I just joined the 15 ips club with a ReVox PR99 Mark 2

[Ron Resnick]

These 4 track tapes can be bought for very little money in most cases.

How do you play a 4 track tape on a 2 track machine?

 

[dminches]

How do you play a 4 track tape on a 2 track machine?

You can’t.

 

[Ron Resnick]

You can’t.

Thank you. That's what I thought!

 

[dminches]

Thank you. That's what I thought!

I think this is why the Technics RS-1500 and Otari MX-5050 became popular decks. They can play and record 1/2 track reels and play 1/4 track reels. Very flexible.

 

[adrianywu]

I think this is why the Technics RS-1500 and Otari MX-5050 became popular decks. They can play and record 1/2 track reels and play 1/4 track reels. Very flexible.

Yes indeed. The Studer A807 is probably the best 4 track capable machine available. It has the option of adding a 4 track head although most of the machines on the market don't have this. NOS 4 track heads for the 807 are still available in some places. Some people also switch head blocks on the A77/B77/PR99. Once the heads have been aligned on each head block, it is very easy to switch, and the head blocks are easily available and relatively cheap.

 

[Lee]

I think this is why the Technics RS-1500 and Otari MX-5050 became popular decks. They can play and record 1/2 track reels and play 1/4 track reels. Very flexible.

If only the Otari decks were as pretty as the Revox or Technics.

 

[Foxbat]

You can have separate head blocks on many machines, some OEM, some custom, as long as they are easily replaceable. Changing a block on a B77 is not something you can do in three minutes.

In practice, if you have some room, it is better just to have a 4-track machine.

 

[Lee]

Hi Lee, how do you find the quality of the commercial 4 track tapes on the A77 when compared to the modern 15ips tapes from Tape Project, Analogue Productions etc ? These 4 track tapes can be bought for very little money in most cases.

The 15 its tapes are clearly better. However, the 7.5 its tapes are also pretty good in my own experience on the A77. The 7.5 ips tapes sound better on the PR99.

 

[Lee]

You can have separate head blocks on many machines, some OEM, some custom, as long as they are easily replaceable. Changing a block on a B77 is not something you can do in three minutes.

In practice, if you have some room, it is better just to have a 4-track machine.

If I am not mistaken, it's difficult or impossible to add flux magnetic heads to the PR99 decks.

 

[Pacha]

Congratulations on the new R2R deck Lee and welcome to the PR 99 club.

 

[Lee]

Congratulations on the new R2R deck Lee and welcome to the PR 99 club.

Thank you!

I am really having fun with the ReVox!

 

[adrianywu]

I have received my B77HS Mk1 machine, refurbished by Peter Mony of Nagravox in Australia. I have purchased an extra 4 track headblock and a repro card from Audvance. The new repro card allows me to switch between NAB and CCIR, since the HS machine comes with CCIR only. Switching the headblock and the card is not difficult. I have about fifty 4-track 7.5ips titles (some are box sets or contain the equivalent of 2 LPs). I would rate most of the tapes I have played so far as being better than the LPs of the same era. LPs of this age (Mercury SR, Decca SXL2000s, RCA LSC, EMI SAX etc) are often noisy and distorted, but most of the tapes sound clean and undistorted. Dynamics is often superior, and can sometimes approach that of the 15 ips production masters and commercial releases I have. The EMI titles all sound significantly better than the much more expensive original LPs with gold and cream label. For music lovers with an affinity for recordings of this era, this is the best format to hear what the original recordings sound like.