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    Try to make it work again Studer B62

    I read their material on the site, it is not directly stated, but I believe it is as I said, it is a solid state circuit with a cathode follower at the output. And yes, a cathode follower is a buffer.
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    Try to make it work again Studer B62

    You keep calling it "tube tape pre", but from what I know it is mostly solid state, with perhaps one output tube in a cathode follower configuration - any chance you could verify that?
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    New Repro cards!

    Hi Jeff... so what is the story on A8xx machines with their headblock preamps? Any chance of getting a better one?
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    No, it means SOMEWHAT out of alignment, 90 degrees would be a round. You can never get a diagonal line at high frequency, a very narrow oval is fine, but I am talking about something more than typical.
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    Which alignment tape? They are all slightly different. And no one knows what are the typical and the worst case tolerances of azimuth in a typical... and a less than typical... studio. In other words - what is the worst case difference between your machine and the tape made somewhere else...
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    Please read carefully my post on the previous page. You are basically agreeing with that I said.
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    Well, it IS being done, albeit not by everyone. If you do a search you will even find some discussions and circuits for that. Used to be analog circuits were used... today it is much easier in digital domain. I don't know how many studios do that, but I know that at least one adjusts the...
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    There is always some tolerance and some error there, so in a studio it is set for every tape... or should be. Actually, it is even worse than this... sometimes the azimuth is adjusted for every song on a master tape, as there are often variations. But that is just the azimuth... the other...
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    I was specifically talking about using the 100Hz, 1KHz and 10KHz tones on tape. Ask here how many would feel comfortable adjusting their azimuth for every tape they play and especially adjusting the EQ based on the test tones from the tape they are about to play. My guess is none.
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    That works in a studio, for example, while making a copy of a master, but not in the customer's systems. The best a customer can do is set his machine to some calibration tape.
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    Anyone can put a tone on their tape, but then the question becomes: "Now what?" At least the usual studio 3 tones let you check your EQ and azimuth. I once had a tape that sounded unquestionably overloaded, but its tone was just fine, thank you!
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    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    How many audiophiles would know what to do with those tones? That is the question Number 1. And the question Number 2 is what good are those tones if the tape then exceeds the max level by a factor of N? In those cases the tones are just something to annoy the customer. You can put the...
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    Metaxas Tape Machines Secure U.S. + Canada Distribution

    I am not sure where you can find thousands of tapes, all the lists I have seen put together had up to 900 titles. Granted, that was a few months back, so I suspect there are a few more, but "thousands"? I don't count all those copies made from the production copies, that were sent around...
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    Metaxas Tape Machines Secure U.S. + Canada Distribution

    Seriously? Not hard? Do you realize how many albums have been recorded in the world in the last 100 years? How many of them exist on tape? .00000001%, or less? Of all 900 or so tapes available today I would really love to have maybe 5. Another 10-15 "just since available"... and that's...
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    Analog Audio Design TP-1000

    I found the schematics, they are quite clever and complicated, due to many EQ options. If I decide to embark on that project, I would buy a beater machine and just to shoot for one EQ format.
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    Carbon Fiber Reels? How about carbon fiber pancake platters?

    Out of sheer curiosity I decided to make it. I bought several sheets of carbon fiber, five, to be exact, but 4 of them are too thin and they do not hold their shape well. The last one, 1/16" thick, seem to be just what the doctor ordered. So I went into my basement and first shaped it roughly...
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    Analog Audio Design TP-1000

    The dreaded Pawnshop was also recorded on Nagra, I believe... :( I think the machine itself is good... as witnessed by the 2xHD recordings.
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    Analog Audio Design TP-1000

    Adrian, that is very interesting, and perhaps when/if I retire, I will look into that. So far with all the Nagras that I had/have I have never taken apart their electronics. I worked on the tape transport, but those tightly packed modules make me claustrophobic from just looking at them. Do...
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    Analog Audio Design TP-1000

    The result of playing narrow tracks with wide heads will be more noise and more crosstalk - both negative effects. Whether this is harmless or not will depend on the user's sensitivity and perspective, but the real question is why do it? The only benefit of wide heads is a bit better S/N on...
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    Tape Pancakes, Oh No!

    Well, they shoot for low cost... Many of them are assembled that way, with the flanges not centered... these can sometimes be made better by loosening their screws and making the flanges more centered.
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    Analog Audio Design TP-1000

    dcc, it is not my intention to hijack the thread, so I agree, if someone feels like debating that subject we can do so in a separate one. Charles did not challenge me, he asked for my reason and I gave him part of it. I am not surprised at your impression on the Nagra - it is a fine and very...
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    Analog Audio Design TP-1000

    dcc, a question for you... I presume your Studer has butterfly heads - correct? So does your new one, but the commercial tapes are typically recorded with narrow heads. That incompatibility is something to keep in mind.
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    New Reel-to-Reel Titles - 4-Track?

    All correct, and this is a very, very typical vicious circle: the prices are high so few people can afford the product... so the production is small... so the prices stay high. There is only one way to break that cycle and it is by drastically lowering the prices to what the public can and is...
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    Unboxing my new toy

    Wife snapped that picture .
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    New Reel-to-Reel Titles - 4-Track?

    No, I would not count on that.
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    New Reel-to-Reel Titles - 4-Track?

    It can KINDA play it... the right channel will be several dB lower in volume.
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    New Reel-to-Reel Titles - 4-Track?

    As they say: "Pay once... cry once..." Yes, recording at 7.5ips will save you a few bucks today, but you will end up with a result that could be better. So sometime later you look at all those good, but not great, recordings, and think: "I should have done 15ips!" The only reason to do 7.5ips...
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    New Reel-to-Reel Titles - 4-Track?

    Do you think recording companies buy tape at retail?
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    New Reel-to-Reel Titles - 4-Track?

    I have been thinking along the same lines.
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    New Reel-to-Reel Titles - 4-Track?

    I can only guess the OEM pricing on tape, but I am absolutely certain it is NOT $100 per reel. So yes, I am perfectly willing to pay an extra $50 or so for 30ips recording... but I sure as hell am not going to pay twice the price of the 15ips ones. The royalties are the same, the process time...

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