Anybody here still "roll it, old skool"...i.e., analog tape?

[Mike Walker]

Like most here, I record, edit, mix, master, and distribute everything from my computer. But I grew up with analog tape. Frankly, if I had an 8 (or 16) track Otari or Studer, I'd probably use it every day. I just like what my voice sounds like coming off analog tape. It's not that I can't get equal sound with digital, it just doesn't seem like as much FUN! Much of what I do with plug-ins, etc. is try to recreate the "fatness" and "warmth" that are just THERE with analog. Does anyone here still track and/or mix using analog these days?

 

[Chuck]

Does anyone here still track and/or mix using analog these days?

I just removed a very nice Ampex AG-440b from our production room this weekend. Nobody has used it in years. Still I miss crawling around on the floor looking for that little piece of tape that I cut off too short. It was especially fun when you had shag carpet.

We were out of razor blades anyway...

 

[uppendowndadial]

I have an Otari 2 track. I need to get it tweaked so it will be in top shape, then I'd use it more

 

[radioboy]

I still have a TEAC X-300, although I don't use it very often.

I grew up doing the analog thing..but, being visually impaired, left the razor-blade
editing to others. At one time, the station where I used to work only had two on-air voices..and I was one of them. That meant a lot of production.

One thing I would LIKE to have that I don't is a cart machine that records. Just for
the low-power Part 15 station, not for the real jobs!

 

[FredRichards]

I have several machines, including an Tascam A3440 that I purchased in 1977 that Teac rebuilt for me last month so I could do some transfers. Every so often someone has something they need exported from tape to digital.

Cart machines are still around at stations, and some individuals have them squirreled away. There is a fellow who does a column on the National Radio Club's books for the blind magazine that has several Gate ATC mono machines, and a library of oldies carts that he plays around with. The machines are around, so if you have a free long distance phone, I would just start calling around before the machines hit the dumpster.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

There's an Otari 50-50 (at least I think that's the model) in four of our five production rooms. Nice dust catchers. I'm one of two guys who actually dusts them and just for old time's sake, cleans the heads, rollers and tape guides. Back in the day, we had four and eight track reels all over the joint, even an Otari one inch 8 track in the main prod studio. Sweet machine. Yes, analogue audio tape might have sounded lush on a nicely tweaked and properly aligned reel to reel, but given the amount of audio we chop up for promos and the Buffalo Bills Radio Network each week, I don't miss analogue that much. And I haven't sliced my fingers foolishly trying to slow down a 5600 rpm aluminum reel in years. That, I really don't miss.

 

[w9wi]

Speaking of old analog machines...

I've got 20 old reels of 1/4" tape. 7" reels. No boxes.

I can find people on the Internet who'll sell me cases of 200 boxes but nobody interested in selling small quantities.

Anyone have any idea where I can get 20-25 tape boxes?

 

[FredRichards]

Have you tried Polyline Corp in Des Plaines IL? Or do they want you to buy a case of boxes? What about thetapecompany.com?

I still use analog machines for *some* sessions, but only when it merits it because of the material.

 

[DeadAudicy]

Me here with the same MX5050 I used when it was in use (90s). It has the variable speed compatible with the Eventide H3500, which would actually speed up or slow down the reel, as it digitally lowered or raised pitch, as desired. Like a couple of robots (I had to hide the old people's medicine, just in case....).
The 5050 has the tone generater, and the unit's current usefulness is down to just that: A quick 1k tone when needed for a "bleep" sfx. Also a fine conversation piece among the er...less seasoned of us.

 

[MyCatKnight]

Me here with the same MX5050 I used when it was in use (90s). It has the variable speed compatible with the Eventide H3500, which would actually speed up or slow down the reel, as it digitally lowered or raised pitch, as desired

Wow, that was my exact setup in my old AC/Standards combo... thanks for the memories. We had a Harris board whose level skyrocketed when the sunlight hit it, so I would have to readjust levels for the afternoon sessions.