On Jan 9, 9:32*am, Rob wrote:
wrote:
On Jan 6, 5:28 pm, (D.M.
Procida) wrote:
I'd be quite interested in owning a copy of "Modern Instrumentation Tape
Recording - An Engineering Handbook", but not 48 of them:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350149931255

Does anyone want to help split this?

Daniele

I reccommed this book....

Elements of tape recorder circuits
by Herman Burstein
Published in 1957, Gernsback Library (New York)

It's an oldie but a goodie..
Lots of detail about EQ circuits, bias osc *etc... nothing about Dolby
NR of course..

There were a few hits on the web, you may be able to download a copy..

Mark

You can indeed - and a very good read it looks too, thanks.

I like the bit on improving sound, or rather 'listening pleasure' -
should strike a chord or two ;-)

Rob- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

your welcome

Mark

wrote in message
...
On Jan 9, 9:32 am, Rob wrote:
wrote:
I reccommed this book....

Elements of tape recorder circuits
by Herman Burstein
Published in 1957, Gernsback Library (New York)

It's an oldie but a goodie..
Lots of detail about EQ circuits, bias osc etc... nothing about Dolby
NR of course..

There were a few hits on the web, you may be able to download a copy..

You can indeed - and a very good read it looks too, thanks.

I like the bit on improving sound, or rather 'listening pleasure' -
should strike a chord or two ;-)

Burstein's book is indeed useful; in fact, I hand out bits of it to my
analog recording classes. But it suffers from a couple of problems.

The first is that it's really oriented toward consumer applications and home
tape recorders, which means its reference point is 7.5 ips recording. That's
a pretty different ballgame from 15 and 30 ips; the constraints are far
greater.

The second is that it was written fifty-plus years ago, and things have
changed a lot. Modern tapes respond a lot differently from the Scotch 111
that was the norm in 1957. For example, Burstein suggests that if 3% THD is
considered the overload point, 0 VU should be 6dB below that, and will have
about 1% THD. Older tapes did work like that: distortion increased steadily
until they hit the commonly-accepted overload point of 3% distortion. Modern
tapes have much lower distortion until just below the overload point, after
which the distortion level shoots up quickly. "Harder clipping" in the
modern vernacular. Modern tapes also do a lot better at avoiding
high-frequency saturation, and of course have much greater dynamic range.

Burstein also leaves out the problem of high-frequency losses due to tape
thickness, which was already understood to be the most important source of
high-frequency loss in the recording/playback process. (It had been
described by McKnight in a JAES article sometime in the early-to-mid-1950s.)

It's still a very valuable book, but it needs to be read in context. A good
modern supplement is the article on magnetic recording in Glen Ballou's
mighty tome, written by Dale Manquen.

Peace,
Paul

"Paul Stamler" wrote in message
...

Burstein's book is indeed useful; in fact, I hand out bits of it to my
analog recording classes. But it suffers from a couple of problems.


Do you do classes in acoustical recording as well?

David.

In article ,
Paul Stamler wrote:
The second is that it was written fifty-plus years ago, and things have
changed a lot. Modern tapes respond a lot differently from the Scotch
111 that was the norm in 1957. For example, Burstein suggests that if
3% THD is considered the overload point, 0 VU should be 6dB below that,
and will have about 1% THD. Older tapes did work like that: distortion
increased steadily until they hit the commonly-accepted overload point
of 3% distortion. Modern tapes have much lower distortion until just
below the overload point, after which the distortion level shoots up
quickly. "Harder clipping" in the modern vernacular. Modern tapes also
do a lot better at avoiding high-frequency saturation, and of course
have much greater dynamic range.

Indeed - the 'BBC' way I was taught on setting bias in the early '60s was
to increase the bias until the level peaked (using 1kHz tone) then carry
on 'till it dropped by 1 dB. Which was a reasonable compromise for the
standard tape the BBC used in those days.

--
*If PROGRESS is for advancement, what does that make CONGRESS mean?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

wrote in message
...
On Jan 6, 5:28 pm, (D.M.
Procida) wrote:
I'd be quite interested in owning a copy of "Modern Instrumentation Tape
Recording - An Engineering Handbook", but not 48 of them:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350149931255

Does anyone want to help split this?

Daniele

I reccommed this book....

Elements of tape recorder circuits
by Herman Burstein
Published in 1957, Gernsback Library (New York)

It's an oldie but a goodie..
Lots of detail about EQ circuits, bias osc etc... nothing about Dolby
NR of course..

The 1950's were a very interesting time in tape recording.
I can remember a 76cms Magnetophon recorder on which the
erase head got so hot that it would burn a hole in the tape
when the transport was not moving, if you did not put a
match stick between.

Nothing beats a real "high tech" solution:-)

Iain

"Iain Churches" wrote in message
i.fi...


The 1950's were a very interesting time in tape recording.
I can remember a 76cms Magnetophon recorder on which the
erase head got so hot that it would burn a hole in the tape
when the transport was not moving, if you did not put a
match stick between.

Nothing beats a real "high tech" solution:-)

Was that one that had been "liberated" in 1945?

David.

"David Looser" wrote in message
...
"Iain Churches" wrote in message
i.fi...


The 1950's were a very interesting time in tape recording.
I can remember a 76cms Magnetophon recorder on which the
erase head got so hot that it would burn a hole in the tape
when the transport was not moving, if you did not put a
match stick between.

Nothing beats a real "high tech" solution:-)

Was that one that had been "liberated" in 1945?

There were, by all acounts only four machines
liberated from DR (Deutsche Rundfunk) and these
came from Leipzig.

The machine I refer to was owned by a Dutch
film maker in London, who was a friend of my
father's. It fascinated me, and might have planted
the seeds for a career choice much later on.


Iain

In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
The 1950's were a very interesting time in tape recording.
I can remember a 76cms Magnetophon recorder on which the
erase head got so hot that it would burn a hole in the tape
when the transport was not moving, if you did not put a
match stick between.

Surely the EMI BTR series were around by then - to all intents and
purposes a modern tape machine? IIRC, the Magnetophon dates from the
early '40s - and was the basis for the EMI BTR1.

Nothing beats a real "high tech" solution:-)

I remember a cheap tape deck in the '50s that had no capstan - so the tape
speed varied with the amount on the reels. Disaster if you broke the tape
and had to junk some.

--
*Always borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
The 1950's were a very interesting time in tape recording.
I can remember a 76cms Magnetophon recorder on which the
erase head got so hot that it would burn a hole in the tape
when the transport was not moving, if you did not put a
match stick between.

Surely the EMI BTR series were around by then - to all intents and
purposes a modern tape machine?

Was the BTR1 a predecessor to the TR90 ?
I remember well the BTR2, and also the BTR4
which came out circa 1966 (whatever happened to the BTR3?)



IIRC, the Magnetophon dates from the
early '40s - and was the basis for the EMI BTR1.

Yes. The Magnetophon was the machine that the Allies
brought back from Germany as part of the spoils of War.
It had baffled the Allies for some time that the Germans
were able to broadcast pre-recorded speeches by
Hitler from Berlin without give-away disc noise, and put them
out as supposedly live transmissions, when it was known for
certain that he was elsewhere.

Arthur Haddy stated that the Allies brought back four
Magnetophon machines, two of which went to what became
Ampex in the USA, one to EMI at Hayes, and one to Decca.

Nothing beats a real "high tech" solution:-)

I remember a cheap tape deck in the '50s that had no capstan - so the tape
speed varied with the amount on the reels. Disaster if you broke the tape
and had to junk some.

Wonderful!

Iain

In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
The 1950's were a very interesting time in tape recording.
I can remember a 76cms Magnetophon recorder on which the
erase head got so hot that it would burn a hole in the tape
when the transport was not moving, if you did not put a
match stick between.

Surely the EMI BTR series were around by then - to all intents and
purposes a modern tape machine?

Was the BTR1 a predecessor to the TR90 ?

Yes - although its real successor was the BTR2 which looked very
different to the BTR1. Probably the definitive 1/4" tape machine design
ever for ergonomics if you had to edit, etc. Designed regardless of cost.

The TR90 was a two part device designed for bay mounting, although many
ended up in trolleys as a transportable design - or rather more
transportable than a BTR2. ;-)

I remember well the BTR2, and also the BTR4
which came out circa 1966 (whatever happened to the BTR3?)

Never saw any of the later ones. BBC TV moved on to Levers Rich after the
TR90 then Studer. BBC Radio bought loads of Philips - don't know the model
- which weren't much loved by the operators.


IIRC, the Magnetophon dates from the
early '40s - and was the basis for the EMI BTR1.

Yes. The Magnetophon was the machine that the Allies
brought back from Germany as part of the spoils of War.
It had baffled the Allies for some time that the Germans
were able to broadcast pre-recorded speeches by
Hitler from Berlin without give-away disc noise, and put them
out as supposedly live transmissions, when it was known for
certain that he was elsewhere.

Arthur Haddy stated that the Allies brought back four
Magnetophon machines, two of which went to what became
Ampex in the USA, one to EMI at Hayes, and one to Decca.

The only BTR1 I saw looked pretty similar to the Magnetophon including the
case decoration. But of course in EMI greens.

Nothing beats a real "high tech" solution:-)

I remember a cheap tape deck in the '50s that had no capstan - so the
tape speed varied with the amount on the reels. Disaster if you broke
the tape and had to junk some.

Wonderful!

Iain

--
*Warning: Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.