The dangerous world of Reel-to-Reel Tape

I purchased my Teac X-10R R2R in 1981 while stationed in Germany.  During the 80’s and early 90’s I recorded 30 reels of my favorite vinyl albums.  I encoded all of my reels using a dbx 244 Type II noise reduction unit.  The 224 not only removed all tape hiss, it also expanded the dynamic range.  I loved the sound of my recordings.

About the mid 90’s, I got into streaming music via Logitech Squeezebox Duets and rarely used the R2R, and it has sat unused for about the last 10 years.  A few weeks ago, I had it serviced and have been listening to those old tapes.  They still sound great. Just this week I did some A/B testing of Qobuz versus my R2R.  My R2R sounded better to me.  

If you look at my profile, you’ll see my R2R sitting in a Teac reel rack, beneath the rack is the Teac maintenance kit I purchased with the deck; it still has head and pinch roller cleaning fluid 🤗.  In my profile, it’s only audio art.  After getting it serviced, I placed it beside my turntable on my Butcher Block gear rack.  The only problem is I can’t record because my BHK pre amp doesn’t have Record Out.  So, I’ve decided to buy an integrated amp with recording capabilities and sell my PS Audio pre amp and power amp.  An Accuphase E280 or E-380 is on my short list.     

For some folks it offers a different sound signature than either digital or vinyl.  For others, it is an experience unto itself-  perhaps a unique sound, or perhaps a trip down memory lane that can never be recreated any other way.

@knittersspouse +1 - Those were the days!!

@thom_oz 

I hope you mean that the dbx box preserved the dynamics of those recordings you were capturing. Me, I wouldn't want the original dynamics altered in any way when taping (it audibly "pumps" if you push dynamic restoration more than 5-8%).

I can only tell you that, in general, my tapes sounded better than the source vinyl albums - especially those recorded 15 ips.  Back in the day, I also used a dbx 3bx to tweak the dynamic range a little bit during playback. The sound was a little fuller with a tad more bass. I still have the 3bx, but I no longer use it.

As for recording your vinyl today, surely your phono preamp before the BHK has a fixed line-out. You could use a splitter cable at that point, send the signal to the BHK Pre AND the tape deck or dbx box at the same time. Then monitor your recordings thru the BHK in your chosen tape input.

I use XLR cables between my Stellar phono pre and the BHK.  I may give the RCA cables with splitter idea a try.  That would be a lot cheaper than buying a new preamp or integrared amp 😂!

@kraftwerkturbo It depends.

I purchased a case (10 reels) of Maxell 35-180 UD tape in 1981.  A few years later, I purchased two cases (20 reels) of "Ampex GM-3600 Grand Master Professional Recording Tape." 

From the mid 90’s to the mid 2000's, my R2R sat mostly unused, but I would play a reel on rare occasions.  Around the mid 2000’s, I noticed my Ampex tapes started to sound muddy and were leaving a lot of residue on the tape heads, pinch rollers, and transport mechanism so I had to stop using them (because they sounded like crap).

My Maxell reels are still playing just fine.

When my Ampex tapes went bad, I found out they were very prone to SSS (Sticky Shed Syndrome) SSS Syndrome. List Of Known SSS Tapes.

@atmasphere I considered trying to bake the tapes, but at that time in my life, I had neither the time or inclination to do so.  I do have a head demagnetizer. It came with a Teac reel-to-reel maintenance kit, which has just about everything one needs to clean and service the heads, pinch rollers, transport mechanism, splice tapes, and leaders,  etc.  I’ve had it since 1981.

Back in the 80’s and early 90’s when I used my R2R a lot, I’d demagnetize the heads and transport mechanism about once a month.  I did not know if that was enough or too much, but it worked for me.  I did keep the demagnetizer away from my tapes 😀.