Reel-to-Reel Basics

Chris takes us through the setup up of the average reel-to-reel, the science of how they record, and shows what to look for if you find one for sale.

[@dokbob5795]

This man deserves a medal. No blaring music, just gave us the facts man, just the facts. This is what information videos aught to be. I enjoyed it.

[@tomagnello7219]

Dok Bob more. Teac a3340

[@thekeyiswater]

Explain exactly specifically to stupid people! :))

[@NiekEdeling]

And.. a lot of love for his subject!

[@kennethkwkw]

i'm a a late 40's baby, this is the first time hearing this subject explained that any layman understands it. great job!!

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Thank you! :) I'm sincerely glad you enjoyed it!

[@Thatguyy7439]

Ok, whoever cut away and did the animated whiteboard...freakin genius. Just had to say that.

[@Degenerate_Gen]

even matched the line speed with the squeeks

[@borayurt66]

I wonder if they planned that animation or they just had to do it because the guy just couldn't draw? :-)

[@searchiemusic]

@@borayurt66 entirely that

[@waltermajor779]

Instablaster

[@officespace123]

This is brilliant - you manage to include a huge amount of information in an easy to understand way, without feeling like things are being dumbed down or skipped - thanks for taking the time to do this

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching! :)

[@Cookefan59]

This is so cute. I am a child of the 60s I remember when this particular model was first introduced to the public. Us recording and sound reinforcement folks almost lost our minds! We literally drooled over the counters where this thing was sold as well as the Akai and even the consumer Pioneer RTR but they TEAC was king. If you were lucky enough to get a TASCAM multichannel mixer, you were king of the hill. This particular model was a god damned work horse that never failed. It was great for live and studio recording. It’s still as sexy and futuristic looking as when it first came out. This is an EXCELLENT breakdown for the lil kiddies out there although I have to admit it’s like watching someone teaching how to tie your wittle shoes. 😂 He did EXCELLENT JOB! The graphics are EXCELLENT and I even learned something. What a lovely time I had watching this. One thing I wished he mentioned was that we used to take a two channel stereo machine and use a piece of photographic negative film over the erase head and re-record with a known 0.5 second or so delay and overdub like that. Ahhhhh those were the good old days. I like digital but it just doesn’t have the dynamic range and warmth of the analog stuff unless you’re at the highest rates. GREAT VIDEO! Cheers!

[@KyleBevis-u7j]

I'm only just getting into reel to reel and this was so so helpful. This guy's enthusiasm is infectious. 10/10

[@phowable]

This is fantastic. Thank you, Chris, for explaining and preserving a dying art form. Love that Analog.

[@PlagueRat-]

This is so valuable to me right now! Thank you so much. Family member passed away and has 4 of these things on mint condition wrapped in plastic, and I need to know what I’m looking at. Thank you for making this!

[@johnrulli56]

Thank you so very much for all the info and knowledge you are sharing. After playing bass for over 45 years, I am finally putting together my vintage recording studio complete with the Teac 3340s . I am new to recording, And you were making it all happen thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge

[@jbe162]

This is different from digital...."This has Soul"! luv it Man!

[@AwesomeRobot15]

From this one video, I've learned more about something I'm actually interested in than I have in the last 9 years of school. Thanks for making this :)

[@marcusdolby1]

+AwesomeRobot15 Let me guess........ Full Sail?

[@electr0arc]

+marcusdolby1 that would be infering that he is in the 9th or 10th grade. aka not college or university

[@John-of5sh]

Today is 12/15/2019 making this video 7+ years old. And it is just as informative today as it was 7+ years ago when it was posted! Thank you so much for devoting your time, patience, and intellect! I have a reel to reel on the way so this video is exactly what I needed! One more time-THANK YOU, SIR!!!

[@ivanvdk4902]

Being a teacher myself I must congratulate you for the way you’re explaining this analog stuff. I own 2Revox A77, 4 and 2 track and they are a part of my musical life. Never would sell them. Once grown up analog, always analog. Well done Chris. You’re one of the perfect teachers here on You tube. Your didactic approach invites people to learn more about the past. Keep on doing this way of teaching. Belgian greetings !

[@ghazalinternationalnorway6369]

Plz. Contact me Ivan as I have 1/4 inch tape with recorded project. Want to convert to digital st. Regards John

[@rolandg3567]

This is one of the best and informative youtube videos I've ever seen!!! Very well done Chris. Thank you.

[@rEdf196]

I was a teenager in the late 70's and early 80's . I remember regularly checking out the many record. music and stereo stores of the period. there were many reel to reel sets,many over $1000 dollars, they were the Cadillac's of audio play and recording back then, until the arrival of the much hyped compact disc player which quickly overtook the reel 2 reel. When I was playing in rock bands in the 80's and 90's, I worked with a few Fostex 15 ips 8 track reel to reels They were alot of fun These days I have a real time analog to digital CD burner and a pocket high density digital recorder with condenser mic's and computer recorder for my recording needs but its still cool to see these classic 70's reel 2 reel players in action they were the dream recording gadgets of my teenage years.

[@SholaBaby]

Mine too... I grew up in the 70's just like you Bro. and I have always been loving them. Their low frequency renditions (the bass) always pumped out with some heavy punch effect when played with one of those nasty stereo amplifiers of those days which were way beyond these days so called 5+1 receivers or what have you. The bass were always very neat, tight and controlled. Just really cool indeed. :D

[@thewii552]

"It's not a brick wall, it's a big soft mattress of happy" Made my day haha.

[@Pendentive]

I just received a mint condition Teac A-3340S with Metal 10 in tape from my dad. Everything works and his been in storage for its entire life. This video truly helped me understand how to work this machine. Thank you.

[@325iaddict]

I just used an Uher Report Monitor 4200 2-track 5" reel-to-reel machine to record the birds in Sweden at a camp site, without any roads in proximity(!) Results were awesome! Just using the original Uher M518A microphones with the odd 8-pole DIN plug and BASF Audio Professional DP26 FE LH double play tapes. It's so much fun I'll do this more often! The recorder will run 8+ hours on five NiCd 4,5Ah D-cells which gives me plenty of run time. I even have the original NiCd block battery which still has over 90% of its capacity... good old quality!

[@eugenewulf93]

I just scored a mint Akai m8 today. This has been the best vid I've seen so far.

[@eugent]

I just got my very first reel to reel machine after being in audio hobby and restoration for almost 20 years. It happened to be Teac A-4430S. Dude, you are awesome. Your level of explanation is so simple and detailed, I only had to watch the video once. THANK YOU.

[@pfr4tech]

Excellent instructional, informational video! I have an old reel-to-reel and I wanted to learn more about it and how to thread it. I learned so much about how the technology evolved - I'm also a geek so I found it so very interesting! This is one of the BEST informational videos I have seen on KZbin!

[@masterman724]

"A long, long time ago, you know like the 90's" Chris you definitely make me feel old. You have done a sterling job in presenting this tutorial, well done sir.

[@adaboy4z]

I remember dad laying on the living room floor on Saturdays in the early 80's listening to his Pioneer RTR that he bought while in the army in the 70's. I now have to RTR an Akai GX4000D and Teach A4010s. Love the analog sound.

[@betetet]

Wow! This is amazing! The first time I'm understanding. Most people don't know this information. Just enough to know what they want to hear and that's it. THANK YOU!

[@nicolaterraroli]

2024 and it still the best video on tapes on youtube

[@andyrichards7623]

Brilliant refresher for people going back to a retro setup....

[@magicspiral3323]

A colleague recommend me to a guy selling a tape machine because he knows I’m into analog recording. When the guy opened the trunk, I couldn’t help but think of this video when I saw the same exact Teac model. The seller said it’d been sitting around for 30 years, so I knew it would need to be serviced. I took it home and found the pinch roller was gummy and two channels weren’t working properly. I found a local guy who services these, so hopefully we can get her in good recording condition and make some music with it! Thanks for the video, I learned a lot about reel to reel machines and eventually put together an analog studio that we do video tutorials on.

[@nooneimportant77]

my tape story: was into music for a long time, played some instruments. played with a few "bands". my dad said he had a cassette deck in the basement, and it turned out to be a really nice portastudio. with like 12 faders, even some bussing options. I recorded on that for years, now it's all in the DAW. Thanks for finally wrapping how tape works around my head. Also- excellent animations, some of the best I've seen on here, and THAT's what i do for a living!

[@godfreypoon5148]

I have 6 machines. I don't know how this happened. Please help.

[@drspaseebo410]

Have no fear! At the height of my collecting, I had THIRTEEN reel-to-reel tape recorders including Grundig (4 different), Stellaphone, Telefunken, Elizabethan, Tandberg, Philips (2 different), Sony, Uher, and Ferrograph.

[@nichtimmer9134]

Me to! But more and big ones ;) ...love thay 16track maschines!!! Or tube tabe maschines! Good gear for rec. ;)

[@Cookefan59]

Godfrey Poon you’re a beast. Nothing wrong with that at all!

[@michaeledwards1172]

I think they breed in the dark.

[@harrybeugelink6401]

Me too, six Akai recorders and one very old tubu mono two track recorder.

[@ericdupont1326]

Thank you very much for your lesson ! All that takes me to my childhood when in 62 ( ? ) my father bought one BASF ; a second one two years later ; so we could record ( 9.5 cm/s - 15 cm diameter reels ) Radio Caroline ( from North Sea ) ; later in the 60's came the Grundig TK 146 and the Philips N4308 to replace the firsts tape recorders ( and came one DUAL stereo hifi set ) , as well as in 70 came the TK 1400 ( portable / report ) for holidays/camping . I began to work and have money in 1973 so I was dreaming of one Tandberg tape recorder ( said to be very high quality ) , but I went in 76 in the new chromium-oxyde cassettes ............I was much more with the LP's ( 33 rpm - vinyl ) on my own Hi-Fi set at home . After my father passed , I was given the Grundig TK1400 ( still working very fine in 2016 ! ) , one TK147automatic , one TK 547 and one SABA TG 674 with a lot of reels and tapes . One Philips and one Telefunken went to my elder brother . Last year one uncle passed ( teatcher in electronics ) and it was gave to me its Grundig TK46 ( 50's old fashion looking ! ) We are 50 Hz - 220 V or now 230 V -> 240 V AC here in Europe / France Tapes recorders ........... : one Era ! ......................... éric : great fan of Minidiscs

[@haydendoan7691]

One of the best KZbin tutorial videos! The materials, preparations, presentation, and animations are really well done! Thank you.

[@trek0024able]

You did a wonderful job of describing it all. I'm sure that many people have been brought out of the dark. I learned all that you presented a long time ago, and on a very similar machine. But the refresher course wasn't a waste of time. Thanks again for your presentation.

[@mddg98]

I was recently given my uncles collection of 100's of reels and a player, This is a fantastic video that will help immensely..Thanks so much

[@johnjones5676]

I grew up in a house with a reel to reel player, and it was the medium that I was exposed to classic rock on. A few weeks ago, I found a curbside Teac and plopped it in the trunk quickly, only to discover it had a gooey belt that needed replacing. $11 and a few days later, the belt arrived and was replaced (after cleaning the black goo mess). It works now, and my dad handed me some of the recordings I so fondly remember. Man, reliving the nostalgia of that era was worth every bit of the $11 and the time I spent getting the pinch rollers cleaned up and moving freely again after who knows how many years it sat like that. And I got a working X-2000R for nothing. If they knew it was that easy, they probably would have done it themselves. One man's trash is another man's R2R. Lucky me, for once.

[@RayManhattan]

Really cool video. I took classes about 15 years ago on 2inch studers. Never used a single reel to reel after that till now. I just bought a 707 and ready to transfer some new music to tape and show it off to my friends. Thanks

[@SirhcMezz]

Honestly by far the best video i've seen explaining reel to reel! You sir are very enjoyable to listen to and also very informative. BIG THANKS!!!

[@justindigigard]

Excellent video of reel to reel basics. I'm planning to purchase a reel to reel system as I have recordings back in the 80's so I needed this to get me up to speed. Plan to do a number of reviews as there is a lot here to digest. Thank you Chris for taking the time to do this!

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Thank you sir! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it. There's a lot more videos coming in this genre in the near future. I've got a half dozen reel to reels and we're going to do a deep dive in stuff like this.

[@tbollinger63]

Thank you so much for this. I knew bits and parts, but I realized how much I was missing to get the whole picture. Now gotta play with my A77. I appreciate this video and all the effort to make this possible very much.

[@FUnKNUg]

I am a veteran daw engineer and I have an interest in analog so I found a good deal on an ATR 80. This video really solidified what i thought I knew about analog recording. thank you.

[@jmflyer55]

Great video and explanation. I'm old enough to remember when getting a reel to reel in your home stereo system was the very top of the line for audio quality. I had my first one in 1981 after saving for what seemed like forever to buy it. All joking aside, reel to reel audio quality is probably better than most younger people think it is. It can give a very true representation of music, especially in the low HZ freq. that are true to the master recordings, some feel much better than digital. In fact, I just saw something where reel to reel is making a "slight" comeback in the audiophile world, where some new decks are upward of $10,000.00 dollars now and even more! Wow... Thanks again, great video! JM

[@qlyde]

Bless your soul man! Bringing this knowledge to a new generation, just waiting on my first reel to reel right now for my studio, can’t wait to send some productions through it! Thanks for this 🙏🏼

[@gunnarMyTube]

This isn´t obsolete. I just got my first TEAC 3340S on its way in the mail and we´re talking 2017. I watched your basic lesson. I spent a decade in front of a reel-to-reel in the 70s but never the higher end 10 inch machines. So good to see you operate the 3340, it prepared me for the upcoming ride.

[@normbal]

So glad I found this. I'm a very visual learner (former Army medic: see one, do one, teach one). This helped immensely as a refresher for the basics before I start digging into rebuilding and using a Revox A77 MkIII I just got. Look forward to watching more of your videos.

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Thank you! I'm so glad you're here :) There's a whole series of Reel-to-reel and analogue recording videos coming out in the next year. :) I hope you enjoy them, have a laugh, and learn a thing or two along the way. :)

[@deanmendolera6905]

Thanks a lot, the diagram and visuals breaking down the analog to digital conversion was perfect.

[@underthehinttree7898]

I love this video so much and got a TEAC S 3340 because of it. It's really a wonderful machine. This dude's enthusiasm is infectious.

[@PuffyRainbowCloud]

It was a pleasure to see a person who is honest about why analogue media is popular and good: it's fun and it has "soul", as you put it. The potential quality isn't nearly as good as digital and precision is difficult and off, but analogue media is nowadays for entertainment, it's no longer all we have and therefore the best (only) option.

[@mikeshores8318]

Absolutly great video. Anyone should be able to follow & understand the material. This information is exactly the tutorial we need. No background music to distract. Many thanks

[@martineley1]

I have a shed full of Reel to Reels, Wire Recorders, Cassette multitrack, DATs, ADATs and early DAWs such as Soundscape and Paris etc. TEAC, Tascam, Revox, Fostex, Webster etc. Big restoration job. Great to get a clear and concise explanation of the physics!

[@samscott54]

Love Love Love my 3340s still have a teac mix down panel from 1978 to use with it Started on a 60's Sony 2 track still have it - The 3340s was a dream working great

[@marcosmontes7322]

So far the best reel to reel video, now a have a good comfort level to go look at this teac and know what I’m looking for so I don’t get into a project purchase, thank you so much

[@Daniel-pu9fi]

What a great production value this video has. So informative, to the point... And the animations!

[@kylealigood1724]

Thank you so much for this video, Chris. I'm a digital-child, so the most experience I've ever had with tape was the cassette deck in my Mom's Taurus back in the early 90's. I haven't seen many videos about reel-to-recording that are as informative as yours. It was also refreshing to see the passion you have for your craft. Most of the reel-to-reel videos I see are vague and showboat-y. Not the case with yours at all. I laughed, I learned (A TON), I liked, I subscribed, and I look forward to sifting through your catalog of videos to learn more. Thank you a million times over.

[@MMzblast]

Subscribed! I queried and indirectly related search on google and lo and behold you broke down nearly my own Teac A-2340R and have recounted the context and history of recording. One of the best videos I have seen! Thank you!

[@BootleggerPhil]

A great job explaining a fundamental and important aspect of audio technology.

[@MrKyoruiko]

Thanks for doing this! A friend was gifted a working TEAC 80-8, Model 5 Mixer (with a companion module that has like 8 more channel strips) plus the noise reduction module. He moved and decided to gift it to me! But I had no idea how to actually use it. This video helped a lot.

[@waynemunzy9133]

I've had a 3340s for 45 years and still learned something from this. Thanks!

[@ldifalco2010]

This is a really nice video. While very few will actually record in this way today, it gives great insight into where we are in the digital recording world in present day. The basic concepts of multi track, historically illustrated in this video, are concepts still used today in digital audio work station software.

[@PeteRivera-o9c]

Making this comment 5 years after your posting. Today many "real" musicians are going back to tape. They have realized the quality of the sound that tape captures that is unobtainable with digital. If all your going to do is put some samplings together and call it music digital is fine. But tape has a quality and warmth of sound that can't be beat! BTW, new state of the art decks are now being manufactured by the top brands around the world. Also, the manufacturing of the tapes has been improved tremendously which adds to the improvement of the sound quality. Like vinyl records, what was once old is again new.

[@D_M_Wolfe]

I have never seen anyone explain the technology on how a tape works like Chris on this video. I loved it! I used to have an AKAI M-8 Reel-to-Reel my uncle gave me. I loved every moment I was using it. Unfortunately one time I was recording with a friend and accidentally hit the capstan with his guitar headstock and was pretty much all downhill from there. Thanks Chris for this very educational video. I might have to go and get me another Reel-to-Reel now :)

[@patmancrowley8509]

I purchased a Teac 2340-RS 4-channel tape deck new back in 1977. I still have it. When I was recording way back when I would try to keep the needles from pegging up into the red zone. I didn't care for the very mild distortion associated with it but it was unavoidable. Analog recordings weren't "base-lined" and things like crossing into the red zone were quite common. I preferred to keep my needles average around the "2," or 80%, level. This caused a lot of red lining but as I said before it was unavoidable. I preferred the higher power output from the tape deck. FYI: I had it hooked up to a Teac six channel mixer and a Sansui QRX-9001 quadraphonic amp. The amp went out late last year (2019) so I'm looking to get it repaired, if possible.

[@christopherturner2479]

Great informative video, i started recording sounds as a teen 50 yrs ago i was lent two ferrographs it was brilliant fun sending sounds back and forth adding new sounds each time next 1979 same person took back ferographs but sold me teac A108 simulsync cassette deck, wow i wore it out but out came Tascam 144 now we are Rocking next tascam 244 next fostex reel to reel r8 trk it's now getting really interesting and like a Dream come true 1986 jump 38 yrs now i went digital with some very expensive equipment spending thousands but because i retired from going to work ive gone back over hundreds of recordings on many formats to 1980 listening to early cassette songs and it's like you've met your 1st love again , The Art of tape recording and all it entails what a love affair it was beautiful moments captured vintage synth sounds , ive had to buy back and fix a A108 244 a yamaha mtx8 Tascam 424 mk1 and others so to re live those mostly forgotten moments. But now i want to go back to recording the old way ! Thank you for your inspirational KZbin videos ❤

[@RetroGamerVX]

As somebody who has finally found one of these after wanting one for so long, this video has been very informative in the technology and use, thanks very much :o)

[@dasboot5833]

Thank you so much Mr. Chris Bowden :o)) Even if English is my FOUR language, and I learned it as the last one in my package, I could easily understand almost EVERYTHING you just said about that analog Real~2~Real deck. Definitely ... analog recording has a SOUL, maybe because of its amazing DYNAMIC RANGE available for Hi-Fi recordings at the higher speed. >> Thank you for producing this particular video, about real-to-real analog tape recorders, and the analog technology of recording from the start. Before I left Europe, I had a pretty good quality 4-track real~2~real machine, made in Poland (former ZRK Kasprzak), with 7.5 cm/sec. and 19.5 cm/sec speed availability, and big wheels. The DYNAMIC range on the higher speed was just EXCELLENT, not even comparable to the some vinyl records on the market. The real problem that time in communist Poland, were the blank real2real tapes availability to buy to the regular citizen. You could buy them paying by American Dollars dollars in the special government controlled stores called "Pewex" or on the black market, but ..... who could afford that making max. $25 per month (of being paid by the commie government in previous Polish currency that time). There was no way to do that on regular basis. Group of your friends could gather together,, to buy for you the blank tape, for example "Maxwell", "BASF", or "Scotch" real2real tape, as a Birthday Gift. WoW !!!! That was really something at that times in the 80's of XX century. A good memories !!!! Here in Canada, only the good friend of my, he was a lucky bastard, of buying, on E-bay a real~2~real "AKAI" Japanese made .... a very good recording deck for reasonable price, and also in the mint condition. I am really jealous .... 'cause I can not afford that. Maybe .... one fine day, when I am gonna win 6x49 Lottery right coupon :o)) Amen.

[@audioengine9627]

This is a really good video. so bloody damn well explained. Didn’t have to rewind or fast forward. Got it all in one take! Thank you!

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@hunterofliars9600]

Thank you so much for teaching us so much. I grew up in the 60s and my Dad owned an Akat X300 with 15 ips speed and later a Revox A77. I always found tape sound recording fascinating but your lecture is superb Thank you so much.

[@PeteRivera-o9c]

Making this comment 11 years later. Today many "real" musicians are going back to tape. They have realized the quality of the sound that tape captures that is unobtainable with digital. If all your going to do is put some samplings together and call it music digital is fine. But tape has a quality and warmth of sound that can't be beat! BTW, new state of the art decks are now being manufactured by the top brands around the world. Also, the manufacturing of the tape itself has been improved tremendously which adds to the improvement of the sound quality and shelf life. Like vinyl records, what was once old is again new.

[@ArcadeDude44]

Thanks so much for this awesome info! I've always wanted to learn more about this mysterious medium! I vaguely recall playing around with a toy one of these when I was very young (early 70's), but I've never really worked with a professional or even mid-level consumer deck. I AM aware however of their possible sonic attributes, as many of the high-end (2.1 or even 2-channel million dollar systems displayed in Venition Resort Suites during CES) systems used reel-to-reel decks as their sources. Others used vinyl (none used CD or other digital sources). The sound of these amazing systems literally brought tears to my eyes!

[@robertbrumbaugh4634]

Great explanation! I have been recording since 1962 and I enjoyed your digital drawings on the board. I even learned a few things I didn't know., especially about 4-channel recorders. I am looking forward to seeing your other videos The best recorder I have had is a Tandberg 64X which I purchased in 1968 for a months' pay ($600). It has separate record and playback heads which allow sound-on-sound or sound with sound recording. These features you mentioned with the 4-channel machine you demonstrated. Again, fantastic video.

[@Kaminskip]

Love the production quality of the newer videos Chris! They look fantastic :) The animations are brilliant.

[@michaelkopitin]

Great video!!!!! Thanks a lot. Will watch the others, now I'm in process of trying Fostex A-8 reel to reel recorder.

[@dsvideoWashington]

Good luck. 8 tracks on 1/4" tape.

[@alessiomagenta]

Thank you Chris Boden and all the Crew

[@kipb2078]

Just bought my first at a garage sale today, this information has helped tremendously , thank you

[@craigmonteforte1478]

thankyou very much for posting all of this information and putting it in a way us non Electrical Engineers can understand the one comment i thought was spot on was our ears are Analog ! i’m 55 years old and i think it’s funny that today’s twenty something year olds are now “discovering some of our old equipment and talking about how great it sounds i kind of laugh as my 27 year old talks like he and his friends discovered something i didn’t know about years before they were born i am looking at buying my first reel to reel player/recorder

[@ssrobw]

I very much enjoyed your video here Chris. Well done! Threading the tape the way you showed is very easy and very useful. I can't thank you enough. No more ruined tape leads, YEAH!!

[@bsko3D]

my god, I grew up with this stuff, I adore analog machines, just look how smart this all was done, how logical, intelligent, the wooden casing, metal, weighs a ton , magnets that magnetize metallic dust on a freaking tape, so even when you didn't have the speakers on, you could still hear the recording, just wow.

[@skyliu846]

This video was awesome. I've never seen such a great video. Thank you, Chris!

[@kennethfingleton4794]

My father bought a tape recorder in 1956 and it eventually made its way into my car. With a horn speaker in the grill I could play sound effects at the car hops at Big Boy. You do well at making a live video.

[@olfoggy4889]

If I could give you two thumbs up I would. This is my first time watching your channel and you just blew my mind. I'm no stranger to r2r but I still learned something. You rock.

[@TonyP9279]

Nice demonstration! Yes, cassette tapes run at 1 7/8 ips (or 4.8 cm/s); however, if I recall correctly, unlike reel-reel & 8-tracks, cassette tapes have the L & R tracks adjacent to each other per side. The reason is for backwards compatibility with mono tape recorders that have one coil in the record/playback head that scans over both tracks.

[@GTI1dasOriginal]

Nice Deck, clear explaination. ;) I've got an AKAI GX 630D/PRO/ For those who don't know what that is, it's a 2-Track stereo Reel to Reel Recorder. It plays one way only, has (as stated above) 2 Tracks on a 0.25 inch tape. So the width per track is twice as wide as the Teac, therefore the recorded signal per channel (Left & Right) has more "room" on the tape. Downside is that it can't be used for mixing, upside is it's (in my opinion) awesome soundquality.

[@jdubbs9655]

My palate and veracious appetite has been re-ignited for analogue. Thank you for the thorough offerings and helping me reconnect to the soul of my sonic journey. I am back home. ;-)

[@alextotheroh8071]

Just what the doctor ordered. Thank you sir!

[@geraldnichols2722]

Music fans like myself were excited back in the 60's or 70's when the Japanese began producing tape recorders that would reproduce sound that was pleasing to the ear. Before that, only professional sound engineers had equipment that could do that. I bought an AKAI reel to reel while stationed O'seas and got it "duty free" as a serviceman. Subsequently I owned 4 or 5 AKAI recorders and used them in my musical practice. It is argued today whether the analog recorders of the past were better sound reproducers than the digital equipment used today. I now use DAT and CD-R and CDRW to record and playback. The latest is MP-3 and IPOD etc. I haven't gotten into that as yet. :)

[@brendanwalsh108]

I actually bought one of these new in '78. Cutting edge and great fun.

[@maxigabime5308]

Hi man, here in Argentina the garage sales doesn't exist! To buy one of these you've got to spend a lot! but this is just awesome, thanks por such a beatiful video, I enjoy learning what is this all about. greetings from Argentina!!

[@thomass.larsen8507]

Perfect video! thanks so much for this one. Just tot a Otari MX 5050 Biii-2 of my dad that he had been laying arround over the years. Now its studio time for this baby!

[@connorcraven9671]

My man is so clearly pumped this whole time and so clearly overjoyed to be talking about this

[@ChancySquire]

Great video!!! Exactly how we recorded all our songs in the beginning - and it still sounds good. So much people like the reel-to-reel-sound even today! The analog world is still popular - even if we have apple macs today ... each ear is still analog ;o))

[@SholaBaby]

Absolutely. Our ears frequency response to sound weren't designed to hear digital sounds. Natural sounds are totally analog based and biased.

[@rty1955]

My dad was a professional recording engineer since the 30s so i grew up with professional anakog audio systems at home. Professional gear is soooooo much better than consumer equipment. I still have my fathers professional AMPEX Model 600. Which was a mono recorder with NO guard band heads for super quality sound. He later had an AMPEX AG-440 (which I still have) as a child I knew so much about these machines. My dad was hired by one of the inventors of television and was in charge of all the technicians. When video tape was invented, my mind was a sponge for knowledge of these machines. If you think recording simple audio bandwidth of 20khz, imagine developing a machine that was capable of recording a 6MHz bandwidth!!! I now restore broadcast video tape machines that weight 2,000lbs each!! As a person who was born with oxide in my blood, and now restores broadcast audio & video tape machines, I would like to correct a few inaccuracies in this video. First lets begin by the erase head. Magnetic particles need to be coerced into moving on tape. This is where tape bias frequency & level is applied to the tape. This sets the magnetic particles into alignment on the tape. A bias freqiency is typical 3x that of the highest audio frequencies to be recorded. Typically in audio this bias is about 100khz. Moving onto the record head: the amplified audio signal is mixed with the bias to coerce the magnetic particles on the tape to represent the audio signal. On playback head signal is preamped to line level which is about +4dbu in professional equipment and -10dbv in consumer equipment. Also a mic applied to the input must be preamped prior to be combined with the bias voltage/frequency. A line level input is usually sufficient to be mixed with bias, but most audio recorders usually have a small gain adjustable amp to set proper record levels Your identification of tracks on tape need clarification: On 1/4 tape there were a few configurations: 1. Full track mono - no guard band. This is a professional format. (Most tape formats had a guard band, which is space on the tape where no recording can happen. This is to allow for bad tape head alignment. Any tape that uses more than mono, has a guard band 2. Full track mono w/guard band 3. 2 track one direction, usually a mastering recorder 4. 2 track bidirectional (sometimes called 4 track, but this is misleading) this is typical of consumer equipment. 5. 4 track one direction. This is the entry into multi-track recording. Lets talk tape speeds. The faster the tape moves ober the head the better the bandwidth or frequency response of a recording. This is called tape write speed. Since the head has a finite gap, the only way to increase its quality is to move tape faster. The highest tape speed on audio I saw was 45ips, the slowest was 15/16ips. With high tape speed comes with a huge cost of tape consumption. Normally mastering will be done at 30ips. Since video requires MUCH more bandwidth (6Mhz v. 20Khz) the write speed needs to be super fast roughly 240ips. Clearly this would not work, so AMPEX invented moving heads that rotated 14,000 rpm on air bearings and recorded video thay was transverse to the tape! This mean the tape could now move along at 15ips and 90 min could be recorded on a 14" reel of tape. Brilliant engineering! The 2" video tape machine incorporated several servo mechanisms as well. Its quit a complex machine!

[@jhenrykline]

I'm just starting with reel to reel. I recently got a Roberts 1725 that also has a built in 8-track deck. I got it for the awesome price of free when I helped my stepfather clear out his garage.

[@im-bb4fn]

Never seen a better tutorial in my entire life. No kidding, great job.

[@ChristianDavenport-fw5bh]

Just what I needed. I just bought a Panasonic RS 755S and needed some basics. I used Reel to Reel in late 70s for my Radio days and now Im getting back to my playing music on tape. I needed a reboot and this was great. I doubt Ill ever record anything, but I will definitely look for music (and maybe PSAs) to listen to. Thanks Chris, it was a very useful watch. Since this video wat 11 years ago, is there anything new or different?

[@dam097]

I got a free Sony TC 377 from one of my dads friends. I honestly had no idea how to use it and you showed me the ins and outs. So thankyou very much for that.

[@JimJones-mm7qn]

Just got an education on things I once had but wasnt aware of the science. AWESOME!!

[@voxyladymusic5742]

Great video. To the point, thorough, and very watchable. Thank you.

[@tonyfox7439]

Enjoyed this massively. "if you want accuracy go digital, if you want fun go analogue"

[@Garydecresce]

I still have one of those tape decks I bought it over 30 years ago. I agree with everything he said it is very clean on 15 ips plus I used to do rerecording in a circle to go beyond 4 tracks mixing up and down through many generations until the distortion got too great, it was a lot of fun. You can use the tape delay as a kind of echo effect with jumpers in the back to feed the signal around and around. Plus you can use the octave difference in pitch to make a bass sound like a 6 string by recording in 7.5 and playing back in 15. By wrapping the tape around the pinch wheel you can play back backwards. Ya these things are really amazing.

[@maxheadrom3088]

Nice video specially for those who know nothing about magnetic recording or who wants to learn a bit more about reel to reel. My compliments to the person who did the graphics: very well done, in the same rithm as the teacher writes on the board and just awesome!

[@MaxCady969]

You sure know how to explain things soo clearly, thumbs up, passion driven knowledge transmitted for anyone to pick up

[@rsanchez7111]

Thanks for sharing. I am buying one of this machines. Didn't know where and how to start. You got me all excited. Thank you. Well done

[@slipknot73745]

Great video. Great teacher, visual aids, love the enthusiasm. I only know digital but your insight is definitely making me want to explore the good ol' analog! Cheers!