Anyone got anything to say about these...

Lo Pass Filter wrote:In respects too the 2" comment, obviously a dedicated reel, particuarly a 1" or 2" tape machine, is going to knock Akai off it's block. Even a Studer 1/4" probably sounds quite a bit better. But even if you did purchase a Studer 1/4" 2-4 trk., your talking a $1,000+ for a couple of channels, and no mixer. A 2" is like 5 times the price. And, most any reel is going to be a maintainance monster. You have to know many things about reels and they're maintaince if you intend to operate one, and keep it functional. Prepare to get familar with schematics manuals, and a saudering gun.. And a measuring block etc.

saudering gun = Soldering iron?

The main thing with reel to reel tape machines are the heads. And the main thing with the heads is they wear out fast, especialy if you run a 2" machine at 30ips. They have to be lapped (sanded down so the worn flat head gets the correct shape again) every year or two, and this isn't a job for a Black and Decker and some 80 grit. This is a job for a specialist tape doctor with diamond polishing paper and a microscopicaly flat surface.

Other than that, there are loads of mechanical things that can go wrong, brakes and motors etc, pinch rollers wearing out or becoming hard etc. And of course you have to align the record / playback electronics every day.

Finaly, U2's last album, they compared 2" tape to proTools, and they prefered ProTools. I'm not saying they know everything, but it's interesting that the people that could use anything chose not to use 2" tape.

I used 2" for a few years back in the early 90's, they were great machines and sounded nice, but it's important not to get nostalgic when thinking about then, and remember they are expensive high maintenance machines that hiss if you turn up the treble too much.

U2 has a deal with apple, their opinions are always divided anyway, it was probably bono who wanted to do a solid for his buddy jobs, while some of the other members prefered tape. They always fight like that.

but yeah, high maintenence, but it has a great sound and higher bandwidth, and there is something to be said about an analog recording verses a digital one, the quantizing is actually a distortion of the actual sound, and a tape recording is more analogous to the original than digital on that level.

But also, the pro tools they preferred is not the M box or digi 002, and costs more than 2 inch tape machines do now, and requires mainenence as well as lots of expensive outboard that they use to warm it up.

pram pram ^^^ tell them elma , bumboclaaaaat. legal

green is digital red is analog


Even though it is very close with high sampling rates I feel that the "missing audio" is an issue. Maybe not a major one but if I had the money I would rather record to tape. Just to know I recorded my music completely and with the warm sound that I like. I love the sound of old records and thats how I want my music to sound.

ok so my question is.. since i record my vinyl to the PC, clean, then sample to my MPC, then track to PC..

if i bounced down to tape at the end.. will all my digital resampling totally kill the point of mixing/mastering on tape ?

I dont think it will necessarily kill the point but its probably a good idea to experiment with mastering on the pc and on your mg. Find out which one you think sounds best. I dont think it really matters if you sample on an mpc or a pc they both sample digitally and destroy some of the sound so maybe it is best to clean them up on the pc and work in the way thats most productive for you. To not get that destruction you would have to record real instruments to tape or do analog to analog.

That thing does look like alot of fun to record on!

Not to interupt this "analog vs. digital" recording debate, but if there is ANYBODY posting to this thread that has ACTUALLY MADE A RECORDING with an AKAI MG1212/ 1214 in the LAST YEAR, please do tell...

Everybody seems to love the idea of this machine, and some of you even used it at one point (many years ago). But who has used it lately?

Archaic gear is only fun when it can still be used. I searched high and low for tape carts for the MG1212/1214 and I was never able to confirm a source. Just alot of "they still have 'em, try these guys..."
Everybody is telling everybody that same thing.

The ONLY reason everybody is SO excited about the MPC60 is because of the Roger Linn Upgrades available for it... you can even get alot of the replacement parts (switches, pads, backlight). The Akai MG1212/1214 does NOT have that kind of support, and it does not comply with current tape formats in any way. So how is usable (unless you just happen to have a stash of those carts. And even then, its usability is limited to your inspiration. When you have recorded to many songs, you cannot use it any more!)?

Just trying to help somebody out before they get themselves a 100Lbs. 12 ch. mixer with a HUGE footprint, and few features for integration into an external recording system.

T

From what I understand VST services and sells tapes for these.

i actually got a source of 160 tapes, so im not too worried about that...

dont know how much im going to use it, but im intruiged at this point- never recorded on anything except a computer really.. and im getting a sweet deal on a mint machine, so new toy for me..

Nik aka the Anti-lytical-

Soldering Iron. I suspect everyone who read my post understood EXACTLY what I was saying. I was typing a 100 WPM while doing a few other things at once. Some grammatical problems, and/or thought gaps, were bound to happen.

Irregardless, you just reconfirmed what I was getting at. Reels sound much better, but are 10x the maintainace. The heads on an Akai MG series last a good 5-7 years. The record speeds are 7.5 and 15 ips. Theirs plenty of places who will service MG's as well. I can think of at least 20 or 30 place right off that bat. The parts are not extremely rare and can be purchased and installed fairly cheap. I had the heads replaced on mine, full service cleaning done, capstand replaced, and so on for like, $400.00. When I got the Akai back, it ran and felt like a brand new machine. I spent $300 for the machine initally, so, $400 more in it, and a whopping $700 later, I've got a mint mixer/tape recorder that kicks the sh*t out of mixers i've used costing $1,500+. It's a win/win situation.

As for the Pro Tools debate. Thats a preference thing. Theirs always gonna be a guy like me who thinks bigger, older, and viby'er, is better. And theirs always gonna be the guy who prefers smaller, faster, cleaner. No matter how you want to spin it though, digital is just as colored as analog. What comes in, is not what comes out. What comes out is, loss in bass, and an overly brightend sound. I don't care if your using an Apogee XD16. The end result will still sound "Digital".

Fu*k U2 Btw. They haven't made any tight shit since the late 80's, early 90's.

Personally speaking, I want my recordings to be similar to the ones I'm sampling. I'm sampling bands from the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. Which means, in order to achieve a similar sounding mix, I'm going to need some esoteric equipment, (vintage equipment).

In regards to, "Who actually has used an MG recently".

I sold mine in 2003. I was doing recordings on it till then. It was my primary mixer/recorder at that time. I also have a partner in the Bay who uses one currently. It's his primary mixer/recorder, and he is currently servicing clients with that an MG1214. He records strictly hip-hop.. and gets nothing but props from the people he works with. They like the sound, and thats whats important.

I'm all about Nosalgic'ness though. Sh*t is just vibes. Something about sitting behind a gigantic console with eq's the size of your thumb is too illy. Vu meters ticking, lights flashing, watching the reels spin... Thats an element greatly missed in music today.

"All I see is blinking lights, track boards and fact mics, Mpc 60's, Sp-12's, S950's." -AG

Amen. Testify Brother!!

for people who search MG1214 tape's i found this info on a site:

VST Service in Pasadena (talk to Dave Segimoto).

the site: http://www.elevenshadows.com/studio/stu ... nsfers.htm
---> the info is at the bottom of the page

[quote="multiman"]for people who search MG1214 tape's i found this info on a site:

VST Service in Pasadena (talk to Dave Segimoto).

the site: http://www.elevenshadows.com/studio/stu ... nsfers.htm
---> the info is at the bottom of the page[/quote]

Hey, the SOURCE that everybody keeps pointing to...
As of today, there are 6 new tapes left at VST. This is the only source ANYBODY can find. Six tapes.

All I can say is GET THEM NOW and CHOOSE YOUR SONGS WISELY!

T

Don't know much about those MG boards on topic, but it's good fun to read about how "cold" and "digital" and "distorted" Pro Tools sounds at 24bit/192khz resolution (much likely the U2 album settings) on the very same board where everybodys raving about how "warm" and "vinylish" 12bit sampling is.