Reel To Reel Audio System

[Blades]

Hi All,

My band was thinking about getting a reel to reel, and a buddy of mine offered to sell me his for 30 bucks, it's a TEAC A-2500 he got a garage sale. Worth it?

Also, I am a DUMBASS when it comes to reel to reels and online documentation is limited. So, I have a couple questions.

1)When you buy tape, does it come with two reels, one reel, or just the tape?

2) how can you tell what player plays what tape widths?

3) How do they output, Standard RCA? I'm an audio guy by nature,, but I know little to nothing about reel to reels.

...help?
Blades

[megabomberman]

Why are you concerning yourself with tapes, is it for recording purposes, do you record your music digitally onto the computer?

[Blades]

Recording, my band wishes to have analog audio master copies.

Blades

[Austn Vodville]

Hey guys, I'm in Blades' band, we want digital copies of the music obviously, but we want analog master copies as well.

[Blades]

Also, Do Reel To Reels vary widely in quality?

Like cheap ones record badly (VERY badly)? Please do some research if you can on the model I specified, that'd be awesome =D.

Also, do they wear out quick?

Blades

[Austn Vodville]

Good question, young one...again.

[Blades]

<Post deleted by US Secret Service>

[Austn Vodville]

Lies, lies lies.

[Blades]

<Post deleted by US Secret Service>

[Austn Vodville]

Yeah well....your mom!

[Blades]

<Post deleted by US Secret Service>

[Austn Vodville]

Yes, yes I did =O

[Blades]

<Post deleted by US Secret Service>

[Austn Vodville]

OH SNAP

[Blades]

<Post deleted by US Secret Service>

[Austn Vodville]

Yeah well, hamsters beat....YOUR MOM

[Blades]

<Post deleted by US Secret Service>

[Austn Vodville]

Yeah well























I LOVE PENIS GREASE

[Blades]

<Post deleted by US Secret Service>

[Austn Vodville]

=O

[Blades]

NOW, Back on topic, Can anyone answer my questions?

[Austn Vodville]

No















































Oh dis

[megabomberman]

Judging by the fact that ye are obviously children I'd say go for the one that will cost the least amount of pocket money and money from cleaning your neighbours car out.

[Blades]

Haha, I'll take that as a poke, I am 17, as is he.

We were just fooling around. Many Apologies.

So Seriously, Tips?

[Blades]

He is banned I see,

Please do not misinterpret this, He was just having a little fun.

I am sorry, so am I forgiven?

I can be mature If I have to.

Blades

[megabomberman]

Ye posted some meaningless posts in the off topic section, I don't think we will ever be able to find it in our hearts to forgive you!

[Blades]

Haha, I see all is well, Thank you for the second chance =D.

So in all seriousness, can you answer my previous questions?

[Blades]

For the Record, it is HE who posted, not me, I just responded.

[megabomberman]

Actually I can't we were thinking of buying a four track for recording, but its just not worth it, we record everything through the PA and PC now using audacity as our track mixer, its just the easiest way, I'm not sure why ye want a master on tape,

[Blades]

Well, i think analog audio fluidity is better than digital, besides it's just cool to look at lol.

Are u in a band? Would be awesome if you could give us some tips.

[megabomberman]

To be honest you probably know a whole pile more than me considering you are a musician, I'm just a front man, also we play straight rock and bluesy stuff, ye obviously play technogical and industrial style music, I've spent some time listening to fear factory and nine inch nails, I'm a bigger fan of filter but its not my area of expertise unfortunately,

[Blades]

That's pretty cool, We're the Nine Inch Nails-esque band and we were looking for some tips to playing live.

Have You recorded much?

[megabomberman]

Well we recorded a good bit in the bands first state, although the guitarist was a metal one and it just didn't seem right, we've a new one now, but we're mainly interested in recording,

[Blades]

That's pretty cool, Do u have any on the internet available?

Haha, I love your pm.

[Blades]

Btw, Said Friend says hes sorry lol, Notice I am not fighting for him =D

[megabomberman]

pm?

But no we don't really bother showing off our stuff or anything like that, maybe just to a few fellas, we will get gigging soon enough though hopefully when college gets going again.

[Blades]

I mean your signature lol

That's cool, I hope we make it as musicians:?

[megabomberman]

Haha, I love your pm

Thats what I mean by Pm?

Also I wouldn't hold too much hope of us making it as musicians, just enjoy what you do, don't try and make anything to please anyone other than yourself and try not to be pretentious and you'll be happier that way trust me.

[Blades]

I see what u mean, I edited my post, had a little brain fart there lol, I meant your signature.

Man I hope someone responds to my initial questions.

[megabomberman]

I can't take credit for zebbes work....

I'll leave you to it, you might want to repost your initial question though, as no one is going to be able to wade through this entire thread and find it, all the best.

[Blades]

Haha, Agreed.

By siggy, I meant "Age badly is something women do, games are good or bad when they are released. "

But yeah, is that part of Zebbe's work?

My original post:

Hi All,

My band was thinking about getting a reel to reel, and a buddy of mine offered to sell me his for 30 bucks, it's a TEAC A-2500 he got a garage sale. Worth it?

Also, I am a DUMBASS when it comes to reel to reels and online documentation is limited. So, I have a couple questions.

1)When you buy tape, does it come with two reels, one reel, or just the tape?

2) how can you tell what player plays what tape widths?

3) How do they output, Standard RCA? I'm an audio guy by nature,, but I know little to nothing about reel to reels.

...help?
Blades

[Blades]

Btw, Mods, Can you delete all of captain jackasses posts? Thatd be awesome.

Or better yet, give me mod privelages so I can do it myself! =D

I kid of course.

[0x15e]

Wooo, this thread spent some time on the failroad.

I'm no expert but since you haven't gotten any real answers, I'll try to help:

1. I'm pretty sure you just get one. From what I can remember, you generally keep an empty reel on the deck as a take-up reel.
2. Documentation. (yeah, I know, that's no help)
3. Yes, as far as I know, they input / output standard line-level signals over RCAs. Really high end stuff might have balanced connections but that would depend on the deck in question.

As for getting a cheap one used, be careful. There are a lot of moving parts and pieces to fail in one of these. Check it out thoroughly before you buy. Also remember that analog equipment of any kind varies wildly in quality from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model. Teac was a pretty reputable brand but there's no telling what kind of abuse that deck saw before your friend got it.

Are you looking at open reel specifically because it looks cool (yes, it does), or because you just want to give your recordings a more "analog" quality? If you just want something analog, you could look into picking up a hi-fi VHS vcr. Before I got my hard drive recorder / laptop / audio interface, I used one to record my DJ sets at the club and even at EP, it sounds fantastic (and fits 6 hours on one tape). Sure, vhs doesn't have the same old-school cred open reel does, and won't allow the same kinds of hands-on editing (why would you want to do that any more anyway), but if you just want analog archive copies, it will get the job done really well.

[Blades]

Sweet, thank you for your help.

And Are you serious???? VHS? I would've thought that since the focus was on video, the audio would be crappy. How would it compare to, for instance an audio cassette?

My main problem with old electronics is bugs....Read my 8-track thread to find out why. Parts can be replaced, but roaches are hell to get out.

Blades

[0x15e]

And Are you serious???? VHS? I would've thought that since the focus was on video, the audio would be crappy. How would it compare to, for instance an audio cassette?Quite serious. The key is to get a hi-fi stereo one. Normal mono ones are crap. Very crap. Hi-fi stereo VHS rivals CD quality (20Hz-20kHz, 70db snr) and blows normal audio cassettes away. I used it for everything from recording promo CDs (record to VHS, then to PC so I wouldn't be screwed if the PC barfed) to recording whole club nights (laptops that were decent at recording audio weren't so common in 1999).

It doesn't really have to be anything special. Mine was $150 new (entry level) in 1997 and you can get something comparable for about $40 these days.