Otari or Technics Reel-to-Reel ?

I've never owned a Technics, but I do think the Otari is a better bet. I have the Otari (model MX5050 BII-2) that graced many a radio station and small studio. That was the target market, while the Technics was mainly for home use. The Otari is a really tough, rugged machine and will do everything you want in a deck, plus it sounds great, far better than the Teac X1000R it replaced in my system. And as a recording deck I think it's hard to beat.

By all means, whatever you decide, go for it. The world needs more tape fans :-)

Cleeds, the Otari can indeed "do both." There's a switch atop the headstack that makes it real easy to select 2-track or 4-track playback. As far as 4-track recording is concerned, it's not quite as simple, although there's a headstack designed for that. One of the joys of the Otari is the ease of switching a headstack; just unscrew 3 screws and lift it out. Alignment is unaffected.

There are a total of 8,000-10,000 pre-recorded tapes offered every day on auction or buy-it-now basis on eBay. Prices are all over the map and most of the tapes are estate-sale purchases, offered by sellers who have no decks on which to play them. It's pretty wild but you can get lucky. I just won a classical album of Handel works by E. Power Biggs for a grand total of $5.04 -- $1.04 for the tape and $4.00 for shipping.

"Demagnetize the heads after recording each tape." Whoa, there. If anything is gonna discourage a newbie, that's it. (I won't get into the fluorescent light thing.) I'm well aware that recording with magnetized heads is not a good thing, but good grief, let's be realistic. If it makes you more comfortable, buy the most sensitive magnetometer (like 5-0-5) you can find and learn just how many recordings it takes to move the needle.

And btw, Terry Witt (aka Terry's Rubber Rollers) has probably re-rubbered more pinch rollers than anyone else on earth and he recommends "plain old dish soap and water" (I use Dawn) for cleaning pinch rollers when they need it. I agree that it doesn't hurt to have a spare.

Good thinking, Inna. Except that those Last tapeproducts are, to me, ungodly expensive. I have both and reserve them for stuff like fixing squealing tapes. Which is not to say they don't work.

Incidentally, in my Otari comments I should have noted that they apply to my own deck (Model MX-5050 BII-2) and maybe not to other models.