Today I am fixing another Fostex R8 from a customer. The problem was that the plastic capstan wheel was slipping on its axis, and the spooling motor wheels did the same. This is a common problem with these decks. The Fostex will not play and/or spool correctly then.

Fortunately, John from https://www.tascamninja.com/ makes aluminium replacements. These fit tightly on the axis and can be fastened with a screw.

I also replaced the belt. Now, the deck plays and spools perfectly.

A small problem

But unfortunately, one problem remains: the arm on which the right tension roller is mounted, has got a fair amount of play, maybe caused by a blow or something.
This is causing the right tension roller to guide the tape in a skewed position. It is not a show stopper, but it is certainly not ideal for the tape path.

So I could purchase a Fostex R8 cheap. The unit was supposed to be in a fairly good working condition, maybe a few scratches on the front. The price was that good that I could not walk away from it. Besides, I always wanted a Fostex. Just because.

Overview

This deck is squeezing 8 audio tracks onto a standard 1/4 inch tape. To put that into perspective, normal home audio deck use 4 tracks (2 -> and 2 <-) and the professional world uses just 2 tracks onto that same width of tape. So the tracks are super small. To compensate for the loss of fidelity and the added tape hiss the speed at which the tape runs is fixed at 38 cm/s or 15 IPS (cassettedecks run at 4,75 cm/s). Also, the deck has Dolby C. Dolby C comes from the cassette world, it is an enhanced version of the omnipresent dolby B and it works quite well on this deck. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The deck, being one of the very latest generation of tape deck being made, is heavily computerized. Not for the calibration electronics, like the Studer A810 and all Studer models beyond that, but in the controls. There are a LOT of possibilities and functions that I have not even tried tried yet.
When the deck is turned on, the display shows a scrolling text of ‘FOSTEX’.

First impressions

When I got the deck I first cleaned the outside. I like to work on a clean deck. This one was not dirty, but sometimes you can get a lot of dirt off decks you collect. After that, I cleaned the heads and the tape path in general. I noticed the very plasticy rollers and the flimsy arms. Also, the roller covers were coming of way too easy. Hmmm, not so good.

I put a tape on and the deck played. So far, so good. Rewind, fast forward, no problem. The capstan was noisy however. I played around with it and decided to try recording. I was NOT disappointed with the sound quality. I was surprised how well it sounded on playback. I tried several channels and it seemed ok. The dolby C noise reduction really took away tape hiss in quiet passages and in between tracks. Just like on cassette decks.

Capstan wheel

After a while I noticed that the tape speed was dropping a little. It was ok after a while, but just after hitting PLAY it was not good.
And after a little more testing, the tape was not moving at all anymore. Even pressing the pinchroller to the capstan did not work. I noticed the capstan was not spinning anymore. When in STOP, the capstan would slowly start spinning again. Only to come to a quick stop once I pressed PLAY. But I could hear the capstan motor spinning constantly. Weird.
I had already ordered a new capstan belt, as is almost always necessary when old rubber belts are involved, so once that had arrived I put it on. But, unfortunately, that was not a solution. I found out that the wheel attached to the capstan motor shaft was slipping. It is a simple plastic wheel that had come loose from the shaft, probably because it had worked itself loose after being clamped on in the past. But now the wheel was just stationary and the shaft of the motor was spinning because of too much room inside. (blowfly pun intended)

Tascamninja to the rescue

I tried to glue the wheel to the shaft a couple of times using instant glue and some stuff that had worked great in the bathroom glueing shelves, but after a short while the wheel came loose again. I had to bite the bullet and order a replacement wheel made out of metal from the website https://www.tascamninja.com/.
I could not play any tape, or do some more tinkering while waiting for the arrival of the metal wheel, because the slippage was such that the capstan did not move at all anymore.
It arrived in about 2 weeks time, and as soon as I put it on, the tape speed was super reliable and super constant. Very happy with this solution!

recapping audio cards

I did do something in the meantime however. I recapped some of the audio boards. Although this deck is one of the last reel to reel decks to be made, it still has 40 year old capacitors in it, so the cards could use some fresh ones. But first, I had to get these cards out. Noone on the internet that I found managed to get them out, or, at least, did not mentioned it at all. Also the manual and the Service Manual had no mention of this removal. I was beginning to suspect that maybe they weren’t supposed to be removed.

But, eventually I managed to pry them out. They are just on connectors on a backplane, so definately supposed to be removed..

Knowing that I had to recap 8 boards, I made a document to use as a Quick Reference Guide with some handy info on the location of the caps and their value, the location of the pots for calibration, and the complete summary of the calibration procedure. I made it along the way as I worked on the deck.
The document is available at my site at: https://www.reeltoreel.nl/QRG/
You can find the latest version there.

After recapping I started to go through the calibration procedure. It is very labour intensive, doing everything 8 times, but the 0-locate-and-auto-play function of the Fostex is a very handy feature. But then I found an even better feature: you can repeat a section of the calibration tape endlessly. To achieve that, do the following:
– press CLR
– type timecode of beginning, like 0000 and press STO and then the number of the position slot you wish, like 1
– press CLR
– type timecode of end of the fragment, like 29 and press STO and then the number of the position slot you wish, like 2
– press CLR
– type ‘1-2’ and STO. display shows 2-1.
– make sure you play the section and the deck will automatically repeat the section.
I type this from memory so I hope this is correct 🙂

Testing after calibrating

I tested the sound quality when I was done and it sounds very good!

This is a sample from playing the calibration tape. But recording a sweep to 18kHz resulted in an equally straight frequency responce! (I forgot to take screenshots)

I recorded a youtube video where you can listen to a sample. You can find it here:
https://youtu.be/W2jRQmiAHzQ

TO BE CONTINUED

When you receive one or more DCC tapes of unknown origin, you have to assume that they have not been used for a very long time. This means that you will have to treat them in a certain way, even before putting them in a deck or playing them.

Why, you ask? Because the tape has been sitting still in its shell for a long time in the position that it is in now. It has become deformed at the place where it is guided along the heads. And even worse, there is a sticky residu that has formed on the back of the tape where there are two internal felt pads inside the cassette. I am not talking about the felt that is opposite the head. These felts are inside and can not be seen, unless you break open the case, and this can not be undone.
These two felt pads have started to ‘leak’ a sticky oily substance onto the backside of the tape in the place where they touch the tape. That sticky bit will prevent the player form playing beyond that point, because well, let’s say it slips and cannot continue. It will either stop or go to the other side continuously. Until you fix this, the tape will be unplayable.

So now you know why you will always have to resist the urge to play them right away to hear what is on them, and follow this procedure.

The steps.

1. So you will have to carefully pull the tape out. Be careful not to crease or rumple the tape, because that will surely create a dropout on that spot. To be able to do that first you must get the protective aluminium slider out of the way. Open it manually and place the wood part of a cotton swab into the round hole that has just opened up. It will fit almost perfectly and it will hold the slider open.
2. Then, carefully pull out a length of tape of about 30 cm or more, making sure that you get tape from both reels. I use a pair of bent tweezers for that. Lay the tape flat on a white clean soft surface, like a piece of paper, with the shiny side down. The shiny side is the side that the DCC head touches, where the magnetic information is. But the gunk is on the backside. Lay the tape so that you are now looking at the matte back coated side. You may need to use some tools to hold the tape in place, I use two erasers, they are heavy and soft enough to hold the tape down.
   
3. Now, and this is hard, look for some sticky residu. It will be hard to see, I use a desktop light and/or a handheld flashlight to find them. These patterns may also repeat at a ~10cm interval, so look up and down the length of the tape that you have pulled out the casing.
   I tried to make a picture:
4. Once you are able to see the problem area clearly, take a cotton swab and put some alcohol 96% on it and gently rub the backside of the tape. Do it gently as not to crease the tape. Rub very carefully but firmly up and down the length of the tape. Once you have done this a few times, you will get the hang of it. Make sure all the gunk is gone. Let the alcohol on the tape dry for a minute and check again and repeat if necessary.
5. Once you are satisfied with the result, you should see an even back-coated surface with no spots on it, and you can carefully manually rewind the tape into the housing using a pencil or the end of the cotton swab or as I do with the tweezers. After the tape has been carefully stored back into it’s shell, only then you can remove the wooden stick and close the lid, not sooner.
6. The tape has been cleaned, but the third felt pad (yes the one opposite the head) needs your attention now.
   I can not explain it better then Ralf did in this video: https://youtu.be/m3DcMtor_Ck

Now you understand why it is vital to not wind DCC tape when you first handle them and not put them in a deck first, because the deck will spool the tape a bit and after that you will have a hard time finding the greasy spots.

The 2 felt pads will of course still continue to shed oil a little bit, so always rewind tape after use. You will never know when you are gonna use it again, could be years from now.

See also my older post: https://www.reeltoreel.nl/blog/?p=779

So, the inevitable has happened……….again.

I have bought myself another piece of studio equipment to live next to my Studer. I got myself an Otari MX-55N-M

This one I discovered in Belgium. Yes, down there. It came originally from a guy with a small studio who sold all his stuff, but I got it from someone who bought some records from that guy and got the Otari as a side catch.

Getting it from Belgium required a road trip. In about 2,5 hours we were there, it was actually not too far across the border. The place was a 2^nd hand vinyl shop with a lot of records, but it had CD’s and DVD’s too. Oh, and comic-books, like Suske en Wiske.
The Otari was all dusty and just a little bit dirty, but not much. I brought a test tape that I had recorded with my Studer, as this is also a 2-track studio machine. I loaded the tape, plugged in my headphones and after fiddling with the knobs (how to put this thing in playback mode, and how to get signal from it) I got some sound from it and boy, did it sound good! Within a few minutes I knew that the sale was going to be made. I just had to do a quick check for any defects that I could find and if they would be a showstopper. I could not find any.

So then came the problem of transport. My car has a loading space with a flat floor that is 70 cm high and 100 cm wide. But the machine is with a cart and wheels and a meter bridge, as you can see from the pictures. We measured the Otari and thought: well, I may fit just laying on it’s back. And it did. So I didn’t have to dismantle the meterbridge or take the machine from the cart. That was good.

After we got home I cleaned it up. From beneath the layer of dust came a beautiful and almost pristine looking deck that has no marks on it of prior use. I started to play with it and explore it’s possibilities.

• the deck is tilt-able in various positions.
• it has a selection switch for 2 standards: NAB and IEC.
• it has another 3-way switch for selection of the reference fluxivity. I found that mine is calibrated to the following setting:
  • LOW – 250 nWb/m
  • MED – 320 nWb/m
  • HIGH – I don’t know, I haven’t got a calibration tape in that range. It will probably be around 510 nWb/m.
• high and low speed is now set to 19 & 38, but can be adjusted to 9,5 and 19.
• has a built-in oscillator with test tones of 0,1-1-10 kHz for bias calibration.
• reel size is selectable for LEFT and RIGHT reel separately.
• Slack tape can be picked up by pressing STOP.
• in- and outputs are fully XLR and +4dBu.
• the speed is adjustable from veeeerrryyy sllllooowww to very fast.
• Startup is very quick, 1-2 cm at 38 cm/s and its up to speed.
• Digital tape counter hms with goto and 3 memory positions.
• Recording and playback levels are adjustable at Standard Reference Level (SRL) or user controlled with a knob.
• Tapedump function, where the takeup reel is switched off so the tape is dumped.
• Button for listening (cue-ing) while spooling.

This is what I found so far. It came with a remote control with 10 meter cable, 2 Otari NAB adapters (which are very well built), and 2 aluminium reels.

I noticed that the left tape roller is making more noise than I would have liked, but it works ok and someday I will replace it. The heads are ok.

I am very fond of the smooth tape transport and the overall robustness of the machine. This Otari really is meant for heavy duty studio use.

I have not measured anything except for the fluxivity levels yet, but I expect the results like wow/flutter, distortion, frequency response etc. etc. will be very good. This will make a nice younger brother to the Studer.

Oh and by the way………..

I am looking for the manual, service manual and schematics for this MX-55 N-M.
I have found manuals for other models of the MX-55 family, but not specifically for the N-M. 

I found some manuals online, but they only contained the first two chapters.

So, if anyone know of these manuals, either in printed or electronic form, I would be happy to get hold of one. Please leave a message in the comment section.

Just a quick post about my latest acquisition: an AGFA Bezugsband 9,5 DIN 45513.

Some pictures here:

I think it was made in 1967, which is a good construction year 🙂

I came with some documentation, which I will post here for reference and archival:

Funny the documentation mentions 250 pico Weber per millimeter track width, where nowadays we use NanoWeber per meter.

Also, much use is made of time constants like 3180 µs, which corresponds with 50 Hz.

The tape appears to be in very, very good condition.

Sometimes, for instance when there is a sticker on top of the text that says whether it is a DCC90, DCC75 or DCC60, you have to guess the tape length.

Not anymore. I have created this diagram that show you just how long the tape is by looking at the casing (backside):

Handy!

It is really silly, some brands (hello BASF!) mention the length of the tape only once on the casing, and that is exactly where normally a title sticker would be placed. By looking at the diagram, you will no longer have to guess. The black circles in the drawing are holes in the casing.

DCC90 would mean 45 minutes on side A, and 45 minutes on side B, totalling 90 minutes. In practice, there will always be a few extra minutes of tape in the cassette. This goes for all the formats.

DCC75 is a bit strange, it was also not used in normal analog compact cassettes, but it would gave you 2 times 37 1/2 minutes. Not quite sure what the reasoning behind that was.

DCC60 is 2 times 30 minutes.

Have fun with it!

A box of DCC tapes

I have lying around a box with +/- 50 used DCC tapes that I purchased a while ago. DCC is the Digital Compact Cassette, invented by Philips. I have gone through them all, I listened to some of the tracks on each tape and sorted which ones I wanted to keep because of what was recorded on it. But most of them could be recorded over.

history

In my youth I had the privilege to experience the evolution of the compact cassette (CC), also a Philips invention btw. It had just made its way from dictafoon-like devices to the hifi/consumer audio market. And I witnessed its rise to a high end audio device (Nakamichi et al.). I have lots of CC tapes, probably my entire youth is recorded on those.

Then, in 1992, DCC came. But by that time, I had lost interest in recording music, or audio as a whole for that matter. So I never really noticed at that time. Also the Sony Mini-disc and DAT recorders went completely past me.

But when I rediscovered my audio hobby around 2010, I got very interested in these three now obsolete recording techniques. And fortunately you can get these devices rather cheap these days.

My Philips DCC600

I have all three devices now.

DCC surprised me in a very positive way. I got the same, familiar feeling playing cassettes that I had back then and that I had gotten used to. Also the deck that I got feels very solid and tape handling is direct. The DCC cassettes themselves feel very, very well thought about. Even the casing and the jewel box is outstanding well designed, even more so the prerecorded tapes.
On top of that, you get CD like audio quality. I say CD like, but I dare you to hear a difference. I was very, very impressed with the whole concept. In hindsight I wish I had used it back then.

squeaking

I noticed when I went through the lot of old tapes however, that some of the DCC tapes were making a squeaking sound when they were played. And some of those would not play at all. The deck, just kept clicking, the drive mechanism reversing a few times, before finally giving up. So I thought that these were bad tapes, or maybe they had some shedding or sticky tape or whatever and that they could not be relied upon. I was resolved to throw them away.
It was clear that it was the tapes that were the problem and not the deck, because most of the tapes would play perfectly and the problem ones would not.
I did some research into cleaning the head of the deck, but found out that this was not a trivial task, and that the fragile head could easily get damaged. The general conclusion was that you don’t clean it, unless it is absolutely necessary because all tapes play bad and it is clearly visibly dirty. So I didn’t.

forum

I researched some more and came across a post on a Dutch forum dedicated to Philips equipment. You can find the post here:

http://www.mfbfreaks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10492

although I think you need to register first. And it is in dutch 🙂

gunk

It is described there that there are actually 2 problems: the squeaking and stuck tape. The squeaking problem is related to two pieces of felt that are inside the DCC cassette, not visible from the outside. There is also a third piece of felt, this is the familiar one that presses the tape on the head. The 2 problematic felts are located near the left and right rollers located inside the cassette:

These felt pads leave behind a greasy spot on the backside of the tape when the tape is not used for a long time. The deck has trouble running the tape past these spots and finally gives up. This spot is somewhat greasy, but also a bit sticky. This can be observed by pulling the tape somewhat from the cassette and checking the backside. It is not necessary to open the tape casing for this.

In order to do that, you must pull back the sliding cover and pull the tape out very, very gently with a small tool and make sure that you do not damage or crinkle the tape. You can see the gunk if you look very carefully. Let light shine on the surface. Make sure that the tape is at the problem spot when you stopped the deck and pulled the tape out, from BOTH reels.
It was impossible to make a good photo of this, so you will have to look for this yourself.

cleaning

In order to clean the tape, make sure you gently use some non residu cleaner, like IPA or alcohol or videospray cleaner 90 or whatever fits you, and gently rub the problem spot using a cotton swab. Hold the tape down while you swab, careful not to damage or wrinkle the tape. That happens so easily! Remember it’s the backside of the tape.

After that, let the tape dry for a moment, simply wind the tape back inside the housing and play the tape. Voila! It’s working again!

squeaking

For the squeaking problem: I fixed this by cleaning the felt located opposite the head as well. It won’t get completely clean, but just try to clean it as much as possible. I did it with a cotton swab with IPA. Just rub it a lot and also twist the cotton swab over the surface of the felt. Let the felt dry, this will take some minutes, and wind the take back inside.

After that, the squeaking was gone.

more tips

• Always rewind the tape completely before you unload and store it for a longer period. The (clear) leader tape, that’s what the felt presses against when the tape is rewound, doesn’t seem to have as much problem with the grease.
• Also don’t demagnetize the head! Never! It will ruin it forever. The head does not require demagnetization.
• Never ever use a cleaning cassette. The head is way too fragile and it will ruin it forever.
• If you absolutely have to clean the head, use alcohol or IPA . Preferably with natural chamois leather, but a cotton swab will work as well.
  Update: since I wrote this article, I *have* cleaned the heads of my DCC decks. Several times. No problem. Just use a cotton swab with IPA and be very gentle. I have taken out the mechanism however. See also my video:
• Avoid playing normal (analog) compact cassettes in a DCC player. Normal cassettes are not as clean as DCC cassettes because they have no tapeprotection and will make the head and the drive mechanism dirty. But most of all the tape formulas used in the analogue tapes are not as good as in the DCC and will shed oxide on the head. Better safe than sorry!
• See an other post of mine https://www.reeltoreel.nl/blog/?p=809 where I explain the tape length identification marks on the DCC cassette.

All info and the picture of the open DCC cassette are from the forum mentioned.

See also my new post here:

https://www.reeltoreel.nl/blog/?p=949

recording

Since I was very young I was intrigued by recording studios and the equipment therein. Can you tell?? (cue Studer A80 blog entry). A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit the famous Wisseloord studios here in Holland and needless to say that that was a thrilling experience. I am intrigued by the recording process, and mainly the tape part. But recording techniques in general have my interest. Like how to record a solo acoustic guitar, or how to record a symphonic orchestra. And as pure as possible. In order to do that, in the old days, you need a tape recorder, and there lies the base of my fascination.

tape hiss

Tape has a very nasty flaw: it introduces tape hiss into the signal. Tape hiss is clearly noticeable when you play around with consumer decks, giving a nasty hiss in quiet sections when you replay your recordings. This wasn’t so much of a problem when recording from LP or FM radio, which has a background noise that would make the tape hiss less noticeable. It became a bigger problem since CDs came around and the source of the recordings were becoming quieter or even dead silent.

If you wanted to minimize the tape hiss, you had to resort to quieter, and more expensive tape. You had to use the more high-end decks, and have them calibrated properly to that tape. Thorough maintenance became even more important.

studio – multitrack

If you thought that you had a problem with tape hiss at home, imagine the problem professional recording studios had with it. They have to conform to the very highest of standards because they are at the very beginning of the audio path, a path that would result eventually with you playing the record or CD at home. So they want to introduce as little noise (in general) to the signal as possible. Adding to the problem was the fact that multi-track recorders had 16, 24 or 32 tracks that all brought their hiss to the final 2 channel stereo end-mix.
Without proper noise reduction, even in the most expensive studio with the high end tapemachines and studiotape running at high speed the end result would suffer quite substantially from tape hiss.

noise gate

To circumvent this problem, studios often reverted to using devices like noise gates. When the audio level of a track would drop below a certain level, the noise gate would kick in and mute the channel on playback. This was of course done so that the downmix to 2 tracks would be more silent in the quiet parts. There is an interesting article on the use of Kepexes used by Alan Parsons on Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd:

Dolby A

Dolby SR

The test