I'm not sure what is meant by "last word in handling." I've found it superb for thin tape, mixed thicknesses, reels that differ in diameter on the feed and take-up side, etc. They are quiet, operate with low electronic noise, and, in general, behave themselves well.
They are workhorses in my studio, along with Otari MTR series, 18 wheelers of the tape recorder world.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeffrey Kane" <jeffkane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 9:41 AM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Reel-to-reel tape recorder for auditioning archival tapes.
The machine that comes to mind is a Technics. Examples are available in your budget. It'll do everything you need. Any of the RS-1500 (1500,1506,1520 etc) series should fill the bill as they have switchable two-four track playback (separate heads) and are 3.75/7.5/15 IPS. The tape transport isn't the last word in handling but does a passable job. The machines are durable and stand up to abuse quite well. I bought my units off Ebay; that's a crapshoot. If you can get them elsewhere it's worth the premium to ensure condition. One unit I got was described as excellent condition, yet came in with surface rust(!) on the heads and light rust elsewhere on the case. Not what I'd call mint.
Jeff
-----Original Message----- From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of RA Friedman Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 8:07 AM To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ARSCLIST] Reel-to-reel tape recorder for auditioning archival tapes.
A few hundred dollars has become available to purchase a ree-to-reel tape deck so that we can audition what I believe are mostly 1/2 track and possibly 1/4 track stereo reels playing at 3 3/4 or 7 1/2 ips. It's conceivable there are some 15 ips, but most likely not. I'm assuming we will need two decks, one for each head configuration.
Any recommendations as far as units, dealers, re-builds, etc? We are not planning on using the deck for transfers, but we'd like something that will have a long useful life and won't be a huge maintenance headache.
With any luck, transfers will be done by an outside specialist. We need a unit that can give us some indication of what's on the tapes and will have minimal impact. Luckily the tapes have been stored under cool, dry conditions and none appears to have sticky-shed or surface/support breakdown even though some are acetate rather than polyester.
RA Friedman Assistant Project Archivist Historical Society of Pennsylvania
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