Is there any way to get a 1/4 tape machine up to a good standard without a test tape?

There's a revox machine in the studio im about to do some mixing of my own band at. Seems to all work fine and they've assured me its had a service not too long ago but they have no test tape. They keep telling me not to bother with the a stupid test tape but im not too sure, haven't got much experience in this.

Found one on ebay for $100, which seems like a crazy rip off.

Matt_Rees wrote:Found one on ebay for $100, which seems like a crazy rip off.

It's not too bad, but you might as well get a brand new one specifically done for the machine if you're prepared to spend that money on getting one. To be honest I wouldn't bother, since it's not for your machine. It's the studio's responsibility to maintain their equipment and evidently they are not prepared to do that. If they're telling you not to bother with a "stupid test tape" then I think you should be very skeptical about anything they tell you during your session too.

At home I have done a very generic level test on a few machines by recording tones from a generator onto a tape machine @ 0dB on the machines VU and playing them back into a console or computer and checking to see how it plays back from track to track on the meters. You don't learn much but you'll be able to see if it is fucked completely.

I would never pay for studio time at a place that did not maintain the machines. It is unprofessional for any studio to not provide that.

Matt_Rees wrote:Is there any way to get a 1/4 tape machine up to a good standard without a test tape?

There's a revox machine in the studio im about to do some mixing of my own band at. Seems to all work fine and they've assured me its had a service not too long ago but they have no test tape. They keep telling me not to bother with the a stupid test tape ...

Incredible. Are they charging you money?
Don't buy a used test tape. You don't know what your getting.
Ultimately, you need tones recorded at a known level to know what level your recording at right? Simply "0"-ing out the meters with the record calibration is only good for wanking around on your own projects.

Matt_Rees wrote:
Found one on ebay for $100, which seems like a crazy rip off.

that's not a bad price. Real MRL calibration tapes are very expensive. I bet I paid close to $150 for my 1/4" tape (multi tones, no sweep...), which I got new from MRL.

You oughta see the prices for 2" MRL's. Damn things can be $600 or more. A calibration tape is very specialized, and it takes specialized equipment to make one. They're full track. Meaning for a 2" one, you have a single track on that 2" of tape (less the guard band on each edge, but you get the idea). You got a mono head stack for you 2" machine? I didn't think so...

And yeah, I'd worry about a studio that advertises a tape machine, but does not do their own machine calibrations. Particularly for a mix machine whose recorded output is likely to go on to someone else's machine for mastering.

Ha yeah just to clear up, its not a commercial studio just a few small private studios to do with my old college. I still get on well with the tutors, so free recording time!

They've got some Mackie hard disk system in place so the revox was sitting in the corner reserved for tape echo.

Thanks for the replies. I may just buy a MRL calibration tape since i've been planning on getting a 1/4 machine since time began and since everythings been free so far, i can't complain. Just had no idea they cost that much.

Also reading up on machine calibration, how important is demaging the heads, how often to to you find you need to do it and how can it affect the sound quality if not done over time?

I generally demag when I do a full calibration. so whenever I set up a deck to run. You geta buncha fizzy and muddy response on the high end if you don't demag regular. A Han-D-Mag demag device is only about $60 and you should only ever need to buy one 'cause they're pretty bullet proof...