Have you heard of the Revox A77 or Tascam MSR-16?

Im having the oportunity to purchase a Revox A77 tape deck machines at around $200 and a Tascam MSR-16 for $800. Both machines are in great shape. I would like to know if any of you guys own one and your experiences with them, how do they sound?? reliability ?? ect. I dont want a comparison on which one is better. i Know the revox is a 2 track and the tascam is 16. I would like your opinions. I'm about to enter the analog world for the 1st time so I would greatly appreciate your advice. thanks alot!!

 

Both are very good machines...Hopefully they both come with alignment tapes and a manual...

 

God Bless You.

There is hope abound!

Tascam- Spare parts are mucho $$$, learn how to align and calibrate.

Revox- See above

Cheers,
Chris

 

Good luck with tape in the future. Emtec (formerly Ampex) for which your Tascam was designed/calibrated) is no more. There is some stock, but they will no longer make analog tape. 3M is it. What happens when they crap out?

You can buy a real MTR (Studer A-80, A-800) for a few grand. If you're going to buy anything, stock up on tape and then a proper tape storage closet to keep it happy.

 

Mmm??? Forgot about the little issue of tape stock.

Good point Sheet.

Chris

 

I just paid $50 for 5 brand new sealed reels of Ampex 456 1/4" 10.5" tape. And they guy has lots more. Tape is available all over the joint. Quantegy still makes it.

Don't worry about stock people will always make tape cause high end studios still want to use analog.

 

I own a pair of those Revox, both purchased in the '70 and still like NEW! God bless Mr Studer. I did a lot of masters with them. Today o go to my father's house to bring one at home, because i'm copying some tapes to digital. but i want to try to insert it in the master chain, as tape effect.

 

The biggest problem with the A77 Revox is the brakes. They are problematic to say the least. The brake bands are covered with baked on medical adhesive tape which gets very gummy and can cause all kinds of problems. There is plenty of documentation on the web on practical fixes for the problem so do some homework. The other problem is that the circuit cards contacts are prone to getting contaminated with ???? and a perfectly operating REVOX will suddenly go dead in one channel or have no output. Get yourself some CAIG labs cleaner and lubrication sprays (http://www.caig.com/) and use them sparingly. (you can get them at GC or other retailers as well). The other common problem is the tape path (especially keeping it clean) and again there are numerous sites that can detail how to solve the problems you are sure to have.

One thing you may want to do is join the Yahoo group Reel to Reel here is the web address http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reeltoreel/

I have owned 7 Revox A-77s at various times in my career and they are GREAT machines when you take care of them.

Best of luck. (and yes parts are still available for them as well as a good supply of tape so ENJOY!)

 

I own a Tascam MSR24 which I have bought new in 1992. Sounds great and has never let me down, not for a split second.

The A77 otoh is a consumer machine, you better get a Studer 1/4" or better a 1/2" master machine. I have a Studer B67 which is a great sounding machine as well.

 

I've owned both these machines in my time and they're both great. True the Revox is a domestic version of a Revox, but still damn good. Also true is the common problem of their brakes - mine had that problem when I bought it secondhand, but a local service agent sorted that out for not a lot of money. You wouldn't go wrong with either machine. especially since you should pick up one for a fraction of their original price.