Teac Reel to Reel question

[Mankins]

I know it’s probably not worth it, but I recently acquired a TEAC X300 real to real. I was going to try to send a final in the box mix to it just to experiment. I thought I might ask a few questions before I keep diving into it.

1. Can I reuse tapes if I magnetically erase them?
2. What speed is best to track at 7.5 or 15 ips?
Not that I even know what ips stands for.

I just want to learn. The main reason I am trying this is because I have recently been invited to trade some of my Reason skills for some Tape skills at a local professional studio. I don’t really want to show up totally stupid to tape. I’d rather get laughed off this site then out of the studio.

Thanks

[Mankins]

Here is the TEAC.

http://www.mymorninglight.org/gear/TEAC-X300.JPG

[seaneldon]

For future reference, it's called a "reel to reel".

You can indeed re-use tapes. Every pass over the heads will cause some wear, but it ultimately depends on the machine and its operating condition.

IPS stands for "inches per second", or how fast the tape travels across the heads. 15ips will yield better sound quality and noise floor than 7.5ips, but sometimes 7.5 can work better if you're going for that lo-fi texture. Experiment with it and see what results you get.

[Mankins]

Thanks

[Mixwell]

I’d rather get laughed off this site then out of the studio.

Dude, we've been laughing at ourselves since we started this place.

bthead

Gotta tell you, its not a bad idea to learn.

If you are a Reason dude, you can sample stuff onto your machine and bounce it back into the computer and trigger it with the samplers. I'd be using that box for tape loops, delays with samples etc....I like to filter the snot out of the return and make it dubbed out.

[Mankins]

Sounds like a good idea. I'll give it a try.

[cookseyeng]

Where can you find some tape reels? One of my friends found an old TEAC with a shorting out head phone jack and he doesn't know where to start looking for some reels.

[Mixwell]

Where can you find some tape reels? One of my friends found an old TEAC with a shorting out head phone jack and he doesn't know where to start looking for some reels.

Give these guys a call;

http://tapetape.com/index.cfm

[cookseyeng]

woo thanks

[bitflipper]

I had a long, happy relationship with a TEAC 3340s. You can really get a nice saturated sound with 1/4" tape. I didn't realize back then that half my mixing talent was actually due to the natural characteristics of magnetic tape!

If you've got a bunch of old tapes of unknown vintage, that maybe haven't been stored in a climate-controlled underground vault all these years, some of them may be marginal. They may be stretched, warped, mildewed, or have rough edges.

You will probably want to use a bulk demagnetizer on them. They're not expensive, but not as easy to find these days. They'll do a more thorough job of demagnetizing the tapes. If you don't do that, you may have residual sound between the tracks, usually low-frequency bleed. When you record over an old tape, you only erase a specific zone, not the entire width of the tape. A bulk demagnetizer gets the whole thing.

Before you use one of those old tapes, mount it and just let it run at playback speed all the way to the end and then rewind. This will help get the moisture out and unstick the tape from itself. Then clean the heads and capstan, as you will probably have rubbed off some oxide in this process.

I'd also recommend finding a manual if you don't have one so you can get instructions for adjusting the head azimuth. If you can't find instructions, the adjustment screw should be easy to locate, and the procedure is similar to any other deck.

As for 7.5 versus 15 ips, that refers to the speed: 7.5 inches per second versus 15 inches per second. The faster speed will yield better S/N ratio, better high-frequency response and less tape hiss. But of course it will use twice as much tape.

Have fun with your new old toy!