Ok, I have a R2R now. And I have one tape of my wife singing when she was three. Other than listening to "Rabbit ain't got no tail at all" what is there to do with a R2R?

i record classical from NPR

I like making "Good Tunes" tapes from vinyl !!! :yes:

Just pick a mood and start recording...
Always a joy to thread a tape of your favorite tunes and kick back and watch those reels spin there magic... :thmbsp:

Ok, please bear with me as I am at best completely ignorant when it comes to R2R's. Are recordings done with R2R's that good? I have not tried recording anything yet. I don't have any blank tapes yet. I know recording with cassettes sounded horrible. I just assumed that R2R's would be the same. Judging from the responses I guess I am wrong.

Thanks,
Todd

R2R is what the pros use(d)... some still do. You'll want to record at 7-1/2 ips on good tape (still commercially available at usrecordingmedia.com).

Actually, the most fun thing to do is, with a 3 head deck, is hook a mic to one input, and cross the output from that channel to the input of the other. You can make a nice echo chamber :-)

A reel to reel deck is a far more serious machine than any cassette deck. Granted, there are some excellent cassette decks, mostly because people liked the convenience and portability of them. But a cassette was designed for very low fidelity voice recording systems and nothing more. It was only because they caught on so well that audio engineers began trying to improve it into a high fidelity medium.

But reel to reel was designed to record and play music from the begining,. The tape, the machine, the amplifier circuits, everything. Reel to reel was all there was before digital recorders.

I would say that any average reel to reel deck will eat your average cassette deck for breakfast, lunch *and* dinner. And still handily whomp even the best cassette decks ever made.

There is no comparison. Try some recording on your deck, and unless it has some serious problems you will be stunned, compared to your cassette experience!!

You bet Todd,

They sound awesome if you clean the heads, rollers and capstans really good first. A good quality tape is a must like Mr. Hardy just posted... :yes:
Just make sure that you set your peak recording levels so they just barely touch red in the VU meters on the loudest part durring the recording.

Rolf (VintageTX) can add a whole bunch to this, I'm sure... he's our very own reel to reel expert... :)

"I know recording with cassettes sounded horrible. I just assumed that R2R's would be the same." :no:
Todd, some sweet sound can be done that blow cassette, MP-3 and Cd's away.
I feel the flames coming at me right now. :D
What brand and model do you have Todd ?
As Moby mention, fresh tape and correct speed is very important, but post a picture and give us some more info, we can "track you " in the right direction on the path smelling tape-acid every morning. :smoke:

Welcome to the analog world. :thmbsp:

Mike, you beat me posting. :D

I feel the flames coming at me right now. :D




That's allright TX, we'll just roll some big Maxell 10" Reels over them flames and they'll be sure enough snuffed!!

:banana:

Everything we all just said about the superiority of R2R's does NOT apply to R2R's like these :-)

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=17527

I have a Pioneer RT-707.
Next question, I did a search on cleaning but came up empty. Can someone let me know how to clean this thing and anything else I need to do to it? Or you can point me in the direction of a thread if this has already been gone over. I bought this unit from my father in law who bought it on ebay becasue for whatever reason it was going for next to nothing. He cleaned it up(a little) and then sent it my way. The only thing I have done so far is to take some de-oxit to the capstan(I think that's what you call it). It had a ton of gunk on it and the de-oxit took care of it very nicely.

You mean clean the heads and travelpath ?
707 is a nice model that should sing like a redbird in heat. :D
But maybe some gunk is in the way so right now it's a owl instead.
Head-cleaner, Q-tips, and take the headcover off to make it easier reaching the heads.

Moby, thanks for your support ! :thmbsp:

A Pioneer RT 707 is a fine deck! Your gonna like that a lot once you learn your way around it. I'll leave it to TX to talk about cleaning and setup since he is the Open Reel Guru here at AK. But you could try some different search terms, such as "Pioneer RT" and see how much you come up with. The basics are all the same for r<>r decks, quite a few members here have them :)

Congrats though, that is a fine deck. And welcome to AK!

Yur welcome there TX, appreciate all the help you give us Tapeheads here at AK :thmbsp:

:)

cassette's I dont know...but i heard a guys Tandberg 402, or something like that, and It sounded amazing....

Ok, I have a R2R now. And I have one tape of my wife singing when she was three. Other than listening to "Rabbit ain't got no tail at all" what is there to do with a R2R?

Had a Teac into the mid 80's. Got back into reels three years ago. Got three decks now. All Teacs. A 1230,4300, and a 7010. The 1230 is the work horse. Use it to make master tapes for Christmas CD's. I can get the levels the same. Some of favorite LPs get put on reel to reel tape. Really great sound can be had with a well maintained deck :D And they look so cool!!

Eric

Thanks everyone. I have been informed today :) And I found a post on cleaning. Much more simple than I imagined. I will order some tape and let everyone know of my results.

Glad you changed your mind. :thmbsp:
Here is a page from RT-909 owners manual:
http://www.obsoletemedia.com/tapedecks/manuals/pioneerrt909/html/page22.htm

If you need any other advice or help, just ask. :)

Hey Rolf,

Is there an easy way to adjust the clutch on the RT-707 ?

Mine likes to free wheel a bit... :scratch2:

Is anyone gonna tell this guy NOT to use De-Oxit on the capstan?????? :scratch2:
De-Oxit has lubricant in it, so don't use it on anything that's going to drive the tape or touch it, you will contaminate the tap and cause the drive to slip.
Use Isopropyl alcohol on the heads, guides and capstan, and undenatured ethanol (Vodka works fine) on the pinchroller. Clean the pinchroller until the brown stuff stops comping off and you start to see black. That's the dead rubber layer; time to stop. Clean the heads, guides and capstan until nothing comes off. Don't forget to clean the black plastic flutter filter to the left of the headblock. Looks like a pinchroller but it's not. You should use ethanol on that too to avoid drying out the plastic. Clean it until nothing comes off.

Ok, thanks for the de-oxit advice. But now that I have already done it :thumbsdn: what do I need to do to undo it?

Clean with Isopropyl alcohol and ethanol as in my last post and all will be well! Alcohol removes oil very well.

Thanks very much.

Welcome to RTR's cant add anything its all ready been covered . except enjoy.

Ron