Date:         Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:32:11 -0500
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: reel choices was help in fair pricing of reel to reel machines
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Hi Richard:

Yes, that is very advanced. As you know, I'm more of a boutique shoppe here, so I just manually 
align for each case.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 7:44 PM
Subject: 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: [log in to unmask]
> 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.