Contemplating Reel to Reel

[c1ferrari]

...friends of mine...after they stepped to the tape's world...only thing they are doing is looking for more high quality master dubbing tapes...tony ma

Hmm...you don't say OR -- roll your own like Tony

 

[tony ky ma]

Hmm...you don't say OR -- roll your own like Tony

Sam
In the other post, are you looking more deck ? My friend he watch Europe Ebay everyday, whatever Studer heads come out he go for it at the first time, and deck too, so now he put a Studer B62 and a Telefunken M15 A in my home for service , I guess more chance of those kind of machine in Europe than North America, but the shipping charge will be same of the machine's price
tony ma

 

[c1ferrari]

Sam
In the other post, are you looking more deck ? My friend he watch Europe Ebay everyday, whatever Studer heads come out he go for it at the first time, and deck too, so now he put a Studer B62 and a Telefunken M15 A in my home for service , I guess more chance of those kind of machine in Europe than North America, but the shipping charge will be same of the machine's price
tony ma

Hi Tony,

I'd like to source two more decks...another Studer A820 and a Nagra IV-S for location recording. I've been monitoring Europe, as best I can, too The packaging/shipping expense and the hazards of tranport are legitimate concerns...I'm glad you received your Studer and Telefunken in good repair

 

[tony ky ma]

Hi Tony,

I'd like to source two more decks...another Studer A820 and a Nagra IV-S for location recording. I've been monitoring Europe, as best I can, too The packaging/shipping expense and the hazards of tranport are legitimate concerns...I'm glad you received your Studer and Telefunken in good repair

Studer B62 still not completely fix yet, it been hurt in shipping, M15A hand book in Germany that I can't read for understand how to switch NAB and CCIR, I am in learning to fix those problems with fun too
tony ma

 

[c1ferrari]

Studer B62 still not completely fix yet, it been hurt in shipping,...tony ma

I'm sorry to hear that, Tony

 

[naturephoto1]

As an update on my Ampex 440C/B hybrid R2R deck, I have been purchasing some tapes (mostly 4 track) as well as some more of the big 10 1/2" reels, some recorded. If the tapes are good I have some music, if not I at least have the big Ampex Reels. Roger has continued to burn in my reproduce cards and they are breaking in and sounding like his as they break in. Roger has reported that really well recorded 4 track tapes sound excellent, so I hope that some or all of my purchases will sound excellent as well. Chuck is expected to send the upgraded record cards to Roger sometime hopefully next week. Roger will check the record cards at that point and send all 4 cards on to Wayne in Palm Springs.

In the meantime, Andrew has been paid for and should be finishing up the all black Aluminum Compact case for the machine and he was expecting to send it to me by the end of this week. Again the machine will look like this in a black case (of course the Ampex 440C/B parts are all chromed):

Today I called and had a 10 1/2" reel of RMG 468 tape sent off to Wayne so that he could calibrate the machine to use this for my recording purposes.

Wayne is about half done with my machine at this point and at Roger's suggestion and because of some concerns about the connections I am having Wayne add RCA inputs and outputs to the machine. I believe that by so doing this bypasses the op amp and is supposed to sound better so this is a plus not only in terms of flexibility but also in audio performance. Hopefully Wayne will have the machine finished and shipped out to me about this time next month.

Rich

 

[RogerD]

Hi Rich,

I have logged about 30 hours on your cards and they have the same signature as mine. I hope you like your stereo image "big",as my cards have about 100+ hours on them and Striesand's third album,Barbara bounces off the ceiling and is about ten feet wide,I kid you not. I can tell mine still have some to go too!

p.s. Chuck will have both sets of record cards ready and shipped by late next week.

 

[naturephoto1]

As an additional update on my Hybrid Ampex 440C/B tape deck I just got off of the telephone with Wayne in Palm Springs. He is finishing up my machine at this point and has installed the IEC inlet and the RCA inputs and outputs to the machine. I didn't follow everything that Wayne was telling me at this point but I will have even more flexibility than I thought using both the RCA and the XLR inputs and outputs to the machine.

The 10 1/2" reel of RMG 468 tape was shipped from Madison, WI on July 22 and should arrive today or tomorrow (hopefully) for Wayne to calibrate the machine for recording.

Roger has informed me that Chuck is sending both his and my record cards to Roger today and that Roger expects to take delivery of the cards on Saturday. Roger is hoping to possibly send all 4 of my cards (2 reproduce and 2 record cards) on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Wayne is waiting for the cards to complete the project. Hopefully Wayne will have the cards by August 5 or so.

Also, it has taken Andrew longer than expected to complete the compact case for my machine. The case was at a machine shop on Tuesday. He expected to take the case to a plating place yesterday and was hoping to ship the case tomorrow. If it ships tomorrow from California I hope to have the case in hand around August 5.

Rich

 

[naturephoto1]

Roger received my record cards (as well as his own) for my Ampex 440C/B hybrid R2R deck this afternoon and he sent me these photos that he said that I could post:

And again the reproduce cards:

Roger informs me that the record cards sound fine.

I have yet to receive confirmation that the Compact Case has been shipped to me from Andrew, but I heard from Wayne on Friday that he has received the RMG 468 tape to use for calibration.

At this point, I am going to have Roger hold the cards for a little while before shipping them to Wayne so that I can be sure that I will have all the pieces in hand for the final assembly here in Pennsylvania. But, hopefully I will have the machine in hand and I will be able to post photos toward the latter part of August. From then on it will be a matter of burning in the new parts.

Rich

 

[RogerD]

"hopefully I will have the machine in hand and I will be able to post photos toward the latter part of August."

You're almost there Rich!

 

[naturephoto1]

As a further update on the status of my upgraded Ampex 440C/B R2R machine, Andrew has shipped the black anodized compact case for the unit and I hope to have received delivery by around the middle of this week.

Wayne has received all 4 of the upgraded playback and record cards from Roger and is making all of the last adjustments including the calibration to the unit. Additionally, Wayne has found an Advent 100 Dolby B unit that he had in storage and checking its condition and functionality so that I may be able to use this for playback of Dolby B tapes. Wayne anticipates having all of the work completed on the machine and having it ready for and making shipment on Friday, August 19.

Once the machine arrives I hope to install the 3 main parts (the 440C transport system and the 2 440B electronics) into the case and make all of the cabling connections for a fully functioning R2R unit hopefully at the end of next week (or possibly the beginning of the following week). Photos to follow after arrival, assembly, and installation.

Rich

 

[MylesBAstor]

As a further update on the status of my upgraded Ampex 440C/B R2R machine, Andrew has shipped the black anodized compact case for the unit and I hope to have received delivery by around the middle of this week.

Wayne has received all 4 of the upgraded playback and record cards from Roger and is making all of the last adjustments including the calibration to the unit. Additionally, Wayne has found an Advent 100 Dolby B unit that he had in storage and checking its condition and functionality so that I may be able to use this for playback of Dolby B tapes. Wayne anticipates having all of the work completed on the machine and having it ready for and making shipment on Friday, August 19.

Once the machine arrives I hope to install the 3 main parts (the 440C transport system and the 2 440B electronics) into the case and make all of the cabling connections for a fully functioning R2R unit hopefully at the end of next week (or possibly the beginning of the following week). Photos to follow after arrival, assembly, and installation.

Rich

Tick, tick, tick, tick.....

 

[naturephoto1]

Here are the first of the photos that I took earlier this afternoon. The extruded black anodized aluminum compact case for the upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape deck arrived this morning. The first 3 photos are of the case; the Ampex 440C/B parts which still have to be shipped are all in chromed Stainless Steel so they should stand out from the black anodized aluminum:

You can see in the photos that there is stamped perforated black anodized aluminum sides and top that will allow the Ampex to dissipate heat.

There are 3 drilled holes for the installation of the Ampex 440C transport in the upper 2/3 of the case. Additionally, there are 4 drilled holes for the installation of the pair of Ampex 440B electronics in the lower 1/3 of the case.

The next photo is of some of the blank tape that I have purchased (the large 10 1/2" Ampex reels has 456 tape on one reel that has not been recorded while the other 2 are recorded). If the recordings on the Ampex 10 1/2" reels are good I have some additional recorded music; if they are not and neither is the blank Ampex reel then I have 3 additional aluminum Ampex Take up reels. The 5 boxes of tape in Blue are Emtec 468.

The last photo is of the tapes that I have acquired thus far so that I have some media; most are 4 Track though there are additionally some 2 Track tapes as well. Roger has reported that 4 Track Tapes sound excellent on his machine.

Rich

 

[RogerD]

Hi Rich,

It's going to look very sharp, the black anodized with the bright metal and it will all blend in with your total system. Those tapes will put a dent in your required break in time, but you need more!

Enjoy

Roger

 

[naturephoto1]

Hi Rich,

It's going to look very sharp, the black anodized with the bright metal and it will all blend in with your total system. Those tapes will put a dent in your required break in time, but you need more!

Enjoy

Roger

Hi Roger,

Thanks. I have 28 tapes in the photo of the recorded tapes; I also have another coming and am watching a few others. Additionally, if the 2 on the Ampex reels are OK, then that is 2 more plus the tape dub that you are making up for me.

Rich

 

[RogerD]

Hi Roger,

Thanks. I have 28 tapes in the photo of the recorded tapes; I also have another coming and am watching a few others. Additionally, if the 2 on the Ampex reels are OK, then that is 2 more plus the tape dub that you are making up for me.

Rich

That's probably enough if you play them all twice.

I've lost count on the hours logged on my playback cards. I would guess at about 300 hours and yes they seem like they have quit morphing. Now I just sit back and play my new tapes and old ones too.

I really enjoy the sound of my 440 now. I never thought that a upgrade could make such a difference. I better stop it!

 

[c1ferrari]

Should look pretty trick

Congrats, Rich

 

[naturephoto1]

I do not have the upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape and will not have it before September 6. Wayne found a problem with the circuitry and while he is away on vacation, he has taken it to a tech to resolve the issue between the 440C transport and the 440B electronics. It will still go into play from fast, but it is immediate and will stretch a tape if the roller comes down when the tape has not come to a stop. So, hopefully this will be resolved and the machine will be sent to me sometime next week.

Rich

 

[MylesBAstor]

I do not have the upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape and will not have it before September 6. Wayne found a problem with the circuitry and while he is away on vacation, he has taken it to a tech to resolve the issue between the 440C transport and the 440B electronics. It will still go into play from fast, but it is immediate and will stretch a tape if the roller comes down when the tape has not come to a stop. So, hopefully this will be resolved and the machine will be sent to me sometime next week.

Rich

Better there than at your home

 

[naturephoto1]

It seems that Wayne has now billed my credit card last evening for the remaining outstanding amount for the completion of my upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape deck. Hopefully that means that the machine issues from going from fast to then stop and then to play has been resolved, it will now pass all of the last testing, be packed and shipped to me today or tomorrow. At this point I do not know though whether or not if the Advent 100 Dolby B Noise Reduction unit is working and if it is going to be shipped with the R2R tape deck. I would only intend to use the Advent for pre-recorded Dolby B encoded recordings; I have a set of instructions for the Advent, but I do not have a R2R calibration tape for the Advent 100. If anyone has any idea as to where to get a Dolby B Calibration R2R tape or can possibly make one for me that would be most appreciated.

Rich