Akai X360 Tape Recorder from HELL

That's 5 hours I will never get back.

[@dhurt8955]

I don’t know anything about this stuff but I’ve recently bought some vintage cassette, receivers and cd changers and your videos are very fascinating to watch. Thanks for taking the time to share them.

[@tough213]

you always do great work and make great videos and i really enjoy them all and learn a great deal you are a really great inspiration to encourage those interested in electronics be safe and careful all the best always jon

[@geirendre]

The Cross-Field technology was a Tandberg invention that Akai licensed to use in their lineup of players. The X in the modelname denoting that it was a Cross-field unit. This was later replaced with the " Actilinear Recording" and "Dyneq" technologies.

[@greengrayradio1394]

As a Norwegian and a great fan of Tandberg, I must disappoint you.. The patent was granted to a German in the fifties. Just look it up. But Tandberg Radio used it to great advantage from the Model 6X until the 10X(D) from early sixties till late seventies. Not many other than TR and Akai used it

[@thetechgenie7374]

When customer stated he replaced all the capacitors was a huge red flag and didn’t bother to change the belts and sent it in for that? For the most part the capacitors are not really a issue with these from experience, usually just use a ESR meter and replace just the bad ones unless I known they are a bad series that prone to fail. Akai used good capacitors in these. What know to be problematic is those 2sc458’s transistors as they used a silver coating on them that corrodes and works it way into the package and they become leaky and static and hiss. Also switches become corroded and etc. To repair it literally has to be gone though and take me a few hours to narrow down issues and etc. plus recommend to change all 2sc458 transistors. I use Fairchild KSC1845 as lower noise and work great overall. I hate when people do a full recap and think it a restoration, it not and 9 times out of 10 going to end up being something else and in some akai’s they used custom packages that are prone to fail about 100% of the time. Thankfully replaced with discrete components in place and works. The Pioneer Reel to reel buffer IC and even seen some where logic IC failed and unobtainable. So if you do a full recap shoot gun approach you be out money and have to get a donor unit to fix. Always troubleshoot and repairs issues first at least. Plus changing all capacitors you will have to do a full calibration, in som case modification to circuit and etc, otherwise will not sound good as capacitors change resistance in circuit plus where made different back then, better to replace only the bad ESR, or ones that show signs of leaking.

[@12voltvids]

Yes I've been saying that for years. But amateurs will be amateurs and someone will say shotgun all the caps and then everybody like a bunch of little lost sheep do that thinking it's a fix-all and it's not. but what do I know I've only been working on electronics for 40 years now so you know I know nothing apparently.

[@thetechgenie7374]

@@12voltvids I feel you. Apparently don’t know so people still do what they do and mostly everyone thinks 100% capacitors are always the issue when they usually are not. Some have to learn the hard way, or after throwing some cash it to find it still doesn’t work? I literally had to service decks that were supposedly fully recapped and sold to customers that way and then have to repair the issues they caused and trace down the real issue then do a full calibration afterwards typically as some also like to just turn pots to turn them without service manuals or any test gear. I just got done repairing another evs3000 deck that a guy literally cover broken traces with electrical tape after hack job not due to corrosion but due to he literally burn the pads and crap solder work l, so had to undo all the work fix broken traces and that one needed a full recap as those stupid SMD that leak everywhere and calibrated preamp level RF after mechanical calibration of tape path and etc as he also turned a few pots when it was set screw on guide was loose. I shocked it now works to be honest as was about to give up on it after hours spend on it to undo the hack work. Only reason bother with it as was low hours and good cosmetic condition.

[@gersonaisawa5285]

The best is the video title!!! As always very good video!

[@sdjgfashjasbfasd]

Owner changes all the caps but asks you to replace the belts?... Big red flag.

[@stevenclarke5606]

Yes , if the owner replaced all the capacitors , why wasn’t he able to replace the belts ? Red flag, some kind of potential scam.

[@jasonthewiczman5442]

A tuff one, great repair

[@12voltvids]

Customer abandoned this one. They bought it off eBay and it was bashed up during shipment and i am sure that's where the board was trashed. Some day over the winter if I am board I might take another shot at this and see if i can get the record working. I know what it's not, not the audio circuits not the record amp boards and it has bias as it erases. Just no signal on tape. Rainy day project.

[@aaronfarley4577]

I actually have one of the variances of this! Excited to see what to avoid doing before I do anything

[@borsch1115]

My dad had one when I was a kid, I loved it.

[@erikdenhouter]

Just to add some on the explanation of a 'cross field' system: usually a high frequency called 'bias' is added with the record signal to the record head. This signal is agitating the ferro parts on the tape to move out of their lazy position, while the sound signal at the same time will form them to the new recorded sound. In a 'cross field' system that bias is NOT added to the sound signal to the record head, but added through the air with a second head, the bias head.

[@12voltvids]

Yes I believe I said that the buy signal is through that second head at the bottom which is injected just ahead of the recording Gap. When the buyer signal is added to the audio it has a tendency to cause slight Erasure to the tape especially at slower tape speeds. The crossfield design allowed frequencies upwards of 18 kilohertz at 3 and 3/4 IPS something that at the time of this unit is manufacturer is pretty much unheard of everybody else at 3 and 3/4 the frequency response dropped off around 10 kilohertz.

[@jasonhaman4670]

Thanks for explaining this in the vid. Growing up, my dad had an X360 (and still has the Heathkit Magnecord that he built in college), and I ebayed the one I have now for sentimental reasons, and in those 45 years, I never realized how the cross-field bit worked. So you educated me today.

[@erikdenhouter]

@@12voltvids Yes you explained, and so I added my view with it. It is a forgotten way of doing things, and there are not many reel to reels that use this. This model has a 'relative' easy setup of the head, it has a separated record and playback head, but if the record head needs adjustment, in theory the cross field head should be adjusted too, so be aware of that. Some other models, like the X-201D don''t have the playback head separated from the record head. In that case the added problem for technicians is the way you have to adjust that cross field head. The only way is to record after every change of setting, rewind, and playback the result and watch the frequency response. Adjust again, until satisfied. I found it really terrible and time consuming. Advice is to never unscrew or unset the cross field head unless real problems demand it.

[@packratswhatif.3990]

Dave, you are the Magnetic Tape Brain Surgeon. I just wish I had your experience !

[@12voltvids]

And I would never do a full recap. Amateur move and silly buyers pay way to much for machines that have been recapped thinking they will last like a new machine. I am more concerned with the shitty transistors in there.

[@Onepiece24792]

It was smaller than I expected considering the picture portrayed it to be a little bit bigger. I'm still quite happy with the recorder considering I've already received to class a EVP's while using it on one investigation!

[@Craig_Spurlock]

"Show me where you've been, an I'll show you where the problem is".

[@alex1520]

More fun to work on than a Yamahahahahahaha unit :)

[@bravobravoh1344]

I wonder if you could have new circuit boards manufactured for these old machines. I believe there are companies out there that will manufacture boards for anything if you send them the old ones.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I like those machines, even though I never owned one. Of course not that one, because it has so many issues.

[@michaelturner4457]

An Akai reel to reel, I was expecting it to have broken pot metal parts.

[@12voltvids]

I have a few of those. They are called CRAPAI

[@theoloutlaw]

Parts machine.

[@nate250]

Great video. I just bought one of these of eBay and the video should be really helpfully in getting it mostly working, or knowing how much time to sink into the thing before just using it as a display piece. Fortunately, I just need to get it to play correctly with new belts so I can build a Bluetooth remote for it, which is what I am really interested in anyway. BTW, did you ever get the recording working, or did the owner decide against any further repairs?

[@12voltvids]

The owner gave it to me. It would have been a future project but i ran into an old friend that had been in the radio business (as had his brother, sister and father) and he had lost all his equipment in flooding a year ago. His archive tapes of his family broadcasts however were spared as they were in the attic, so because he was only looking for a playback machibe with 15ips I let him have it. Then the owner called out of the blue asking for it back. It's up on Prince George now. I don't know if he will give it back when done or keep it. He has about 2000 reels of tape that he is now archiving of old radio shows and commercials and stuff that his dad and siblings did going back to the late 40s right through to the mid 2000s when tape was phased out. That will keep him busy for a few years now that he has retired. Most if not all will require baking before transfer.

[@zulumax1]

When you said do you guys see this at 37:44, I thought you meant the pinched wires coming from that power resistor through the chassis. Did you see that?

[@waltergabriel3694]

I love it when it's supposed to be a simple repair. It ends up being a multi day event. Did you have to replace the grease, I've had the capstan be locked up because of grease being dried up.

[@12voltvids]

No I didn't remove the capstan bearing.

[@alexstewart8097]

Hope you and company know that has a rather celestial sound , worthy of all to hear, and it's no hell at all... but if you only knew. Do listen carefully and try again...Shema for good!!!

[@12voltvids]

might sound good if only it could record however I don't know what damage was done by the last person to get their fingers into it and start changing parts that did not need to be changed.

[@makyhsmakyhs6766]

Is it possible to completely disassemble the whole old radio machine, makeing full restoration and cleaning , and assemble it again ?

[@12voltvids]

Sure but that costs money and the owner won't pay that kind of money.

[@makyhsmakyhs6766]

@@12voltvids the real audio / radioPhil is supposed to be ready to pay because its a long term investment to his Hoby, and he might be not in need to repeat that operation again with the good care and the proper covering of the devise after use / listening

[@makyhsmakyhs6766]

@@12voltvids thanks 👍

[@SangNguyen-ty4fv]

Hi friend one reel to reel akai X-360d belt loose where I can buy but eBay I see akai gx-360 all same side 192 mm can you two same model?

[@gerardoviaumollinedo1191]

If it wont be fixed, is the owner interested in selling parts?

[@12voltvids]

That one is long gone.

[@greengrayradio1394]

An auto reverse machine with only one capstan? So it relies on the back tension when in reverse? Wouldn't that effect the wow and flutter badly?

[@jasonhaman4670]

From what I've seen, only the later, high-end decks had dual capstans. They also didn't record in reverse, so any disadvantage would only affect playing back a tape that particular time, and if you wanted to avoid it, you could flip the tape over instead of reversing it.

[@erikdenhouter]

They controlled the tension by controlling the two reel motors. It does not matter much which reel is take-up or supply, the motors have a constant tension according to their function.

[@12voltvids]

Yes it only has one capstan. how this one operates is when it goes into reverse it turns the torque up on the supply side on the left to take up the the tape and there's that second freewheeling flywheel that starts to turn from tape tension over it that is supposed to help regulate the tape tension and help regulate the speed so it's being pulled from the take-up side Amy supply side motor is actually what's moving the tape across the heads with the help of that second flywheel. I have a gx260d which in my opinion is a superior deck to this one in every stretch of the imagination. It also only has one capstan and pinch roller but it's center mounted and it has six heads erase record and play for forward and another set on the other side of the capstan erase record and play for the reverse direction. The only trouble with that deck is it has glass heads! On good tape that's fine but on shitty old sss tapes it won't play at all. Even after baking them they sit and screech and come to a total dead stop so I don't use that machine it's just another machine for show I use an old 4,000 for tape playback and transfer to digital which is what most people are doing with their old real to real tapes anyway transferring them to digital and throwing the tapes away. I've got about 40 or so of my dad's old reel-to-reel tapes that I have yet to transfer. back in the day he was into the old easy listing music so I never really played them much but I've got a stack of about 40 of tapes all mixed together.

[@jasonhaman4670]

I hate to think of people throwing the tapes away after transfer. Partly from the archival aspect of always retaining the original after transfer, but also because I consider the vintage tapes as collectible as the decks from a vintage collecting standpoint. (It also helps that the tapes I have and consider vintage predate sticky shed. I have a few of those, but they are much newer than my tapes I consider vintage, from the early 70s, 60s, and earlier.)

[@12voltvids]

@@jasonhaman4670 yes they toss old tapes all the time. Video tapes and old home movies too. Most don't want the clutter. I need to do a major declutter here and send a bunch of stuff to the dump. I have boxes of old VHS and beta tapes. Probably about 8 or 9 totes full of tapes I will never listen to or watch. I have a storage locker full of old a/v gear that will be disposed of some time.

[@jasonhaman4670]

Not sure if I missed something, but it looks like it would work fine for playback-only. I would think for many people that have R2R tapes from back in the day, that's probably all they'd want to do anyway. Though the masking taped wire would concern me from a safety standpoint, and not knowing what else may not be properly done would bug me. Those cabinets are very fragile, or at least they were by the time they were a few decades old. The cabinet on this one is mint compared to the one on an X360D I ebayed about 15-20 years ago... I think about every joint was either partly or completely broken. I got a partial refund on that one, planning on repairing it... but I'm sure you won't be surprised in the slightest that I found various boards broken. Ended up ebaying an X360, which arrived with the cabinet a little worse for wear, but it was completely functional. Some time after, one of the turntable motors seized up... luckily I was right there when it did, and shut it off. Someday maybe I'll get around to either trying to lube the motor, or replacing it with that motor off the beat-up X360D. I wouldn't dare try to ship it for repair - I figure odds are, it wouldn't survive the trip.

[@Truckguy1970]

Most Akai reel to reels are beautiful looking decks but they have that infamous pot metal issue with the parts that are no longer available

[@bones007able]

There is a company that prints 3D replacement cams ... I replaced on my 1710 , and they work fine

[@jasonhaman4670]

My understanding is that the pot metal part in question is the transport control cam, on the decks that have 2 levers to control stop/play/fast forward/rewind. That wouldn't apply to the decks with push-button transport controls like this one.

[@oldradios09]

I got one needing a motor run cap, another needing a bias oscillator, and another with a broken head adjustment cam. 3 different Akai decks all with different issues. ☹️

[@stevenclarke5606]

You can now get a replacement kit to fix the three cams , and are available on EBay and other platforms, I have just replaced them on my Akai 4000ds , the kit cost me £80 GBP . Which saved the machine from the bin and hopefully to last a few more years.

[@harveysvintageaudio]

Looks a real pain in the ass machine to work on, lol.

[@12voltvids]

Most real to real machines are a pain in the ass to work on. Lots of moving mechanical parts lots of grease that dries out parts that get stuck from disuse. these things were never that reliable even when they were new and after they've been sitting around many of them in basements or attics for the past 50 years. They look cool in your stereo system you know to see a big old reel to reel and your vintage stereo system but personally I wouldn't be using one for a daily driver. Back in the day people use real to reel tape because it's all we had that could record high quality sound, cassettes hadn't got there yet. Cassettes caught up and equaled reel-to-reel and sound quality but they are still limited because they're an analog device with relatively low signal to noise ratio. What's digital recording hit with digital audio tape for starters and then mini disc but really digital audio tape was the best because of no compression there really wasn't any reason to use real to real other than just for the aesthetics of it sitting in the stack of equipment it look cool.

[@harveysvintageaudio]

Yep your right there, I have had my fair share of them to fix, lol. I was brought up with reel to reel as my dad always used one. My main favourite machines to fix are Revox and the British Brenell's. Great channel bro.

[@zulumax1]

I really don't like working on other people's...................."work". LOL because of the pause!😆 Got a free Sansui G-8700DB were some genius thought it was a good idea to put mix and match output transistors in one channel and change a bunch of bias resistors to try and make it functional just to make a buck. The power resistors on the driver board got so hot that the solder melted and the leads unsoldered themselves, WOW!

[@12voltvids]

Yes they make a mess sometimes.

[@Shadepariah]

31:27 Is it even worth it to try and fix one of these if you find it used, given how fragile most of them are? Not that I have any tapes in the first place.

[@12voltvids]

If you really want a real-to-reel machine find yourself a Sony. Absolutely no comparison between the build quality of a Sony open reel and an akai. I'm speaking of someone who owns three akai incidentally. I have a gx260d with the glass heads that won't play any old tapes with sticky shed syndrome, I have a 4,000 Mark 2 and a 1710 w. I have a couple Sony and a teac. But then I wonder why people bother with reel-to-reel decks these days unless you want one just for the aesthetic look because they look cool because there are so many better ways to record these days it sounds a lot better. And no I'm not talking vinyl either

[@12voltvids]

@@Runco990 in case you haven't figured out ebay is the new place for laundering money. Yes you heard correct a lot of these high dollar sales that you see are not real sales. I saw an investigator report a couple years ago showing how this goes on, people list items let people bid on them but will always outbid themselves as a fictitious buyer there's usually a few people involved in this the transaction goes through a money gets washed this tends to drive up the fictitious price of a lot of this old crap. I'm sure some people try to cash in on this and catch unsuspecting buyers who will actually buy a legit piece. There's a lot of flippers out there that try to cash in on people who really don't know what these things are worth they go by what they see them apparently have been sold for but a lot of these apparent sales are not real the real in the sense that the transaction goes through and the buyer seller pays eBay's transaction fees and pays a fee to PayPal to handle the money transfer but a lot of them is being used to just move money so that it looks legit. I forget where I saw the documentary it was on one of the TV channels maybe 2 years ago but there was a very good documentary that it showed exactly how it works. I expected this practice is going to end pretty quick though now that PayPal is sending people tax forms if they transfer more than $500 in a calendar year and people selling stuff for a big dollars whether it's real or not are going to end up getting nailed income tax so that's going to stop people using fictitious auctions to move money around because they are being watched now. probably the reason why PayPal is having to report this now to the IRS is because they're on to them that this is what's been going on for years so I would expect that we're going to see a lot of these high-value listings disappear.

[@12voltvids]

@@Runco990 that the only reason i have my teac 3340. It's not connected nor do I use it. It's just for show, like my BETACAM

[@stevenclarke5606]

@@12voltvids thanks for that information, I have seen some of these deals and I was really puzzled by the inflated price, now it makes sense.

[@erikdenhouter]

It could be that the owner only uses it as a playback machine.

[@12voltvids]

Doubt it they've brought me other machines before after they've changed the head recording head themselves to do alignments. Come back with it because when they make a recording one channel is one or two DB lower than the other and want me to check it again for free. I think it's time I just say no to all real to real. I don't have factory alignment tapes and I'm not about to buy one and everyone that brings me them wants some fix for nothing. people get the misconception that there's a lot of money to be made fixing this crap but there's not I've yet to have anybody pay me more than $100 to fix a real to real most of them want it done for 60 to $80 which is what this one was expected to be 60 to $80 to change the belts and set up the amplifier and for that I've got 5 hours into it now as you can see there's no money to be made in this because you quote higher than that and then everyone whines and complains it doesn't want it done. Kind of reminds me the reason why I left the business in 2003. If it wasn't for the little bit that I make from KZbin which is not really much but if it wasn't for the couple hundred dollars I make a month off KZbin I wouldn't be doing it at all. I get a real kick out of when people tell me how much I making off KZbin because certain websites seem to think I'm making a lot more than I actually am.

[@erikdenhouter]

@@12voltvids I understand. Reel to reel is a class on its own, and I think better to stand firm on that before you begin. The ear notices the tape in multiple ways, as wow and flutter and frequency response and amplitude. Just double your estimates of the cost so only enthusiasts will pursuit, and then satisfy them by not making that amount in the end 😊

[@401ksolar]

Bang bang crack,bzzt, hmmm this socket seems to be cracked, yeah those card edge connectors are noisy in small signal application.

[@12voltvids]

Yes horrible. Texas instruments used them on the ti-99/4a and they cause lots of intermittant gremlins.

[@berylhemmings7003]

Mi want maxine brain fi work like minessss close to me doing foolinishes

[@zx8401ztv]

That machine looks like it was really treated like shit, shame :-(. For that broken connector i would make a clamp to stop the halves parting, but that's me. Then a resistance check to make sure the heads do actually connect all the time. I don't trust connectors and switches, they are crap!. Edge connector boards eeek! trouble. Calm down dave it's just a short term nightmare..... maybe :)

[@alexispieltin9379]

This one looked good, and the job was supposed relatively simple and easy, but at the moment you said customer had replaced caps and so on, it immediately transformed into this mess, with multiple issues and still unknown deteriorating factors. First thing and that is obvious, the actual trend of total recapping is a technical nonsense as far as most people doing that don't have the tools and knowledge to really check all these caps: most of times, it's useless when the material has been used and stored in proper conditions. There's many other issues on these machines like bad transistors, wich references are well documented, bad pots, bad connectors and classic belts and lubrification problems . And you also know that a broken connector is another pain in the youknowhat, as you can guess you can spend hours to locate a decent replacement and do the job. And when it comes to this relay board, the nightmare is immediately at hand: a broken board and these suspicious glue stains on the relay base? A tampered relay is a bad sign, a gigantic "oh no!" job. Of course, if the client is rich, you can always replace components, even replace boards and rebuild this stuff using top grade industrial relays with mounts and locking brackets, add reinforcement padding and supportive board system, replace audio path caps with 10$ each special performance iridium plated silk caps... I've also been asked to modify one of these 1970's machine to read 30 IPS tapes: I had to reply they were absolutely not designed to achieve this, even a magician could not transform it in a studio machine from Studer or Otari! I guess the client will limit his losses to use this one as a read only machine (who cares to record on tapes nowadays?). Anyway, it's always interesting how these machines are built, and how they used different head configurations and transport...

[@12voltvids]

The client isn't rich and i will have a tough time getting 100 for the repair.

[@radio-ged4626]

In reely bad condition. Looks like the customer got you taped. Five hours of pain...ouch. I'm not laughing. 😐

[@12voltvids]

I have worked on a few for them. Every time i promise myself I will say no to the next request as they are always more work than initially seem. I would never do a full recap on one if these old units as with all those shitty boards there are so many faults that can be caused pulling them apart to get to them all.

[@crappyatlife]

I have one of these with the spark quenchers going up in smoke, could I make my own with some capacitors and resistors in series, replacement quenchers are ridiculously expensive.

[@12voltvids]

Yes that's all they are. You don't even need the resistor. Just a cap will do.

[@SDsailor7]

@@12voltvids What model is that Fluke that you were using? I want to buy one that is good for electronics. Thank you

[@12voltvids]

@@SDsailor7 fluke 12

[@SDsailor7]

@@12voltvids Thank you, I will look it up. I am watching the video again of the Akai from hell.That thing is so packed with boards and wires yikes!