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Re: [ARSCLIST] reel choices was help in fair pricing of reel to reel machines
At 07:11 PM 2007-01-24, Tom Fine wrote:
By the way, the big problem with any machine that feeds 2T and QT
heads through the same electronics (ie any machine with 2 play heads
and a switch) is that you need to optimize playback for one or the
other. Now, if both heads are really nicely buffed and aligned,
it'll be close enough for most playbacks, but it won't be perfect
unless you tweak for each head when you switch. I have a
quarter-track play head on one of my Ampex AG-440B's and it has its
own cables going to AG-445 type playback electronics, which are
adjusted for that head alone. Meanwhile, the main play/record
electronics are optimized for 2T.
Yes, this is crucial and why I like the electronic setups with
memory. When I swap heads on an APR-5000, it recalls the last
alignment for that head assembly (there are 12 different head
registers). I have a spreadsheet showing which machine is aligned for
which head assembly. With the APR, it goes farther. For each of the
three valid speeds (it's a 4-speed machine, but you select slow or
fast per headstack) there are three presets. For some of my head
assemblies, 3.75 in/s, preset 3 is actually done with a 1.88 in/s
test tape and at -50% varispeed.
It's that flexibility as well as the wonderful sound that makes the
APR one of my two favourite machines. The A810 has NAB and CCIR for
four speeds as well as a Tape A and Tape B setting which permits two
head stacks. However, one of my A810s is dedicated NAB 2T with an
external play azimuth KNOB (original Studer accessory).
Cheers,
Richard
Richard L. Hess email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.