5121cdd@houxf.UUCP (C.DORY) (03/14/84)
It all depends on what you want to do with the machine. In my opinion,
there are only a couple of good reasons to buy an open-reel deck today:
to record live music or to play back open-reel master tapes. For copying
records, a good cassette deck is both more convenient and economical
(open-reel tape is EXPEN$IVE). If live recording is your bag, I can make
a some suggestions: In the "under $5000" price range stick to open-reel
decks made by Technics, Revox, or Otari (maybe Tascam) only. These are the
decks that are the workhorses of the pro / semi-pro recording industry --
you don't want to haul a consumer deck around to location recording jobs,
it won't last. I can make some specific recommendations based on experience
and personal bias, so if I slam anyone's favorite machine don't hesitate
to demand equal time.
A few features you would probably like in a open-reel machine for location
recording are: 1/2 track - 15 ips (these are essential, no one takes you
seriously with anything less), cue features (to keep the tape in contact with
the playback head in fast-wind mode to locate a given spot and to locate
the edit point), edit dump (to discard out takes on the floor), peak-reading
meters (transients can easily saturate the tape while reading nominal levels
on VU meters), 10 1/2 inch reel capacity (even then you only get about 33 min
per reel with 1.5 mil tape at 15 ips), adjustable bias and equalization
controls FOR EACH CHANNEL (these are also necessary, tape is not consistent
from batch to batch), adjustable output level control, removable head-block
assembly (makes changing the heads a lot easier), and a carrying case
(tape decks are easily damaged).
Personally, I own a Technics RS-1500US open-reel deck -- I have used it
professionally for on-location recording for 3 1/2 years. The transport
on this machine, frankly, is better than anything available under $5000.
The isolated-loop design gives you wow and flutter performance surpassed
ONLY by the top-of-the line Studer and Nagra machines. As well, the
audio performance isn't too bad out of the box, however, it can be
improved on greatly. Careful alignment is necessary -- very few decks
come set-up properly from the manufacturer. I currently have my deck
biased for Ampex 456 optimized at 15 ips. The specs. (for those who
care) are measured at 250nW/m 0VU and are +1/4 -3 dB 30 Hz to 35 kHz.
The signal to noise ratio is 69dB. By the way, at 1000 Hz, I have
15 dB of headroom (to 3% THD) ref. 250 nW/m fluxivity.
Other specific recommendations include:
Revox Pr99
Otari 5050B MkII
By the way, I would stay away from Revox A-77 (sorry all you Revox owners)
unless you are up for some heavy modification work. The A-77 (available
now only on the used market) does not have adequate headroom for today's
tape formulations. Significant modifications need to be made to this deck
if you want a reasonable dynamic range at all. All indications are,
however, after the mods that the A-77 is a real champ and performs quite
well. In fact this could be quite a deal if you like to tinker -- used
A-77s are available for under $500. By the way, a very good article
appeared in The Audio Amateur describing the necessary mods to the A-77.
Craig Dory
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Holmdel, NJ
P.S. Golden Ear Peter Moncrief (Mr. Wonder Cap) even likes the Technics
RS-1500US over the other audiophile / semi-pro open-reel decks --
what more can you ask for?ron@brl-vgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (03/14/84)
Yes the RS-1500 family from Technics is a good deck. I laugh when I see the PROFESSIONAL associated with it as those reel hubs won't stand up to the abuse they typically get in a real studio (give me those Scully steel rods any day). If you manage to maul the plastic nibs on it, the whole motor has to be replaced (stupid). Most good stereo shops will set the bias for you before you take it home. It isn't hard, the key is to have the reference tape (which you can order and do the whole thing yourself if you want). ...recorded at a reference fluxivity of 250 nanowebers per meter. -Ron
fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (03/14/84)
I cannot agree that the only application for open reel is either
live recording or playback of open reel prerecorded tapes. Cassette
decks, even the high end ones, cannot approach the frequency response
and dynamic range available with open reel, particularly if dbx NR
is used with the open reel recording.
The reason is quite simple: cassettes operate at 1 7/8 ips with a
tape width of only 1/8 inch. By contrast, open reel decks typically
operate at 3 3/4 or 7 1/2 ips, with a tape width of 1/4 inch. Some
high-end decks even operate at 15 and 30 ips. In no way can cassette
technology close the performance gap imposed by these differences.
Open reel tape is not that expensive, either. I can get Maxell UD35-90
open reels for about the same price (about $4.50) as TDK MA-90 metal
cassettes, and at 3 3/4 ips, I can get twice as much music on a reel,
with better quality. What I can't do is play back a 7 inch reel in my
car, which is the only reason I own a cassette deck at all.
I don't own high-end decks in either category, but neither deck is
junk. The reel-to-reel blows the cassette deck away, irrespective
of tape formulation, bias settings, etc, and for my money, it's
still the best way to go. The cassettes sound good, but the reels
sound better. I don't see that changing much given the current state
of the art.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fish