Fred, accepting our somewhat conflicting and somewhat non-technical audiophile objectives, please help us figure out an optimal external tape repro solution for us and, maybe, a new ATAE product for you.
1) We want to be able to use an external repro preamplifier of our choosing.
2) We understand that the tiny signal coming off the playback head is very low in voltage and very susceptible to loss in a wire of even short length.
3) We understand that the inductance and capacitance of that wire may screw up the signal coming off of the playback head.
4) It makes sense to me, for one, that that direct head out wire must be very carefully matched to the electrical characteristics of the playback head.
5) So maybe we are sympathetic to having a "pre-preamplifier" in the headblock itself. A pre-preamplifier allows a larger signal to flow into the direct head out wire and, presumably, takes some pressure off the need for that wire to be as short as possible, and to be as finely tuned to the electrical characteristics of the playback head as would be the case if we were not using a pre-preamplifier built in the playback head.
6) But being audiophiles we are suspicious of op-amps and ICs. (Yes, I am well aware that the first amplification stage of Nick Doshi's tape repro preamp is an op-amp. For whatever reason many fans of the Doshi preamp are willing to overlook this element.)
7) So can you make a "drop-in" SHRO headblock with a pre-preamplifier made of discrete components? If not truly "drop-in" then a configuration which a reasonably competent tape machine technician (meaning not only the former head of the engineering department at Studer!) can install successfully?
8) How do we get the direct head out wire and connection accomplished?
9) If we use a pre-preamplifier in the headblock then does that vitiate our use of the generally available external tape repro preamplifiers? Would using a pre-preamplifier and an external tape repro preamp result in too much gain?
(Does anyone know if the op-amp gain stage in the Doshi pre-amp can be bypassed since a pre-preamplifier in the headblock would result in lower gain being needed in the external tape repro preamp?)
PS1: Fred, I stipulate that you are the world's leading technical authority on Studer machines. If this is to be a mutually productive discussion you have to accept that we audiophiles sometimes like what we like for reasons which do not make valid technical sense to you.
PS2: In my questions to Fred I use the collective tape enthusiast "we." If my point does not represent accurately your personal view, please don't worry about it.
1) We want to be able to use an external repro preamplifier of our choosing.
2) We understand that the tiny signal coming off the playback head is very low in voltage and very susceptible to loss in a wire of even short length.
3) We understand that the inductance and capacitance of that wire may screw up the signal coming off of the playback head.
4) It makes sense to me, for one, that that direct head out wire must be very carefully matched to the electrical characteristics of the playback head.
5) So maybe we are sympathetic to having a "pre-preamplifier" in the headblock itself. A pre-preamplifier allows a larger signal to flow into the direct head out wire and, presumably, takes some pressure off the need for that wire to be as short as possible, and to be as finely tuned to the electrical characteristics of the playback head as would be the case if we were not using a pre-preamplifier built in the playback head.
6) But being audiophiles we are suspicious of op-amps and ICs. (Yes, I am well aware that the first amplification stage of Nick Doshi's tape repro preamp is an op-amp. For whatever reason many fans of the Doshi preamp are willing to overlook this element.)
7) So can you make a "drop-in" SHRO headblock with a pre-preamplifier made of discrete components? If not truly "drop-in" then a configuration which a reasonably competent tape machine technician (meaning not only the former head of the engineering department at Studer!) can install successfully?
8) How do we get the direct head out wire and connection accomplished?
A) Should you select the wire yourself and include the wire by hard-wiring the signal wire into this SHRO headblock so there is a 1 meter interconnect terminated in XLR plugs coming out of the headblock which we simply plug into the external repro pre-amp after the headblock is installed?
B) Should there be XLR jacks on the back of the headblock or in a box which comes with your product and which we can place on the side of the machine and then use interconnects of our own choosing (and your approval) to send the signal from this connection block to the external tape repro preamp?
B) Should there be XLR jacks on the back of the headblock or in a box which comes with your product and which we can place on the side of the machine and then use interconnects of our own choosing (and your approval) to send the signal from this connection block to the external tape repro preamp?
9) If we use a pre-preamplifier in the headblock then does that vitiate our use of the generally available external tape repro preamplifiers? Would using a pre-preamplifier and an external tape repro preamp result in too much gain?
(Does anyone know if the op-amp gain stage in the Doshi pre-amp can be bypassed since a pre-preamplifier in the headblock would result in lower gain being needed in the external tape repro preamp?)
PS1: Fred, I stipulate that you are the world's leading technical authority on Studer machines. If this is to be a mutually productive discussion you have to accept that we audiophiles sometimes like what we like for reasons which do not make valid technical sense to you.
PS2: In my questions to Fred I use the collective tape enthusiast "we." If my point does not represent accurately your personal view, please don't worry about it.