[ARSCLIST] Tape transport delicacy WAS reel choices was help in fair pricing of reel to reel machines

[Jeffrey Kane <jeffkane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A bit of a tangent; what transports do you find to be most delicate beyond
the Sony? I had high expectations for the Studer A807 but find it's not
quite as gentle as I hoped it'd be although a huge step up from consumer
decks like the Technics RS-15xx series. 



-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard L. Hess
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 11:33 AM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] reel choices was help in fair pricing of reel to
reel machines

Hi, Marcos,

I'm not Tom, but here are my thoughts on your question, and no, I 
don't think you're being bellicose, I think you're being curious as 
you'd like to learn. Of course, Tom and I have different approaches. 
He is a mostly Ampex and Technics shop and I'm a Sony and Studer shop 
and we both get great results that please our clients.

While only having a very limited exposure to early MX-5050s, I did 
own four MTR-10s/12s and found them frustrating. They weren't gentle 
on tape (the Sonys blow away most transports in many ways in that 
regard), they were difficult to modify. Their adjustments didn't 
allow nearly the flexibility that we have in the APRs and the A810s 
to use slightly out-of-spec heads (to get the job done). The noise 
floor wasn't that great, neither was the response. The adjustments 
are all screwdriver pots, none are electronic and there is limited 
flexibility for multiple setups (I forget the exact arrangement).

I felt I got better results with ReVox A77s in classical recordings 
than a competitor got with MX-5050s. The 5050s were OK as low-cost 
radio station machines.

The thing the MTR-10/12 had going for them was they held up in radio 
station use and operators loved them for fast production work.

Having several APRs and several A810s by the time I made the decision 
to dispose of my MTRs could have coloured my decision. I just 
couldn't find a way to use the MTRs. Acquiring the only APR-16 ever 
made (16T and 8T 1" and 8T and 4T 1/2" plus now 16T 1/2" and 7T 1/2" 
play) I decided to standardize on the APR and the A810 platforms for 
transfer work and the A807 as a utility machine (prep, etc) And, at 
least for me, getting the Otaris out of my space was a good choice 
(and I'm glad I didn't have them when I decided to move back to Ontario).

So, those are my reasons. Yes, they work, but there are better 
machines out there.

Cheers,

Richard

At 11:48 AM 2007-01-24, you wrote:
>Tom, I hope my question was not interpreted as bellicose --I'm just 
>curious as to your opinion on those Otaris.
>
>I know people who own MX-5050s (I don't) and seem to be happy with them.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Marcos
>
>Marcos Sueiro wrote:
>>>Otari -- one man's opinion here -- I wouldn't take one if it were 
>>>GIVEN to me.
>>
>>Tom, why is that?
>>
>>Marcos
>

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.