A bit of reel to reel porn

[Curt Palme]

Just like a newbie to come in with a brazen post, bringing down the sanctity of this forum!

Just thought I'd share a couple of things sitting at my place right now. Both are MCI machines, dating from the 1970s. THe 24 track belongs to a local radio station jock (for lack of a better word, sorry!) that I sent a fluke email to. He's been in Vancouver for years, and he has formed a company where they take old master recordings from the 60s and 70s of bands and musicians in Vancouver, and restore and remaster them. He was featured in the local newspaper with a gorgeous old reel to reel machine. I shot him a message through Facebook, offering my technical services if they ever had any machines that would go down, and of course within 2 days he'd contacted me, saying that he had the 24 track with a takeup reel issue. 4 trips to his place across town, 1 trip to lug the 250lb beast to my shop, and an 8 hour day today spent learning the machine, and it's back up and running.

I did a lot of work with the power supplies, repairing bad solder joints and changing old caps out. I got rid of a couple of intermittents along the way, and the main problem was a bad chip right within the capstan motor. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSfVGXCtmp4&feature=youtu.be

(Yes, I've got a 1/2" reel of tape loaded onto a 2" deck....)

For those interested, his company is here:

http://www.regeneratorrecords.com/

As for the 1/2 track unit, I bought it locally for $100, and then it sat gathering dust for 3 years. When I got the 24 track in, it inspired me to power up my own unit, and it turns out that all I can find wrong is the tape shutoff optoisolator. I've got one on order, and at 7 1/2 IPS, it's flat to past 20Khz! It also does 15 and 30 IPS, and I can't even imagine what the frequency response is, as my Nakamichi analyzer only goes to 20Khz.

I have a whole bunch of 1/2 track reels of old 80s recordings that I got from a local FM station when they shut down, and as soon as I bake them, as they are shedding like crazy, I'll convert them to CD.

Cheers!
Curt

 

[RogerD]

Very nice Curt,thanks for sharing and enjoy those MCI's.

 

[stellavox]

Welcome Curt

And thanks for your post.

My "main" quarter-inch playback transport is a MCI JH-110 with the heads wired out. Had a half-inch headblock / roller setup at one time but stupidly sold it. They are very good transports AND MCI used Bogen heads (top quality sound).

BTW, back when I used the stock electronics, I was able to improve their sonics by "upgrading" some of the op amps and eliminating some coupling caps (because modern op amps have virtually no output offset DC).

ENJOY

Charles

 

[MylesBAstor]

Very nice Curt,thanks for sharing and enjoy those MCI's.

+1

 

[Curt Palme]

I know where I differ from a bunch of you is that I don't do mods or build/buy outboard equipment. First off, I'm a tech, so I already spend 60 hours a week installing commercial sound systemss and repairing and selling CRT projectors, which leaves precious little time for things like reel to reels.

I've got no problems changing out bad caps and changing op amps to newer ones for less noise and a faster slew rate, but to spend hours changing caps and rewiring decks with different silver wire, no thanks!

I'll be the first to admit, I used to poke the snake over at 'another' high end forum a few years ago, and my speaker wire is all 16 gauge PVC jacketed stuff, the same that I use in my commercial installs. I did however smarten up, and now to each their own.

Unfortunately I don't even have a proper 2 channel listening room set up at this point, but I should have in 2-3 years when I clear a bunch of my electronics out. (don't ask! watch for a special 'electronics' episode of 'Hoarders' next year though! )

So most of my listening right now is done in my noisy Rav 4. Heck, I even use MP3s a bunch (perish the thought).

My passion lies in getting stuff running and working properly. Once they are repaired, then I pretty much lose interest. I'd rather spend time fixing other stuff than playing with working electronics and stereo equipment. Yes, I'm weird that way!

 

[steve williams]

Hey Curt

Nice to see you finding your way over here again

 

[Curt Palme]

Thanks Steve! One thing's for sure, you have the busiest reel to reel forum that I've found!

 

[steve williams]

Glad you noticed Curt

 

[flez007]

My passion lies in getting stuff running and working properly.....

WelcomE Curt, and again thanks for sharing those pics...I have a NagraT that needs someone like you close

 

[LInks]

As a lurker here, I also want to say how much I enjoy this forum.

I am not as obsessed with the hardware as some, I have very basic machines.
2 1/4" 1/2 track 15ips PR99s, and a 1/4" 4 track 15ips Teac (bought only for mastering a live classical quad production I engineered in 1972).
And 2 Korg MR-2000s for capturing some of my 1/2 track masters from my career as a classical recording engineer, to DSD.
Then. create DVD-A at 96/24.

Sadly, can not share any of them, legally.

 

[MylesBAstor]

As a lurker here, I also want to say how much I enjoy this forum.

I am not as obsessed with the hardware as some, I have very basic machines.
2 1/4" 1/2 track 15ips PR99s, and a 1/4" 4 track 15ips Teac (bought only for mastering a live classical quad production I engineered in 1972).
And 2 Korg MR-2000s for capturing some of my 1/2 track masters from my career as a classical recording engineer, to DSD.
Then. create DVD-A at 96/24.

Sadly, can not share any of them, legally.

What about illegally?

Welcome to the R2R family here at WBF!

 

[c1ferrari]

And 2 Korg MR-2000s for capturing some of my 1/2 track masters from my career as a classical recording engineer, to DSD.
Then. create DVD-A at 96/24.

I have a KORG MR-2000s that's going through its paces as I compose this post. My intent is to use the KORG on remote, theoretically, with an analog R2R deck and capture the sound/performance direct to 2-track using minimal mic technique. At this time, I'll avoid any conversion between digital files, only converting between analog and DSD.

Anything I need/want to do in post will be ENTIRELY analog.
DSD is great for this stuff

 

[Curt Palme]

Here's a few more shots of the 2" 24 track.

 

[Bruce B]

And 2 Korg MR-2000s for capturing some of my 1/2 track masters from my career as a classical recording engineer, to DSD.

While the Korg is a great machine, there are better alternatives out there.

 

[microstrip]

While the Korg is a great machine, there are better alternatives out there.

At similar prices?

 

[Bruce B]

At similar prices?

This "is" What's Best Forum..... not what's "Good Enough" with my budget!!

 

[Nevillekapadia]

Bruce, apart from the Grimm and Emm, any other suggestions? Do all of these only convert to 1xDSD?

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce, apart from the Grimm and Emm, any other suggestions? Do all of these only convert to 1xDSD?

There are a few that do more than DSD64fs, but the problem is that the software hasn't caught up. Sonoma and Pyramix can only do DSD64fs, while the Digital Audio Denmark, Horus, Ayre and ?? can do a lot more. Claude has promised that Pyramix 8 will be able to handle higher DSD rates. Gus had promised they are working on Sonoma to handle the higher rates but I think it has reached its EOL.