Also store tail out to get a proper pack of the tape, so no edges get stretched.

How do you set bias by finding a common level among 1kHz, 5kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz ? Isn't that more accurate than a rough over bias method using vu meters ?

TOO KOOL!!! FANTASTIC MAN!!!

Hey, man! You forgot to demagnetize the tape heads and all the tape path. A calibration test may be totally ruined with just one pass with magnetized heads or path. Very important issue!

So when hea over bias for 4db does it mean that the VU needles will go all the way to the red area? Anyone know? Thank you

What is tails out? does anyone know? Thank you

thank you for this helpful video! does this translate to most tape machines? I recently picked up a Teac 80-8 R2R and some of the tracks aren’t erasing / recording properly, so I am planning on buying a calibration tape in an attempt to remedy that issue, but I’ve never done anything of the sort, so obviously, I’m a little nervous poking around

Smart. Rather than rewind, end of tape is tails out.

It would be nice if a company can implement current technology and make a new 24 tack tape machine with modern parts, modern schematics, perhaps improved tape formula for improved noise floor. ECT, ECT, ECT......

Scott.... thanks so much for this. Do you know if the audio cards for the MKII and MKIII are the same? They look like it.

How often does the tape alignment need to be performed?

Does every type of tape come heads out? Looking at getting a 1 inch deck just curious

I deleted my statements & questions because I realized what I was missing when I re-read the manuals. Thanks, Rich

That is what I call a real set up , swap seats LOL

i'm expert in nakamichi cassette deck adjusting bias.. but what is low speed EQ?never heard this before in cassette deck. on 16khz the bias is too low... on 65hz is too hot because it came from faulty power supply interference 50/60hz . good power supply should shield the interference away from the audio mainboard.

This is why plug-ins emulating tape can’t came close to the “reel” thing!

Нихуя не понял, что они там говорят, но было интересно.

Hi Scott, thanks for doing this, Is there an official name for the "tweaker" too, and where can I find one? Trying to keep a jeweler's screwdriver while adjusting is a real hassle. Thanks!

hi to all out there i picked up a otari mx80 of the ebay i had to do this. i can tell you it takes some time . rew the tape all the time i put the start of the tone at zero helps big time. i have a 16 track heads what a pain it is to change it over all the time . otari mx80 mx70 i have they are ace recorders and great to work on

To date nothing compares quality wise to this machine. Not even close.

Bias is a recommended setting: it's a guess how they think you'll want your sound and response. If you have time, it's good to try different bias settings; you get various "sounds" from your machine and tape. For example, if you add more bias than recommended, the sound gets darker and muddier but very fat - and you can "slam" tape nicely without a bad sound. If you add LESS bias than they recommend, you get this modern, silky high end when you record, but it will not like it if you slam hot levels onto tape. Good to experiment.

Not much point in storing new blank tape tails out, is there.

Hi Scott! Problem on Otari MTR 90 Mk I, All Functions work Fine , remote to, All Bolb Iluminate good , but No Play Moe no ff no rew mode, Capstaine motor 0v, Disconect Capstain motor have 36v Play ,36v FF -36v Rwe Mods ??? Evrethink loock good Fuse Ok, But Tension control Good Reels Motor Good Capstain motor form add 6v Power supplay work good, Tech 90 degree 5v sine wave good Squer wave good, Flip Flop good squer wave 90 degree good , Motor Amp Transistor good, Wath to Halll ???

Help Please !! Otari MTR 90 , Problem : after Transport from germany to USA , Evrethink work but no power on Capstan motor , but reels motor good. But all buttons iluminate good

Some people insist on biasing at ten dB under +4. Have you ever tried that? I bias my ATR-102 at +4 (30 IPS).

BĂNG TO QUÁ

I know this is an old video, but I'm going to be calibrating an Otari MTR-12 stereo machine. Do you use the low speed pot for 15ips and the high speed pot for 30ips at 10KHz? Or always low speed for 10KHz?

Wouldn't variation on the outer tracks indicate your MRL tape is starting to stretch?

Awesome vid! It's nice to see that there's still folks that still use and maintain analog machines. Brings back great memories!

What a palava . Maybe it's automated these days...

Scott - nice videos. . . helpful. I have an MX 70 and need some basic get started info on how to use the Auto Locator. Do you have any information you could share? Thank you. Steve

Scott, The harm in using a scope for azimuth on multitracks, is that while you can align any two gaps in vertical perfection, the coils have some slight error in the alignment of the stack. You will actually get a higher overall high frequency energy output by panning all tracks to one side (L or R) and adjusting the azimuth with the 10k tone on the MRL for max output, wherever it may be. This way, when all tracks are up and running, the head stack is in its best overall verticle alignment. For those folks demagging befor alignment, which is part of my process, be certain the machine has been powered down, unless you want to blow up some of the circuitry in the record amps and possibly the playback amps as well. p.s. The common name for your adjustment tool is a "Tweaker" Thanks for the cool vids!

Hi there, are these reliable machines ? I am looking to buy an Otari MTR90 but have heard that the Mk ll or lll are prefered?

Those huge ass 24 track tape recorders are awesome.

Great, thanks a lot

Perhaps "RemyRAD", should make a video to show us how it's done.

WOW, that is for serious ... ITS A MONSTER R2R.

Wow! What a fabulous video you have made to show people how to destroy their very costly, MRL calibration tapes. There is this little thing called a "head de-magnetizer". You can't use the little skinny crappy ones from Radio Shaft. No. You need something that has a very strong degaussing abilities such as a "Handy-Mag". YOU MUST FIRST ALWAYS de-MAGNETIZE THE HEADS FIRST, BEFORE YOU EVER LOAD THE MRL, CALIBRATION, ALIGNMENT TAPE! DON'T EVER FORGET TO DO THAT! Now that cleaning procedure with the Q-tip and 91% isopropyl alcohol also gave me a good laugh. Not! Why? You indicated to clean the head in the direction of the tape travel, back and forth across the gap. NO, NO & NO. You clean the head with a Q-tip, dampened with alcohol, not soaking from alcohol. And you clean the head vertically, up and down the multitrack gaps. Not side to side, where you can deposit and clog the head gap with magnetic tape articles. It's the blind leading the blind! OMG! And does everybody know about MRL calibration tapes that are compensated or uncompensated, for multi-track reproduction? Of course not. So if the tape is not " Compensated for Multi-Track reproduction? What does that mean? That means, you're not going to adjust any of the low-frequency Playback equalizers, while playing the reference calibration, alignment tape. No. You adjust the playback low frequency response equalizers, while you are recording low-frequency tones. Not playing them back from a tape that is not compensated for multi-track reproduction. What you don't know about these 2 inch tapes, kids, is that they are actually recorded on 2 inch, FULL TRACK HEADS, that are specially made. This made this so you can use that tape on 16 track, 24 track and the John Stephens, 2 inch, 40 track machines, all. Now that's going to be a calibration tape that's not calibrated for multitrack reproduction because you are using different track format machines. And the different track widths actually affect low-frequency response, from what is known as " FRINGING EFFECT ". Meaning that the tracks of the heads, will see, more low-frequency response, which will be displayed on the meters, erroneously. That's why you cannot use the low-frequency playback equalizers, with the calibration tape, in playback. I know that sounds whacked but that's the way it is with analog tape recorders of a multi-track variety. And you didn't get to azimuth? What? That's not a repro alignment. There's always been a lot of discussion how to check and adjust azimuth on large-format, 16/24 track machines. Some folks think, you take tracks 1 & 24 (16 if that's all you got.). Unfortunately, that method does not guarantee that you will have proper azimuth alignment. No. It's actually best to take tracks 1 through 12. Combine them all together to the left channel output of your console. Then take tracks 13 through 24, combine them all together and place those in the right channel mix output of your console. From there, you can watch your meters on your console, and tweak azimuth for highest output. However, the best way to do that is with an oscilloscope. Left channel goes into the horizontal input. Right channel goes to the vertical input. This will display a 45° diagonal line from lower left, to the upper right corner of the scope display. And the idea here, when tweaking the azimuth, is to try and obtain the skinniest and most accurate 45° , lower left to upper right, bushy line you can. That yields the best overall azimuth alignments since, not all of the gaps all line up perfectly with each other, vertically. This is referred to as " GAP SCATTER ". That's why you can't just use 2 or 4 tracks. It'll be close just not as close. I'll leave the different methods of biasing and other alignment procedures, until another day. I figure going to be sick? Scotty, ya really should repost this the right way. Start with the de-magnetizing, please. Pretty please. And clean the heads top to bottom not side to side. No! DON'T PLAY WITH THE MASTER BIAS OSCILLATOR LEVEL ! Only a hack would do that as a quick way to align record to a different tape formulation. No. NO! You may actually be risking blowing out your machine doing that. I've seen it happen too many times. So many bias oscillators are already running balls to the wall. Most weren't designed for these last generations of hot mastering tapes. Though Studer A-800's & later machines and Ampex ATR-100/124's, got plenty of current to spare. That's why it's indicated as a onetime critical adjustment, with test equipment like AC volt meters and oscilloscopes, distortion analyzers. That is just not smart. That's supremely incompetent and lazy. It doesn't take but 10 minutes to tweak record on a 24 track machine. If you don't have that time to do that? You're in the wrong business. I'm sorry if this seems rather terse. But when you're trying to show the whole world how to do it the wrong way...? You're doing more harm than good. You're not part of the tea bagger party are ya? I hope not? Those folks are as accurate as the Bible. Not. I actually had to inform J. McKnight, the owner of MRL Labs, that he had made a mistake, making the alignment tapes one month, for Scully. He called me every name in the book. Then he called me back the next day at the factory to apologize. I had been correct, that he had made a change, in the making of the calibration tapes, that was inaccurate. It caused all the machines to not meet playback specifications with brand-new test tapes. The thing that specifications with the old worn-out test tapes. What's that tell ya? I know what I'm talking about. That's what. Mx. Remy Ann David Former Quality Control Manager Scully/Ampro Recording Instruments www.crowmobile.com [email protected] 202-239-7412 (answering service)

Nice video, thanks for posting. I'd like to comment on the importance of setting azimuth. Regardless of how many tracks you're working with, from full-track mono to 2" 24, understanding how to set the record and reproduce azimuth should be mandatory. The slightest misalignment can be detrimental to what might otherwise be an excellent recording. Some might say you can "set it and forget it", but that's like saying your piano was tuned when you bought it, therefore it never needs tuning. For those new to analog tape machines, grab an xy scope and familiarize yourself with setting azimuth. Regarding bouncy tones, there can be a few reasons related to the transport to cause bouncing, but a slightly misaligned azimuth can also cause alignment tones to bounce.

I used to hate doing this. But it was a lot easier on Studer's than those old tape machines with the pixel sticks.

Where did you guys learn how to use all of these analog machines... Please tell me lol!

so it goes back on the reel it came on (and your take up reel stays on the machine) better explanation here electricalaudiodotcom/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14133&start=0

Question though: if the new tape came heads out, wouldn't just playing through it, take it off the take up reel and store it be tails out? What's the benefit of flipping it over and rewinding?

Great vid.

BTW, you could calibrate your tapes recording a 1khz tone from your oscillator right?

aughhh I want this machineee

WOW ! Good job ! Thanx

What is the tone generator?

actually, we did align it to +6, the MRL tape we used is 355nw (+6) so setting it to 0 is "aligning it to +6". if we had a 180nw tape, we would have compensated. more here, wwwdothome.comcast.net/~mrltap­es/choo&u.pdf

they alligned it for 0, which doesn't get much use out of the tape and has a higher noise floor..how about getting your moneys worth out of a roll of tape and hit it at +6, I recorded a few great albums while at RCA you can check out at +6 on 499, allign the playback at -6 and the record head to 0/+4 db, and that is all there is to it. the fact that the meters only go to +3 means nothing..listen to Neil Diamonds 'kentucky moon' album, it was plus 6 then dumped to D-820 Dash.pretty thick sounding