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Reel to Reel and General Tapes Questions

Hi all, I've gone down the road to reel to reel recently. It started with some of my speaker trading around and I ended up with a non working, recapped, Pioneer RT 909. Its been 6 months but I've got my first working reel to reel. I bought a DBX 224 and a Pioneer expander, haven't try them yet because the Pioneer was damaged in shipping. I also ordered a pro reel to reel from ebay, Otari mx 5050 I believe. I plan on going over this unit as I think it will be much better that the Pioneer. I was looking for some tips and tricks as far as upgrades to the expander units, noise reduction and wonder if anyone has ever tried to use VCR audio heads in a custom diy attempt at high quality sound. Also, what other pro gear is out there looking into? Thanks.
paullk

Showing 1 response by atmasphere

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atmasphere
12,099 posts
 
I was figuring the Otari would be better then home units, I might sell the Pioneer after I get the Otari up to snuff. How would you rate the sound of the sony vs the Otari? My thoughts on the VCR audio heads were that they are newer than reel to reel tech,
The Otari is a much better machine than the Pioneer.

The Sony is an excellent machine; we use it because of the easily exchanged head stacks. It is overall a better machine than the Otari, but the Otari is no slouch and there are close trade-offs in the sound. I think the Sony might be a bit drier, if anything, but its pretty slight.

Don't worry about the VCR heads. Reel to reel heads are already highly optimized and VCR heads are not in the same league.
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