Reel to reel recorders

[spruce_moose]

Have you ever used one to make a tape delay double track from a pre-recorded track? Helps to have an adjustable speed.

[Ugly Nora]

Nope I haven't done anything yet. I didn't even set this up yet. Hopefully this weekend. I just recently got tape for it. There was a shortage of the tape I wanted, but it finally came in stock last week. I also picked up 9 used reels from a flea market the other day for $15. I figured these would be good just to practice splicing and shit on before I mess with any good tape. Plus I am curious to see how I can degrade these tapes to manipulate the sounds. Again, why practice on good tape. And who knows, maybe recording on them will just sound good to my ears, if not just a complete load of loud hiss.

I've also been reading Tape Music Composition by David Keane which has a lot of good info for me to digest. It talks about loops and delays and flanging and all that stuff.

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, just watch the flea market stuff for shedding - will be a pain of cleaning if it's gone bad.

Not amazingly likely, but can happen.

I recorded my first demos in the stone age on "learn swahili" reels that the university threw in a dumpster.

I learned two words before demagging them and putting it to good use.

[Ugly Nora]

Yep, I'm prepared for a mess or disaster or whatever. I figured $15 was worth the taking a chance on. No big deal if they all go into the trash. A calculated risk.

[rfurtkamp]

Yep. For splicing practice and the reel shells, plus if one tape turns out ok, you're ahead. If more, even moreso.

[spruce_moose]

If you have an interface with a blend between playback and the recording track, you can use it as a feedback loop control.

interface output --> tape in
tape headphone out --> interface input

Simple as that!

[Ugly Nora]

Thanks, I'll check that out.

[Disarm D'arcy]

OMG

[spruce_moose]

Ahh I might have gotten mixed up there. It'll be the interface headphone out, not the L/R channel. I have a feeling they could sometimes remain unchanged.

I just used a cruddy Mbox mini, and the way it worked was to turn the control which changes the monitor level of the track that's recording VS the one you're sending.

The controls correspond in the following ways:

Gain/clipping level
reel speed/delay time
Interface blend/feedback

If you wanted to get really sassy, you could pan everything hard left and right and make a stereo delay, or with a 4 track interface, a quadraphonic tape delay !

The downside being that you need to have a tape recoding.. I haven't figured out how to make a loop yet.

[rfurtkamp]

If you know how to make a tape splice, you can make a loop.

Make sure the magnetic side is facing inwards and it's not a figure 8.

Smaller loops to start so you don't waste tape but they won't last as long

Sure they have a YT video it these days.

[popvulture]

I second the Tascam 388. Definitely on the very expansive end of what you're looking for, but fun as hell and well worth it if you can find one for cheap (which you still can if you look hard enough). I found mine in a pawn shop in San Antonio for about $200. Spent probably another $200 getting it up to par, but still well under what they're going for in the in-the-know market.

[Phosphene Audio]

The old Wollensaks can be a lot of fun. The tube amp that is built in sounds good to play guitar through, as well. They even have a speaker out so you can use them to drive a cab.

I also used mine at a show where a friends band was playing without their vocalist. We got all of the isolated vocals out of the tracks for their record and I edited them down and put them on tape. I ran the machine through a pedal board and did a bunch of stop/start and speed changing stuff, lots of fun.

[ancientbones]

Are there any other 8 track reel-to-reel recorders you guys would recommend? I see a lot of 4 track ones, but I'm interested in just recording everything to tape. It's my eventual dream setup. Computers are nice but tape seems fun and I lean more towards the fun side of things.

[crochambeau]

Are there any other 8 track reel-to-reel recorders you guys would recommend?

What's the budget?

Otari MX-5050-8. It's a half inch machine, so, you sort of have to be financially committed to your takes, but I would argue that's not a bad thing.

In the realm of 1/4" I found the Fostex R8 to be a nice sound quality, but the transport build quality sucks monkey nuts. I may have a more favorable opinion after a session with gorilla glue, but in my opinion there is no good reason anyone should ever have to introduce glue to a fucking tape transport. The motors still run though..

I haven't used the Tascam 1/4" eight track, but I do own a 34 & 32 (four & two track) - both have complete transport failures (I believe the transport is more or less shared with 8 tracks as well), motor strength is a COMMON complaint on these (like pulley and belt failure is common on the Fostex). The 34 sounded okay when it worked, drier than the Fostex (for lack of a better term), and more useful due to support of NAB reels and slower recording speeds. If only the motors were robust enough to manage it... I aim to get in there and rebuild one day, because it's nice to have the format support, but it IS a pain in the ass and something to watch out for.

So, in short:

Otari MX-5050 8 track is the best of the 8 tracks I've used, it's just probably 4-5 times the budget (with exception to tape, 1/4" is getting closer and closer to 1/2" in cost it seems), though deals can be found if you're patient/lucky.

Fostex R8 sounds better than the Tascam in my opinion, though my comparison was not base off showroom floor, so, mileage may have gotten in the way - big issue is that the Fostex runs 15 ips and only supports 7" reels, limiting any single pass to less than 20 minutes.

Tascam would be my preferred machine (in 1/4") based on longer takes/less reel juggling, if only the fucking motors could pull it off.

[ancientbones]

Are there any other 8 track reel-to-reel recorders you guys would recommend?

What's the budget?

Otari MX-5050-8. It's a half inch machine, so, you sort of have to be financially committed to your takes, but I would argue that's not a bad thing.

In the realm of 1/4" I found the Fostex R8 to be a nice sound quality, but the transport build quality sucks monkey nuts. I may have a more favorable opinion after a session with gorilla glue, but in my opinion there is no good reason anyone should ever have to introduce glue to a fucking tape transport. The motors still run though..

I haven't used the Tascam 1/4" eight track, but I do own a 34 & 32 (four & two track) - both have complete transport failures (I believe the transport is more or less shared with 8 tracks as well), motor strength is a COMMON complaint on these (like pulley and belt failure is common on the Fostex). The 34 sounded okay when it worked, drier than the Fostex (for lack of a better term), and more useful due to support of NAB reels and slower recording speeds. If only the motors were robust enough to manage it... I aim to get in there and rebuild one day, because it's nice to have the format support, but it IS a pain in the ass and something to watch out for.

So, in short:

Otari MX-5050 8 track is the best of the 8 tracks I've used, it's just probably 4-5 times the budget (with exception to tape, 1/4" is getting closer and closer to 1/2" in cost it seems), though deals can be found if you're patient/lucky.

Fostex R8 sounds better than the Tascam in my opinion, though my comparison was not base off showroom floor, so, mileage may have gotten in the way - big issue is that the Fostex runs 15 ips and only supports 7" reels, limiting any single pass to less than 20 minutes.

Tascam would be my preferred machine (in 1/4") based on longer takes/less reel juggling, if only the fucking motors could pull it off.

Is there like a super big difference in quality between 1/4" tape and 1/2" tape? I know 1/2" is supposed to "sound better" but I'm not really sure how much better.