Bear's Gone Fission
16 February 2001
The gear forum has vanished, so I'll try again here. Looking into purchasing a good solid analog mixdown deck in the (relatively) near future. An ATR would be beyond my means or my needs, I believe, and I've already been told solid machines can be found for under $1000, maintenance and setup included. 1/4" 15 ips is fine by me, which makes the pickings pretty easy. I don't want one that requires excessive maintenance, but I realize care and feeding are part of the package.
So, whaddya all like?
da Bear
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A couple things...this is the "gear" forum now...though Angelo a
A couple things...this is the "gear" forum now...though Angelo and Stephen both run forums that discuss "gear" as well...so while things did get a bit rearranged and shuffled (I really like the new 'roster'...it's much easier to get around quickly).
Decks, there are several things to consider. Stability of the transport, condition of the mechanical portions, as well as quality of design. Personally, I prefer Studers to ATRs, in many ways it's an "east coast"/"west coast" thing. Seems the "west coast" guys prefer the ATRs, while Studer is really the standard in NYC.
From there, it's all pretty much of a jumble. There are some wonderful old Ampex transports around, though I prefer the sound of the "Inovonics" electronics to the Ampex elecronics. Unless you are a fairly good tech, I'd recommend staying away from the Scully stuff.
The Teac/Tascam/Technics decks have never sounded all that good to me. Yes, they do use tape, and still sound better than a DAT machine (to me), they still don't sound as good as a real deck.
I'm running a Studer A-80-RC (early model with discrete electronics) 1/4" 15ips deck. It's the balls. They go for a bit over a grand, but to me, are well worth it.
You can often find Revox A-77, B-77, and PR-99 machines floating around for a grand-ish, sometimes less, but you just have to land on one.
I wouldn't recommend picking one up off eBay unless it's local to you, or you have someone you trust in the area with the machine who can A)perform an inspection; B)arrange safe transit.
Best of luck with your search.