Teac A3340 + DAW

[UnlikeKurt]

I have a Teac A3340 1/4" machine that I am trying to incorporate into use with my DAW (PTLE).
I'm finding that I am getting a lot less level coming out of the tape machine then I get going in.

Using a signal generator, I set the line input pots so that a +4dB reference level reads 0db on the VU meters I then ran -14dbfs from a PT output into the machine and it showed 0db.
I then ran the output of the tape machine into both PT and the input of an analog compressor with VU meters which were also checked against both the signal generator and PT output.

With the line output level pots at full cw on the teac, I get -7db VU at the compressor input and -24dbfs at the PT input.

If anyone could offer some advice or ideas it would be super appreciated. Thanks.

[E.Bennett]

the teac wants to see a consumer (-10 not +4) level, so 0vu on that machine should be around .67 volts. but that still might not solve your problem. you will have to calibrate the repro and record electronics of your teac. for that you'll need an mrl test tape to cal the repro electronics. then you'll need a signal generator to set record electronics.

[UnlikeKurt]

hmmm, I was thinking this was going to be the case.
The thing is that I actually did have it cleaned and calibrated by a reputable shop.

[E.Bennett]

so taking the compressor out of the equation, are you getting back from the teac what you are putting in? if you put a 1k tone in with the vu reading zero can you get it to read zero on playback?

[UnlikeKurt]

no. I had patched into the compressor just to use the VU meters on it.
It was in bypass.

With the output pot at max on the teac the VU meter on teac is pinned but the input is -7 on the compressor VU and -24dbfs in PT.

I'm going to try switching inputs 5-8 on the 002R to -10 and see what happens then.

[E.Bennett]

do you have a multimeter? can you read what a 1k tone is giving you when playing back from tape with the teac vu reading 0vu?

[UnlikeKurt]

Can and will do this afternoon.

[UnlikeKurt]

I fed a -14dbfs 1k sine wave from PT into the teac.
I turned up the line input pot until the VU meter read 0VU when set to SOURCE.
I then fed the signal from the output of the teac into pro tools (with the input on the 002R set to -10) and turned up the output level pot until the pro tools input meter read -14dbfs.

PT Sine Wave: 1.168V
Teac Output: 1.75V

I repeated the reading with all 4 channels and yielded very close results with the knobs resulting to be in very similar positions.

I then recorded a decent span of the tone to tape at 15ips with the record bias switch in both the "high" and "normal" positions.
When I playback the tape with the output pot in the same position, the Teac VU reads around -20VU and the voltage reading is .015V.
If I turn the output pot all the way up, the VU reads about the same and the voltage reading is around .022v.

I did after trying this a bunch of times get channel 1 to playback at 0VU and it was outputting .475V.
Also, there is some other stuff already recorded on this tape that plays back fine.
So the repro head seems to be working just fine. I tried a different tape and got the same results

[E.Bennett]

to really sort this out you'll need an mrl tape. however, try cleaning those heads really well. put a fresh reel of tape on. set input/output pots at unity. record a 1k tone at .67vac. playback the tone and read the voltage.

if you aren't getting around .67vac, then you'll have to cal the audio electronics. grab an mrl and read the manual for the cal procedure. it's not hard to do.