NOOB Question: Calibrating an Otari MX5050 BIII 8 Track

[thenapking]

Hi,

Apologies for asking a Noob question, this must have been answered elsewhere but I can't find it. I have been loaned an Otari MX5050 BIII 8 Track, with a Ferrograph for calibration, but no MRL library tape.
It needs calibrating, that much I know. But w/o an MRL tape how can I do the first step of calibrating the gain levels for each channel? Can I use the test OSC to record tones to tape and adjust it from there? Or will that just be all over the place because the gain for each channel hasn't been calibrated?

Thanks!

[The Scum]

Usually, you use the cal tape to set up the playback electronics. Then you put blank tape on, and use the playback side to get the input side calibrated.

Without a cal tape, you have no credible way to get the playback side aligned. You could be compensating for flaws in the output calibration by adjusting the input calibration.

[thenapking]

Thanks for that, it does answer my question. I need to ask the person who loaned me it then and see what I can do!