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Thanks, Angie!

I worked with John to design something that would have multiple uses. He 
said the only one he ever made was for the NSA.

Here are some photos of it.

https://www.facebook.com/rlhess/media_set?set=a.10154752616602755.1073741893.698822754&type=3&uploaded=4

Cheers,

Richard




On 10/30/2016 01:17, Angie Dickinson Mickle wrote:
> I have been using a Fostex 8-track reel machine for 8-tk cartridges
> myself, Richard.  But your setup...genius.
>
> Angie Dickinson Mickle
> Avocado Productions
> Broomfield, CO
> www.avocadoproductions.com
> 800-246-3811
>
> Visit us on Facebook
> http://www.facebook.com/AvocadoProductions
> Or Twitter
> http://twitter.com/AvocadoProd
>
> Richard L. Hess wrote:
>> I'm sorry, I should have described my setup.
>>
>> I find the splice (more recently by hand pulling as I am not as
>> trusting of the Akai deck I have any more).
>>
>> I then put it on a large hub 5" reel with leader at both ends.
>>
>> John French took a quadraphonic 8-track head and put it in an elevator
>> for me. Azimuth doesn't change when I adjust height. Great for
>> recovering slivers in standard reel formats. Height is continuously
>> adjustable.
>>
>> I can usually get by with just two height adjustments. 1/3 & 5/6 in
>> the first pass and 2/4 & 7/8 in the second.
>>
>> I return the tape on the reel.
>>
>> I use two APR-5000s with a headblock to headblock jumper for the
>> second stereo pair.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/29/2016 19:04, Corey Bailey wrote:
>>> Hi Richard,
>>>
>>> Aha, welcome to the land of 8 tracks. Because I seem to work mostly with
>>> consumer formats, I occasionally wind up with these. I don't have any
>>> encouraging words other to say that: If the tape plays at all, you are
>>> way ahead of the process. I usually encounter the ones where the splice
>>> fails and then you are in recovery mode while holding your breath. If I
>>> worked with enough of these, I would consider getting a Fostex Model 80
>>> then, migrating the tape to the reel-to-reel format for much better
>>> results. Not sure if that would help the crosstalk issue though. I
>>> currently use a Techniques deck (Considered audiophile at the time),
>>> play the tapes in real-time and hope for the best.
>>>
>>> Cheers!
>>>
>>> Corey
>>> Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
>>> www.baileyzone.net
>>>
>>> On 10/29/2016 12:47 PM, Richard L. Hess wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I'm doing an 8-track
>>>> that is the only surviving copy of an album other than a home-made
>>>> cassette (of an 8-track?, I'm not sure yet).
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, there is something I don't think I've mentioned on 8-tracks.
>>>>
>>>> They were often recorded with staggered heads, though usually tracks
>>>> 1/2 and 5/6 were on the same head.
>>>>
>>>> Well, this particularly annoying 8-track seems to have substantially
>>>> different azimuth on 5/6 than 1/2, so it's four separate passes for
>>>> this one rather than two. Fortunately it's short.
>>>>
>>>> A not half-bad Gospel trio from Virginia in the 1970s. The lady singer
>>>> reminds me a bit of Judith Durham of The Seekers -- not quite as good,
>>>> but her voice mixes in a similar way and can carry over the two guys
>>>> -- and there's a bit of a Southern US accent rather than a
>>>> British/Australian accent.
>>>>
>>>> Thought you'd like to think about the 8-track annoyances. Once more
>>>> StereoTool allows me monitor the azimuth better than any other option.
>>>>
>>>> Now, if only this project could afford Plangent Processes on the wow
>>>> and flutter...and then there is the inter-track crosstalk which I
>>>> can't seem to lose no matter what head height is dialed in.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> Richard
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>
-- 
Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada                             647 479 2800
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.