If you have an M15a, you might want to implement better opamps and caps in the audio path. It makes a great difference when compared to stock, and costs very little in components.
I have two of these, bought for 100 euros (yes, for both.. so 50 euros each) about 20 years ago. :) Haven't used them in a while though. Back then I bought the machines for adding tape "mojo" to things but the M15A is way too transparent for that task. Maybe I should try to get hold of a test tape and calibrate them to see if everything is still okay with the machines. One of them hasn't been used at all since I bought it. I got the 2nd one for spare parts as the deal was to get as many machines as you could fit in your car. Unfortunately I didn't get a trolley or anything fancy extra, just the machines themselves.
50 euro is a steal... :) Yes, they used to throw them out for nearly free... I was too late to that party, unfortunately. I did some upgrades to the audio amplifier cards, they make a positive difference in the performance of the machine. I based my upgrades on the work of user Fortepianus on the forum of aktives-hoeren.de. If you're interested, just google Studiotonbandmaschine AEG Telefunken M15A G-tuned. It describes the steps. I also upgraded the audio caps with Nichicon UES, they are the best audio caps to my knowledge.
Hello Ralph, I just read your post on tapeheads from about 1 year ago that you're trying to repair the AL15A Autolocator for this machine. Did you manage to get it working? If you did, can you please record a video about it's functions/features, how it works and how it controls the machine? There is very little information about it online. Why I'm asking: Honestly, I'm trying to figure out how the thing worked so I can figure out how to build a new Autolocator using more modern PIC/Atmel processors. Building a rudimentary copy of the FS15A Remote Control seems simple and pretty straight forward. But making some kind of working Autolocator for this this would be a very interesting project. P.S. Building a remote control is not challenging enough for me so I decided to go full-mental and waste my time with this thing. 🤣
Hi! My AL15A autolocator is unfortunately still in repair. I've replaced all the IC's with new ones in sockets (5 of the original IC's were defective), build my own EPROM reader for those ancient C2708's etc, but to no avail as of yet.I can explain you how it works, it's actually not all that complicated. Write me an email at "my last name name".dot "myfirstname" at Gmail dot com. Cheers, Ralph
436 hours is really low ! Mine has about 4600h on it, which is also still rather low. The small maintenance interval for these is 5000h and the large maintenance interval is 10.000h if I'm not mistaken. Great machines, build like tanks.
hi have alot of tape decks my self can't get any more as finding them at the right price now is very hard i started to bag anything that is good for the money napper decks that get over locked and i can fix up betacam decks are going up in price because they liner audio and there's alot of tape at the right prices as well
Small maintenance on this recrorder is at 5.000h, large maintenance (replacing bearings etc) is at 10.000h. If the recorder has been maintained correctly, 27.000h is fine. Check heads, they are rated for 20.000km, which means about 15.000h, at 38cm/s, or 30.000h at 19cm/s. If these need to be replaced, count on 400-700€ per head , depending on the version. It is also very advisable to recap all PCB's, and replace all tantaliums.
hi used to get them that way i know the tascam ninija john i am mates with him i will tell you inside man i am he has a big waiting list of people in need of part there are one's not going to sell the deck any more because of j planning to make part for the waiting list i have a otari mtr 12 that is not recording only use for play back the cost of shipping this model in the uk was crazy from the eu otari mtr12 has all the same trans port things on it like the reel spooling knob on the left side the otari mtr 13 has one plus i can get my legs under it to cut and edit unit tapes
@@korberd for the m15a, there is no issue. The heads and amplifiers can go much higher than 514nwb. Tape is the limiting factor. You can experiment with different levels and different tape types to get the sound you want
Хорошая машина!! 👍👍👍
Excellent description. Thank you.
This completes my mixes now. 😊
I don't know what I'd do without Mix:analog over there in Slovenia.
If you have an M15a, you might want to implement better opamps and caps in the audio path. It makes a great difference when compared to stock, and costs very little in components.
I use Mix:analog for this process.@@ralphlauwaert2245
I have two of these, bought for 100 euros (yes, for both.. so 50 euros each) about 20 years ago. :) Haven't used them in a while though. Back then I bought the machines for adding tape "mojo" to things but the M15A is way too transparent for that task. Maybe I should try to get hold of a test tape and calibrate them to see if everything is still okay with the machines. One of them hasn't been used at all since I bought it. I got the 2nd one for spare parts as the deal was to get as many machines as you could fit in your car. Unfortunately I didn't get a trolley or anything fancy extra, just the machines themselves.
50 euro is a steal... :) Yes, they used to throw them out for nearly free... I was too late to that party, unfortunately. I did some upgrades to the audio amplifier cards, they make a positive difference in the performance of the machine. I based my upgrades on the work of user Fortepianus on the forum of aktives-hoeren.de. If you're interested, just google Studiotonbandmaschine AEG Telefunken M15A G-tuned. It describes the steps. I also upgraded the audio caps with Nichicon UES, they are the best audio caps to my knowledge.
Hello Ralph,
I just read your post on tapeheads from about 1 year ago that you're trying to repair the AL15A Autolocator for this machine. Did you manage to get it working? If you did, can you please record a video about it's functions/features, how it works and how it controls the machine? There is very little information about it online.
Why I'm asking:
Honestly, I'm trying to figure out how the thing worked so I can figure out how to build a new Autolocator using more modern PIC/Atmel processors. Building a rudimentary copy of the FS15A Remote Control seems simple and pretty straight forward. But making some kind of working Autolocator for this this would be a very interesting project.
P.S. Building a remote control is not challenging enough for me so I decided to go full-mental and waste my time with this thing. 🤣
Hi! My AL15A autolocator is unfortunately still in repair. I've replaced all the IC's with new ones in sockets (5 of the original IC's were defective), build my own EPROM reader for those ancient C2708's etc, but to no avail as of yet.I can explain you how it works, it's actually not all that complicated. Write me an email at "my last name name".dot "myfirstname" at Gmail dot com. Cheers, Ralph
I used to have one with only 436 hours.
I regret selling it.
436 hours is really low ! Mine has about 4600h on it, which is also still rather low. The small maintenance interval for these is 5000h and the large maintenance interval is 10.000h if I'm not mistaken. Great machines, build like tanks.
Thanks for the deep dive on this machine. Are those butterfly heads you’re using? Regardless looks sweet!
Thanks! Those are indeed the Vacodur "butterfly heads.
hi have alot of tape decks my self can't get any more as finding them at the right price
now is very hard
i started to bag anything that is good for the money napper decks that get over locked
and i can fix up betacam decks are going up in price because they liner audio
and there's alot of tape at the right prices as well
Yes indeed, prices are ridiculous these last years... I found some really good deals on local auction sites and sometimes in Facebook groups.
is 27000 hours a lot? how much of hours is still intresting for buying, Thank You
Small maintenance on this recrorder is at 5.000h, large maintenance (replacing bearings etc) is at 10.000h. If the recorder has been maintained correctly, 27.000h is fine. Check heads, they are rated for 20.000km, which means about 15.000h, at 38cm/s, or 30.000h at 19cm/s. If these need to be replaced, count on 400-700€ per head , depending on the version. It is also very advisable to recap all PCB's, and replace all tantaliums.
@@ralphlauwaert2245 thank you
hi used to get them that way i know the tascam ninija john i am mates with him
i will tell you inside man i am he has a big waiting list of people in need of part there are one's not going to sell the deck any more because of j planning to make part for the waiting list
i have a otari mtr 12 that is not recording only use for play back the cost of shipping this model
in the uk was crazy from the eu otari mtr12 has all the same trans port things on it
like the reel spooling knob on the left side the otari mtr 13 has one plus i can get my legs under it
to cut and edit unit tapes
I have a M15A and I need to calibrate the audio cards. Do you know where is it possible to get a test tape?
Hi, check on Ebay for user Ural91, he sells test tapes. Wriite him a message to make sure you order the correct one.
@@ralphlauwaert2245 Thank you. Do you calibrate your machine with 514 nWb?
@@korberd yes, 514nWb/m. The standard level for m15a is 312nWb/m, but you can run this machine higher than that.
@@ralphlauwaert2245 is a band compression still possible if the flux density is at its maximum?
@@korberd for the m15a, there is no issue. The heads and amplifiers can go much higher than 514nwb. Tape is the limiting factor. You can experiment with different levels and different tape types to get the sound you want