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So, random Q……
Assuming someone was mental enough to want to enter into the r2r world, somewhat for aesthetics and somewhat out of morbid curiosity. Where might one begin?
You’d begin by deciding what you were going to play on it.
A few of us here have bought some of the pre-recorded stereo 4 track tapes that were sold in the US, Japan and parts of Europe. These were sold from the end of the fifties right up until about 1983 and were pop, jazz, classical recordings that were released at the same time as the LPs. They could have been released as either 3 3/4 ips or 7 1/2 ips tapes. The 7 1/2 ips recordings were more expensive (used twice as much tape) but usually delivered better sound quality.
So, if you’re going to get into buying those tapes you’ll need to find an efficient & affordable way of getting them here. I have family who were living in the US so I’d buy tapes on ebay there, have them posted to my sister in DC and she or one of her family would carry a bagful over when they had to fly back here.
You’ll also need a machine that’ll play 4 track tapes at either of those speeds.
The only commercial pre recorded tapes that were sold in the UK in any quantity were the small 5" reel mono ones sold mostly as World Record Club although EMI did release some titles including the Beatles etc.
If you’re a wealthy millionaire, you might instead choose to buy some of the new but v spendy 2 track recordings at 15 ips and then you’ll need a machine equipped for playing those. Various companies are releasing recordings like this but they can be 300-600 dollars a pop. Great sound but an expensive pastime.
The other fun thing you can do however is to make recordings of Hi Res digital material which can be enhanced by the process of putting it onto tape. I’ve had nice results doing that with some recordings.
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I guess I like the idea of creating mixes and playlists for parties and when I have company that can be played back over tape. Or possibly transferring rare / expensive vinyl to tape for posterity.
Also potential to try finding the odd pre recorded tape when money / time / opportunity allows
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I buy quite a lot of fairly obscure music (DubTechno recently) from Bandcamp which seems to transfer very well from my computer via a DAC to the tape & recording it at 3 3/4 ips onto 7" reels means a playing time of 90 minutes a side. So quite entertaining compilation tapes can be made and an auto reversing deck makes for 3 hours continuous listening if desired.
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Sulk Rooms appears to have turned R2R into a musical instrument.
The Black Heart in April. Do I? (it’s a great place with excellent beer)
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Yeah I buy a lot of techno and ambient house etc from bandcamp. I like the idea of taking individual tracks and mixing them together into a longer playlist.
That being the objective, does that mean any older tape machine is viable?
The advice I had was to aim a bit higher than the most basic domestic machines, AKAI 4000 etc & go for something semi-pro. A Teac X3R fitted that bill for me & has worked fine for the past 6-7 years. You can pick up cheap Revox A77 or B77 but generally they need a proper service & many caps need changing. I’ll get one (that actually works) eventually.
That said, I’ve heard AKAI 4000s sounding pretty good. It’s just that their transport mechs are more convoluted in operation with rubber bands etc that need changing.
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Funny, Dub Techno has really got under my skin the last couple of years. We should compare notes at some point. When it’s good, it’s just so satisfying to listen to, especially if your system does sub and mid-range detail very well.
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Begin by shaking your head into sense and moving on to some other obsession 
It’s an endless money pit but with moments of musical joy amongst haystacks worth of disappointment.
Believe me, I know.
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Yebbut memories of Lopwell and Maggot Brain…
Fucking priceless! 
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I think it was Isaac Hayes 
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A handy phrase I picked up from the US was “Everyone needs a neighbour with a pool and a brother-in-law with a boat”.
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Quite right! 
Funkadelic seems to have been played earlier and looks like an LP!
In my defence, I may have been slightly intoxicated… 
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I’d be interested to check it out…any links to good tunes?
Had a quick look at the prices decks are now going for 
. Prices have gone up sharply in the last 5 years and especially for the more sought after pro-sumer units from Teac, Technics & Otari.
It used to be that £500 might get a you a reasonable lower end deck but those are now more like £850-1000, and the next level up pro-sumer ones which used to be £1200-1800 are now double that.
With any deck you might buy you ideally need to also budget £500-750 to have it serviced and set up properly. Most have no history, no servicing and conveniently say things like ‘I can’t test this as I have no tapes etc…’. Its definitely a case of buyer beware.
Pre-recorded 4 track tapes have probably also doubled in that time. Most of the 7.5ips ones I bought have gone 2-3x what I paid.
Long and short - if I already hadn’t got a couple of decks and a collection of tapes already then I wouldn’t start now!
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I have tapes but no machine.
I’ve always seen reel to reels as the morris minor of the audio world,that needs checking/cleaning regularly.
They can sound fantastic,so see the appeal.If only more music I like was on prerecorded tapes I would definitely get involved.
…Can’t think of a single piece of precision engineering that doesn’t need servicing after 30+ years. I’ve blown up more R2R’s than I care to remember. Any electronic audio component needs servicing after such a long period -
Anyone buying a vintage unit in original state and expecting it to work the same as it did the day it left the factory has a grande dolop of stupid where their brain should be.
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