Reel to reel tape

Oh dear, I'm getting a reel to reel tape recorder in a while. :-)

When I was a kid, I used to mess around with Grundig reel to reels (with "magic eye" valves) - at the time, they sounded fantastic, but, of course, technology moves on. Pretty soon after, I'd converted to tape recorders and then digital and reel to reel got forgotten about. But nothing sounds quite like tape.

I was thinking, a few days ago, that when I do a live gig (or just for recording sax) I'd pretty much like a reel to reel. I'd be using this to play "synth sound effects" - analogue sweeps and whooshes - as background music. That could be done in a number of ways, but... I like tape, with all its' limitations, of course. 

One of the problems of owning a now vintage reel to reel is that (a) Revox and Nagra go for a fortune (and always will) and (b) with any tape recorder, the recording and playback heads wear and go out of alignment very quickly. The heads have to be relapped and re-adjusted periodically, and that's not a "home user" job. The problem with reel to reel is that a lot of younger buyers think "that looks cool" and that there's no drawbacks in having one.... not the case. Reel to reel tape recorders come with a number of issues, if you want to keep one up and running well. Vintage electronics, for a start. 

So the plan is to set a budget aside and get a "second line" reel to reel - TEAC / Tascam / Akai / Marantz etc - use it for a couple of years and then sell it on. Won't happen for a while, but..... it'll eventually come around. Oh yes. Have a look at the price of tape on Thomann now, wooo !!! 

I haven't owned one for audio work for forty years (eg Revox A77 and some old Ferguson portable) and haven't worked on one for data recording in almost thirty-five years. (talking about ¼" tape here, I used ½" digital tape well into the late 90s).  I've always preferred reel-to-reel over cassette but never enough to want to revive my interest. The only downside is the media itself - tape deteriorates very quickly if not stored correctly,even if it's been kept in sealed wrapping with silica gel desiccant. There is an optimum stage in the oxide ageing process where it is not too soft to just rub off and not to hard to flake off, we found that brand new tape fresh out of the box needed a few days of periodic spooling from one reel to another before it was put anywhere near the tape-heads. We also dated the tape and discarded it after a few months because aged oxide acts like micro-emery paper and can quickly abrade the tape heads. Different tape speed also affects the wear on the tape and tape heads but we only ran at one speed so this wasn't an issue. Tape heads seemed to need less cleaning as a result of all this and they didn't seem to wear as much either, but whether this was true or was just confirmation bias is something I can't answer. Certainly, like all other aspects of audiophillia, a bit of ritual when using tape can go a long way psychologically.

Edited by Dean - April 06 2016 at 04:02

One word of caution - make sure the deck is 50Hz operation as the motors could be synchronous AC induction motors, so buying a used deck from the USA could run at the wrong speed so would need a different size capstan to set the correct speed. Obviously this isn't an issue with DC motors or decks with crystal controlled AC motors.

I have used a R2R for audio purposes since I was a teen, I still use one now. There is no nostalgia in my reason because it's part of what I grew up with regarding audio gear. I use it more now than I did in the 90's when I was into the CD craze, that would be more nostalgia for me...CDs .