Best introductory 15ips 1/4" reel to reel recorder?

Psyre

New Member
I happened on a huge stack of 20+ reels. Over half unoped. The other half is an unknown Detroit musician from '68-70. It's appears to be his professionally recorded albums. 3 in total and 5 more reels of "practice".

I've been wanting to get a deck for recording purposes, but I'm also really excited to see how this stuff is. I'm wondering if someone can steer me in the right direction for a 15ips machine.
 
OTARI MX5050 B2
It will play/record half track (which is probably what the tapes you have are - given the info you did) and also play (ONLY) quarter track.
 
Yes, a very recommended machine for this job. And a great 1/2 track, 15 IPS capable machine out there in high numbers. Every radio station seems to have had one.
 
And if the tapes happen to be four-track, a Teac 3340 (there were several slight model number variations) would do you nicely at 15 IPS.
 
Get the best you can afford..... Listen to the wise recommendations from the experienced users here and get the best example you can find.
 
Frankly, the best of them seem to go wanting for buyers, it's a buyers market. You want a unit that fully functions properly and has good unworn heads. A unit that has been in storage unused for a while will need a refurb.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
Great deck, but "introductory"?, I'm not so sure.
Other than using balanced inputs and outputs, it's 100% as easy to operate as any other reel to reel -- and it's very capable. Very capable.

The built in quarter-track PB heads is a very nice bonus.

The Otari's sort of like a Nikon SLR (or DSLR, for that matter) -- easy to use at the basic level, but capable of supporting far more (up to the realm of professionals). Actually, I think the Otari's a lot like a Nikon SLR/DSLR. Anyone interested in 15 ips, 10-1/2" reels of tape (particularly since they're probably two-track) is sort of beyond "introductory" by definition.

Nikon F 135mm mono by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
 
Other than using balanced inputs and outputs, it's 100% as easy to operate as any other reel to reel -- and it's very capable. Very capable.

No doubt, its very capable, but having owned one early on in my R2R experience, I would not say it is straightforward. Hopefully a newb won't make the mistakes I did: First, I learned the BII came with at lest 4 different head stacks and of course the deck I picked up from a school had the wrong set up. Then I found it was modified for 7.5 and 3-3.4 IPS, which was apparently a common practice. Then I discovered the 3-pin XLR outputs were wired in a non-standard way so I had to get custom adapters made. Then I found the NAB hub adapters were no longer available so I had to pay $140 on Ebay for a used set. Then I had to figure out how to set things like Flux, and IEC vs. NAB equalization with whatever tape I was using. Yes, you have to set up any deck for tape type, but there are switches both front and rear that need to be set on this deck. Then there were SRL and SEL/REP switches and bias, EQ, and test OSC settings and switches that took awhile to learn how to use properly.
The point is, this is a pro deck and there is a learning curve to it. It is a beast of a machine, great sounding, and I was able to sell it for what I paid so I did like it. I just have had other decks that I find more straightforward to operate and were less$ to get going (e.g. my RS-1500US).
 
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Note here. Every Otari MX 5050 I know of has an internal switch on the rear PCB for setting low or high speed range. No modifications needed. L is 3 3/4-7 1/2 IPS, H is 7 1/2 IPS-15 IPS.
 
Note here. Every Otari MX 5050 I know of has an internal switch on the rear PCB for setting low or high speed range. No modifications needed. L is 3 3/4-7 1/2 IPS, H is 7 1/2 IPS-15 IPS.

Unless it was permanently modified, as mine was. Mine was further modified to take signal directly off the head and bypass the amp section...there was an extra set of RCAs added for this. The point is: be careful what deck you buy.
 
I have both Otari MX 5050 Bii and a Revox A77. The A77 will not play 15-IPS, but I'm thinking some may have. I don't consider my A77 to be a pro deck, but a nice deck for 4trk. I'm guessing once you move up to 15-IPS, your out of consumer model decks (unless you find a A77 15-IPS). I went with the Otari because there are so many out there and parts are still around...plus it's a solid machine.

One thing you may want to look into if your purchasing a R2R for recording or listening to the tapes you have....make sure the tapes are 2 track and not 4 channel. As mentioned above? Teac 3340 3440 and many other 4 channel decks were used by musicians to record demos. Tapes from 4 channel decks will not play correctly on the 2trk Otari even with 4 Trk head. These tapes may be 2trk masters from a studio session and will play fine.

You mention you wanted to record. Are you recording your own music to tape? Teac 4channel may be what you want. Then can over dub and bounce tracks. Not exactly pro level, but a good starting point to get use to recording to tape. If your wanting to record your vinyl to tape, a 7.5 machine would work great. 15ips is a lot of tape to record vinyl. If you want to do 2trk masters or hit tape from pro tools, the 2 track 15 IPS would be the best choice.
 
You might want to consider the Pioneer 1020H, which can play back quad too. Again not a pro deck, but reasonably priced.
 
You might find a Pioneer RT-1020H for decent money. They are workhorses, if you can find one in good condition. They will play all four tracks of a quad tape also. They won't record but 2 tracks, but play them they will.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
Note here. Every Otari MX 5050 I know of has an internal switch on the rear PCB for setting low or high speed range. No modifications needed. L is 3 3/4-7 1/2 IPS, H is 7 1/2 IPS-15 IPS.

Plus, the manual tells you how to do everything that it can do with reasonable clarity and completeness.

That said, I did forget the XLRs are a bit idiosyncratic :)

EDIT: As to the A77; I had Charles "Stellavox" King modify mine to two-track, high-speed (15/7.5 ips). It performs superbly (even by his judgment, and they don't call him "Stellavox" for naught).

ReVox WHRB Dead aircheck by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Given the endorsements for the Pioneer, it sounds like another great choice -- I've not owned one, nor seen/heard one for a long time, so I can't offer any comment myself.
 
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... and a Revox A77. The A77 will not play 15-IPS, but I'm thinking some may have. I don't consider my A77 to be a pro deck,

The Revox PR99 was intended to fill that area.
Almost all PR99s are half track, 15 IPS. Other formats existed, but were rarer special orders.
 
You may do well to contact Tinman. I believe he has an extra machine or two. Any tape deck from him would be the one to have. Messing with changing XLR cables is unnecessary if you run them into an matchbox hd which I did after Tinman's recommendation. This will allow you to get extra long XLR cables giving you more options on where to place the tape deck using short rca cables to the amp/stereo.
 
Otari is recommended. Common. Fairly priced. Easy to get parts. Easily serviced by good technicians. Most also have 1/4 track playback too. Long lived heads, durable and relappable if no too worn down. A practical choice. Note with ReVox A and B 77, some models are 1/2 track high or low speed, some are 1/4 track low speed (you could get either as you liked). PR 99 1/2 track, usually high speed. Both easy to get parts and service.
 
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Revox B77 Mk II. Simple tape path, easy to operate, sounds terrific.

Otari's are great decks but they're more complex to use than a Revox.
 
Also more expensive pricewise. B 77 Mk II made in few numbers too. Last of their line. I love this machine. B 77 Mk I more common and similar. But again, not all of them were High Speed models, and if your prospective machine is not, there's an expensive capstan motor at minimum and some electronic work. And with Otari, all critical adjustments are accessible without disassembly.
 
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