I think Doc Bottlehead would disagree with most of the opinions concerning RtoR here.
http://www.tapeproject.com/
http://www.tapeproject.com/
Reel to Reel?
- Thread starter delfam
- Start date
R-2-R
Super Member
Why reel to reel?
IMO, as an audio enthusiast, in order to know the true meaning of the reel to reel audio format, "you have to have it in you" to truely know and accept reel to reels. If "you don't have it in you then you'll never know".
If you view it simply as cumbersome, vintage, outdated and a waste of time that's O K because it's not for everyone and that's understandable, because not everything is.
I am sure there are various reasons as to why some individuals own them but for myself well alot has to do basically with the overall audio format, the desire, the pleasure of hands on recording, playback, tape, metal reels, etc. and yes watching those reels spin!
EDIT** By the way, I currently own seven (7) reel to reels.
IMO, as an audio enthusiast, in order to know the true meaning of the reel to reel audio format, "you have to have it in you" to truely know and accept reel to reels. If "you don't have it in you then you'll never know".
If you view it simply as cumbersome, vintage, outdated and a waste of time that's O K because it's not for everyone and that's understandable, because not everything is.
I am sure there are various reasons as to why some individuals own them but for myself well alot has to do basically with the overall audio format, the desire, the pleasure of hands on recording, playback, tape, metal reels, etc. and yes watching those reels spin!
EDIT** By the way, I currently own seven (7) reel to reels.
Last edited:
Being a mere 48 years young, R2R was somewhat of a dead format in favor of cassette when my audio obsession was developing... however, last year I acquired a big black TEAC X1000r with the rosewood finished case. No cassette can touch the quality of R2R and there's something special when those big reels are turning... It may be a bit of a novelty considering all of the audio options out there now, but I'll never give mine up...
If you take the gentle saturation curve of 7.5 and 15ips tape on one end and an analog noise floor (you can hear "beneath" the hiss) on the other you can get a subjective Dynamic Range approaching CD quality. (Not the same as S/N...) Same goes for Cassette with respect to taping off the air of local stations. The serious drawback is the expense of "audiophile" tape. Backcoated is the only way to fly, but you've got to watch what you buy. Transferring stuff to files is the thing I can't understand. I've got the machines, I've got the tape. Save the computer for other stuff. Like Pioneer Service manuals... ; - )
ken.nelson
ILIKETOROCK
Ok. My opinion. RtR's are just fun. They sound great. You never know what you're gonna get to here with some of the reels ya get. They do make great party machines cause you can record hours of music and not have to mess with them at the party. Just put the tape on and have fun at the party. Dont have to worry about your crazy friends bumping into your TT and scratching your record as its playing. Lol. Doesnt happen that much anymore, but as a teenager it was certaintly a benefit. And they are "Cool".
shrinkboy
Addicted Member
i fell prey to the lure of open reel tape machines a few years ago and got a 7" Realistic machine and then later a TEAC X-2000 big reel machine. Vintage Tx, a very cool guy, talked me through getting them both up and running, which was quite an undertaking for me. the TEAC was purch'd from a fellow forum member for ....a LOT of dough, it said to be in great condition.
of course it wasn't, and needed a ton of standard maintenance. anyway, i had those two babies set up in my gear and they looked awesome, particularly the big black TEAC. after a year or so, i realized i'd compiled maybe 3 or 4 mixtapes. i simply never used them. i came to the conclusion that i had a lot of $$ sitting there doing nothing and getting ready to need more maintenance to stay fresh, and therefore they were sold.
of course it wasn't, and needed a ton of standard maintenance. anyway, i had those two babies set up in my gear and they looked awesome, particularly the big black TEAC. after a year or so, i realized i'd compiled maybe 3 or 4 mixtapes. i simply never used them. i came to the conclusion that i had a lot of $$ sitting there doing nothing and getting ready to need more maintenance to stay fresh, and therefore they were sold.
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
I'm a little older than you, but I know what you mean. I'm 51. When I was overseas in the Marine Corps, I indulged myself and spent some saved-up money on stereo gear. Luxman amp, JVC turntable, AR speakers (yes, even AR were cheaper in Japan, imagine that) and Teac cassette deck. I even bought a Technics EQ (not to listen to, just to watch the fun light show). CD was not yet quite arrived in 1983, but people were talking about it. No one knew if it was going to survive as a format; at the time, people were still arguing over VHS versus Beta and CED versus Laserdisk. So CD was a bit of a crapshoot, as I recall. I wanted a 'bigger format' than cassette, although my deck was one of the better ones available (Teac V-1RX, which I still have and am currently trying to revive). I could have bought any of the 'best' R2R decks of the time, and I really liked the Akais and Teacs, but my buddies talked me out of it. They saw no purpose to a R2R unit, and I listened to them and stood down. I guess it's probably for the best; I was not into playing pre-recorded tapes, and only used my cassette deck to record LPs. So I did not buy an R2R at that time.
But now I am older and I find them fascinating still. This is my second dip into the waters; I tried about 7 or 8 years ago, but it did not work out for various reasons. Now I'm back and loving it.
shrinkboy
Addicted Member
i don't think anyone is dissing on tape, but my god, what wouldn't sound good when played back on $100k+ plus of the finest audio equipment available?
TerryO
Super Member
A number of members in our audio club use R2R decks. Many (most?) use the big studio console decks and play them at higher speeds (usually 15 ips). The Tape Project prerecorded tapes are fairly common with these people (I can't afford them myself...darn it!), but playing 1/4 inch tape or even better, the 1/2 inch tapes is as good as it gets...other than live music that is!
Best Regards,
TerryO
Best Regards,
TerryO
TerryO
Super Member
I know members of our Audio Club that have spent approximately that much on their turntables.
Did it sound good? Absolutely!
But the fact is that it's possible to carefully assemble, or even better yet, to DIY a system that can come pretty darn close to the absolute best for far, far less!
Best Regards,
Terry
skywavebe
Tascam Repair
I have been using and repairing these Teac decks for a pretty long time. You know as much as digital is taking over, they are not taking over all the people.
There are still people coming in to get their units fixed and a large a gathering
of many more people on a forum that use them all the time.
A good reel to reel can not only sound good, record good and the media can outlast any other format known to man and has already proven that it can.
You think reels are over with? you are simply uninformed. There are colleges and Universities using tape still for archiving. This was found out when at one years end the supply of reel tape was all but gone. I tried calling all the places I knew and it was all gone. It turns out the RMGI takes a 2 week break off around Christmas, tape was not being produced. However I learned that that it was not a production issue but one of a university buying up all the tape in the USA for a project they were doing- this does not happen when reels are dieing.
My business of restoration or repair of reel decks is even stronger today than ever before.
The scare of lack of reel tape supplies triggered a E mail to Mike Spitz known for his company called ATR Magnetics. It was not that long after that the ATR Master was released in 1/4" tape format. There are machines out there, tapes from two different companies and the only think I lack right now is time to repair them, heads and Motors.
A difficult time was had finding any Cassette Capstan Motors. A good amount of research and I have found a place that sells them and I have many in stock. I even get people contacting me from this web site for repairs even with no signature allowed.
There are still people coming in to get their units fixed and a large a gathering
of many more people on a forum that use them all the time.
A good reel to reel can not only sound good, record good and the media can outlast any other format known to man and has already proven that it can.
You think reels are over with? you are simply uninformed. There are colleges and Universities using tape still for archiving. This was found out when at one years end the supply of reel tape was all but gone. I tried calling all the places I knew and it was all gone. It turns out the RMGI takes a 2 week break off around Christmas, tape was not being produced. However I learned that that it was not a production issue but one of a university buying up all the tape in the USA for a project they were doing- this does not happen when reels are dieing.
My business of restoration or repair of reel decks is even stronger today than ever before.
The scare of lack of reel tape supplies triggered a E mail to Mike Spitz known for his company called ATR Magnetics. It was not that long after that the ATR Master was released in 1/4" tape format. There are machines out there, tapes from two different companies and the only think I lack right now is time to repair them, heads and Motors.
A difficult time was had finding any Cassette Capstan Motors. A good amount of research and I have found a place that sells them and I have many in stock. I even get people contacting me from this web site for repairs even with no signature allowed.
:lmao: Glad I'm not the only one! Same thing happened to me last year; it was a nice deck, too.
ofajen
Daddy-O-Daddy-O-Baby
I didn't have the budget for R2R when I got my early hi-fi in 1975. When I got somewhat better gear in 1981, I heard a Nakamichi cassette machine and decided it pretty much sounded like the source when playing back, so I used that for copying albums (car listening and to save record wear). I've never really used R2R for copying other people's music, and I'm not likely to start at this point.
OTOH, in the studio context, R2R was pretty much what there was 30 years ago and I still like it for recording and mixing more straightforward projects. Both the sonics and the process it imposes are good. My digital recorder has advantages in terms of portability, sync, number of tracks, mixing and so on and works better for other projects where the music is more of a studio product than a live moment.
Cheers,
Otto
I assume you keep the decks well lubed.
Like any project they tend to get out of control. In the early days of the tape project it was far more practical and affordable. The sound results were incredible back then.
Audiophile tapes are expensive but, so are the new audiophile LP's I bought this morning. I can't really complain though. I imagine the price is in line with what the same vinyl albums cost in 1970's dollars.
It's about the pure sexiness of it for me.
It is as, if not more satisfying and relaxing to watch the reels spin as watching records spin.
The experience, putting on the reels, threading the tape...
Pure sex.
That is the deck used in the original Bottlehead tape project.
I am very happy with my Revox A77 MK IV. I actually need a RtoR to listen to the tapes of concerts and recitals I performed in back in college and later as a pro.
Last year I ran across a box of tapes, at a garage sale, that turned out to be recitals performed by the composer, and my junior music theory professor, John Cowell. I have no idea how they ended up at that garage sale. I paid $1 for 20 tapes. I dubbed them off and returned them to the university music library where they were probably stolen from in the first place.
visualj
I have been over the edge
I had the (mis)fortune of finding a Revox R2R as my first piece of stereo equipment back in 77. So I got the bug early. At the time in college, I used it for recording albums and creating party tapes, along with the 'infamous' slow tape... Nothing better than hitting play and having 3 1/2 hours of music without having to stop what you were doing to flip an album, or search for the next song.
Since the deck was stolen in 81, I had to replace it. But now I have two A77s, one quarter track, and one half track. Initally, I bought the half track because I stumbled on about 15 10.5 in. reels of music from a radio station in that format. Some of the best recording I have heard, but country (Not my favorite style.) Now I use it for reorganizing tapes that I find where I like some of the songs on them, but not all. In my sytem, I cannot hear a difference from the original to the dub.
But I am also finding some pre-recorded R2Rs that are much better than the album. The first that comes to my mind is the soundtrack to Star Wars. I know, I am a geek. But the dynamic quality of that tape is outstanding. I would love to get a hold of a master or safety, but at $300 and up, it is out of my price range for now.
You think one 10.5 deck looks cool, you should see two spinning away. :thmbsp:
Since the deck was stolen in 81, I had to replace it. But now I have two A77s, one quarter track, and one half track. Initally, I bought the half track because I stumbled on about 15 10.5 in. reels of music from a radio station in that format. Some of the best recording I have heard, but country (Not my favorite style.) Now I use it for reorganizing tapes that I find where I like some of the songs on them, but not all. In my sytem, I cannot hear a difference from the original to the dub.
But I am also finding some pre-recorded R2Rs that are much better than the album. The first that comes to my mind is the soundtrack to Star Wars. I know, I am a geek. But the dynamic quality of that tape is outstanding. I would love to get a hold of a master or safety, but at $300 and up, it is out of my price range for now.
You think one 10.5 deck looks cool, you should see two spinning away. :thmbsp:
R-2-R
Super Member
Oh yea!
IMO, the Pioneer RT-701 & 707 series reel to reels are the "BEST" in their catagory of 7" reels. :thmbsp:
Built like tanks and beautifully designed, they truly are something special. :yes:
IMO, the Pioneer RT-701 & 707 series reel to reels are the "BEST" in their catagory of 7" reels. :thmbsp:
Built like tanks and beautifully designed, they truly are something special. :yes:
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