I'm not to far from getting my quad deck running.

Is it possible to get better (2 channel) recordings using tracks 1&2 for one channel and 3&4 for the other?

I realize that it would take up the whole tape so it would be a one way recording.

Steve

It will be a bit better in terms of signal to noise; not strictly, formally half-track, though, of course.

And now that Mark has said what he did...Mark what did you say?

Theoretically yes you should get a better recording. If you have a fairly decent R2R though I'd say you're probably just missing out on all of that extra tape on the other side.

Then again, I'm cheap :D

I think half track stereo gives you something like 3 dB better S/N than quarter track due to the width of each track.

Since there is some "space" between tracks on a quarter-track tape, a true half track (one sided) stereo tape will have more physical track width per channel than will two "ganged" tracks on a four-track machine.

EDIT: lookee what I found! Sorry it's so effing BIG! I'll fix that when I get a chance...
(See link below)

http://www.richardhess.com/notes/formats/magnetic-media/magnetic-tapes/analog-audio/025-reel-tape/

I have actually managed, yet again, to demonstrate that I don't know what I am talking about :-P

I am not sure that, that would work as you think it would. You actually need 1/2 track heads to record half track. What you would have is 1/4 track stereo in four track configuration. I would imagine that if you played them at the same all at once it would give you some edge on s/n ratio but thats about it.

:music:

Mark thanks for the link. I did not know about the gaps between tracks. Makes sense now that I look at it.

What a waste of tape using half-track though huh?

While truly running half-track will indeed improve your signal to noise by about 3dB, what you are talking about is not equivalent to running half-track and is not going to work well.

First of all, as has already been pointed-out, doing this will NOT record in the half-track tape format. And if played back on a half-track deck, you could have some truly bizzare partial signal-cancelletion effects by combining parts of each chanel like that by playing with a half-track head (since the signals will not be exactly equal).

Also, if played-back in parallel by connecting your outputs together on your quad deck, the output-tranisitors will be "fighting" each other if the signal is not EXACTLY equal (which I can guarantee that it will not be, no matter how carefull you are). This fighing over the voltage difference will greatly increase your distortion, and even has the potential to damage your output devices over time.

If you want to use a quad deck to record Stereo, use tracks 1 & 3 to both record and play back from. Flipping the tape will record tracks 2 & 4 in the opposite direction, but you still only use tracks tracks 1 & 3 to do this. That will record your tape in a format that is 100% compatible with regular 4-track stereo machines.

A better idea would be to get an outboard Dolby B unit. They're not expensive as these things go.

So, Steve, from the posts, you have some trade offs to make with your proposition:

- Assuming that the deck can handle driving all 4 tracks at once (there may be bias level problems), you'll get just a bit more noise floor improvement.

- You'll give up 1/2 of the tape's use.

- You'll have to keep track of which tapes are which, if you get any prerecorded tapes from someone else.

Other thoughts:

- Quality of tape will affect the noise floor as much as dinking around with the tape head configurations.

- Increasing the speed will also improve the sound quite a bit, although at the same time, giving up the length of recordings per side.

- If its a 2-channel deck, you're talking about rewiring and rebiasing the deck, here! Have you got the gear to redo the recording levels?

I'd just go with a 2-track deck if you can find one if this is really important to you.

Cheers,

David

I'm not to far from getting my quad deck running.

Is it possible to get better (2 channel) recordings using tracks 1&2 for one channel and 3&4 for the other?

I realize that it would take up the whole tape so it would be a one way recording.

Steve

I just checked the specs on my quad.

I will increase signal to noise by 17 dB if I just use my other newer 1/4" 4 track deck.
Consequently, I would have lost another 8 dB if at had used the Quadra-sync function.

Thank you for your input. The above link is very informative.

Steve