I want to archive 1/4 inch half track stereo material

recorded on a Studer A807. I have a TEAC 3340S. Will

the TEAC 3340S play the 1/4 inch half track stereo tapes

if I sum tracks 1 and 2, and sum tracks 3 and 4, then out

to stereo? Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made

that fits the TEAC 3340S?



Thanks,



Tim Sprout

Summing tracks might exaggerate azimuth fluctuations.

Listen to the left channel through tracks 1 and 2, separately, so see which
gives the most output and least noise. Ditto for the right channel through
tracks 3 and 4.

There's a guy who has the remaining stock of Nortronics heads and is slowly
selling them off, but I don't have the URL.

Tim Sprout wrote:
I want to archive 1/4 inch half track stereo material
recorded on a Studer A807. I have a TEAC 3340S. Will
the TEAC 3340S play the 1/4 inch half track stereo tapes
if I sum tracks 1 and 2, and sum tracks 3 and 4, then out
to stereo?

Sort of, but you'll have a real hard time getting the high end EQ control
to pull in, because of the fringe effect. With the 4-track machine there
is a guard band right in the middle of where the 2-track machine has the
track.

But for noncritical stuff where you don't necessarily need the best top end
accuracy or the best S/N, and the machine has the right speeds, you should
be okay.

Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made that fits the TEAC 3340S?

Probably. Joe Dundovic has all the old Nortronics tape head stock, but
frankly it's not worth it. You'd spend less money just renting a machine
designed for the job.
--scott

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

William Sommerwerck wrote:
Summing tracks might exaggerate azimuth fluctuations.

Yes, but so will using a wider-track head.

Listen to the left channel through tracks 1 and 2, separately, so see which
gives the most output and least noise. Ditto for the right channel through
tracks 3 and 4.

Note that the tonality will be different too, not just the S/N. This is
due to fringe effects since you are playing only a portion of the track.
--scott

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

In article ,
"Tim Sprout" wrote:

I want to archive 1/4 inch half track stereo material

recorded on a Studer A807. I have a TEAC 3340S. Will

the TEAC 3340S play the 1/4 inch half track stereo tapes

if I sum tracks 1 and 2, and sum tracks 3 and 4, then out

to stereo? Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made

that fits the TEAC 3340S?



Thanks,



Tim Sprout

The A3300SX-2T heads (1/4" 1/2 track) would probably fit, but it's really not
worth the trouble.

-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

In article writes:

I want to archive 1/4 inch half track stereo material
recorded on a Studer A807. I have a TEAC 3340S. Will
the TEAC 3340S play the 1/4 inch half track stereo tapes
if I sum tracks 1 and 2, and sum tracks 3 and 4

I'd listen to it with the channels summed and with just a single
channel and see which sounds better. You'll get more signal if you sum
the two, of course, but you might also hear the effect of the tape
wandering around in the guides more with the sum of the two tracks.

Also, Studer had different heads for their 2-track machines.
Basically, the American head was a little narrower, and the European
head wider. Tracks recorded with the European head will completely
span a 1/4-track play head whereas tracks recorded on the American
head will appear to be a little narrow when matched to either of the
tracks of a pair.

But the real answer is that if the TEAC is all you got, clean it up
good, align the heads to the tapes you're playing, and go for it. If
you really value the recordings and plan to issue them for public
consumption, you'd best pay an archivist who has the proper equipment
to make the transfers for you.


--
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

Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made that fits the TEAC 3340S?

My Teac 3300sx is a 2 trk 1/4" so there's a good chance you may find a
set(or a machine)

Rick Hollett

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...

Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made that fits the TEAC 3340S?

Probably. Joe Dundovic has all the old Nortronics tape head stock, but
frankly it's not worth it. You'd spend less money just renting a machine
designed for the job.

And you'll probably get better results; that TEAC's wow and flutter was
okay, but not up to a good Ampex or even a clean Revox.

Peace,
Paul

Paul Stamler wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made that fits the TEAC 3340S?

Probably. Joe Dundovic has all the old Nortronics tape head stock, but
frankly it's not worth it. You'd spend less money just renting a machine
designed for the job.

And you'll probably get better results; that TEAC's wow and flutter was
okay, but not up to a good Ampex or even a clean Revox.

Maybe it was okay for harpsichord players, but it was sure not good
enough for pianists.
--scott


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

Tim Sprout wrote:

I want to archive 1/4 inch half track stereo material
recorded on a Studer A807. I have a TEAC 3340S. Will
the TEAC 3340S play the 1/4 inch half track stereo tapes
if I sum tracks 1 and 2, and sum tracks 3 and 4, then out
to stereo?

Yes, but I suspect that at least in theory there may be some slight
loss of dynamic range because a 4 track head does not put each pair of
heads squarely over the full width of each 1/2 track. There might also
be some slight loss of separation.

My recollection is that a 4-track 1/4" head put 4 data areas
separated by 3 guard bands across the tape, while a 2-track 1/4" head
put data in the space occupied by 2 of the guard bands, and had a
wider guard band running down the middle of the tape.

Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made that fits the TEAC
3340S?

No doubt something could be found. My recollection is that the 3340
transport mechanism was closely related to a the transports in several
other Teac products, some of which were just plain old 2-track tape
machines.

Scott Dorsey wrote:
Paul Stamler wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made that fits the TEAC
3340S?

Probably. Joe Dundovic has all the old Nortronics tape head
stock,
but frankly it's not worth it. You'd spend less money just
renting
a machine designed for the job.

And you'll probably get better results; that TEAC's wow and flutter
was okay, but not up to a good Ampex or even a clean Revox.

Maybe it was okay for harpsichord players, but it was sure not good
enough for pianists.

Was there a prosumer 1/4" tape machine that was good enough for a
pianist? ;-)

Arny Krueger wrote:
Scott Dorsey wrote:
Paul Stamler wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made that fits the TEAC
3340S?

Probably. Joe Dundovic has all the old Nortronics tape head
stock,
but frankly it's not worth it. You'd spend less money just
renting
a machine designed for the job.

And you'll probably get better results; that TEAC's wow and flutter
was okay, but not up to a good Ampex or even a clean Revox.

Maybe it was okay for harpsichord players, but it was sure not good
enough for pianists.

Was there a prosumer 1/4" tape machine that was good enough for a
pianist? ;-)

The A77 wasn't too bad, and the B77 was lower flutter than the A77. Some
of the Tandberg machines weren't too bad either. I think Uher even made
a consumer quarter-track deck with servo tension control.

The real problem was the push down to 3 3/4 ips, which just made flutter
unbearable even on a well-designed transport. Quarter track, while it was
an evil thing on the whole, did nothing to make flutter worse and at least
made azimuth error less audible.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

You took the words right out of my mouth as I thought what I'd say while
reading this thread. Hope you can't think of an insulting one liner back
for this one.

Julian

"Mike Rivers" wrote
But the real answer is that if the TEAC is all you got, clean it up
good, align the heads to the tapes you're playing, and go for it. If
you really value the recordings and plan to issue them for public
consumption, you'd best pay an archivist who has the proper equipment
to make the transfers for you.

why not look on ebay for a teac 3300 half-track machine? there is a
3300sx on there right now for $9.99. i had a 3300 half-track back in
the 70s when i was apprenticing for deep south, so i could take masters
home and play them. nice little machine, though the SN ratio was only
like 68dB at 15ips.

Tim Sprout wrote:

I want to archive 1/4 inch half track stereo material
recorded on a Studer A807. I have a TEAC 3340S. Will
the TEAC 3340S play the 1/4 inch half track stereo tapes
if I sum tracks 1 and 2, and sum tracks 3 and 4, then out
to stereo? Is there a 1/4 inch half track stereo head made
that fits the TEAC 3340S?


Good advice, everyone.

Replies to my post said, basically, that trying to use the TEAC
3340S is not worth it.

I will use the Studer A807, still available at the public radio
station where I recorded these performances 16 years ago.
I looked the machine over last night. I don't think those heads
have been cleaned in 16 years!

I was hoping to be lazy and do this at home. And to use my
TEAC 3340S that is just sitting there. I am fond of it. It is my
very own reel to reel. It looks good. It takes up space.


Tim Sprout

Tim Sprout wrote:
I will use the Studer A807, still available at the public radio
station where I recorded these performances 16 years ago.
I looked the machine over last night. I don't think those heads
have been cleaned in 16 years!

Be sure to align to the tape tones, but before you do that, do a full
alignment and make sure the machine is okay. If you can't get the low
end to pull in, or you can't get a nice diagonal line on the azimuth
setting, the machine may be suffering from lack of maintenance itself.

I am getting increasing paranoid about using analogue machines in
outside studios, because so few of them are getting proper PM these
days.
--scott


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

In article writes:

Replies to my post said, basically, that trying to use the TEAC
3340S is not worth it.

It depends on your alternatives, but you go on . . .

I will use the Studer A807, still available at the public radio
station where I recorded these performances 16 years ago.
I looked the machine over last night. I don't think those heads
have been cleaned in 16 years!

Chances are the machine hasn't been used in 10 years. If you want to
be lazy and do the transfers at home, why not ask if you can put the
Studer out of its misery and take it away? In any case, it's always
nice to be able to play tapes on the machine that recorded them if
it's still in good shape.



--
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