{"id":1196,"date":"2026-02-06T20:51:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/?p=1196"},"modified":"2026-05-08T11:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T09:12:28","slug":"reel-to-reel-decks-that-can-play-both-2-track-and-4-track-tapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/?p=1196","title":{"rendered":"Reel To Reel decks that can play both 2 track and 4 track tapes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was searching for a list of Reel To Reel decks that are able to play 2 track fulltrack professional tapes, as well as 4 track consumer tapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Head layout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"721\" height=\"118\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1.png 721w, https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1-300x49.png 300w, https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1-150x25.png 150w, https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1-624x102.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 721px) 100vw, 721px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a diagram showing possible head configuration for 1\/4 inch tape. So in the example above that would be option F and G: <strong>F<\/strong> is the 2 track full track, and <strong>G<\/strong> is the 4 track layout of which 2 tracks are played. <br \/>Also, FYI: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>option <strong>H<\/strong> is used in 4 track reel to reel machines like the Teac A-3440 et al. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and option <strong>I<\/strong> is used in 8-track 1\/4 inch multitrack machines like the Fostex R8 et al.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The list<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After some digging around I came up with this list of reel to reel decks that can play both 2 track and 4 track tapes which I believe is fairly complete:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Akai 400d PRO<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Akai PRO 1000<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Denon DH-710F<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Otari MX-5050BII<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sony TC-766-2 (Japan: TC-R7-2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sony TC-880-2 (Japan: TC-8750-2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teac A-6100<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teac A-6700DX<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teac A-7400(rx)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teac X-1000M<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teac X-2000M \/ TASCAM 3030<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Technics RS1500 (Rec 2T PB 2T and 4T), RS1506 (Rec 4T PB 2T and 4T)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">And now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For find a deck with pleasing <strong>aesthetics<\/strong> for in the living room, my pick would be the <strong>Tascam 3030<\/strong>, but the 2 Sony&#8217;s and the 2 Technics are close 2nd and 3rd. And since we found the <strong>Teac A-6700<\/strong>, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"550\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a-6700.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a-6700.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a-6700-275x300.jpg 275w, https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a-6700-138x150.jpg 138w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">well that&#8217;s a very interesting option too!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you happen to know or find other models that can play 2 and 4 track tapes that are not listed here, please do not hesitate to leave a comment so I can make this list as complete as possible!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was searching for a list of Reel To Reel decks that are able to play 2 track fulltrack professional tapes, as well as 4 track consumer tapes. Head layout This is a diagram showing possible head configuration for 1\/4 inch tape. So in the example above that would be option F and G: F [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio","category-tape"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/tascam-3030-tape-deck.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1196"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1288,"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196\/revisions\/1288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reeltoreel.nl\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}