|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
173.190.27.58
In Reply to: RE: DBX posted by Dave Pogue on April 20, 2014 at 06:07:54
Hi Dave,The Teac X-1000 had hyperbolic heads that really accentuated the low-frequency head bumps. They were emphasized even more with dbx noise reduction. All the tapes I made with dbx had very boomy bass so I quit using dbx for reel-to-reel. I didn't keep the Teac X-1000 very long because I also owned a Revox A77 that sounded much better. It had cylindrical heads with a much smoother frequency response in the bass. I really didn't feel the need for noise reduction with reel-to-reel tape.
It would be fun to get back into reel-to-reel, but the media is just too expensive for me now. It was a lot of fun back in the day, though. I was a PMEL technician with a fully equipped electronics laboratory and I kept my Revox A77 tuned to perfection.
Best regards,
John Elison
Edits: 04/21/14Follow Ups:
... was pretty awful. I had heard great things about the A77 and bought a Mk IV (Dolby) deck two years ago on Ebay that LOOKED absolutely beautiful. Then things started happening. First a couple of caps went, with a bang (my tech calls them "firecracker capacitors"). He replaced the caps. Then it caught on fire. Just a wee blaze, but still. He fixed that and then I discovered that its Dolby circuitry didn't make my Barclay-Crocker and other Dolbyized tapes sound right -- for one thing, it was impossible to reach "Dolby Level" on the A77's meters. My tech couldn't fix that, though he tried. Then I discovered that the unit was produced BEFORE the first commercial Dolby tapes were released, which may have had something to do with the problem.
Then I gave up on it :-)
Well, that's a shame. I never owned the A77 with Dolby. However, we're talking about a pretty old tape deck. I owned my first A77 in 1971 and then I bought my second one in 1976 or '77. Mine were both brand new and they worked just fine. I don't think I'd want an A77 today. I think I'd go with a Studer if I were going to refurbish an old analog tape deck. Of course, the A77 is certainly a very simple design in comparison to the Revox A700 or a Studer. I always wanted an A700 in those days, but I couldn't afford it.
Best regards,
John Elison
Yeah, my particular Revox was just a bummer. I can strongly recommend the Otari MX5050 series deck. Mine is an MX5050 BII2, not much to look at but a studio and radio station workhorse with everything -- 3 speeds, 2- and 4-track playback (2-speed record), NAB and IEC equalization, plenty of parts and replacement headstacks available and best of all it just sounds wonderful . Even better with a slight mod to allow tapehead output so I can use the stellar, new-production deHaviland 222 tapehead preamp. I still listen to tapes a LOT.
These Otaris go for as little as $200 on Ebay and even after you have them fully serviced and brought back to spec they're well under $1K.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: