one track 1/4 inch reel to reel

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

amble wrote:
> i am looking for a one track reel to reel 15ips, could anybody
suggest
> any models, price ~$500 or under?
>
> i know there are a lot of stereo machines out there but i only need 1
> track.. so why waste the extra track right?
>
> i'm using it solely for tracking drums, then dumping it back to DAW.
>
> excuse my new-b-ness, but do one track reel to reels print on the
whole
> 1/4 width of the tape or do they just print on half, or does it
depend
> on the machine? can 2 track machines print the whole 1/4 width if
you
> are doing one track mono?
>
> i am looking for the best sound quality of couse..


A full track one channel machine will print to the entire width of the
tape.

Personally, I would use a 1/2 track machine and print to both tracks in
stereo for recording drums. I find mono drums to be somewhat boring,
but that is my opinion and I am sticking to it.

There are a lot of 1/2 track machines out there and some of them sound
damn good at 15 IPS.

You will be able to find a lot of machines in your budget. Ampex 440's
can really sing when set up properly. A more modern machine that is
decent is the Revox PR99, but it neads some real tweaking to sound its
best. Studer and Otari also make machines well worth considering.


Whichever machine you get, you will need to spend a bunch more on a
test tape and a few pieces of gear to align the machine for best sound.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

amble <dubwon@hotmail.com> wrote:
>i am looking for a one track reel to reel 15ips, could anybody suggest
>any models, price ~$500 or under?

Look at the Ampex 440. Basically, nobody wants full track mono machines,
so for the most part they aren't worth anything much. The bad news is
that an awful lot of them have hit the dumpsters and you may be a little
too late. Prices on that stuff are rising.

Ten years ago, Ampex 440 and MCI JH-110 machines from broadcast facilities
were being tossed out right and left. These days they are getting to be
a bit more rare.

>i know there are a lot of stereo machines out there but i only need 1
>track.. so why waste the extra track right?
>
>i'm using it solely for tracking drums, then dumping it back to DAW.

I think you'd probably want several tracks for that, personally.

>excuse my new-b-ness, but do one track reel to reels print on the whole
>1/4 width of the tape or do they just print on half, or does it depend
>on the machine? can 2 track machines print the whole 1/4 width if you
>are doing one track mono?

This is the difference between "full track mono" which was once a very
popular consumer format, and "half track mono" which was mostly seen on
consumer machines. A half-track stereo machine can be used in half-track
mono by enabling only one track.

Full-track gives you about 3 dB better signal to noise, and it makes
setting the azimuth a little bit more touchy.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."