Making a recording on reel-to-reel!

That's how I make a recording on reel-to-reel tape. Since I have no money for getting brand new tapes, I have to use 60s and 70s tapes that usually need some extra preparation...

[@BroadcastLegacy]

dude you sound like the easyest man to be friends with

[@thallrudedjentstorm1756]

This video is a piece of YT-history.

[@DrCassette]

It is an old video, which somehow has started to gather a lot of views in more recent years :)

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

Ahhh, a gem from KZbin’s golden years

[@DrCassette]

KZbin was such a different place back then...

[@anselb2000]

A lot of people could learn from these basics. Thanks for making the video.

[@hippydippy]

I love seeing youngsters who are into my long time addiction as a 61 year old. Enjoy the Music my friend!

[@kitchentable1362]

hippydippy - I'm in the same interested he is and I'm 13, I love old music and tapes and don't plan to stop :-)

[@clemsonbloke]

I'm glad young people are discovering this fine technology, they just have a lot to learn about it and its proper use.

[@ubuis2996]

I've found one yesterday at the garbage. I'm going to safe it's life! It looks like the on/off switch is broken because that doesn't feel good, so for now it's not doing anything. Let's hope that's all the problems. You motivated me to repair it. You've shown it's worth it. Thanks!

[@lindsaybrown7639]

Works like a dream, cleaned up a heap of my old tapes as they were leaving a lot of oxide behind. Thank you for the information.

[@jannataadani3016]

10 years ago

[@diamonddave45]

I have a AKAI 4-track reel to reel deck that's about 35 years old. Still works great. I record and play back tapes on it quite often.

[@abeleballestri612]

Very nice demonstration and tutorial one,too. I think you would be a good teacher in your future life. Congratulations for the video.

[@berlewi]

Many thanks for your really helpful and informative video!

[@DrCassette]

You are welcome :)

[@joeflanagan354]

Really enjoyed this video as some great tips in it. I have two reel to reel tape recorders and love recording 1960s music on them.

[@wilkes85]

awesome! I don't think many people would think of cleaning the tape itself like that. I want a R2R, but the machines and tape seem to be very hard to find around here. And I like that feature where you can check the levels of what's just been recorded. Every tape deck should have that!

[@djFadeOut122]

@DrCassette thank you! around here, people usually sell their tape recorder, because they used years ago, and then put it up on the attic. when they were cleaning the place up, they found it again and put it on ebay. usually, when you buy those type of machines, you get a pile of tapes with it, because those were the tapes those people used when they used the machine. those machines usually have some problems like grease gone hard, but that is easy to fix with WD40.

[@rexhavens4931]

Wish you would have shown how much dirt was on the towel.

[@DrCassette]

The camcorder most likely would not have captured that very well...

[@DrCassette]

How about uploading some audio related videos yourself before critisizing other people's work?

[@franimal007]

Love it!! I have been making fantastic music on my reel to reel. I discovered by using my DAC and believe it or not iTunes! I set it up to fit music as close to the end of the tape as I can, also adjusting the music to mix in the songs. The DAC makes all the difference as for the quality of the sound. My tapes really have great sound not to mention how cool it is!!! One bit of advise to you is isolate your turntable as I have experienced being able to hear rumble just by using a switch on the reel to reel. Also if you use a sub, turn it off while recording. Thanks for the video! I would like to see people rekindle reel to reels again. I am thinking on doing a video on what to look for when buying old tapes. Many warning signs with used tapes.

[@spannerworks1]

Jonas What a good Idea for cleaning the tapes it never crossed my mind to clean the tape always clean the heads and tape track. I have a lot of BASF tapes as I bought them new in the 70s in Germany. To me they are the very best quality. Warmest regards Richard Great video

[@vinylcity1599]

Glad I found this channel! Fantastic Bach of analog equipment you have there! Sweet! Definitely a new subscriber here!

[@mosesbrowning8055]

I do the same thing. I have also come across squeaky tape and re lubricated the tape with silicone on a soft cloth and no more squeak

[@jonasgustafsson9766]

Squeaky tapes most often suffer from Sticky shed syndrome. Silicone might solve this temporaly but tapes suffering from sss better be baked and the content, if worth saving, transfered to other media / another tape. Ampex, Scotch from the mid 70’s, Sony SLH/ULH, Shamrock etc often suffer from SSS BASF, Maxell, TDK (all eras) and 60’s tapes of all brands are most often free from SSS

[@CoolDudeClem]

Welcome back! I never thought of cleaning the tape as well, but it makes perfect sense. I discoverd that lcd screen cleaner seems to work really well as a head cleaner, seems to work well on vinyl records too, i tried it on a record I didnt mind if it got messed up and afterwards, it ended up looking and sounding like new!

[@29def90]

Nice demonstration video. I was just using my teac A-3300 deck and decided to look it up, which lead me to your video. Cheers!

[@Smith8340]

I really enjoy your videos. I'm a big fan of HiFi, particularly vintage HiFi and valve equipment. It's great to see others with the same interests.

[@Fighthouse154]

Thank you Dr cassette for all the helpful information contained in this video

[@DrCassette]

No. As far as I know, the BASF never used acetate to make their tapes.

[@tillmannschurfeld6702]

Just watched the video right now. Genius!

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Good stuff, man.. I definitely plan to try this soon! I have all the equipment and then some now.. I just need to get some more tape. 😎

[@DrCassette]

Make sure you get some good tape - then you won't need to clean it like I had to in this video...

[@bluenazz]

I was thinking that the cleaning cloth should be very very soft for fear of abrasion on the tape. I think I may try this using my wife's cotton make up pads as they are extremely soft and will not give back lint. Great video!

[@DrCassette]

@TheNewFormula Usually there's just some dust in there. A paint brush and the vacuum cleaner are enough to clean that out :)

[@kas-hifi]

Nice deck, i got a Phillips 4407, and i have a modern atlp60xbt, both units have integrated amp, so i guess i only need rca to din plugs then

[@DrCassette]

Theoretically yes. However, DIN inputs are often too sensitive for RCA audio levels, you may end up with distortion...

[@DrCassette]

That also depends on the machine you are using. To record with auto reverse, the machine needs to have 6 heads. The 4 head machines are only for auto reverse in playback mode.

[@melitosse]

I use to set the levels higher, At the loudest points the needle hits big red but I don't get any saturation, the dynamic is better and there's less noise from the the tape itself.

[@Snuff_Porn]

This was great thank you

[@DrCassette]

@margaretsville Yes, first video since I returned :D It's always different with tapes, maybe your tapes will be working fine, maybe they too need cleaning because of oxide that came off the tape. It's also possible that the air that's sealed in the plastic has turned bad and ruined the tape. Also that has happened before.

[@DrCassette]

@Jallge I forgot to show that in the video... the first time it was absolutely dirty and brown. So cleaning the tape was definitely a good idea.

[@orcams15lf71]

I knew somebody that did that with a cloth. The only thing was, he thought he was wiping off the old music to erase the tape.

[@dylanotto1675]

you need a magnet for that.

[@RumbleFish69]

Fantastic video! You know your stuff, brother! Good stuff, man!

[@DrCassette]

Thank you :)

[@hippa2dahoppa2]

thanks for this video i been recording on a digital recorder since 2003 for music, i found a reel to reel for 125$ at a estate sale that im thinking of buying to toy around with i always wanted a reel 2 reel so itll be mostly for display but seeing this helps me know the basics on how to use it

[@honesty098484]

Dear Sir,I am very thankful for the valuable tips.....

[@DrCassette]

The recording time depends on the reel size, the tape length, the tape thickness (longplay, doubleplay, tripleplay) and the tape speed. I never care for what my recording time is, I just record until the tape ends.

[@DrCassette]

@DeJayPlp Hook the reel-to-reel up to your computer's sound input and record the audio. Then it can go on to a CD.

[@coolbluelights]

I love reel to reel and tapes! I just went to wal mart and they are so modern they don't even carry blank tapes or microcassette recorders anymore. wal mart sucks!

[@LAREXJR]

Like your video Can you make a video on the actual connecting of the reel to reel to the receiver?..thanks

[@DrCassette]

@Interests2009 I had to spray contact spray into the speed selector and into both speed regulators. When I got this record player the speed on it was messed up too.

[@senorverde09]

I bought some really old tapes and thought, "Why would I need to clean the tapes?" So, after playing a tape I looked at my pinch roller and capstan and was in shock to see the amount crap that accumulated on them. So, if the rollers were dirty you could imagine how the heads looked!!

[@iLL.b]

Thanks Mr. Cassette I wanna make my own album, recording with a reel to reel tape machine.

[@DrCassette]

@hifijohn Wrong. There are two head reel to reels as well as single head reel to reels. And if you set the levels while recording the recordings won't come out good.

[@stenbjorklund461]

What is that record!? I had it back in the seventies. Argent? Almost sure it's Argent. Going to fix up my Akai 4000DS so i'm checking a lot of R2R tips right now. Nice vid.

[@DrCassette]

@djFadeOut122 Your video inspired me to make this video :D I do the cleaning only before I record on them. During playback, I have to clean the heads from time to time. A bit annoying, but that's the way it is with these old tapes :) Tapes by Maxell, Scotch and Sony sure are very good, but very expensive. I have one Philips tape, I like the plastic case of those reels, you can have an index just like with a cassette.

[@rareblues78daddy]

Nice video, but you forgot head demagnetizing. Also, the way you're cleaning the tape will actually remove the iron oxide on the tape surface. Make sure not to do that very often. One more thing: It's a good idea to fast forward the tape through side one, then let it play through side two at normal speed to reset the tape in the spool so it is 100% even all the way through.

[@pressureworld1]

Good work Dr. Cassette. I was hurting my head trying to figure out how to record on a reel to reel.

[@sidecarcn]

I spent many years at Radio Netherlands and Deutsche Welle and never heard of having to clean a tape before recording on it. .

[@DrCassette]

Because you had the luxury of brand new studio quality tape - keep in mind I was using some 40 years old consumer grade BASF tape. These types of tape deposit a lot of oxide, so you can only record on the tape after cleaning it - otherwisely you will have a head clog a few minutes into the recording!

[@sidecarcn]

New studio tape? The only time programs would get new studio tape is if the program was going to be archived or if it was a concert being recorded for the transcription service. Most of the BASF DP26 and AGFA PE31, PER525 tapes which were to record the live transmissions and then played back by master control for the different regions. Were so old the labels put on the boxes in many cases were even thicker than the boxes they were kept in. Both at DW and the Wereldomroep would for the most part only use the consumer grade BASF and AGFA tape for daily use. Sometimes we would also get in stock of ORWO tape, because of cost.

[@DrCassette]

Interesting story, but the tapes would have still been almost new or a few years old, rather than being decades old. Try recording on a 1970s BASF DP26 today - it won't be fun ;)

[@sidecarcn]

They were not almost new. At he time I was at DW and RNW in the 90s. We still had tape from the 60s that was being used. The only time the engineers would clean any tape is if it was pulled from the archive, which had been poorly designed and mold became a problem. And they only did this when DW moved from Koln to Bonn. Deutschlandfunk, which was in the next building had an even worse problem. They just dumped the tapes. But if you clean it the way you did. Your not just removing dust, but also magnetic particles. Which will also change the BIAS of the tape and the recording will be awful.

[@DrCassette]

@manyvideoinerests I have used reel-to-reel for one or two years.

[@djFadeOut122]

@DrCassette it's a bit weird that those plastic philips reel-to-reels seem to have no good reel brakes. the reel just keeps spinning when you press stop, and lets the tape fly around, so you had to stop it by hand. on all machines i've got (even ones that wind a lot faster that that philips) the reels stop immediately if you press stop...

[@DrCassette]

@Lachlant1984 The cloth was very dirty on the first turn, it got better at the secornd turn. I don't clean compact cassette tapes. If the tape is dirty, I throw out the cassette, because they are still available new. So why should I mess around with bad old ones :D BASF cassettes are a complicated story... if you have used a japanese made cassette deck with BASF chrome cassettes it wouldn't surprise me at all that you liked TDK better.

[@DrCassette]

@FeCr3 Ja, die alten LGS und die späteren DP Bänder sind wirklich sehr zuverlässig. Laufen nach Reinigung perfekt! Nur scheinen sie nicht für hohe Geschwindigkeiten gemacht worden zu sein. Die meisten werden bei 19cm/s sehr unordentlich aufgewickelt, zumindest auf meinen Maschinen.

[@DrCassette]

@Interests2009 Yes, we do get WD40 here in Germany. But prefer using "Tuner600" by the Kontaktchemie company.

[@DrCassette]

@giammyzanna The lowest price I think is 16€. Those old tapes I usually get for only around 2€!

[@davidcrawford23]

I guess your cleaning method is brand specific. If you had a Teac, Tascam, or some other brands which have a right hand tension arm you'd have to block the arm up before the transport assemble would Forward or Reverse. Without the arm in the engaged position the transport system will not function, on other brands that is. It didn't look like yours has a tension arm.

[@DrCassette]

Correct.

[@runningdeer6935]

Very informative. Thank you. You are too cute.

[@killmore75]

You should put the like button back on this old post because I'm sure it will be up there! Cheers!

[@paulj0557tonehead]

If the added head is offset then you will have to play it back on the same offset deck. The 'sound on sound' decks used separate tape heads for record & playback. The playback head 1st, Record head 2nd. The PLAYBACK head allows you to listen to the recorded material unspooling from the left reel. It passes by the playback head 1st. Followed by the RECORD head. You can record over what you just played ( a split second later as it hits the record). Watch Les Paul: Chasing Sound! "Sound on Sound"

[@16mmDJ]

Good choice of music.

[@RODALCO2007]

Great video tutorial, Thanks for showing.

[@Lachlant1984]

@DrCassette I'm guessing the tapes I used were standard normal position tapes, I don't believe I have any Chrome tapes, and most of the tape decks I used back when i used tapes on a daily basis were usually made in China or Taiwan or Malaysia. Welcome back by the way, did you enjoy your time away?

[@DrCassette]

@GanEdenAustralia DAT recorders are interesting, and very high quality! But as I read in many many places they do break real easily.

[@1marcelfilms]

maybe a tiny modification would be like a holder for a cloth, or a brush or something that automaticly does the job

[@clemsonbloke]

You don't have to clean the heads every time. The reason you're having to do that so much is due to oxide shed from using a tape from the 1960s. If you use brand new tape (yes it can be bought) you would be surprised how great that deck will sound. That is if the deck is running properly and is aligned. You shouldn't let the tape run over a cloth like that, that destroys the tape. It's shedding so much because the tape is old. Get some new tape, problem solved.

[@ifly65]

I knew it was Argent in 5 seconds. Nice and thanks!

[@Lachlant1984]

This is certainly very instructive and interesting. How diety was the cloth when you finished cleaning the tape? Do you have a procedure for cleaning regular compact cassette tape? I've used VASF cassettes in the 90's, I personally didn't like them all that much, I always thought TDK tapes were better, but that's my opinion. Your videos are always vey instructive and inspiring at the same time.

[@jamesavdelis6610]

Nice machine. Maybe I'll clean my old tapes since now that there old. Never had that idea. All I did was just clean my heads & demagnetize them.

[@patrickmalone9380]

Its cool tips taped are expensive but i got brand new one still wrapped in plastic way better

[@user-dv5yt9yc9x]

And if you also scroll the tape twice for recording without a signal, then you will get more than 6 dB drop in the tape noise level.))

[@vaniofelipe5703]

Really helpful man! Thanks

[@DrCassette]

That really depends on the machine you are using. On the very good ones, there is almost no difference at all.

[@kennynvake4hve584]

Wow a face to that fine voice you have...I did not match you with what I thought you would look like. Just being kind to ya...thanks for all the great videos.....

[@hennessy4666]

When tapes get old enought, especially poor quality ones, they start to loose their magnetic layer, i understand u can clean them with your method but that is în vane, they Will never be the same as they were, because u just cannot replace that layer...... It is nonsense to lose Time and record a tape, and then u find out sound is weak or no treble.... Belive me i done that stupidity

[@jonasgustafsson9766]

To do this to shedding tapes are useless but all tapes, especially open reels, get dusty. All is not oxide. Tapes can also get dusty and get deposits on them just from being used. The shown method prevents dropouts due to dirt and dust when using quality tape.

[@The1970sInfatuate]

I like the Pioneer RT-707 model. It actually has 4 heads, and I found a lot of specifications about it. The frequency response at 7-1/2 is supposedly 28,000 Hz and even at 3-1/2 it is still an impressive 20,000 Hz. It didn't say the frequency response at 1-7/8, but I would think 3-3/4 is a good enough speed that should give you long durations of recording time. Also, how do you record on both sides? Do you use the auto reverse feature, or do you flip the reels to the other side?

[@vonclohk507]

Awesome love it! I'm tired of digital. I dig your accent , where are you from?

[@DrCassette]

I am from Germany.

[@DrCassette]

@djFadeOut122 That's right, the brakes are no good at all. Like all the rest of the machine those were made of plastic!

[@EddieJazzFan]

Nice information. I actually have some old but still sealed unused BASF reel tape. Do you think it will have the same problem as your old tapes? Is this your first video since you came back from travel? Welcome Back !

[@alcoholisfreedrink]

wow so many cassettes

[@DrCassette]

Any soft piece of cloth will work.

[@DrCassette]

Didn't I mention cleaning heads in the video? Demagnetizing is overrated. I never do it. I am from Germany.

[@vitorjunior2023]

Nice Video. But answer a question of mine. Is this tape made of acetate?. I´ve noticed in the end of the cleaning it have the mix of brown/orange colour. If so, why it did not suffered from vynegar syndrome? The tape breaks or worn very badly, and the smell of vynegar (hence the name). Thankx

[@The1970sInfatuate]

Okay, that makes sense. How much does the fidelity and frequency response decrease when recording at 3 and 3/4 rather than at 7 and 1/2 inches per second?

[@wilkes85]

@coolbluelights You should check out the dollar store. The one i went to had them for $1.00 each!

[@renheitman]

Extremely informative! About to try this for the very first time and this video covered everything I needed to know. Thank you! Random question though….if you happen to record a couple of songs and they don’t sound very good. Is it ok to rewind the tape and try again? Or should you limit the recording information that you are putting onto the blank tape?

[@DrCassette]

Yes, you absolutely can rewind and try again, the recorder will erase the old recordings while making the new recording. It takes many passes until a tape wears out.

[@renheitman]

@@DrCassette thank you! I appreciate the response. Have you noticed a sound quality difference between recording at different speeds/ips?

[@DrCassette]

@@renheitman Yes, it is a simple rule: The faster the speed, the better the sound quality and the lower the background noise. The tradeoff is of course the reduced play time.

[@renheitman]

@@DrCassette Thank you! Any tips on setting recording levels?

[@mrtunes3211]

Hello, And thankyou for the information, on cleaning reel to reel tapes. I was wondering if the same principle would appy, to cleaning a tape that has already been recorded, with music selections, that you like. Or if cleaning a tape in this manner, that has already been recorded, would reduce the sound quality of the tape? thankyou

[@georgethomas9436]

Hello Dr. I enjoy your informative postings. I have a lot of BASF PR35 I do the same thing as you. Clean them in FF.

[@koritz123]

What about 3% hydrogen peroxide on a cloth and clean the tapes with that. I read that TAPEHEADS says that is the only liquid cleaner they approve of? I believe they were referring to moldy tapes but wouldn't this be good for general purpose cleaning?

[@SkewEyedRecords]

How do you set up? I mean what are the connections you make? Turntable to reel to reel?

[@DrCassette]

The record player must be connected to a phono preamplifier. In this case, it was the built-in phono preamplifier of my Onkyo receiver. The line out (or record out) connection of the receiver / amplifier is then connected to the line input of the reel to reel.

[@SkewEyedRecords]

DrCassette thanx! I just suscribe!!

[@hifijohn]

since its a 3 head deck (as all r to r decks are) why put it in rec/pause just monitor the input to set the levels.

[@djFadeOut122]

strange way of making a recording...funny enough i uploaded a video about making a recording too! i hate tapes that pass off a lot of dirt of dust...i know what you mean, old basf tapes usually give powder that gunks up the heads (nasty brown junk). cleaning it the way you did gets the dust of for a bit, but it will soon come back... i use second hand tapes by maxell, scotch, philips or sony. if they are not sticky or having tons of drop-outs those are very fine to work with.

[@DrCassette]

That number is the tape length in inches.

[@The1970sInfatuate]

What is the general rule of thumb for doing that? I always see numbers in the thousands on blank reel to reel tapes. What does that high number represent?

[@FeCr3]

Genau so reinige ich meine Bänder auch! Das geht aber leider nur mit Bändern die nicht schmieren.Bei Bändern die Schmieren kann man reinigen bis nur noch die Trägerfolie da ist :-(((. Aber diese ganz alten BASF( meist LGS ) lassen sich ganz gut reinigen und klingen auf 19cm/s und ner ordentlichen Maschine wirklich nicht übel!

[@DrCassette]

Teac, Akai, Revox... there are many good ones. Better don't go with Sony r2rs, those seem to have lots of problems.

[@Wolfythereviewer]

Would using a static-free or reducing electrical cloth reduce the static generation? I'm looking into analog recording and unfortunately I'm stuck with old tape.

[@DrCassette]

Make a test run with one of your old tapes. If they are not BASF tapes, there is a chance you can use them without cleaning them first.

[@DrCassette]

Theoretically it is possible, but it would be a lot of work and require a good workshop and a lot of knowledge.