Just got a tape machine, what now.

substitute · Post by **substitute** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:39 am

Hey all,
I just won an auction for an otari mx 5050 8 track, needless to say I'm pretty psyched about having more analog in my life. I'm wondering if there's a general FAQ or something on owning a tae machine that any one could recommend?

-What's a good place to buy tape in this day and age?
-Do I need an alignment tape? Where do I get one?
-what else?

Thanks!

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:27 pm

I'd definitely start using it as soon as you get it and make sure that it meets the seller's description for functionality.

While you wait you should find the operation and service manuals online and study up!

Full Compass seems to have the best prices on NEW tape in my experience.

Alignment tape you'll want eventually, but if it works "out of the box" then you'll survive without it for awhile.

You'll want some swabs and some tape head and rubber cleaner for sure!

Cabling to interface with your mixer is also nice, maybe some snakes are in order?

The Scum · Post by **The Scum** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:43 pm

-what else?

The knowledge that MX5050s are pin 3 hot, unbalanced. Unless they've been modified to be pin-2 hot.

telepathy · Post by **telepathy** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 5:27 pm

kslight wrote:I'd definitely start using it as soon as you get it and make sure that it meets the seller's description for functionality.

While you wait you should find the operation and service manuals online and study up!

absolutely. I'd also suggest that nothing beats having a hard copy of the manual around when troubleshooting & calibrating. which leads me to...

Alignment tape you'll want eventually, but if it works "out of the box" then you'll survive without it for a while.

have to disagree, here. having an MRL tape - specific to your machine & what you plan to do with it (at which speed & which reference flux you'll be running it) - is critical. in general, as I see it with tape machines, if the work hasn't been done while you've owned the machine it's not safe to assume anything.

alcohol (either 91% isopropyl or denatured), Q-tips, and a demagnetizer. proper cleaning & demag technique will be discussed in the manual, or online in a variety of places. the only legitimate demagnetizer is the Han-D-Mag, made by the RB Annis Co.

there're a million other things but that's a start....

substitute · Post by **substitute** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 6:37 pm

Thanks for the fullcompass tip, I didn't realize they sold tape. The auction came with a 60 day warranty, so I've got a little time to order the proper supplies to really check it out.

I found the manual for the III, I got IV. At first glance they look to be pretty much the same. I'm not certain whether the machine will be set for IEC or NAB, the manual doesn't go into much detail but it involves swapping out a circuit board. I never knew there where two kinds of tape! I suppose that's first on the to do list, then I can get some tape and an MRL.

The knowledge that MX5050s are pin 3 hot, unbalanced. Unless they've been modified to be pin-2 hot.

Weird, thanks for pointing that out. I could have easily skimmed over that in the manual and been really confused.

percussion boy · Post by **percussion boy** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:25 pm

Re overdubbing on a multitrack reel-to-reel:

Be aware that any tracks you're listening to while overdubbing might be heard with a slight delay if you monitor those tracks off the playback head. . . . You should monitor off the record head instead (even though the fidelity of what you hear might be a little worse) so that your overdubs don't end up lagging behind the earlier tracks.

This is a weird phenomenon that has no parallel in the digital world -- it's about the distance between the record and playback heads.

On an Otari 8 track, I think this choice (what head to monitor from for each recorded track) is controlled by where you set the eight switches on the front. The manual will explain.

Sorry to be vague about details, haven't had a 5050 in a while. Good luck, it's a solid machine!

percussion boy · Post by **percussion boy** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:28 pm

Buy an alignment tape from MRL.

Last I knew, you can get them on the phone if you're not sure what to buy. The 5050 was a very common machine.

substitute · Post by **substitute** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:31 am

Great advice percussion boy!

I'm surprised there's not a sticky about that kind of stuff.

In other news, I'm pretty close to ATR I just saw on their site that they have an alignment and calibration seminar at the end of April. It's not specific to Otari's or anything but I'd bet it would be a pretty cool experience.

themagicmanmdt · Post by **themagicmanmdt** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 4:48 pm

substitute, where are you located?

first, i'd say, before you put on any MRL tape or anything, order some either good known used tape or a new reel or two (I suggest RMGI SM911 for the most mojo and ease of compatability and erasure) and simply learn to spool up the tape, wash your hands and see how it handles fast forward, play, stop, record engage, edit, etc etc etc. that way, if it's a tape eater or something strange, you didn't ruin your expensive MRL.

if you're in the NC area, i'd volunteer some help.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:35 pm

That's good advice me thinks.
Experience with how you and your machine handle tape is probably the best way to get started.

substitute · Post by **substitute** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:31 pm

I'm in Philadelphia, thanks for the kind offer though!

I actually found a reel of 1/2" in my basement today, so that's something to start with. I don't have a take up reel though, and actually haven't seen any empty reels for sale at the various sites that have been suggested. I would guess I could get one from ATR.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:41 pm

ebay has reels for decent prices sometimes.

substitute · Post by **substitute** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 4:23 pm

Yeah, I've seen that, I was hoping I could order all my supplies from one place.

Anyhow, the machine showed up today, shipped in it's original box no less! I haven't done anything with it yet, but at least cosmetically it's in pristine condition.

The outside of the box is stamped IEC equalization, and it didn't come with the NAB hub adapters. It seems all the available tape on ebay and elsewhere is on NAB reels.

So, is the tape on NAB reels definitely meant for NAB eq curves?

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:34 pm

substitute wrote:Yeah, I've seen that, I was hoping I could order all my supplies from one place.

Anyhow, the machine showed up today, shipped in it's original box no less! I haven't done anything with it yet, but at least cosmetically it's in pristine condition.

The outside of the box is stamped IEC equalization, and it didn't come with the NAB hub adapters. It seems all the available tape on ebay and elsewhere is on NAB reels.

So, is the tape on NAB reels definitely meant for NAB eq curves?

Cool! I thought full compass and a few other places sold reels. I know some of the places that sell tape head cleaner sell them too.

No, tape is tape. You can calibrate it to any standard AFAIK.

substitute · Post by **substitute** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:09 pm

I called fullcompass to make sure, no dice on the empties. However, I did find a guy on ebay that had hub adapters, MRL tape, and an empty for me. I can borrow a demagnetizer from a friend for the time being. So, I don't have it all in hand yet but everything's ordered

Also, if it's of interest to anyone I found this...

http://www.tapeproject.com/smf/index.ph ... 595.0.html

It's from a hi-fi perspective but still some useful information.

Message Board

Just got a tape machine, what now.

Just got a tape machine, what now.

Who is online