Analog Audio Design TP-1000

[dcc]

Duly noted with thanks. If I am not mistaken, Charlie has challenged you on this assertion ;-) My tech who has been working for more than 40 years on Studer and Nagra machines is not of the same opinion either.

Being not myself a tech, I will certainly not challenge you considering your background as a manufacturer of high end audio electronics but you will appreciate that I trust the guy who is taking care of my tape decks.

I also put my Nagra IVS/QGB into the comparison but both the Studer and the AAD are better than the Nagra. The Nagra does not have butterfly heads...

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

very interesting....have you tried the Nextgen reproboards in the A80RC?

 

[Foxbat]

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 interesting machine, but it does not raise to the highest echelon of audio quality.

 

[dcc]

very interesting....have you tried the Nextgen reproboards in the A80RC?

No. Somehow my tech developed something similar several years before the Nextgen repro cards. It includes the modification of the repro card as well as a third card with a full balanced class A circuit which is inserted in the free card slot next to the repro cards. Some rewiring was necessary. The power supply card is also bespoke and is a copycat of the power supply of an Audio Precision but it take the space of three slots instead of one (second picture on the left vs. the original power supply on the right).

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

who´s your tech?

 

[dcc]

who´s your tech?

A local guy nearby my place. He mainly works for professional musicians and recording studios. He used to own a recording studio. No website or FB Page.

 

[Tapetech]

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.

I asked John French of JRF Magnetics about that situation and he said the result will be about 1 dB more noise and mentioned nothing else. That sounds pretty harmless.

 

[Foxbat]

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 tracks, recorded with wide heads, but still at the penalty of more crosstalk. There is no black magic there.

 

[adrianywu]

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 interesting machine, but it does not raise to the highest echelon of audio quality.

The Nagra IV-S was designed primarily as a recorder. The playback function was really just for monitoring. I have both the T Audio and the IV-S, and there is a big difference between the two on playback. However, the IV-S is a fantastic recorder. Someone might be able to improve upon the playback electronics of the IV-S. I discussed this with Tim de P, but he sadly passed away before anything came out of it.

 

[Foxbat]

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 you know if the modules in the IV-s are soldered in, or plugged in? Are they potted?

 

[dminches]

Betty Cantor-Jackson recorded hundreds of Grateful Dead shows on her Nagra IV-S. They sound great, especially given the recording environment and the fact that she was doing this on the fly.

 

[Foxbat]

The dreaded Pawnshop was also recorded on Nagra, I believe...

I think the machine itself is good... as witnessed by the 2xHD recordings.

 

[dminches]

Well, the machine can’t be held responsible for the music it is fed!

 

[dcc]

Back to the TP-1000 as the thread has drifted quite a lot.

The tech who is taking care of my tape decks just paid me a visit and inspected the TP-1000 inside out. He was quite impressed by the design, the parts being used, the tape handling and the sound. We made a direct comparison between the Studer and the TP-1000 (he used to own a recording studio) and he confirmed what I reported here.

 

[adrianywu]

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 you know if the modules in the IV-s are soldered in, or plugged in? Are they potted?

I looked through the service manual, but it only gave instructions on the mechanical parts. Looking at the inside of the machine, the components have not been potted. I don't fancy trying to take mine apart, but looking at the cards for sale on E-bay, they seem to have edge connectors which means they should be plug in cards. Given the kind of environments these machine often found themselves in (battlefields etc.), I suspect they should be easily field serviceable.

 

[Foxbat]

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.

 

[byrdparis]

Back to the TP-1000 as the thread has drifted quite a lot.

The tech who is taking care of my tape decks just paid me a visit and inspected the TP-1000 inside out. He was quite impressed by the design, the parts being used, the tape handling and the sound. We made a direct comparison between the Studer and the TP-1000 (he used to own a recording studio) and he confirmed what I reported here.

Hey, any news with your TP-1000? how are liking it by now? any more thoughts about it and with comparison to your great decks you own?
thank you!

 

[dcc]

Hey, any news with your TP-1000? how are liking it by now? any more thoughts about it and with comparison to your great decks you own?
thank you!

You got a PM ;-)

Still delighted by the TP-1000 which has been on quite heavy rotation since I acquired it.

 

[sbo6]

well, i'm not any high level techie tape expert; but re-done decks based on vintage prosumer or broadcast deck chassis will not reach master recorder levels of build. what exactly the performance consequences of that are not entirely clear. but there was a reason master recorders were as big as washing machines. the best tape transports have relatively massive structure for a reason. and that is mostly transport and mechanical things. the UHA has extra chassis for tape repro and power supply.

IME in studios of some years back, it was primarily about saving space, not sonics.

And BTW, the big decks I saw were mostly Otaris (New York and surrounding area).