studios remodeled and the old equipment (including Technics tt's for production and broadcast) gone. Never found out what happened to the stuff, but knowing the numb-nutz station mgr, everything was probably unceremoniously dumped violently into the dumpster behind the station, unfortunately.:cry::cry::