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.