Reel to reel recorders

[Andy Stephenson]

Aside from the really dedicated audiophiles, is there any real market for R2Rs?

I'm not talking about the top makes like Revox, Ferrograph, Tascam, Fostex etc.

I used to have a pretty basic 4 track 7" reel recorder and recording straight from FM radio produced very good copies.
Longer length concerts could be saved complete without having to run to the cassette alternative to turn the tape over.

The reason this suddenly came to mind is that I've seen an Akai M9 for sale for £200. Is this good? I imagine a service would maybe be due/overdue. Would spares be readily available? Then there's the cost of tape!

I may have considered this if I was single! But I don't have the room or have the will to turn the living room turned into a recording studio. Really this is just idle curiosity, but also a heads up for anyone interested should this be a lesser-known gem. I know the Akai 4000D is well regarded so this may be better or maybe a not so good model.

It'll be interesting to know what The Wam consensus will be!

Andy

 

[peter the butcher]

I know I lurched my Akai 4000 round churches and Cathedrals back before I had my Sony DAT. It did the job. but in 2022 they are a piece of Hi Fi art, and to be honest what with the prices of ancillaries, they are just a mid life crisis thing. Lets be honest why copy a well recorded SACD onto an inferior medium

 

[Jazid]

You will be buying a 40-50 year old consumer product (albeit a consumer desirable), with a relatively complex mechanical structure, critical parts which wear such as the heads and drive train, and parts availability from cannibalised donors.

If that sounds like fun, well they sure look good and when properly set up can sound fantastic, so fill your boots! If it sounds like a painful expensive faff then stick to something straightforward like vinyl, or classic cars
Personally, if I were to buy one I'd buy a pro model like a Studer 807 that had been fettled by an expert, because even using it most nights it would see me out, and would be a total pleasure to use and look at. Regretfully, I haven't got the time to play with more toys and my teenage purchase of an old Teac consumer model moulders away waiting for "restoration".

 

[DomT]

There are hobbies such as classic cars where parts are not available but people are enthusiastic about it. Reel to reel sounds great but I think that it makes more sense if you like music from the era where albums were released on tape. This way you have access to a lot of albums and if they are in good condition can sound very good.

Having said that a modified high end cassette deck can get close in sound to a more modest R2R.

 

[wizmax]

My advice to questions like this is always the same, if you have an archive of old tapes then purchase a machine that can play them and record new tapes. If you have no history with the format, then run away as it is a bottomless money pit. If you were around in the 60's 70's and 80's, when new machines and tapes were readily available, and you did not get involved then why bother now when machines are all at least 30 years old and new tape is both difficult to come by and expensive.

My own history goes back to 1970 and I have a large collection of historical recordings and currrently 17 machines to play them on, plus spare tapes and ancillaries most of which were purchased 20 odd years ago when prices were very low and good quality kit more readily available. The other necessity these days is the availability of a local skilled engineer with the right test kit to look after your machine(s) they are a very busy breed and thus expensive.

To sum up, if you have a collection of old tapes possibly get involved, if you don't run away very quickly.

 

[Beobloke]

Wise words from Robin!

I’ve always been intrigued by R2R and am well aware of how astonishing it can sound. Heck, I’ve even dabbled with a car boot sale Ferrograph or two and had great results.

However, ultimately I decided that one bottomless pit to throw money into* in my life was more than enough and that my soul belonged to vinyl, so I have deliberately stayed away from it since then.

* well, two if you count the Range Rover on the driveway…

 

[bencat]

The love of R2R machines is I think very similar to my constant envy and desire for an amplifier with meters . It appeals to my inner child and I always smile and want one when I see one but realise that it will make me happy for about ten minutes and then just be forgotten .

If you want something to record or transfer great copies of digital or Vinyl then the answer is a decent DAT machine . They are not very expensive and DAT Tape looks to be really cheap to buy . Even the lower end models will sound excellent and things like Sony ES , Denon machines will be as good as any well set up R2R and will not require the constant servicing to keep it working at its best. Also as the DAT will have a full digital output then you can use with the DAC of your choice for great sound quality .

 

[Audio Al]

Aside from the really dedicated audiophiles, is there any real market for R2Rs?

I'm not talking about the top makes like Revox, Ferrograph, Tascam, Fostex etc.

I used to have a pretty basic 4 track 7" reel recorder and recording straight from FM radio produced very good copies.
Longer length concerts could be saved complete without having to run to the cassette alternative to turn the tape over.

The reason this suddenly came to mind is that I've seen an Akai M9 for sale for £200. Is this good? I imagine a service would maybe be due/overdue. Would spares be readily available? Then there's the cost of tape!

I may have considered this if I was single! But I don't have the room or have the will to turn the living room turned into a recording studio. Really this is just idle curiosity, but also a heads up for anyone interested should this be a lesser-known gem. I know the Akai 4000D is well regarded so this may be better or maybe a not so good model.

It'll be interesting to know what The Wam consensus will be!

Andy

Andy , You missed out Studer

 

[Audio Al]

The love of R2R machines is I think very similar to my constant envy and desire for an amplifier with meters . It appeals to my inner child and I always smile and want one when I see one but realise that it will make me happy for about ten minutes and then just be forgotten .

If you want something to record or transfer great copies of digital or Vinyl then the answer is a decent DAT machine . They are not very expensive and DAT Tape looks to be really cheap to buy . Even the lower end models will sound excellent and things like Sony ES , Denon machines will be as good as any well set up R2R and will not require the constant servicing to keep it working at its best. Also as the DAT will have a full digital output then you can use with the DAC of your choice for great sound quality .

DAT is one format I have not got into, Now let me think

 

[Andy Stephenson]

Andy , You missed out Studer

Those, and others I sure, were all covered under the etc.!

So, the collective consensus is: don't touch it with a barge pole unless you have the disposable income of Elon Musk. Even then you'd buy a better one!
Also, it isn't a cult classic flying under the radar.
Even so I wouldn't use it enough to justify the hassle. It just intrigued me!
To be honest my Yam cassette deck is good enough for me even though it's rarely used now.
Thanks for all your replies
.
Andy