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Otari MX-5050 Review (Reel to Reel Tape Deck)

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amirm

amirm

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How is it possible with that data, please ?
The digital releases have been heavily processed and screwed up. If what is on tape was released in digital, it would sound even better. But such is not available.
 

Koeitje

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Love this review, hopefully you can chuck the random bit of classic gear to be tested, Nakamichi, Revox Cassette decks etc.
As they say in the UK, a change is as good as a rest
He already measured a Nakamichi cassette deck a couple of years ago:
 

pavuol

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Wonderful peace of hardware, nice to see another category of gear.

I imagine panther was like: :)

sweet sentiment <---------- [confused]-----------> measurements
giphy.webp
 

Mulder

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Conclusions
.......................... my favorite second generation master tape from rock music of 1970s is superb. It easily outperforms the digital ones which have been remastered to death. It is eye and ear popping how much nicer they sound than digital.
This makes me think about all the measurements that are made and that show what fantastic levels modern equipment reaches. The question is: is this ultimately a waste of effort because the vast majority of all recordings are mastered to death? Maybe we should move on to measuring recordings instead of equipment?
 

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Fantastic! I’m very happy to know that I’ll have some company as I dive deeper down this rabbit hole!

this is my newly acquired Teac Tascam 32-2b which thankfully is in good working order (unlike my Sony TC-765), I managed to pick this beauty up for the cost of a few new tapes, as she runs 15ips and has IEC/NAB I couldn’t resist!

1DBB85F9-9751-4E8B-8720-F6BDB779BD8B.jpeg
 

DJBonoBobo

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It easily outperforms the digital ones which have been remastered to death. It is eye and ear popping how much nicer they sound than digital. I often play that tape when people come over first and their jaw drops on the floor in how good it sounds.

If you were to record the output digitally and play it back digitally, it would sound exactly the same, right?
I think that's often misunderstood with statements like that.
 
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If you were to record the output digitally and play it back digitally, it would sound exactly the same, right?
I haven't done that but yes, I expect it to the sound the same.
 

Headchef

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Just spent $200 on tapes. Bought two brands. Will compare to see what the difference is....
Which did you buy? And how will you be recording to them? I was chatting with a couple of friends (Red Snapper and Blur) about if I could acquire their masters and they suggested that the .WAV files available from Bandcamp came straight from the desk, I’m thinking that by using those through the Aune S8 I should be able to get some pretty ”close to master” quality, be good to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks again! :)
 
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Which did you buy?
I bought both ATR and MRG. Will see which one is better.

I will be using my ultra high performance analog generation in Audio Precision to record. Not that it is necessary given the limitations of the format.

I would not use anything from Bandcamp. I think REW is able to save test tones now.
 

Headchef

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I bought both ATR and MRG. Will see which one is better.

I will be using my ultra high performance analog generation in Audio Precision to record. Not that it is necessary given the limitations of the format.

I would not use anything from Bandcamp. I think REW is able to save test tones now.
Will be patiently awaiting your findings on which tape performs better, I ordered an ATR tape last night so Sod’s law dictates that the MRG will out perform it in every test! :D
 

mcdn

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The digital releases have been heavily processed and screwed up. If what is on tape was released in digital, it would sound even better. But such is not available.
Could you do some analysis of your great sounding tape tracks to see how they compare with versions available on CD/online? Improving the quality of the delivered product seems like it would have massive impact without anyone having to buy new equipment.
 

MCH

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On the aging of tapes, there is a video on youtube promoting the "last definitive" release of Kind of Blue where interestingly Bernie Grundman comments that in general original tapes from classic jazz records from the early 50s are still in very good shape unless they were played to death. Don't know if true or not, or the consumer tapes are a different story, but interesting to hear. For one moment seems he is implying that the stories of tapes getting too old is sort of marketing lie...
Min 18 aprox.
 

restorer-john

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Don't know if true or not, or the consumer tapes are a different story, but interesting to hear. For one moment seems he is implying that the stories of tapes getting too old is sort of marketing lie...

I have plenty of TDK cassettes recorded (carefully) in very early 1982/3/4 which are absolutely as good as the day they were made. Made on TDK ADX, ARX, SA, SAX etc.
 

kopczas

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Those measurements shows that this deck is not even in hi-fi region. Is it poor maintenance or industry standard ?
 

F1308

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Good mastering poorly played > Poor mastering well played.

Good mastering well played beats both, of course. Unless your listening biases come into play.
Good mastering that cannot be well reproduced since the system lacks adequate dynamic extension....?
Or is it that 40-45 dB turn out to be more than enough for 98% of music (mine has been thoroughly tested and 50dB has proved being a barrier for the time being, using a Roland Fantom 8 synthesizer, regardless of how pppppp the piano and fffffff the taikos) and that 96dB mark is just unnecessarily used to pinpoint the goodies and the baddies...? Or what...?
 

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