Studer B67 reel-to-reel questions, & tape care

[Bolero]

Hey, I just found this place, there sure are some interesting threads in here!! ( who's next & creedence!!)

anyway, I have an old Studer B67 reel deck & a couple boxes of blank memorex 1/4" pancakes, am thinking about hooking it up to my stereo or maybe using it for home recording. but I don't know much about them?

are these any good/what is the ideal use for them? it seems like a well built unit, made in switzerland I think.

I'm also wondering about care & feeding of old 1/4" tape...I read in the FAQ about Steve mastering some 40 year old tapes....I thought you had to bake these to prevent the oxide rubbing off onto the heads or something?

the deck has balanced ( 3 pin/mic) in/outs, do I need to use a preamp to record onto it?

thx for any advice!!

[Bolero]

well, I found the thread a couple pages back about the tape & baking it fwiw.


think I'll get some sleep now, all that reading has bugged my eyes out :o

[Steve Hoffman]

I bet that's a great sounding machine!

[Bolero]

actually, I haven't used it yet!!

not quite sure what to do with it.....can you still buy 1/4" tape recordings of albums?

what's the sound quality like compared to vinyl?

I'm not much of an audiophile guy yet, although reading through this forum last night sure got me jonesing for a Dynaco ST70 & some new speakers :laugh:

great forum you have here, Steve!! I really dig reading the stories/pics of studio stuff you put up.

thx!!

:thumbsup:

[Steve Hoffman]

Bolero,

One of our "Gorts" Bob Lovely is the reel to reel King of the Forums. He'll be back on Monday. I'll make sure he sees this thread!

[RetroSmith]

Bolero, that is one nifty tape deck you have there, but you should have it rebiased for todays tape, then make some tapes of your own compilations using that model tape. I'll bet they will sound killer.

[ZIPGUN99]

here's a couple of threads of folks yakking about pre-recorded reels:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9053&highlight=reel+to+reel+tape

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8058&highlight=reel+to+reel+tape

[RetroSmith]

Bolero, i wouldnt mess with pre -recorded reels. They just dont anywhere near as goos as a good lp or Cd.

make your own reels, and play 'em!!

[Bolero]

thx, zipgun, just read those links.

the tape I have is labelled "Ampex, 10-406-17613T, pack out date: 08EA"

each box has 10 pancakes, so I'm guessing the tape is Ampex 406? is this stuff any good?

I'm off to google.....!!

FWIW I also have a Teac A3340 4 track deck, but I just use it as a preamp into my soundcard at the moment.

[Bolero]

Mikey, I don't understand.....do you mean copy CD's to 1/4" & play that? what would be the point?

I have a couple gtr amps & a bass, and I mess around with recording stuff at home, so I was going to do some experiments to see how it sounded going to tape first vs. direct to PC.

I have heard that tape bleed through can sound good, like on those old Led Zeppelin albums....so I was going to see what I could come up with. just for fun.

but I don't know much about 1/4" tape.

thx for the advice!

[Bolero]

apparently they still make this stuff, they even have the same 406-17613T order #

Ampex 406 link (http://www.axemusic.com/products/audio/blank_media/reel_to_reel/ampex_406.htm)

[ZIPGUN99]

Here's another thread. Bob calms down harsh CD's by copying to reel, then into his CD burner.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=66614&highlight=cds+to+reel#post66614

[Bob Lovely]

Originally posted by ZIPGUN99
Here's another thread. Bob calms down harsh CD's by copying to reel, then into his CD burner.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=66614&highlight=cds+to+reel#post66614

Bolero,

Hi! I began recording Reel tape when I was 15 in 1966 and I guess after all these years it's in my blood. Frankly, I would not mess around with any tape stock that is beyond just a few years old. Use "fresh" tape to create your masters. I like EMTEC (BASF) 900. This is their high output studio grade tape that employs a natural lubricant. I have Reel Tape masters that were recorded on this tape in 1995 that sound as good as the day they were recorded.

I love the rich, warm sound of Analog Reel tape. In fact, to my ears, recordings tracks from well-mastered CD's on to high quality Reel tape restores the recorded tracks to their original analog warmth while reproducing the inherent dynamics of the CD medium. In other words, the best of both the Analog and Digital world - this is the beauty in recording on high quality Reel tape.

For me personally, recording directly to CD medium is more "science" while recording directly to Reel tape is more "art" because when I record to Reel tape I remaster tracks to sound better to my ears. I joined this site initially to learn even more about remastering from Steve and other members. As result of working with Steve here, my remastering style has changed and evolved (better - thanks Steve!).

Reel tapes should be stored in a dry (not too dry) temperature controlled environment. If properly stored your recorded masters can afford you many years of listening enjoyment. Transfer of your remastered Reel tape masters to CD medium is relatively easy. The real *sweat equity* for me is in creation of Reel tape masters. I once took an hour just to get the tonality right on a track (no obsessive qualities here :laugh: ).

Once you settle on Reel tape stock that you like, your Reel recorder should be biased specifically to that tape. This is very important in order to achieve the most natural and musical sounding recorded masters.

When you record to Reel tape, the most compelling goal is to hit the "sweet spot" in the tape that affords you the best overall sound without over-driving the tape and hitting tape saturation. The EMTEC 900 is a tape that you can drive pretty hard without incurring tape compression. But, one must be careful. I would advise that learning how to record this way is an acquired skill that you must learn through trail and error. Beyond remastering and recording the track, I next concern my efforts with level matching and then with tone matching being a last consideration.

Good luck with your Studer and if you have any further questions, please let me know!

Bob:)

[Bolero]

thx Bob, that helps!


I still have a bit of research to do on recording & miking etc.

[sgraham]

Bolero,

Before looking for pre-recorded (commercially) reel tapes to play, you need to make sure you have playback heads of the right format. Tapes designed for home use were (except for the very earliest ones) 1/4-track (or "four track") meaning they have two tracks recorded in each direction. Studio machines are "two-track" both tracks going in the same direction; there is no "side two". If you try to play a 1/4-track tape on a 2-track deck you'll hear a mixture of backwards and forwards stuff.

As for baking tapes, the 40-year old ones don't need it, it's the tapes from the 70's on generally that have problems. For that reason alone I'd not trust the AMpex pancakes you have, unless you know they are OK.