Justin Foley wrote:Does there need to be one thread? A lot of questions have been asked and discussed in past threads - seems a little silly to not take advantage of the existing wealth of information already here.i.e.NAB vs IEC thread.= Justini feel you justin. my intention was more of a discussion than straight tech questions, but also if there are tech questions that have been asked before it groups the kerbles together. i guess honing your goddamnfuckingholyhellofashit search function skills might be a more systemic fix, but, well here we are.

I've used a few machines with relapped heads done by JRF, all of which were great. I have yet to hear a bad word about their services. Is there even another option, anyway?As for tape formulations, for rock stuff I prefer RMG 911, but the last couple reels I've used have had some issues with QC (shitty slitting tolerances, mainly, causing edge track inconsistencies). I haven't bought any since it became RTM, so maybe that stuff is all fixed now. For sure, the reels that were branded Pyral SUCKED and I would stay away from those.I find 900 to be a bit soft and tubby for my tastes, some people really like the gluey thing it does. Always feels kind of swampy to me, for want of a better word. I like the midrange focus of 911.Don't have much experience with ATR tape, but many people I respect like it. The A827 we have doesn't like ATR (weird artifacts, almost like digital clocking clicks). I believe that's a known issue, but I'm not sure what the cause is or whether there has been a fix.If I was buying tape today, I would probably grab a reel of the RTM 911 to see how the QC is, and also a reel of ATR to compare it to. It's all so subjective and machine-specific. When you start getting up to +9 levels, the front end of the tape machine itself can start to give up. Whether that's a positive or negative is totally up to you.

Those are a total pain to align. You literally have to remove the housing that the machine sits in. I don't think they were designed for the user to align them at all really.

Revox are consumer Studers. Some Studers (like the B67, which I have) are similar to some Revox machines, like the B77. The B77 you linked is a 2 track deck.Other tape machines in your budget are Otari MX50 and MX5050. You might even be able to find a higher grade Otari (MTR 10 or 12) for under $1500. Ampex 440 was (and probably still is) a workhorse that is supposedly easy enough to maintain/has plenty for parts, and I'm confident you can find one for less than $1500. I found my Studer B67 for $125 and with the work I've put into it and still have to put into it it'll come up to $1500. So you might want to look at those. I would say look for a machine that can run at 30IPS if you can, but that might not be in your budget.

thank you, eliya. i just had the heads on my ms-16 relapped by JRF and they were insanely fast and great to deal with, so another vouch for them.also just got an athan pinch roller. my multitrack has never sounded this good.

looking for recommendations on 2 track mix down decks under 1500 usd (shipped)at quick glance this looks appealing:https://www.ebay.com/itm/TEAC-TASCAM-32 ... Y#viTabs\_0

i have heard good things about revox. is studer, no?https://www.ebay.com/itm/Revox-B77-Mk1- ... SwiZdc~YuYedit: the listing says 4 track. it looks like a 2 track, and i think revox b77's are generally 2 tracks.

Revox mostly made 2-track machines, some of which were indeed more of a consumer, hi-fi standard (B77s) and some a little more high-tech. I own a PR99 mkIII and it's an awesome machine, 15ips, very stable, transparent, all balanced ins and outs. I use it all the time for mixdown.There are also some pretty rare multi-tracks, c274 and c278 - I read mixed things about them online, but I can't see how they can be bad, given the quality of all the other Revox stuff.