Recent content by topoxforddoc

  1. T

    What are your “desert island” tapes…the ones you cannot live without?

    Desert Island Discs allows the guest to choose 8 tracks. The 8 Desert Island Tapes from my personal collection: David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust Michael Jackson - Off The Wall Steely Dan - Aja George Michael - Faith Dr Feelgood - Down By The Jetty Beatles - Sgt Pepper's The Who - Who's Next Dusty...
  2. T

    Nakamichi Dragon

    Listening to my Nak Dragon this evening. Mine was overhauled by Alex Nikitin (ANT4066) a few years ago with a full set of ANT 4066 mods. Still sounds much better than any cassette format should.
  3. T

    Studer A820 - Looking for service in Europe

    Another great guy is Simon Griffett at Audiorelated.com about 50 km from London in the UK. Simon looks after the machines at AIR Studios and Abbey Road, along with many other recording studios in the UK. He sorted out my A820, when the power supply went.
  4. T

    Are there sonic differences between tape transports?

    You'll find it difficult to find a studio (broadcast or mastering) machine, which will play a 4 track commercial tape. A 4 track commercial tape is recorded with tracks 1&3 playback for side A and a reverse recording of tracks 2&4 for side B of the album (just like your cassette but with wider...
  5. T

    Record Cleaning Machines

    I use an old Keith Monks RCM. It's an early machine (probably 35-40 years old) and still going strong. Built like a proverbial tank - works really well. What's not to like? This one should see me out. I'm not sure that you could say that about all of the newer ultrasonic machines - how many of...
  6. T

    Universal, Sony and Warner Analog Tape Transfer Quality

    Ron, thank you. Nicely written article outlining the key aspect of archiving master tapes. As the article says, optimising the tape transport (preferably precision guidance rather than forced guidance) and line up are crucial to extracting the very best from these valuable masters.
  7. T

    How many people check the repro azimuth on a tape before they play it?

    I think you can also do this with a spectrum analyser. Correct azimuth is found when the high freq tone signal is peaked. When azimuth is mal adjusted, the high freqs on a spectrum analyser for music shows loss of HF. When the azimuth is correct, the spectrum analyser shows that the freq...
  8. T

    How many people check the repro azimuth on a tape before they play it?

    Thank you. The problem is that you can't tell without line up tones. A muffled recording might in fact be fine, if you could alter the repro head azimuth to align with the record head azimuth on the machine which made the tape. At 15 IPS, 2 track 1/4 inch tape is really susceptible to very small...
  9. T

    How many people check the repro azimuth on a tape before they play it?

    Absolutely. But the studio tape labels all have boxes on them to show which tones are included with a standard order. They all appear in order at the head when I play the tape. Here's an example.
  10. T

    How many people check the repro azimuth on a tape before they play it?

    By the way, I forgot to add that some vinyl addicts will have a micrometer adjuster on the tonearm to change VTA depending on whether the pressing is 140, 180 or 200 g - that actually only has a modest effect one SQ - yet a small azimuth misalignment on 15IPS 1/4 inch tape has a very big effect...
  11. T

    How many people check the repro azimuth on a tape before they play it?

    I'm sure that all of the tapeheads on WBF know the importance of repro head azimuth. I was taught this by my good friend Stewart Emmings, who sadly went prematurely to a studio in the sky 2 years ago at the age of 49. Misalignment of the repro head azimuth leads to loss of high frequency...
  12. T

    Archiving vinyl/tape

    Bruce many thanks
  13. T

    Archiving vinyl/tape

    Bruce, How about a Prism Sound Lyra 2? I was told that Prism Sound make some fantastic sounding A2D converters. Thanks Charlie
  14. T

    Who Still Has A Tape Deck?

    Nak Dragon with full ANT 4066 mods Studer A820; Otari MTR12; 2 x Sony APR 5000s; Studer A807/II
  15. T

    Setting repro head azimuth

    OK, I always check alignment tones on the distribution and "safety" (I won't get into an argument today about this, save to say that the provenance of all my tapes varies, but they almost all sound great) tapes, which I buy, and always put alignment tones on my own tape dupes.
See more

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

Home Forums Contact us

User Menu

Login
Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing
Top Bottom