STUDER 810 MK II

dgw

Well-Known Member
Sep 10, 2014
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England UK.
Quite recently, I acquired a Studer A810 Mk II in excellent condition. It works very well and was completely overhauled in 2020.

However one thing concerns me : When in Fast Forward or Rewind, tape chatter is always heard through my loudspeakers. ( there is no monitor speaker on the Studer ) This is regardless of whether the tape lifter is applied or not. The tape lift spindles either side of the heads do come down and It looks as if the tape is clearing the heads ever so slightly. I am wondering if this is normal and if it is just chatter caused by the tape being close to the heads but not actually touching them and would therefore not cause any undue wear ? Or if it indicates that the tape is too close to the heads and the lift spindles are not aligned correctly ?

Any help with this from people who know about it would be a great help !

Many thanks !
 

astrotoy

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May 24, 2010
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If you don't get a good answer here, you can try tapehead.net and their reel to reel forum. Lots of helpful techs and DIY types. Larry
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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That seems to be completely normal. When I FF or REW a tape with recorded music I can hear a faint signal. This is true on both my Studers.
 

Walter66

Active Member
Aug 22, 2022
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With my Studer A810 MK II, there is tape chatter audible when using headphones.
I'm no perfectionist and so it doesn't bother me if its audible with the speakers. Never noticed it anyway. It happens, because the playhead has such a great sensitivity, it still detects a signal even when the tape is some distance away from it.
This machine is so complex, I'm happy it works fine after an overhaul. But it's still an oldtimer and it's not perfect, I think no 810 is these days.
 
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astrotoy

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Thanks but tapehead.net is not a valid URL. Do you know the correct website ?
Sorry it is tapeheads.net
 

yjwu

Well-Known Member
Jun 28, 2011
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Check the setting on peripheral control: JS4: Automatic muting during spooling (AUTO MUTE)
JS 4 =0 ----> AUTO MUTE off
JS 4 =1 -----> AUTO MUTE on

(Although I see no difference when JS4 was On or Off. But my MPU board was 1.820.780.82; with 25/91 firmware)

Make sure that JS8 had been set to ON position; KeyBoard ON

Another source of problem maybe the interior speaker. I bought this part and installed inside my A810 with connector unconnected. One day I found that the tape lifter no longer functioned! Later on I found that the speaker hardware blocked slightly the tape lifter's path and tape was still on magnetic heads during spooling. A five minutes' adjustment restored its normal operation.

Yeun-Jung Wu
 

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jonathanhorwich

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Nov 24, 2010
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Excuse the late reply. The Studier 810 has several brilliant features for tape handling. 1) I never rewind a master or any reel in the usual manner. The 810 lets you put the tape over and above the head block to the other side of the head block so the tape is running free of touching any heads or lifters. Don't first try this with anything but blank tape unit you see how easy it works. 2) Adding to this gentle tape handling is the fact that the 810 has 3 rewind speeds from fast to medium to slow. This provides a versatile library-wind choice. How to do these are covered in the manual (as I write this I'm not near my studio for another 4 days or I'd give instructions). 3) Yes if you leave the tape in the usual position when you rewind or FF you'll get a high-speed squeaky sound over your speakers. Turn your volume down or you can blow out a tweeter which is not uncommon. Best to avoid this by rewinding with the tape on the other side of the headlock as in 1) above. If this is as clear as mud I'll try and rectify when I return to my studio this coming weekend. But at least this makes 810 owners aware of the possibilities.
 
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dgw

Well-Known Member
Sep 10, 2014
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England UK.
That is very helpful Jonathan. I knew about the rewind and FF different speeds but had no idea you could fly the tape above the tapehead block cover. It works ! Thank you !
 

Ki Choi

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May 13, 2010
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If the chirping sound during FF/REW bothers you, you should implement the Autio Mute that Mr. Wu had suggested above. Otherwise, it is normal to hear the chirping when fast winding the tape even with tape lifter working. With modern tape (especially SM900), it can get loud so I try not to let it chirp when I am playing the tape through my system and avoid taking chance of over working the tweeters. It happens on A820 also.

I've used the threading the tape above the headblock when fast winding method for many years with great success on A810s (and the lowly Otari MX5050B too).
 
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