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If I was to purchase a headlock for an a820, would I need to also find 1" guides also? I expect the answer to this is yes. But I thought I'd put it to the PRF before I made a fool of myself in front of JRF.

stuffy wrote: If I was to purchase a headlock for an a820, would I need to also find 1" guides also? I expect the answer to this is yes. But I thought I'd put it to the PRF before I made a fool of myself in front of JRF.

Yeah, You'd need the whole set of guide rollers. Audiohouse, the current owner of Studer parts stock should still sell this. Look in your manual for the kit part number and email them.
Let us know what you find. Last time I looked it was way beyond our budget.

Good luck.

Did they make a full 2" 8trak headstock? That would rule!

Kniferide wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 11:08 am Did they make a full 2" 8trak headstock? That would rule!

Studer didn't, but JRF Magnetics, and ATR Service built custom 2" 8-track headblocks for A820/827MCH (and other multi-tracks). I got to record with one on our A820. The only thing I could really notice was the perceived noise floor dropped an incredible amount. Other than that, it sounded pretty much the same as the stock heads, which is pretty liniear. I think the remark in the room was it sounded "digital", which I know no one wants to hear.

Greg wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:22 pm

Kniferide wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 11:08 am Did they make a full 2" 8trak headstock? That would rule!

Studer didn't, but JRF Magnetics, and ATR Service built custom 2" 8-track headblocks for A820/827MCH (and other multi-tracks). I got to record with one on our A820. The only thing I could really notice was the perceived noise floor dropped an incredible amount. Other than that, it sounded pretty much the same as the stock heads, which is pretty liniear. I think the remark in the room was it sounded "digital", which I know no one wants to hear.

I remember some storied engineer in Tapeop talking about syncing two 2" 8 tracks for some project. Of course the low end was "insane" and you "had to be in the room to understand". I'm sure it absolutely didn't suck but it kind of felt like someone assuring you that unicorn tears taste amazing, but of course you'll never get to see for yourself.

losthighway wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:48 pm

Greg wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:22 pm

Kniferide wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 11:08 am Did they make a full 2" 8trak headstock? That would rule!

Studer didn't, but JRF Magnetics, and ATR Service built custom 2" 8-track headblocks for A820/827MCH (and other multi-tracks). I got to record with one on our A820. The only thing I could really notice was the perceived noise floor dropped an incredible amount. Other than that, it sounded pretty much the same as the stock heads, which is pretty liniear. I think the remark in the room was it sounded "digital", which I know no one wants to hear.

I remember some storied engineer in Tapeop talking about syncing two 2" 8 tracks for some project. Of course the low end was "insane" and you "had to be in the room to understand". I'm sure it absolutely didn't suck but it kind of felt like someone assuring you that unicorn tears taste amazing, but of course you'll never get to see for yourself.

of the things that a producer should be doing, that's WAY down the list from things like "accidentally" losing the drummer's china cymbal and making sure the singer isn't rhyming "fire" with "desire"

twelvepoint wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 5:38 pm of the things that a producer should be doing, that's WAY down the list from things like "accidentally" losing the drummer's china cymbal and making sure the singer isn't rhyming "fire" with "desire"

tech room hof right there

losthighway wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:48 pm

Greg wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:22 pm

Kniferide wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 11:08 am Did they make a full 2" 8trak headstock? That would rule!

Studer didn't, but JRF Magnetics, and ATR Service built custom 2" 8-track headblocks for A820/827MCH (and other multi-tracks). I got to record with one on our A820. The only thing I could really notice was the perceived noise floor dropped an incredible amount. Other than that, it sounded pretty much the same as the stock heads, which is pretty liniear. I think the remark in the room was it sounded "digital", which I know no one wants to hear.

I remember some storied engineer in Tapeop talking about syncing two 2" 8 tracks for some project. Of course the low end was "insane" and you "had to be in the room to understand". I'm sure it absolutely didn't suck but it kind of felt like someone assuring you that unicorn tears taste amazing, but of course you'll never get to see for yourself.

Well, if you hit the levels hard on that 2" 8 track it probably does have a lot of low end bump (probably nothing you couldn't also achieve with eq and compression but whatever). A lot of people are only using tape at this point to exploit its characteristics when pushed. If you're operating the machine at Studer spec, then yeah it probably is just a matter of lower noise floor (which was nothing to sneeze at prior to the proliferation of digital recording).

It also could be the repro head. The Flux Magnetics head on our 16-track sounds much better in the low end than the stock Studer repro head. It's engineered that way, to extend the low freq response at 30 IPS, and it translates an octave lower at 15. It's possible they had those heads. That was one of the options...
I'd be curious to hear some electronic music thumping through all the options to reveal what's going on in a brutal way.

Greg wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:29 pm

stuffy wrote: If I was to purchase a headlock for an a820, would I need to also find 1" guides also? I expect the answer to this is yes. But I thought I'd put it to the PRF before I made a fool of myself in front of JRF.

Yeah, You'd need the whole set of guide rollers. Audiohouse, the current owner of Studer parts stock should still sell this. Look in your manual for the kit part number and email them.
Let us know what you find. Last time I looked it was way beyond our budget.

Good luck.

Thanks Greg, I emailed both JRF and Audiohouse. I have yet to hear from JRF (who I doubt could supply me with the guides etc.) but I did hear back from Audiohouse. Came out at almost £8k gbp. The guides alone come to £3k. If we sold our A80 8 track we probably would not get that for it. The times we (well, mainly I) use the the 8 track are limited but I love making records on it. I've done two of my own albums that way and they are some of my favourite recordings. Dang it (as the kids, somewhere, say).