@wado1942 yeah i heard about the edge tracks. I read that drums fit nicely on them. What mixing board, pre amps, and compressors do you use? And what order do you have everything set up starting with the mic?
@FrenchosaurusRex I certainly never recorded drums on the edge tracks, they're too important. The high end is the first to suffer and drums more extreme high end than any other instrument. Noise reduction doubles the problems. I usually did a stereo submix of the drums on #2 and #3. 1 & 8 were used for superfluous stuff that wouldn't really be missed if they degraded, like auxiliary percussion or an extra guitar part etc. I sent a P.M. regarding the other stuff.
@wado1942 so to save money i will use one reel for all 4 songs and record over the out takes. Now i am going to mix drums live and send them through a subgroup on the mixer, but for vocals i will go mic - pre amp- tape machine- mixer for monitoring while recording and then it will already be set up for mixing. Thanks for the help!
@FrenchosaurusRex Sounds like a plan. Just remember, at least get a sound check with all the instruments together before you settle on a drum sub-mix. I also suggest you be consistent as possible on what tracks hold what instruments and include track sheets! My last bit of advice is to put less important on tracks #1 and #8 because edge tracks are more prone to issues.
Very nice machine! I have a few questions for you though. You see i am new to analog recording. First, my band is going to record a cd to sell at our shows and i am getting a tascam 48 1/2" 8 track. We are doing 4 songs. So would you (and professional enginears) record all 4 songs each on their own 1/2" tape reels or just one reel for all 4 songs? Next, when you record do you just plug your mic into a preamp, then straight into the machine? Whats your setup for that? Thanks for the help!
@FrenchosaurusRex I used to have an 80-8, which you can see in my "Old Canoe" video. Both are fine workhorses. A lot of guys will do take after take, filling a single reel with one song, then edit the best of each together. My clients are usually on too low of a budget, so I just record over takes that aren't great. If there's room at the end, I'll do alternate takes.
As for how I record, sometimes I submix instruments together or patch in a compressor etc. but it's usually mix-preamp-tape.
@XES101watchclub Search for "Ampex Virtual Museum and Mailing List" and join the group. There's a lot of long-time users on the group, many of whom worked for AMPEX when this machine was built. I'm afraid you'll most likely have to learn to service it yourself. You definitely want to learn to do the maintenance yourself.
@poshi12 Heh, no, they stopped production in the mid 70s on that particular unit. It's a great unit though and it out performs many new units. Thanks for posting!
@wado1942 Its a crying shame! Just like the roland 808 Drum machine's revamp,old tape recorders would be great to have a resurgents because you just can't emulate that sound with a computer.
@poshi12 A lot of people certainly THINK they can emulate tape in a computer. Even digital recordings dumped to real tape and still sounds like digital to me. Any way, there's more interest in recording to tape than there was even two years ago. I now have the ability to do entire projects from performance to master without ever touching digital, including effects, though I normally record to my 1" 16-track and and mix to digital. I often mix to tape too, whatever the client wants.
That's the last of my 1/2" NOS Quantegy 456. I've been thinking about which direction to go myself. The 440s will replay ATR just fine but don't have the headroom to fully take advantage of ATR tape for recording without modification. As much as I hate the idea, I think I'll have to go with RMGI 911. That's what MRL uses for alignment tapes now. I've heard so many horror stories about quality control issues with RMGI though.
@wado1942 I've heard the same about RMGi too. I guess I'll have to try the 911. My machine is 1/4" 2 track. i actually have a lot of NOS 1/2" 456 but its all sticky.
@MrMegaEli Well, let me know how that goes. I do have a 1/4" stereo head block but generally use my Otari with GP9 for that (lots of NOS). I really want to start mixing for quad with the 1/2" 4-track block on the 440! My 456 was direct from the factory the previous time they discontinued it (2005?) so it's in good shape. I think they're going to attempt resuming production, but who knows.
"The Quantegy products listed are a few of the remaining items that we have in our warehouse until we bring back the 456, 499, and GP9 Mastering Tapes."
Its like you have 2 turntables and your doing a set
dillweed44 1 month ago
@swollenpickle09 did you get your screen name from the fuzz pedal or is it a sexual refrence?? either way its great ha
wedontknowone1 1 month ago
@wedontknowone1 I wasn't aware of either, so, no to both questions!
wado1942 1 month ago
@wado1942 yeah i heard about the edge tracks. I read that drums fit nicely on them. What mixing board, pre amps, and compressors do you use? And what order do you have everything set up starting with the mic?
FrenchosaurusRex 5 months ago
@FrenchosaurusRex I certainly never recorded drums on the edge tracks, they're too important. The high end is the first to suffer and drums more extreme high end than any other instrument. Noise reduction doubles the problems. I usually did a stereo submix of the drums on #2 and #3. 1 & 8 were used for superfluous stuff that wouldn't really be missed if they degraded, like auxiliary percussion or an extra guitar part etc. I sent a P.M. regarding the other stuff.
wado1942 4 months ago
@wado1942 so to save money i will use one reel for all 4 songs and record over the out takes. Now i am going to mix drums live and send them through a subgroup on the mixer, but for vocals i will go mic - pre amp- tape machine- mixer for monitoring while recording and then it will already be set up for mixing. Thanks for the help!
FrenchosaurusRex 5 months ago
@FrenchosaurusRex Sounds like a plan. Just remember, at least get a sound check with all the instruments together before you settle on a drum sub-mix. I also suggest you be consistent as possible on what tracks hold what instruments and include track sheets! My last bit of advice is to put less important on tracks #1 and #8 because edge tracks are more prone to issues.
wado1942 5 months ago
Very nice machine! I have a few questions for you though. You see i am new to analog recording. First, my band is going to record a cd to sell at our shows and i am getting a tascam 48 1/2" 8 track. We are doing 4 songs. So would you (and professional enginears) record all 4 songs each on their own 1/2" tape reels or just one reel for all 4 songs? Next, when you record do you just plug your mic into a preamp, then straight into the machine? Whats your setup for that? Thanks for the help!
FrenchosaurusRex 5 months ago
@FrenchosaurusRex I used to have an 80-8, which you can see in my "Old Canoe" video. Both are fine workhorses. A lot of guys will do take after take, filling a single reel with one song, then edit the best of each together. My clients are usually on too low of a budget, so I just record over takes that aren't great. If there's room at the end, I'll do alternate takes.
As for how I record, sometimes I submix instruments together or patch in a compressor etc. but it's usually mix-preamp-tape.
wado1942 5 months ago
where should i go to get a machine like this fixed? just got one on ebay...
XES101watchclub 5 months ago
@XES101watchclub Search for "Ampex Virtual Museum and Mailing List" and join the group. There's a lot of long-time users on the group, many of whom worked for AMPEX when this machine was built. I'm afraid you'll most likely have to learn to service it yourself. You definitely want to learn to do the maintenance yourself.
wado1942 5 months ago
cool machine.
swollenpickle09 6 months ago
Thats really cool.Are these things still made?I Love tape. Digital is ok but Tape is where its at.
poshi12 6 months ago
@poshi12 Heh, no, they stopped production in the mid 70s on that particular unit. It's a great unit though and it out performs many new units. Thanks for posting!
wado1942 6 months ago
@wado1942 Its a crying shame! Just like the roland 808 Drum machine's revamp,old tape recorders would be great to have a resurgents because you just can't emulate that sound with a computer.
poshi12 6 months ago
@poshi12 A lot of people certainly THINK they can emulate tape in a computer. Even digital recordings dumped to real tape and still sounds like digital to me. Any way, there's more interest in recording to tape than there was even two years ago. I now have the ability to do entire projects from performance to master without ever touching digital, including effects, though I normally record to my 1" 16-track and and mix to digital. I often mix to tape too, whatever the client wants.
wado1942 6 months ago
What tape are you using on this? i have a 440B, I'm trying to decide if it is possible to use ATR at +6
MrMegaEli 10 months ago
@MrMegaEli
That's the last of my 1/2" NOS Quantegy 456. I've been thinking about which direction to go myself. The 440s will replay ATR just fine but don't have the headroom to fully take advantage of ATR tape for recording without modification. As much as I hate the idea, I think I'll have to go with RMGI 911. That's what MRL uses for alignment tapes now. I've heard so many horror stories about quality control issues with RMGI though.
wado1942 10 months ago
@wado1942 I've heard the same about RMGi too. I guess I'll have to try the 911. My machine is 1/4" 2 track. i actually have a lot of NOS 1/2" 456 but its all sticky.
MrMegaEli 10 months ago
@MrMegaEli Well, let me know how that goes. I do have a 1/4" stereo head block but generally use my Otari with GP9 for that (lots of NOS). I really want to start mixing for quad with the 1/2" 4-track block on the 440! My 456 was direct from the factory the previous time they discontinued it (2005?) so it's in good shape. I think they're going to attempt resuming production, but who knows.
wado1942 10 months ago
@wado1942 Where did you hear they might start making 456 again? that would be awesome!
MrMegaEli 10 months ago
@MrMegaEli From their site:
"The Quantegy products listed are a few of the remaining items that we have in our warehouse until we bring back the 456, 499, and GP9 Mastering Tapes."
They do still have 600' 456 rolls too.
wado1942 10 months ago