Stereo-only reel-to-reel recorders?

[ricard]

I was just thinking of something: all stereo reel-to-reel recorders I know of can also be operated in mono mode, recording one track at a time. When cassette recorders appeared, this option was no longer offered. (That would be the subject of another discussion...).

But where there ever reel-to-reel machines which, possibly in the interest of simplicity, not the least from the user's point of view, only operated in stereo? The technical advantage of using a simpler erase head (like the cassette format does with its mono erase head) would only be of use on two-track machines, but reduced switching would have simplified the design.

I can think of one red herring here, the Sony TC-366-4 which is a quad version of the TC-366, with an extra amplifier panel, retains the two recording buttons of its stereo brother, but instead of left and right they control 'front' (tracks 1 and 3) and 'rear' (2 and 4). So the machine can only record a minimum of two tracks at once (and it's actually difficult to rebuild to a true four track machine as they've taken advantage of this fact in the design), but since it's a quad machine to start with it doesn't really count.

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi
Hmmm...that's an interesting question! I was thinking of the low-end machines such as Ferguson, but even the ones with automatic level control (3258 for eample) still boasted track switching. I suppose the extra switching for the erase head wasn't all that complicated.
Moving up the scale, Ferrographs, Uhers and Revoxes had individual controls and switching on both 2- and 4- track machines as did Sony, Akai, Tandberg and Philips.
However when you get to the pro-machines I think some of them didn't have switching, though not for the reasons you suggest - more likely to avoid any mistakes being made on an important recording. I'm thinking of early Studers, Leevers-Rich and EMI, though there are members on here who are more qualified to comment on this.
Glyn

[brenellic2000]

A stereo deck is of course a 'stereo-capable deck' so the option of switching to mono would be in the 'amplifier department'.

It is almost certain that some 'broadcast/stereo mastering' recorders may well have been ordered as '2-channel stereo only' without channel switching to save a few shillings but for a commercially marketed stereo tape-recorder the extra cost of deleting a circuit from a standard machine - yes, manufacturers do charge for deleting! - would be uneconomic and unproductive.

Besides, most semi-pro users would demand track to track transfer capablities, even if they never used it!

Barry

[julie_m]

It's all to do with the track layout.

Stereo reel-to-reel tape is conventionally laid out like this:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LH SIDE 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< RH SIDE 2 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> RH SIDE 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< LH SIDE 2 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

following the layout used on four-track mono recorders, with the possibility of selective erasure and recording. This is an easy enough feature to add, and allows for long-duration mono recordings which are compatible with mono players. It also creates the possibility for "sound-on-sound" -- by mixing the signal from one track with a new "live" source, and recording it onto the other track. Even if this functionality is not built into the recorder, it can easily be added with a simple external mixer (if the second input is a microphone, this can even be a passive circuit).

Whereas cassettes are always laid out like this:

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< RH SIDE 2 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< LH SIDE 2 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LH SIDE 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> RH SIDE 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The left and right hand channels of each side are adjacent with the cassette layout; so if you play a stereo cassette on a mono machine, the two channels will simply be mixed. Whereas if you play a mono cassette on a stereo machine, the same signal will come through both channels.

With cassette, the same erase head can be used in a mono or stereo deck; in the latter case it will wipe both channels and the (fraction of a millimetre) guard band between them, non-selectively. Simplicity of use for non-experts was always a primary design goal; and the idea that any recording should be listenable on any player is an important part of this.

Selective erasure on cassette did not come about until the advent of the four-track "portastudio" machines, which were intended for use by people who knew what they were doing.

[lesmw0sec]

I seem to recall that Leevers-Rich made a 2/2 stereo machine with a full track erase head. I always used a full track erase in my tape days.

[Refugee]

I think it was to stop buyers of stereo recorders from complaining that they could not listen to their old tapes. You could even keep half track recordings plus add two more tracks to get 4 mono tracks if you were short of tapes.

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi
Yes - I think that was the point. If someone was to find they'd lost their treasured recording due to a full-track erase there would be hell to pay!
Also AJS makes a very valid point that on a conventional four-track machine the erase head would have to be the same whether switched or not, so why not add a feature for a few pennies? After all, features sell machines.
Glyn
PS Nagra pro machines also had full-track erase heads, though usually you'd be using virgin tapes.

[EMI BTR 3]

I once had a Realistic TR 3000 deck (a rebadged Teac X3) which fit this description. It did have a stereo-designed erase head; its two channel sections were jumpered together in parallel.

[ricard]

Ah the TR-3000. I remember seeing them in a Radio Shack catalog that I got in Canada once, still got the catalog somewhere. Yes, looking closely at the panel now it is apparent that for instance there is only one source/monitor switch, not individual for left and right.

Thanks for the pointing this out, I've stared at pictures of that machine countless times and the thought never occurred to me!

This machine was designed for Radio Shack by TEAC, then after Radio Shack discontinued it TEAC marketed it under its own name as the X-3 (and later the X-3R which added reversing capabilities). This was in the age when cassette had taken a firm hold in the consumer market, and I would imagine that the TR-3000 was designed to a tight budget in order to make the price reasonable which would have meant that any feature deemed unnecessary would have been out. As being marketed as a high-end stereo system accessory, rather than a general purpose reel-to-reel recorder, it would make sense not to have any mono capabilities if it could bring the price down even by a minute amount. Radio Shack were always more in the 'budget' business than in the 'flying all colors' business (even if they did offer more upmarket machines in their catalog in the 1960's, such as the Tandberg models 6 and 7).

[brenellic2000]

.... and to their great credit, RadioShack/Tandy produced some excellent, very durable products putting them well above the average 'budget' products offered by others!

Are Tandy still operating in continental Europe?

Barry

[ricard]

True, getting Teac to design a recorder for them shows that they were interested in procuring a quality machine.

On a completely different note (no pun intended ) they got Moog to design a synthesizer for them perhaps a couple of years after the TR-3000. Don't think it sold too well either, was probably the wrong type of outlet for that type of the machine, similar to the situation with the TR-3000.

Back to the original topic, any other machines?

[mrmagnetophon]

There we're machines that we're stereo only, but only in terms of turning the amplifiers on.

For example, my Ampex 600-2 has 2 mono block electronics, either you can turn on channel 2 or turn it off. However, when your recording, you can only record either stereo or left channel mono, you cannot add track 2 later as it would wipe the whole tape. It is a full track mono erase head.

Chris

[sp10mk11]

Hmm, I think the Sony TC-766 was full track stereo machine with 4 track playback only facility, iI think it is years since iI owned one.