So I stopped by Decware last night to drop off an amp for Steve to service, and spent a great time chatting with both Steve and Dave, as well as listening to some music on Steve's commercial grade Reel to Reel.

One thing Steve brought up was the mini-Decfest we were talking about in the Mystery Amp thread.

Guys, you *need* to hear these master tapes on Reel to Reel through some Decware amps and speakers. *NEED TO*.

Steve said he's cool with this and wants us to come down; he thinks reel to reel is something we should really be considering, even in the face of high-def digital about to come crashing down on us this year like a tsunami. And from what I heard, I'm honestly thinking about picking up a deck myself sometime in the near future.

Either way, listening to what the Mystery Amp can do with a great source is the goal of the event, and I think we should really pull something like this together, even if it's just us (somewhat) local guys. Palomino, Brianne and I have already talked about going, so we might as well make an event out of it!

So those interested, lets look at the upcoming weekends - not this month (April) because Bri and I are booked up, but maybe May? Chime in with what's good for you, and lets see if we can pull this together; I'm tellin' ya, it will be worth the trip!

Right now I'm pretty open on the weekends for May - I don't think I have any set in stone plans. So consider me open all of May.

A little more info on the visit last night; sorry for the crappy photos, but it's a 4 year old phone - I literally just got a new phone this morning that's supposed to do better low light photography. (we will see).


So Steve sat me down in the listening room; equipment was his Otari MTR-10 deck, to Decware Monoblocks, to MG-945 with the bass cabinets.
The source media was Reel to Reel "Master Tapes" he's picked up on eBay. I actually got to listen to *the* master tape for the movie Twins - it was novel, and epic at the same time.










The sound - so, the Twins soundtrack, having come out in the '80s was pretty typical of the time, and being a soundtrack probably had a half dozen to a dozen different producers/mixers etc. Every track sounded different, but two tracks stood out.

I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
Performed by Marilyn Scott
Written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBAVRFzndcY

TURTLE SHOES
Performed and Written by Bobby McFerrin & Herbie Hancock
Courtesy of Capitol Records Inc., Special Markets Inc. and CBS Records

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3wMTdJ8dDw

The soundtrack also have Jeff Beck all over it, and for those of you that play guitar and/or know his guitar work, it was obvious without looking up who the artist was...and it sounded *live*.

The sound of a master tape on Decware gear was difficult for me to describe - of course you heard the detail, the reverb added, even the room the voices and instruments were recording in, all the stuff you'd expect from a great system - but there was a textural liveness to the sound that I've only heard at small clubs where the artist is right there on stage and going through the PA. Steve described it as a tactile sound, with weight and *balls*. And add to this, Steve said that the ZMA brought all this up to another level over the monoblocks!

I went straight home and listened to some of my best recordings on my ZMA, driven from my Oppo BDP-105, to my MG-944. My best and most favored recordings - and they sounded hollow in comparison to the reel to reel tapes. No amount of detail and imaging could replace the reality those tapes brought into the room.

Yep, I'm going back for another listen as soon as I can. Thanks for another dose of audioruination (I think that's the word?)

What's the deal with the two machines? Please enlighten.... . I guess Steve purchased two of them?

Yeah, I would like to put my ears on that.

I am busy through the end of May. I should have my new Mazda 3 or Ford Focus by the first week of June. I will be able to road trip it at 38 to 41 MPG to Peoria. I will be parking my 13.8 MPG V8 Triton F-150 for awhile.

I am loving my Gallo 3.1's and look forward to my CSP3 coming in. I have to be a true audiophile now don't ya know...ah?....yes Lena I do....ya know...I gotta Active Preamp comin' don't you know' ...YAA!  ;D

However, I would like to put my ears on the ERRx & HR-1. You can never have enough pairs of Speakers for the Fidelity of Decware Amps!

For me: Anthony Gallo Acoustics Nucleus Reference 3.1, Martin Logan ElectroMotion ESL, Vintage Polk SDA 1 & why not add a pair of ERRx!

LR, speaking of active preamps...was the CSP3 in the chain(?)...tell us the whole chain. Inquirying minds want to know...cables too.  Lars

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEAC-A-3440-REEL-TO-REEL-TAPE-RECORDER-THE-BIG-KAHUNA-/1...

Who am I kidding...settle in... .
....should I impulse buy this one?  Yeah, what the heck...jump in and hang on.

However, this machine does 7.5 to 15 IPS. Are a lot of what I want going to be 3 3/4 IPS?  I am definitely on the learning curve with this... .

Okay...I am seeing more/most are 7.5 IPS....cool. I don't want the 3.75 anyway...recorded like crap at high speed.

I bet it is safe to assume, Steve is playing 7.5 IPS or better.

http://www.tonepearls.com/tprtape1.html?gclid=CKfv07SXxr0CFYtDMgodmVoAQg
This would be nice at the 15 IPS that it is!

Anyway, all I need is a 1/4inch tape - 2 channel....and I should get one that does 3.75, 7.5 & 15 IPS.....with XLR output (I can use adaptors to RCA...leaving XLR to XLR open for other... ).

No doubt LR...the lack of media is concerning. I could also invest in a better Vinyl Rig too. However, I am going to think about it and I might pick Steve's brain to cover all the bases in what I need/should have.

I would like to preserve something that is fading fast. Maybe, get a good Deck for a grand fully serviced and 30 days on it etc...and I could continue to have it serviced locally if need be. Then, splurge on some good 15 IPS like the Piano Works I posted and some good Beatles at 7.5 IPS. If I end up with only 10 or 15 decent Tapes....what the heck...hanging on to some History and some extraordinary Playback.

Well, off to snow blow 11.5 inches of snow I received here. Geez, but I don't complain when others got wacked with Tornado's and golf ball sized hail. You just go out each day and TRY to make the world a better place. 7 billion on the Planet now...and 11 billion by the end the century is not sustainable.......but as Sting said: "When the World is running down...you make the best of what's still around".

I hear you Lon. I would be doing it for the Geek Aspect...just to preserve some History and hear that glorious Piano Work I posted and some other arm and a leg 15 IPS.  :)

Of course, the antithesis is as you stated...good digital and vinyl out there as a music lover. Of the most importance (to me) is the DIRECT STREAM DAC...and its ability to flesh out PCM via Transport or Files!  I look forward to how this unfolds and if any competitors enter the fray!

Yes, I got word my CSP3 is packed....I will Listen to the HR-1's too when I go.

Now I need to quit procrastinating an go snow blow.... .  :(

I hope Steve does not mind me posting this link. But his is why I bought my R2R. I was going to start buying these and then the money went south.
http://www.tapeproject.com/

These guys are re-issuing these from master tapes.

One winter night a couple months back, I was working on my QC area and decided I needed an additional source that wasn't a smart phone, iPod, or computer because the damn things are always screwing up just when you actually NEED a clean source to listen to.  I decided to just put a CD player on the bench and I'd make some test CD's.  The one I had in stock was no where to be found and after looking for two hours I gave up on it.  Turns out it was shipped to a customer by mistake.  So I turned to a shelf with two used players from years past.  Don't remember how I got them, but having never tried either one, I decided now would be a good time.

I started up the first one and it had epilepsy.  That's a fancy word for logic problems.  I unhooked it and launched it across the room into the garbage.  2 points.

I started up the second one and it had it had behavioral issues.  The drawer just opened and closed repeatably and the display said... F U...  I'm not sure what that means, but I do recall what I thought it meant.  I unhooked it and launched it across the room into the garbage.  It landed on top of the other one without bouncing out.  3 points.

I was in the middle of a QC job and needed a good source on this particular bench. Short of taking the one from the listening room, or going into the house and digging around in the basement, I was out of options.  I grabbed a SVHS player from under the bench and hooked it up.  I then went to the attic and grabbed a master tape (from when we used to record onto SVHS in our Peoria studio) and stuck it in the machine.

I hooked it up to my test rig, and pressed play.  I believe the amplifier was an SE34I.3 or a TORII, I don't actually remember.  I use the LCD2's on my QC rig to listen for noise and hum, as well as music to determine in short order what the transparency and frequency balance are like.

Well, what follows has similarities to an abduction story complete with missing time.   It was suddenly 4 hour later, I was on my second tape, 5th beer and my hands were red from playing drums on the edge of the bench.  

The recording was so natural and real that I was able to close my eyes and spend an evening back in my studio over 10 years ago.  I had forgotten how good tape was. That night I experienced time travel.

Hard to forget.

Of course after the tape was done and I tried to rewind it, the SVHS also flashed the F U  message on the display.  What are the odds of that?  I unhooked it and pitched it across the room into the garbage.  It bounced off the CD player and landed on the floor.

I decided to ebay my way to a better SHVS player that would be worth my time to fix and keep fixed.  It was during this search that I stumbled across the OTARI tape machine and I just always assumed something like that must cost $30,000 or more.  When one was listed at $1500 I just had to stop and re-think things.  (Especially considering the fact that I could have spent that same amount for just the right SVHS deck.)

This lead to researching reel to reel machines and becoming educated on what you want and don't want. Myself I would like to have something built well enough so that it doesn't break or wear out or expire.

If found that was the definition of a commercial grade machine. Commercial grade machines have direct drive transports with logic controlled tape tension and crystal locked speed control.  They are kind to tape, make it nearly impossible to stretch or break a tape, and of course are built for almost continuous duty.

After researching source material, I knew a handful of real master tapes would happen, but the bulk of my listening would be from 15 IPS or 7.5 IPS radio station tapes from the 70's 80's 90's.   I was stunned with the recording quality from these tapes btw.  Owning every CD of these songs I can assure you that not even a single CD is a copy of the master tape.  These radio station tapes are largely compilations of studio safety masters and comparatively the CD versions have been ruined in almost every case due to human nature.  I mean put a human in front of PRO TOOLS and tell him not to use any of the 60,000 possible effects and "tools" and he obviously fails every time.  Like putting a monkey in a sea of bananas and telling him not to eat one.

So choosing the OTARI MTR10 makes for an interesting side irony...  Prior to any of this, founded on frustration with computers that update themselves into old age and pretend to quit working, I bought a really good tube tuner.  The McIntosh MR71.  Last time I listened to real radio was over 10 years ago and a college station in the area played jazz and blues with amazing sound quality.  I used to listen to it in the studio all the time.  Hoping to pull this wonderful station from the hypersphere and put good continuous music in the shop so I could stop streaming mp3's for good, I got it, installed a bad ass antenna on the roof and turned it on.  Turns out there are no good stations in the area, none.  And everything that is broadcasting is broadcasting satellite down feeds of firkin MP3's.  It actually sounds worse than just getting it off the internet.

The MTR10 was a favorite machine for radio station broadcasting as well as studio mastering.  So as you can imagine the tape machine is setting in my listening room giving my tuner the finger as you read this.

So that's the story of how I discovered what reel to reel tape can actually sound like...

Nice chronicling Steve. I know full well how detail and pace can really take you by surprise using tapes you recorded. I use rehearsal, gig and demo tapes I recorded of two bands I was in in the 'eighties to evaluate components and system changes. Especially in the case of rehearsal tapes I know the players, the room, the mike placement and the tape deck's signatures. . . it can be fascinating to hear them played back.

I won't go this direction with tape even though I know how amazing they can sound. I just wouldn't easily and inexpensively find the material I want to listen to on tape, and I'm picky about what I listen to and there's lots I don't want to listen to. Yes, perhaps I'm a snob although my interests are broad. Luckily thanks to you and Bob I have the heartbeat of a system that allows me to really deeply enjoy cds and records, of which I have so so many, and more coming in it seems every day.

My second choices for tape decks were:

Studer A807
Teac A 7300
Ampex ATR-700
Teac X 2000M
Otari MX5050
ReVox A700
ReVox PR99
ReVox B77
Technics RS1506

Akai GX 650D

TEAC A 6600
TEAC A 6300

TEAC 35 2B
TEAC X10R

Probably the one I would have gotten was the MX5050 or the ATR-700 as they seem to be the biggest bang for the buck, ranging from 500.00 to 1500.00 on ebay.


Beyond this, you want to look for 1/2 track machines.  That means the machine only plays 2 channels on one side of the tape.   Some machines do both 1/2 track and 1/4 track.  1/4 track, means the machine plays 2 channels on each side of the tape for twice the music, but less resolution.  This btw is almost always mistakingly called 4 track.  4 track is quad, not 1/4 track.  

Also, the machine should play 7.5 IPS and if it plays 15 IPS you can listen to a lot more master tapes since the majority are mastered at 15 IPS.

Most of the machines listed above have switches for both TAPE BIAS and EQ.  Being able to switch between two or more bias settings or at least be able to adjust tape bias while you listen is THE KEY.  Record and Playback EQ are also nice to have, as the combination of these switch settings can MAKE or BREAK the sound of a tape.  Especially master tapes as the formulation of masters is all over the place.  Consumer grade reel to reel tapes with pre-recorded music most popularly configured for 1/4 track machines are likely all the same type of tape, negating the need for bias and eq adjustments.

So if you decide to go consumer grade with 1/4 track and 1/2 track heads try to make sure it has these settings.

Also insist on a close up picture of the heads before buying anything.  If you can't tell what condition the heads are in, e-mail me the picture.

Steve

Here's another possibility if you want to just get potentially terrific sound at 7.5 IPS

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINT-AKAI-M-8-Reel-to-Reel-StereoPhonic-Tape-Recorder-Tu...


My guess is it might actually sound better than the ATR700 I like so much, but the transport would be less friendly.

Gee for 250.00 I might buy it myself.  Crossfield heads are magic.

Steve

There's absolutely no doubt that any MX5050 will be almost indistinguishable from my OTR-10.  

Steve, the one I'm looking at looks a bit rough, well used. But I might be able to get it for an even trade of some rare CD's that I really don't need...so it might actually work out very inexpensively for me.

Here's the deck and heads.







Another one just popped up that looks better, but I'd have to pay cash, and I'm not sure I'm ready to spend that much right now.

That Akai you posted looks good, but it looks like many of the tapes I'm interested are 15ips.

Quote:


Nah, it's looking like I'm going to have Steve add the balanced inputs on my ZMA. I kinda regret not just having it done right of the bat. Steve says the balanced transformers do something similar to what having a preamp in front of the amp does. So maybe it's what I need to bring my Oppo up to another level, and get this R2R working for me.

If this deal does through on the R2R, then I'll be dropping my ZMA off with Steve the very next week.

The heads and tape lifters show a lot of wear.  The lifters can be removed and filed smooth then polished before you play any tapes else you'll have tape particles everywhere.  The record head is pretty bad, the playback head is fair.  Heads can be lapped, but on this model you could probably find an entire head stack and just replace the whole thing.

Cool, thanks Steve - thanks for saving me from a crap player, and thanks for pointing out that other deck (though I see the Tascam doesn't have balanced out, which I wonder if that's part of what makes the decks sound good with the MA)

I propose the weekend of May 9th.

Nice set-up!
An Eros tape head preamp and you're all set.  :)

Steve, I'm looking at that one as well, but something worries me about that auction - I've seen it sold at least once already. Something doesn't seem right about it.

Or maybe something was wrong with the bidder or auction and he relisted it. But this has been up once already since we started this discussion.

Steve,

Will a Reel to Reel forum be added to these discussion boards?

Thanks for the heads up on Deltronics. If/when I get an R2R, I will take it to them for a look over then. I just need to find a good deal on the Otari MX5050 that I have my heart set on.

LR,
One thing to mention, Otari does not follow the standard for pinouts on their XLR connections. I will see if I can find the Otari manual I had and send it to you. This way you can create your cables with the correct pinouts from the Otari to your amp.

We need to get this going. When I was at Steve's picking up the Taboo, he let me borrow some tapes. I played them over the weekend. I never heard a master on my R2R. Holy sh*t. The dynamics are unreal. That is all I have to say about that.

Also check out this one if you need tape or accessories.

http://usrecordingmedia.com/

Quote:


Good place for head relapping/ replacement.
http://www.jrfmagnetics.com/