Reel-to-Reel

[afx]

Found one of these decks at an estate sale - just got it back after having it restored.  Very excited!  Now I just have to build up a tape library. 

A video to give you an idea of what my deck looks like.

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by afx

[cobraman]

That's cool. What is the age of something like that ?  Are the reel to reel tapes easy to come by ?

[afx]

The RT-707 were produce '77-'84, not sure the exact age of my deck.  Its built like a tank, unit weighs 45lbs.

Pre-recorded tapes are not east to come by but are out there.  Blank tapes are a little easier to find.

Edited November 6, 2021 by afx

[Classicgas]

Very very cool. A friend of mine used to have one. They sound pretty darn good, better than cassettes.

[afx]

Cassette are making a come back! My son is using my Nakamichi Model 2 deck and buying cassettes on eBay and used music stores in the area. Analog is making a big resurgence thanks to younger folks discovering the sound.

Edited November 7, 2021 by afx

[Classicgas]

Analog imo has a more pure cleaner overall sound. Richer deeper bass for sure.  A couple radio stations around here have switched back to vinyl and I can clearly tell the difference. 

[JollySipper]

Pioneer was top of the line in those days! Vinyl has been making a comeback lately, also.... Primus has released Brown Album on brown vinyl, and the Green Naugahyde album in green.

Are you building a vintage stereo system component style, or you just have the reel player?

[Can-Con]

I never gave up on Cassette myself and still have most of the ones I bought back in the '80s ,, and most of them still play fine.

Never could afford to get into reel to reel , that way big time stuff back then. And rare.

Anyway, here's a link you may like to this little music site I ran across a couple years ago and joined. Free to join and they don't bother you with unwanted e-mails and stuff like that. 

This is the listing for the reel to reel section. you might be able to find something play on that sweet tape machine there.

https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?format=Reel-To-Reel

[peteski]

10 hours ago, Classicgas said:

Analog imo has a more pure cleaner overall sound. Richer deeper bass for sure.  A couple radio stations around here have switched back to vinyl and I can clearly tell the difference. 

That's because back in the day the analog recordings (vinyl and tapes) were heavily equalized and compressed to make them sound better on the equipment that has limited dynamic range and uneven frequency response.  But the end result is that those recordings often sound better than the accurate (but sterile) CD sound. Then now things get even more complicated with the MP3 stuff. Those recordings are processed in all sorts of ways to reduce the file size.

I still have my 2 old Akai cassette decks with the ferrite GX heads.  While not top of the line, those were quite good back in the '80s.  But they need new rubber belts. and changing them is a real pain.

[Classicgas]

Yes. Not to mention mp3 and other forms further compress the sound making it lower fidelity. 

[afx]

13 hours ago, JollySipper said:

Pioneer was top of the line in those days! Vinyl has been making a comeback lately, also.... Primus has released Brown Album on brown vinyl, and the Green Naugahyde album in green.

Are you building a vintage stereo system component style, or you just have the reel player?

I have an Accuphase P300 integrated amp I use occasionally but the R2R is hooked up to my main system.

[afx]

Video of my R2R deck playing some JT:

https://public.fotki.com/steelers43/audio/20211105-155304.html

Edited November 8, 2021 by afx

[SfanGoch]

Back in the late '70s, I worked as an engine room helper at 1133 6th Avenue in Manhattan. At the time, RCA Records had recording studios there on the 5th-8th floors. Tom Collins (not the producer), RCA recording engineer, was a friend of mine and he gave me 71 studio session tapes from Cab Calloway to the Scorpions, Roberta Flack, The Rolling Stones (studio recordings from "The Rolling Stones, Now!) and a who's who list of other artists. I know what they're worth and I'm sitting on a goldmine.

[Can-Con]

12 hours ago, peteski said:

That's because back in the day the analog recordings (vinyl and tapes) were heavily equalized and compressed to make them sound better on the equipment that has limited dynamic range and uneven frequency response.  But the end result is that those recordings often sound better than the accurate (but sterile) CD sound. Then now things get even more complicated with the MP3 stuff. Those recordings are processed in all sorts of ways to reduce the file size.

I still have my 2 old Akai cassette decks with the ferrite GX heads.  While not top of the line, those were quite good back in the '80s.  But they need new rubber belts. and changing them is a real pain.

 

6 hours ago, Classicgas said:

Yes. Not to mention mp3 and other forms further compress the sound making it lower fidelity. 

Are you two talking about the so called "Loudness War" ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

[SfanGoch]

One can hear the difference in sound quality if you listen to a song on 78 or 45 rpm vinyl versus mp3. The vinyl sounds truer and crisper in tonal quality.

[Classicgas]

Partially. I don't fully understand it, but I know that digital audio files are compressed into smaller and smaller amounts of space, and when that is done you lose quality.

[afx]

35 minutes ago, Classicgas said:

Partially. I don't fully understand it, but I know that digital audio files are compressed into smaller and smaller amounts of space, and when that is done you lose quality.

A few articles on compression.

https://audioengineusa.com/explore/what-is-audio-compression-and-why-should-you-care/

https://www.soundguys.com/audio-compression-explained-29148/

Edited November 8, 2021 by afx

[afx]

How well can you here Audio quality?

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality

 

[webestang]

Always wanted a reel to reel but never could afford it.  I still use my cassette tape deck and make tapes for my 88 Mustang. 

 

A friend was going to throw this Denon tape deck out but I got it instead, it just needed new belts and good cleaning, works perfect. 

[Classicgas]

It's good to see there's a few of us left that appreciate old technology.

[SSNJim]

Here's one more. I've got a Marantz 2245 receiver (hybrid tube/transistor) and a Teac 7" reel to reel. Also have a turntable and cassette player. Love the sound.

Edited November 8, 2021 by SSNJim

[afx]

Early birthday present to myself.

Edited November 9, 2021 by afx

[slusher]

Thanks for posting J.C. BTW I am a Supertramp fan…

[afx]

24 minutes ago, slusher said:

Thanks for posting J.C. BTW I am a Supertramp fan…

I'm a big Supertramp fan too Carl.  These albums - the others not so much.  

• Crime of the Century (1974)
• Crisis? What Crisis? (1975)
• Even in the Quietest Moments (1977)
• Breakfast in America (1979)
• Paris - live  (1980)
• Famous Last Words (1982)

I have Roger Hodgson's first solo album after he left - In the Eye of the Storm.  Its okay.

Edited November 9, 2021 by afx

[Zoom Zoom]

4 hours ago, afx said:

I'm a big Supertramp fan too Carl.  These albums - the others not so much.  

• Crime of the Century (1974)
• Crisis? What Crisis? (1975)
• Even in the Quietest Moments (1977)
• Breakfast in America (1979)
• Paris - live  (1980)
• Famous Last Words (1982)

I have Roger Hodgson's first solo album after he left - In the Eye of the Storm.  Its okay.

Big fan as well. Have seen Rodger live several times in the past 10 years, before early 2020 he had an extensive tour schedule before the pandemic (his last live shows were on a Rock & Roll cruise out of FL), not sure when/if he'll get it back going. His band is all younger but they are amazing in person, they have a lot of fun. One of the shows I saw was with a full symphony orchestra in FL in 2013. People in the audience from all over the world. Lots of his live performances on Youtube, as well as vintage pre-1984 Supertramp concerts.