Next challenge Richard:  tackling the 15/32 in/s projects I'm working on!

Regards,

Mark Durenberger

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 3:11 PM
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Slow Reel-to-reels

> Hi, Stephen,
>
> I agree with Tom for the most part, although I do have a 1.88 in/s MRL 
> test tape and I often run 1.88 in/s tapes at real time using -50% 
> varispeed on a Sony APR-5000. For each head assembly and each speed for 
> that machine, there are three presets. I keep the third one calibrated for 
> 1.88 and the other two for 3.75 in/s. If I have a big 1.88 project, I may 
> use preset two for that as preset 1 is the MRL for 3.75 and preset 3 is 
> the MRL for 1.88.
>
> To do it right, you want 50 µin gap length heads, which I don't have for 
> all formats, but still, getting 8 kHz or better at 1.88 off a reel isn't 
> bad.
>
> For 15/16, I do what Tom did, using 1.88 as my starting point.
>
> Another option I have, but it only works for four-track, as if it's a two 
> track tape, I'd rather use a two track head, is the four-track Racal Store 
> 4DS. It has 15/16 to 60 in/s, but requires re-equalization as it's 
> constant flux IRIG EQ.
>
> The slow-speed Revox B77 and C270 machines are probably the best choice if 
> you don't want to do it the way Tom and I do <smile>.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> On 2012-04-13 3:31 PM, Tom Fine wrote:
>> Hi Stephen:
>>
>> I had a small pile of slow-speed reels a while back. Same thing as you, 
>> amateur-made oral history material. I decided, rather than find some 
>> lousy old slow-speed machine to play them, I'd transfer them at 3.75IPS 
>> on my Technics 1520 machine (perfect to handle the tiny reels without 
>> over-tensioning and stretching the tape). I transferred them a 96/24, and 
>> then lowered the pitch accordingly. It worked just fine, even the stuff 
>> recorded at 15/16IPS (which was fascinating, it was the person's 
>> full-blood Navajo grandmother talking about the early 1900's and growing 
>> up on an Indian Reservation). The key thing was that both the client and 
>> I realized these were not high-fidelity items, so losing some digital 
>> resolution to get to the proper speed (pitch) was OK, in fact there were 
>> no digital artifacts. We were both somewhat surprised how well the audio 
>> turned out, you could clearly hear crickets and birds behind people's 
>> voices, old 1960's cars starting up and going by, propeller and older jet 
>> airplanes passing overhead, etc. It was a true time capsule.
>>
>> In fact, the worst reel in the bunch was a 3.75IPS that had been recorded 
>> on a Uher with failing batteries. It ended up easiest to ramp up the 
>> speed adjust knob on the Technics, using me ears to keep voice pitches in 
>> a reasonable range. It was tricky but it worked on the third try. I also 
>> transferred at exactly 3.75IPS and tried to get better results with DSP 
>> pitch. It was time-consuming and the "steps" were more audible. Once 
>> again, ears trump gadgets.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Bolech" 
>> <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 2:57 PM
>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Slow Reel-to-reels
>>
>>
>> Hi everyone, I'm hoping some of you could give me recommendations for 
>> good options to play back 1 7/8 ips and even the occasional 15/16 tapes. 
>> We have a large oral history collection, and though the majority are at 
>> 3.75 ips, there are some at these slower speeds.  What are you guys using 
>> for these speeds, and what do you recommend?
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Stephen Bolech
>>
>
> -- 
> Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada           (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.