I am in the process of changing over a 24track to an 8track and wanted
to see if anyone has done this. On the A800 the levels off the MRL are
huge. I can't get the level down to a -6 alignment.

What levels do you align to?

If -6 or -9, how did you get there? I am experimenting with changing
some resistor values to get where I want, but I'm curious what other
people have done.

Thank You,
Dennis

In article writes:

I am in the process of changing over a 24track to an 8track and wanted
to see if anyone has done this. On the A800 the levels off the MRL are
huge. I can't get the level down to a -6 alignment.

What levels do you align to?

What "MRL" are you using? And how are you converting to 8-track?

I have a feeling that you aren't starting your alignment from the
beginning, and don't really understand what you're doing, but I can't
tell for sure from your brief message.

Spill the beans. Exactly what are you doing and how are you doing it?


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Mike,

If you are not already familiar with this set-up I don't think you'll
be able to help.

I am using a custom head set that has 8 'giant' tracks, along with a
'regular' size track for TC (therefore, even though it is technically
9 tracks, it is really just used as an 8 track).

Specifically, the levels off of the MRL are extremely hot now because
of the large head cores. It is fairly typical to run a +6 alignment,
but I know some guys using a +9 for this head type. I am having
trouble getting the levels down that low. In fact, there is no way to
get down to +9 at all.

Even more troublesome is that I don't have enough range on the bias
adjustments of the individual cards.

Unfortunately, I haven't found someone using the heads on an A800, so
the problems I'm having do not necessarily come into play with
something else, like an 827 as an example.

If anyone out there is doing this on an 800 and has had similar
results please let me know.

Dennis

(Mike Rivers) wrote in message news:znr1094644253k@trad...
In article writes:

I am in the process of changing over a 24track to an 8track and wanted
to see if anyone has done this. On the A800 the levels off the MRL are
huge. I can't get the level down to a -6 alignment.

What levels do you align to?

What "MRL" are you using? And how are you converting to 8-track?

I have a feeling that you aren't starting your alignment from the
beginning, and don't really understand what you're doing, but I can't
tell for sure from your brief message.

Spill the beans. Exactly what are you doing and how are you doing it?

DennisD wrote:

Unfortunately, I haven't found someone using the heads on an A800, so
the problems I'm having do not necessarily come into play with
something else, like an 827 as an example.

If anyone out there is doing this on an 800 and has had similar
results please let me know.

Contact Fletcher at Mercenary Audio in Boston, who was a point man for
the 2" 8 track on an A800 concept when he put one together for Ozzie or
somebody else famous. There was RAP discussion of this years ago, so
Google might also help.

--
ha

DennisD wrote:

If you are not already familiar with this set-up I don't think you'll
be able to help.

I am using a custom head set that has 8 'giant' tracks, along with a
'regular' size track for TC (therefore, even though it is technically
9 tracks, it is really just used as an 8 track).

This is a headstack from JRF, right?

Specifically, the levels off of the MRL are extremely hot now because
of the large head cores. It is fairly typical to run a +6 alignment,
but I know some guys using a +9 for this head type. I am having
trouble getting the levels down that low. In fact, there is no way to
get down to +9 at all.

This is a playback issue. You probably want heads with lower impedance.
The alternative is to modify the playback amps to have lower gain, which
should be a matter of a feedback resistor change or two on the front end.
I would suggest doing this rather than padding down the input to the playback
amp.

It's not hot because of the large cores, it's because of the number of
turns of wire on the cores.

Even more troublesome is that I don't have enough range on the bias
adjustments of the individual cards.

This is bad. Will it not go up enough, or will it not go down enough?
Can you get the bias trap to null out? If the bias trap will not null
out, you definitely have the wrong record head inductance.

Unfortunately, I haven't found someone using the heads on an A800, so
the problems I'm having do not necessarily come into play with
something else, like an 827 as an example.

If anyone out there is doing this on an 800 and has had similar
results please let me know.

Have you contacted JRF?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Are you using a full band MRL which may be giving you too much level due to
crosstalk. See if you can find an 8 track 2" MRL.

Rail
--
Recording Engineer/Software Developer
Rail Jon Rogut Software
http://www.railjonrogut.com


"DennisD" wrote in message
om...
Mike,

If you are not already familiar with this set-up I don't think you'll
be able to help.

I am using a custom head set that has 8 'giant' tracks, along with a
'regular' size track for TC (therefore, even though it is technically
9 tracks, it is really just used as an 8 track).

Specifically, the levels off of the MRL are extremely hot now because
of the large head cores. It is fairly typical to run a +6 alignment,
but I know some guys using a +9 for this head type. I am having
trouble getting the levels down that low. In fact, there is no way to
get down to +9 at all.

Even more troublesome is that I don't have enough range on the bias
adjustments of the individual cards.

Unfortunately, I haven't found someone using the heads on an A800, so
the problems I'm having do not necessarily come into play with
something else, like an 827 as an example.

If anyone out there is doing this on an 800 and has had similar
results please let me know.

Dennis

(Mike Rivers) wrote in message
news:znr1094644253k@trad...
In article
writes:

I am in the process of changing over a 24track to an 8track and wanted
to see if anyone has done this. On the A800 the levels off the MRL are
huge. I can't get the level down to a -6 alignment.

What levels do you align to?

What "MRL" are you using? And how are you converting to 8-track?

I have a feeling that you aren't starting your alignment from the
beginning, and don't really understand what you're doing, but I can't
tell for sure from your brief message.

Spill the beans. Exactly what are you doing and how are you doing it?

(DennisD) wrote:

I am in the process of changing over a 24track to an 8track and wanted
to see if anyone has done this. On the A800 the levels off the MRL are
huge. I can't get the level down to a -6 alignment.

What levels do you align to?

If -6 or -9, how did you get there? I am experimenting with changing
some resistor values to get where I want, but I'm curious what other
people have done.

I have what sounds like the identical heads from JRF on my Studer
A800. No hardware modifications or special tapes were necessary to
calibrate; it came right up.

You do have to go through the full cal procedure with the master osc
and erase current, but I assume you did that. I'll drop John a note
and touch base with him and help get this sorted for you.

--Erik

Erik Gavriluk wrote:
(DennisD) wrote:

I am in the process of changing over a 24track to an 8track and wanted
to see if anyone has done this. On the A800 the levels off the MRL are
huge. I can't get the level down to a -6 alignment.

What levels do you align to?

If -6 or -9, how did you get there? I am experimenting with changing
some resistor values to get where I want, but I'm curious what other
people have done.

I have what sounds like the identical heads from JRF on my Studer
A800. No hardware modifications or special tapes were necessary to
calibrate; it came right up.

You do have to go through the full cal procedure with the master osc
and erase current, but I assume you did that. I'll drop John a note
and touch base with him and help get this sorted for you.

The fact that he cannot get the playback level calibration down far enough
makes me strongly suspect that he does not have the correct heads for an A800.

You can't do the full record cal procedure accurately without first doing
the playback cal.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Erik,

I tried to email you with no luck using the address you supplied.
Could you email me your number and I'll give you a call.
.

I had to send the heads back to John so he could tweak the erase head.
I will have it back and test it over the weekend. With any luck I'll
be okay with everything. I will post with my final results, but the
erase problem may have to do with a slight difference in 800 and 827
transports.

Someone mentioned the different MRL tapes. I'd have to look at the
charts to see if 1K is much different. I use that and 10K, so I don't
know if fringing will effect me too much. Other than some compensation
issues, there is nothing unique between tapes. The MRL is recorded as
if it were one giant track (hmmm...what would that sound like), so
there is no issue with cross-talk as someone had asked.

Again, thank you all for your comments.

Dennis DeCamillo

DennisD wrote:

The MRL is recorded as if it were one giant track (hmmm...what would
that sound like), so
there is no issue with cross-talk as someone had asked.

Errrr..... doesn't that result in 'fringing' issues ? Guard band etc.... (
or absence of in this case ) . Calibration won't be accurate when
individual tracks are recorded / reproduced.

Possibly academic since you're unlikley to be sending tapes to another
studio.


Graham

Pooh Bear wrote:
DennisD wrote:

The MRL is recorded as if it were one giant track (hmmm...what would
that sound like), so
there is no issue with cross-talk as someone had asked.

Errrr..... doesn't that result in 'fringing' issues ? Guard band etc.... (
or absence of in this case ) . Calibration won't be accurate when
individual tracks are recorded / reproduced.

Right. This is why you cannot use the 50 Hz band for low-frequency playback
EQ. For 1 KHz and up, the ladder is fine, though.

All of the MRL tapes are done this way, and as a result you do have to handle
the low frequency EQ differently than you did with the old Ampex alignment
tapes. But this guy is still fighting with the 1 KHz level, let alone the
EQ settings.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."