THE BEST SOUNDING FORMAT (part I): 4 Track Reel to Reel Tape & Recorders

So many years ago our machine was A side 1 and 2, B side 1 and 2. Is that 4 track? I need to get this! Any help with this? So many tapes to revisit!

I love tape. I still do more tape than most humans. I got into the consumer 4 tracks several years ago. They CAN sound amazing, but they rarely do.
The tapes were usually bin looped and very little care was taken in production. The B side program material leaking througb in quiet spots is really a killer for me. No matter how well your machine is setup, its gonna happen. They were usually made with low levels to keep bleed and other problems minimized. That means a higher noise floor.
That being said, I have videos of bunches of them over on my channel. I finally gave up uploading them all, because YT strikes them. I transferred my collection to DSD and havent looked back.

u are real good thank you J.P.

I have got things from EBAY and had a BAD time with theme.

Open to reel the best format.

Teac a-3340 or Teac x-1000m. Which is better?

Really professional recordings were at 16ips and sometimes 32ips. And they were not four track (two for each direction); they were two tracks.

Hi you seem like someone best to ask this question. I would like to buy a Reel to Reel for sampling my music back into my DAW when working with music to give it some tape love. Would I be ok with something like an Akai 4000D for example using 7.5ips or would you say something like a Otari Mx5050 2 track would be much better? Like is there a huge difference in what I'll be using it for. Running vocals, drums and various stems to gain some tape love and experimentation? Maybe you haven't used these machines in this way. Thank you in advance and great video.

Love your walk down memory lane . In 1978 I bought a TEAC - 2300SD . In 1979 I bought a TEAC - 3340 -S . They served me well until 2013 when the motor bearings dried up and seized . In between those years I had worn out the gaps on a few channels .So all 4 heads were replaced . The Memorex , Basf , TDK , Sony ,Maxell and Scotch 3M tapes where the ones I used and still have . When you buy the best tapes the binder never wears out . I can't say the same for the 456 Grand Masters of Ampex . Those binders turned to glue and properly buggered everything up . I had invested heavily due to the claims made by Ampex Corporation . In the end I lost my shirt in that fiasco . I now use Teac cassette decks . Not the same band for the buck , but pretty fine sound for a 68 year old . Yours truly .......Dudley Rathborne

Can’t play it in your car.

Nice!!!
Wow i love this channel ✌
Soon you'll have me hooked on this type of equipment 😅

Thanks for the great video. Can you record from a digital format? I thought a 4 track would have a better sound format. But you sound like a 2 track is better?

If I may, I'd like to make an important observation concerning magnetic tape.
First, all decks are slightly different when it comes to play, rewind, and fast forward tension. The decks were older, and so are the reels. So, because of tension differences between decks, and playing a reel that hasn't been played on YOUR deck, I suggest playing at correct play speed in both directions BEFORE you use the fast forward or rewind functions. That is one sure way to break a tape, or stretch the tape, both undesirable! How was the tape stored in the last 40-70 years? A garage in Michigan? An attic in Louisiana? Some tape manufacturers were better than others in thickness, oxide particles etc. I recently got a batch of records that included a professional 1/4" 10" reel. The tape was like ...sticky tape! As if it was soaked in glue. I unscrewed the reel and the tape was as solid as a rock. I threw out the solidified tape and gained a Scotch 10" empty reel :-)

In vietnam 🇻🇳 Reel TO REEL

I own master reels of unreleased songs from a legendary Detroit boogie funk artist from the 80s. One of his 12-inch singles sells for over 700 USD every time it hits eBay. Truly one of my greatest finds.

Where can I buy one in working order?

Best sounding?

Tandberg ?... There were better machines to mention than this brand ...

Lots of great decks out there. Tandberg makes some great ones.

Why would 4 track R2R be better than 8 track? Lost me there I think!-)

Nice Shirley Scott !!

Been wanting to buy one, but i don't know where to start

Thank you so much for the informative vid! I am a beginner, somone offers me 4 track 7.5 tape, does my Akai 4000ds good for that speed 7.5?

Typology

I really need help , I have one reel and I do not know what its ips ! So I want to buy the top one to make sure it will play it with no issues , I end up with OTARI mx5050 and AKAI gx 630D SS , can u help for whom I have to go with ?

I want one support 4 track and All speed ( ips ) 7 1/2 , 3 3/4 , 15

Help me plz

What is your opinion about pioneer rt-707

Ironically, the audio of this video is terrible and too low.

I have an revox G36 2 track. is this machine able to playback 4 track tapes ? i have som four track tapes but i hear also the back track. let me know

Ahh the 70s. My bud was running crowns. 2 of each dc60, dc150 , dc300. On jbl components. Including 15 inch woofers. Recorded vynil on a a77 at 15ips.. tt was a thorens with an sme arm and shure v15 , stanton 681eee and a few others. . Source was vynil masters.

MAN KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK TAPE GURU!

Thank you so much for posting this - I was hearing about this format and I'm learning so much. Do you have any tips on where to find 7 1/2 inch pre-recorded for a good price as well as blank quality tapes? I'm considering getting an Otari MX5050 (not sure on the model yet but likely the BQ ii2 model..) I am open to any suggestions on machine too, but I really like that the Otari seems so serviceable and parts are readily available.

my fav is old analogue 45,s but i did hear a reel to reel as a kid & my memory was it sounded much better than tape cassette.but a very very long time ago but me im getting into recording so i have an old tape 8 track.but put it this way everything was recorded using tape fuji tape has stood the test of time & sounds as good as the day it was recorded.also i was recently just given a box of about 100 old tapes by my mums friend.some rare ones for sure all of them are the faster tapes so i might get a machine & listen also the machine look,s great fine post peace...

I recently bought an Akai 4000DS MK2. It's my first experience with r2r. It's in lovely condition, fully serviced and working fine. I am still exploring this way of analogue music reproduction and learning from your channel. One question at this point: if I want to buy new tapes, which brands and types do you suggest?

Where can I buy one of these real to real tape recorder /player?

I’m considering buying a stereo reel to reel machine, but is it going to be better than a cassette deck with Dolby S ?
I had a mono reel to reel fidelity machine for Christmas in the 1970’s it was a 4 track machines that ran at 3and 3 quarters IPs and remember it being vastly superior to the cassette machine of the day .

It is why I liked computer type of a reel to reel, you need just to put a tape on and the rest will be done by the mechanism itself. It is a very convenient.

Typology

A hipster who tells us to thread the tape... hilarious!! Dude, get off of that hipster bollocks ..A Philips?

Revox G36 is the best sounding 4 tr machine ever.

Hello thank you for your program. I have tapes recorded on a 2240 Siml sync so obviously I need a machine that can play All 4 tracks in the One can you advise me which machines will play these tapes thank you

Where can I get Din plug to RCA cables

Nice I never new about the different speed on those tape I know they sound good but I never bought one cus is expensive n hard to find those tape on the music I like that dope bro fresh 👍😎

Paper never died. Vinyl is coming back. REEL 2 REEL WILL BE BACK !!!! Calligraphy is back. Woodworking is back. Screw the fake new trends that only are designed with planned obscolescence in mind !!!

I am happy with my Audacity™ recorder. I can record up to 96 kHz 24 Bit. That's a far higher resolution than the iron oxide particles on a tape.

higher speed = higher frequency response
wider tape = wider dynamic range

1970s technology, no new recordings since then. eye wateringly expensive media. This format is nuts.

In many ways, I surely agree. But anything that tape is, a compact disc is all the more, plus it's sort of indestructible by comparison to tape.
With tape you get tape hiss which even Dolby C can't completely eliminate. Tape is a medium which wears out. And tape can't handle the full energy of a broad frequency response.
But even so ... I owned a very fine tape deck indeed. But it became an impractical dinosaur sort of thing over time. Saying that nothing sounds better than tape is pure bullshit.
It's the same sort of idiotic explanation we hear about analog supposedly being better than digital. The only thing I can say about analog is that it many ways, the related sciences are even more amazing that digital is. AND ... when you mix a bunch of tapes together to make an entire recording, which is sometimes needed depending on the recording, every weakness is emphasized all the more. Take for example some old recordings of analogue synthesizers. Very nice, I love them. But they don't compare with a digital production from the very beginning.

Btw, what's your opinion on elcaset?