Setting Bias & EQ for Fulltrack... suggestions?

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Having a KEEN sense of irony (since tape is no longer effectively being
manufactured), I've decided to bite the bullet and get back into it.
I've been doing a bit of research - and being something of a DIYer I am
also determined to learn to set bias and eq myself - though I'm not
really settled on a stock yet (that'll be determined by whatever I can
get a few score rolls of) - but I'm thinking 468 or 900. At any rate, I
have two Studer A810s and a PR99. I want to set up all machines with
nearly the same "electromagnetic profile" (meaning I want the tape to
perform as closely as possible on all of them. All the machines have
fulltrack headstacks, with the exception of one of the 810s - which I
can convert to halftrack.

So. My question is this... it seems to me fairly likely that a
fulltrack record head might take advantage of a given tape in slightly
different ways than a halftrack one would. I'm assuming that many of
the specs that manufacturers provide to consumers of tape are based on
halfrack performance (crosstalk, etc...). What, if anything, might I
consider messing around with under these circumstances (hotter levels?
higher flux?). Any ideas?
Thanks to anyone who'd care to take a stab at this!
Jonathan

 

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Thanks for the info Mike. I was actually hoping to be doing this the
OLD OLD school way - with a function generator and an oscilloscope
(well, I guess that'd be more for alignment, right?). Still so much to
learn! Care to recommend a good FAQ or book on the subject?
thanks,
Jonathan

 

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On 21 Jan 2005 10:11:56 -0800, "noctilux" <dewdney@comcast.net> wrote:

>Thanks for the info Mike. I was actually hoping to be doing this the
>OLD OLD school way - with a function generator and an oscilloscope
>(well, I guess that'd be more for alignment, right?) <snip>

WTF?? No, it isn't. Function generator?? Scope? No use for a scope
on full track. You CAN use a scope on multi-track to accommodate for
gap scatter and/or gap angle skew.

dB

 

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In article <1106300272.939803.13540@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> dewdney@comcast.net writes:

> ... it seems to me fairly likely that a
> fulltrack record head might take advantage of a given tape in slightly
> different ways than a halftrack one would. I'm assuming that many of
> the specs that manufacturers provide to consumers of tape are based on
> halfrack performance (crosstalk, etc...). What, if anything, might I
> consider messing around with under these circumstances (hotter levels?

The only thing that you need to be careful of with different track
widths is the effect of fringing on the playback response of the
calibration tape that you use to adjust playback response (which you
must do first before making record adjustments). This requires that
you know how the calibration tape you're using was recorded. MRL has
information about all of their tapes as well as how to compensate for
fringing with different track widths. Visit their web site at

http://home.flash.net/~mrltapes/



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
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 here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

 

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Okay - that makes sense... in terms of azimuth adjustments I suppose. I
had the impression that one could use a scope to more rapidly determine
the correct bias setting. Would this be wrong? My impression was that
you would compare the raw tone from the generator with the PB tone on
the scope and this would tell you when you were on the mark. I could be
WAAAYYY off here - but this was my impression. Is there no way around
having to use an MRL tape?

Jonathan

 

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On 21 Jan 2005 11:03:37 -0800, "noctilux" <dewdney@comcast.net> wrote:

>Okay - that makes sense... in terms of azimuth adjustments I suppose. I
>had the impression that one could use a scope to more rapidly determine
>the correct bias setting. Would this be wrong? <snip>

Yes.

>My impression was that
>you would compare the raw tone from the generator with the PB tone on
>the scope and this would tell you when you were on the mark. I could be
>WAAAYYY off here - <snip>

You are.

>but this was my impression. Is there no way around
>having to use an MRL tape? <snip>

You cannot align any analog recorder without a high quality, first
generation alignment tape.

dB

 

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Wow. you are a very important person. And I thank you for even stooping
to participate in this pathetic thread. How can I repay you?

 

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A Leica freak, eh?