I know its such a hassle but... i just absolutely love my reel to reel. It gets such great recordings. I have a 2 track in my studio and I just cant get enough of it.

Love it. Great job man. Love the analog in this recording

Superb look into using these now old tape machines. Great track as well that you made.

Lots has been said about the sound, but the workflow (god I hate that word) is also a massive bonus, it will force you to write in a completely different way. Super fun compared to DAW. Lots of DAWlessness going on presently, but really computerless is the prize

Sounds great. Thanks for posting. ✌️❤️

Best video I've seen to get an accurate idea of how recording Reel to Reel is. I'm recording now with 4 track cassette multitrackers and thinking about Reel to Reel but wow, lots of work...

this unit is a real beauty

I can feel the warmth...

great sound, analog sound is incredible

Great video. love the sound of tape.

Awesome!

That sounds great

Very informative, insightful and comprehensive

wow! loved the sound, I think it's worth it going trough everything to capture that watery sound

Analogue is warm fuzzy on a cold day. Nice !

Great video , nice drums!

Nice, thanks for sharing

Lots of good info regarding idiosyncrasies of reel to reel recorders. I never knew this Fostex model had a combo record/play head as I would have suspected it to have separates.

Great recorders I had that one and the 1st fostex 8 track that came. The A8, and later the Fostex 16 track 1/2 inch. I also love the Dolby C N/R a lot beter than the DBX.

Lots of hard work... But it's cool and real👍 Sounds great👏👏👏

Great presentation.

Thank you for this goldmine of info on these formats! I’m a huge fan of cassette recording. I’m currently using bot a Tascam 414mkII, as well as a Yamaha MT8x. I’m about to buy a Teac 80-8 as welll. I’m expecting to have to service the unit, but the price is really good, so I feel that it’s worth it. I’m also looking at one of those Tascam M2600 mixers like the one you have! I would love to see a video on that mixer and how you use it in your setup. I think there is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there about routing a mixer to tape machines

thank you for your detailed attention to this dying genre

Hey that was a great video !

inspiring man, thank you! liked and subscribed

I've always wanted one of these machines since they came out and I was stuck on only 4 tracks! After watching your video I'm sooooooo glad I skipped this. That calibration and maintenance is outta my pay grade. Great job and thanks for sharing!

The song reminds me a lot of Boards of Canada in certain parts. I have the same reel to reel machine and unfortunately have used it like 4 times, much preferring to use Ableton. But this video has me itching to use the reel to reel again for a few songs. Thanks for all the excellent info about using these!

really insightful and helpful material man, really nice

Cool video, just waiting for my Fostex m80 to be delivered, can't wait to try it!

Really good !!!! I have a Akai 4000 Ds for my synth , I love Fostex R8 !!!!!

I love the sound. it reminds me of ok computer.

thanks for the vids! Sooo informative! :D

DO NOT use a metal screwdriver to tweak the trimpots! Use a ceramic or plastic blade one. The metal one will skew the readings. Also get an oscilloscope for the azimuth adjustment.

chasing the magic of my analog youth 😊

Whole load of work.. would love to record reel to reel, but I couldn't do all the work.

Such luxury with 8 tracks 😄 My TEAC 3340S has 4 tracks that limits options, but further makes one creative Love cheers🥰

Amazing 👏 🙀

thats what i was searching for when i came across your video. im hoping to digitally loop a whole bunch of ambient tracks and then transfer them to tape via mics and natural room reverb

7:01 through 8:04 absolutely darn talanted. Keep up good stuff bro ✊🏻

Muy buen equipo

this is such a well made and informative video, the view count and subscriber count should really be higher (although considering how narrow the group of people interested in reel to reels is it's understandable that it would be low)

nice song at the end - love it 🙂

Wonderful bro. Make more videos on analogue tape recordings

You did your homework. Well done.

Woow eres un excelente musico, ingeniero y productor.

I had two tape recorders for a while. The four channel TEAC A-3440 and the eight channel Fostex A-8. Sync tracks for my drum machine never worked with the A-8. Dropouts made my drum machine go out of sync all the time. It worked great on the A-3440 though. These days I record acoustic drums, which I did not back then, and for those I record nine channels, so I would need at least the Fostex R-16 for that, which means ½" tape.

I just picked up a Tascam 32 about 2 weeks ago and just got it up and running, I think I might have to order one of those magnetic referencing tapes that fit quarter-inch plus the fact that this is a half-track machine which means the quarter-inch tape is split in half one being left into being right. What am I other recordings were made on quarter-inch quarter track machines. I may have to purchase another reel-to-reel machine quarter track. I'm going to have to unbox the Tascam 38 which uses 1/2 inch tape but also an 8-track machine oh, I used to love recording on that. If I find a Tascam 34, that could be my quarter-inch machine. The machine I used before was a teac for track reel-to-reel sign of sink machine that was also made by Tascam.

Nice

Niceeee

Sounds great bud... ive got an old tascam msr 16... two of the tracks are buzzing wondering if i can get away with bypassing those channels

i been using reel to reel for over 50 years still the best better than cd

Saludos

What mixer is that with the tape modes?

U can definitely hear that smooth analog sound that is so familiar to those of us who grew up in the seventies. Funny how some of the best n most iconic recordings r recorded live with analog tape n sm57 vocal mics. Even now recordings of live performances sound better.. Just imagine if Bad Company had a cloudlifter for sm58 he used as a vocal mic.

For years I used reel to reel machines to record my music at 15 IPS. It was after all the best format available and yes a lot of maintenance. Once I moved to a computer with a program called Cool edit (later purchased by Adobe and called auditions) I never went back to tape. Editing on tape was a complicated and many times frustrating task since there is no room for error. A while ago I tried again to record some music in one of my old Teac reel to reel just for fun, what a disappointment. The sound quality was not what I was accustomed to hear. Maybe the machine was again out of calibration or my ears just became more sensitive and refined. It was something that worked in the pass for me but not anymore with today's high end standards. Memories...just memories

i want one now😊

Great video - well done considering the complexity of trying to explain recording a basic 2 track recording using an analog old school open reel tape deck to someone who has never worked with analog tape recording systems - never mind the added complexity of multitrack systems!! For those of you who are really interested in purchasing a used analog tape recorder to use as part of your studio or just for fun, I would suggest doing lots of research first before buying - especially if you are considering any of the more expensive gear such as open reel (reel to reel) decks. My interest in sound reproduction (pro-sound, high end consumer electronics and audiophile level equipment started when I was kid growing up in the 60s/70s and my love of anything Beatles. My uncle was returning from his Naval Tour of Duty during the early stages of the Vietnam war - he stopped in Japan on his was home and picked up in the military duty free consumer electronics shops the Fisher Solid State 500 TX , a Teac 4 track auto reverse/autoplay (I forget the model) 7/10.5" Reel, 3.75/7.5 IPS, a Dual Turntable w/Shure V15 cartridge & a pair of AR3a speakers. Anyone who knows anything about the analog stereo systems of the 1960's knows what he had here. The best of the best. I'd bring some of my records over (I had a cheesy record player / speakers all in one and a portable cassette recorder and some small 2 way speakers. just to hear what the records were supposed to sound like. Fast Forward to my mid-teens working 2 to 4 jobs after school and summer vacation - until I could buy my own "real Hi-fi" on my 15th birthday I studied all the specs and catalogs & took 3 subways & a bus to get to the manufacturers only NE showroom (no internet, libraries were at least a year behind, on their magazine rack (or people were just glomming them). Big name manufacturers had no real competition or promotions as they made, marketed, sold and serviced DIRECTLY. There's good and bad with that method, great customer service & repairs as u could work with the same person for all 3 - transactions so no holding on a phone waiting to talk to someone that could help you AND who spoke English well enough to open a repair ticket. So on that day November 23, 1972 - I purchased a Fisher 250TX, a pair of 3 way Fisher Speakers, a Dual TTw/Pickering Cartridge & dad helped pay for the Fisher 2 head Tape Cassette Deck, I spent every penny I saved over the last 3 years (System cost- in 1972 was about $560, Mr Fisher "ate" the sales tax - about $36. I tried to get him to throw in the walnut cabinet for the Receiver - my dad was a terrible negotiator and started to repeat the salesman message that I could always come back (3 subways and a bus - 2 hrs and 20 minutes if I made all the connections!!! - the cabinet was like $40... I never did buy that cabinet - I still have the receiver up in the attic though... Today's cost for the same system (assuming they charged the same amount only in 2020 Dollars) - would have been - $3,667! The Emotiva RMC-1 with XPA Gen2 - 7channel amp for my 1999 7 x Definitive Technology speakers (BP200TLx2, BP2002TLx2, BPX x2 & CTR3000 x 1 - were approx. $10K back in 2000) & BasX A500 - 5 channel amp for the 4 ceiling Dolby Atmos - cost me approx $7000 just for the Processor/preamp & amps but that is comparing apples to watermelons. The point of this big long story is TAPE DECKS - After HS I spent several years working in the big 3 NYC studios part time (it was a real madhouse very little money but learned a lot about mixers, tape decks and general maintenance before I moved on to the Information Technology Sector at a big International bank - traded in my tools for a tie and now I am back where I started - restoring, repairing, customizing and custom building all high end guitar amps, and hiFi systems - just finished earlier this year a full electronic, mechanical, physical & audio alignment and cosmetic (took an ugly studio quality Otari MX5050BII2 (2T / 4T stereo Reel to Reel Tape deck) - added solid mahogany side panels and feet = finished with 10 coats of spray lacquer after dying wood to a rich deep red/brown finish - also total de-grease and relube and mechanical adjustment several spring tension adjustments using spring "pull calibrated scales", old grease was literally like glue and had to be scraped out p took a whole day. Then tested over 200 electrolytic capacitors and replaced 6 & 4 very hard to find VU meter incandescent light bulbs (LED replacements look like crap), hardware (heads and transport alignment) and signal alignment and testing and adjusting some more. It is now perfect inside and out better than new - paid around $600 for a very poor machine - restored now worth around $4500-$6000 depending in demand and type of buyer I would not recommend someone try this as a first project - I owned several great sounding easy to use Cassette tape decks - use those and after a couple of years if u r still interested do your homework and buy one that at least works Chris

I think, whatever the creator desires in the final product. Although, technically, when well, a digital recording can be made to sound exactly the same.

Great job! I own a fostex model 80. Mine is not completely erasing the previous take. Its almost like a sound on sound, maybe 15db lower in volume. And It is rewinding very slowly. The manual says to increase the tension regulating a couple pots inside. So, I did it but nothing changes. I would be so glad if I could to fix It.

I was lucky to get an open reel tape machine . Because tape speeds can be faster than tapes in cassette decks very little tapes hiss . Great if open reel tapes storage is not an issue

I still have a Sony and an Akai. I need to get back out of storage. I miss analog. 😢

I have a Telefunken Magnetophon 203 myself. It records 2 tracks on one side and two tracks on the other. It has Stereo compatibility, as well as what I think is compatibility with overdub in Mono, but I have yet to make a recording with it. I will likely unfortunately have to record every Stereo track separately and mix them in a program such as Audacity, since my player does not have overdub compatibility with Stereo.

Im looking i to getting a reel to reel, but really confused about connectig mixer. Can't seem to find any mixers with 8:8:2, or 8 output and return channel's do you use the inserts on modern mixers? (further problem is you can't get stereo jack to RCA male looms from what I can see) if you do use the inserts

How did you calibrate and align without the use of an oscilloscope and frequency meter? I have a fostex A-8 I need to calibrate!!!

my E16 arrived today ; ) I am beyond ready to start calibrating it

How good is a teac a 4010 s reel to reel for recording mine has 4 separate heads one erase and the other 3 are read and record I presume

hey man! what adjustment / piece did you do / use to fix the rubbing issue?

hello sir. i got tascam br20 do you have any idea how to record music from laptop thanks

Hey man, thanks for your amazing channel. Already found A LOT of useful information on it for my latest project, moving away from the DAW after 12 years of intensive usage. What I am wondering is: I use mostly drummachines, sequenced synths and eurorack. I like to do one takes, but ever so often it happens that I would like to add another sequence or redo something. Is it possible to sync the drummachine in some way or another so it is is time with the already previously recorded material? Thank you in advance for answering! :-)

i just bought another stereo reel to reel myself and feel analog has a superior sound quality

I've also got a model 80 I use. My mixer is a piece of shit though, I'd love to see a video on your desk

De qe anio es ese equipo? (El qe esta en el vídeo)

sounds like someone likes boards of canada

Hey, have you got a manual on how to align this tape machine? Have the same one, but no manual.

oh shit, my grandfather passed away a bit ago and I convinced my family to let me have all the reel-to-reel equipment in the basement since I had room for it and I thought it was cool... I just hope to find all the stuff told about here too or else ill have to buy it... eh, he was a professional musician, and it's a giant system with crates of random stuff I'm sure it will be there. :)

I have a 6i6 interface and AkAi 4000D reel to reel recorder can I hook all of this to my Yamaha mg10xu to the mixer thank you

I need to buy a reel to reel but I don't know where to Start

FSOL brother!

It's important that you test the tape you're using before committing to a project. No two reels of tape sound the same and you have to eq your project to the tape used, as well as too circumvent the limitations of it (tape has audible noise for example).

How do you connect the reel to reel to the mixer?

There should be a way to adjust the reel table height so its tape isn't hitting the flange without the need for a spacer. Typically there is a set screw inside you can adjust. Beyond wearing out your tape, the rubbing adds wow and flutter.

love the sound you are achieving here. is the sound you get from this unit worth it? i am interested in this unit as well.

F’n awesome video! I’ve been researching this non stop lately, and this really helps, love the way the song comes in too. Do you think that 1/4” tape is worth the hassle for extra sonic depth, and saturation when pushed? I ask because I’m fixing to pull the trigger on one from reverb, but I’ve read that the 1/4” are very transparent, and that if you already have nice converters and outboard you may not notice it enough to make it worth the hassle, because to get what I’m looking for I’ll need 1/2” or better tape width..

How much money for fostex ....😙

Hey, a little question to maybe safe me some hassle... I also bought and Model 80. It seems that my Model 80 is still perfectly aligned.. Somehow.. Even after 10 years of storage.. Was your machine also almost perfectly aligned or did you have to calibrate the machine from the ground up?

Qe pensas de los grabadores akai

i have a question about analog mixers and your use of eq's on them... many of the mid size mixers seem to only have 1 sweepable mid... If one were to focus more on regular "band" music... ie guitars, bass drums... is 1 sweepable mid enough?... or do you find you really are compromising to only have 1?... and would LOVE to have two or more?

Great video, my 2” calibration tape cost me $750 😂

i have a sony tc580 home hifi system r2r

Misaligned heads are not that critical (on two head machines) as long as you play back the tape on the same machine as the one that recorded them, but of course it's a good idea to have them setup properly anyway.

i agree with using tape but to much to do to maintain. the sound is great. you dont need to use a lot of tracks to sound full....

when you rewind the fresh tape to the other reel, how do you secure it?

Does anyone know where I could find an audio file of that calibration tape?

I’d love to record on tape but cassette is so much easier

Right after alignment. Make your OWN test tape!!! You can use this for subsequent alignments instead of. Your valuable test tape. One day your test tape make get damaged. I restore professional broadcast 2" video tape recorders where a test tape cost thousands. You should also adjust bias for each tape you use. This way you can optimize the sound for each tape. You think a 30khz bandwidth on tape is a lot. Video tape machines record a 6MHZ bandwidth! Also tape heads dont get recapped. They get replaced when worn. I have seen HORRIBLE wear on some Audio heads. Video heads only last MAX of 500 hours and VERY expensive to replace, not to mention you really need to know what your doing to install a new one properly as they spin at 14,400 rpm and ride on air bearings haha

I'd do it but you can't buy this kind of stuff in Australia

Where would you find 2" blank reels these days? 🙂

quisiera tener un aparato como ese solo que soy pobre y cuestan algo si ay alguin que regale uno

I teac

What most people don't know, analog sound has a copy of the real sound. Digital is encoded to a numbering system and what is played back is pulled from memory banks of sound samples. Film and digital video is a similar story as well.