TELEFUNKEN M15: Reel-to-reel playback at its best
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- The Magnetophon 15 by Telefunken is one of the 2 track reel-to-reel tape master recorder that offers one of the best playback available for a decent price. In this video we will explore the main parts, aspects and characteristics of this machine
NAB-AEG Adaptors:
Metal www.nab-shop.com/
Plastic www.simpatyrec...
Wow, that's a beast . very cool !
when i bought my first semi serious set up in 1985 (polk SDAs with a Carver M1 amp ) i was asked by the salesman , " what will be your source "
i replied with , " a Sony Walkman Professional " .
he nearly went unconscious .
As it turned out it was a fantastic sound due in part to the Sendust heads that came with the unit .
That unit was one of the finest player /recorders i've ever owned . the quality and versatility was off the charts .
I worked on Studer B67s as a tech. They were huge machines in ever way, with fibreglass circuit boards. Playback and record quality was second to none. All direct drive capstans. The A810 was an update of it.
Just a small error. The Telefunken open reel decks were not widely used in the former GDR (German Democratic Republic). In the former GDR the price of a Telefunken would have been astronomical. Along with the rest of Eastern Bloc. At Rundfunk der DDR, Deutscher Fernsehfunk, Radio Berlin Internationa, Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA Film Studios)l and AMIGA Records. The open reel deck that was widely used were Mechlabor open reel decks made in Hungary. Mechlabor decks were also used widely in Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, USSR, Albania, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and the former Soviet Republics. The Hungarian made Mechlabor decks were also widely used in Cuba, Vietnam, China, North Korea, Laos, with a few sent to African countries that the Eastern Bloc had a close relationship with. A couple of these Telefunken decks were smuggled into the GDR, but they were never widely used. When I was at Radio Netherlands, we had a number of these Telefunken decks that were used in the production studios and the master control room and by our transcription service. As well in Studio 1, which was our large studios for live audience programs and recording music. Along with Radio Netherlands in Hilversum, which is the Dutch radio center. Even NOS (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting) the Dutch public broadcaster widely used them. Radio RSA (Radio South Africa), SABC (South African Broadcasting Corp.) Radio Rhodesia also use the Telefunken.
Thanks for explaining that and for sharing your experience!
I was just remembering a recording session we did in East Berlin in 1988. Some of us flew into East Berlin in advance, but our recording van drove from Hilversum in the Netherlands to East Berlin. We had a few Telefunken M10A decks that were taken out of service in 1976, but we still had them in storage. We decided to give two of them to an engineer who worked at Radio Berlin International. So they were loaded up into the recording van. And when our driver and our engineers got to the border. Talk about a hassle. We had to bribe the East German border guards to get these two decks in. The decks in the van, which were built into the van was no problem. But these two which were in crates caused a problem. The driver slipped them two 50USD bills and then they let them pass.
Keith how cool! Love this DDR history, which you actually lived. You should write a book with your memories!
East Germany used the Telefunken standard, so the units can be easily messed with the Telefunken.
Usually studios and radio or TV stations needs few recorders, but more players, because the tape will be more played and edited.
Would I have the option to buy a cheaper tape player, I would have taken one recorder and one playback only.
The advantage of "german" winding is not less print-thru but the fact that tape guidance does not touch the magnetic face of the tape. This comes in contact only with the heads.It is similar to compact cassettes! The regular reel-to-reel machines apply friction to the active side of the tape all along the tape track including heads.
A-ha! You are right! I never thought about that. Thanks for pointing that out! Several people also claim less print-thru but obviously this is the main reason.
@Robert Helix likewise in a R2R. But in case of capstan and pinch roller we are dealing with rolling friction and not translational friction between these elements and the tape itself. Please visualise the tape track in a R2R vs a compact cassette and you will get my idea.
@Robert Helix Did you read my post from 10 months ago? Ok, I don't know why I'm doing this! Instead of sending you to "f.in' google it" I did the job for you: www.mathworks.com/help/physmod/simscape/ref/translationalfriction.html and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_resistance i.e.
@Robert Helix most R2R tape recorders have the heads aligned to the tape guidance posts and tensioner pins and there are the zones where the translational friction comes in scene. And the active side of the tape is running on all these. Plus the capstan. On the inactive side the only friction is from the pinch roller and, in some builds, a pressing cushion very similar to cassettes. I expect you to get the picture now.
@Robert Helix Regarding the print through (also called contact print) you are corect. My argument in my first post was that the "german" winding is not better or worse in terms of contact print noise but it is better for the tape by less wear on the active side. If we look in the theory of print through we would expect the "german" winding (similar to CC) to be worse than the regular winding. I am not convinced that it is so.
Vast quantity of these in use by the BBC in the UK in the 1990s (more than 50 I would guess), particularly in Bush House (BBC World Service). All had the outward facing conventional heads and an alternative capstan/pinch wheel arrangement to allow razor blade editing. All had the LED counter and an extra panel on the right side with headphone monitoring and an linear output fader.
I have to say I preferred editing on the Studer A/B62, C37 and A80, the slightly slack take-up tension on the Telefunken would often cause the tape to fall off the heads when manually 'Rock n' Rolling' the spools. The fact that the Studers had rotating rollers on all the paths that contacted the oxide layer helped prevent shedding too.
Have fun with your find.
I do have a Studer A810 and the mechanism does seems better
What a beautifull machine..
I remember the philips machine we had in the local radio studio back in the 80's. I think it was a pro36 and this machine brings back memories. We were cutting and pasting with a tape cutter and sticky tape. Hours of work making a jingle of a few seconds. Then we would copy it to a cassette with the lead in part removed. instant start :-)
The reel to reel hype is real.
Its not a hype, its a studio system! A other way to record music! Digital or analog! Both are different systems! Not better or bader! Both sound nice and are important! Digital is not the best way to record! Its a other way and cheeper! Thats the ground! Cheeper is the biggest differenz and the ground why so many record digi! ...but both are good to work! Digi is not better as many think! Ana work with the analoge signals on a naturally way, digi do transfer that electronic signals to 0 and 1 and thats the differences!!! Have the digi not the right bit! Like mp3 it sound not good! 24bit (cd) it sound good! If you hear musik at home you get the ana signal to youre loudspeakers! Cd player or other digi-systems do transfer the signal from digi to analog that you can hear it than EVERY speaker work only analog! The ear hear analog! I love to let the signal in his naturally elektric way, and record it on tape! And will not transfer ana-digi and after record digi to ana that the amp can give that signal to the loudspeaker! ...btw, hype? Good studios have never stop with analog recordings! And old tape records must also be played about a tape maschine like 70s records from pink floyd and other original records thay are on tape ;)
That oxide shed, or looks more like the back coating is a bit too much. It is normal for a tape to shed a little bit when it's new, but if it keeps shedding all the time you should either check your tape or the tape path. Try cleaning your tape guides first, sometimes there is crud on the edges that shaves the tape off. Also check for metal burrs of sharp edges, scratches etc..If that oxide dust gets on the heads it will affect the recording/playback. 1/4" tape path is a pain to to keep clean and maintain comparing to wider formats.
What an awesome vintage piece of equipment! I plan to sometimes add a 15ips reel player to my setup, some day :)
You won't regret it!
If only we could get this kind of information 40 years ago, even though reel to reel was very expensive then
I have the smaller M28 professional, thats also a superb reel to reel machine and its portable :-)
Cool! I used to have a Nagra IV-S but I never user it much...amazing technology...
Nice! I've recently got a reel-to-reel, I was shocked how good it sounds
Great!! Spread the word!
@@anadialog No! Last thing I want is more people out there hunting for tape 😜
🤣
+Sunday Analog Enjoy!!!!!!
I almost bought and Akai (normal) but refurbished for a small spanish shop only for 400 euros. I lost this oportunity and I remember this at least one time every week xDD
+Sunday Analog Not everything is hunting for tapes. You can also buy new ones tapeproject.com/product/the-bbb-featuring-bernie-dresel/
--> its part of this ruclips.net/video/hKCJhb-Bo9g/видео.html go to 16:20 I have the mp3 :( Great album!
Hello sir.My name is ko nay lin live in yangon MYANMAR. I this like reel to reel tape recorder.My electronic technician
hi shipping of this deck to the uk was very heavy in the end i got a otari mtr 12 the same man had this is i tryed them at the same time i went for the otari mtr as there's more parts and card come out this is a full track stereo wow it's super deck for play back i needed more things for editing i use the 4 track tape format up to 12'5 i do have a 14 inch reel to reel deck from a usa air base very hard find
I have an M15A (full black ZDF edition) myself. Absolutely fantastic deck. Where did you get the transparent cover?
I had it made. Easy and good price!
I know they sound great! But they are SO big! And it feels like going back to university to be able to take full advantage of one. I’m considering a double speed cassette deck instead. More expensive and not compatible with anything! Greatest buy ever 😂
Not a bad idea! (Spoiler) I will be doing a video on this topic in the future!!
ana[dia]log Really? That’s really cool. This is a modified Tascam cassette deck..
@@erwindewit4073 if recording time is not an issue then this can provide a good bandwidth and dynamics, but eq and bias current must be compensated. Long ago a sliced a VHS tape in half width and recorded it on a Philips reel at 19cm/s. At playback I had to turn the treble down at least 10dB to make it kind of sound like the source.
In a magazine (stereo) article, they ranked the Ampex as the "King of R2R" machines as this is the most used machines at recording studios worldwide.
Not worldwide, in the US. Studer was and always will be the pinnacle of this medium. No question about it. Nagra T may be considered at that level.
Just be happy for your spotify 😅 wonderful machine, btw.
Nice video, cannot find the link to adapters
If you are referring to the different r2r adaptors they should be here or it the second part of it: ruclips.net/video/Yly9Ubzs5iY/видео.html
@@anadialog found the link , thanks
180 eur for adapters I’d better spin the reel with my fingers :)
Nur schade, dass es dann nicht mal ein zumindest über einen Mittelklasse-Wandler abgetastetes Audio gibt. Das sind super Maschinen, ich durfte als Jungspund 2-3 mal auf einer m15a 24 Spur mit Telcom C4 aufnehmen.
Please! Make a video talking about EQ, DSP, Post processing, Upsampling and all that stuff
hi to all and mr james bond what do you do when your deck starts to play up my otari mtr12 will not record any more don't know why can fix it
i love the tascam 30 line my otari mtr 12 is used for editing and seeing how long tapes are and record on to 1/8 tape with the roller and pimp down parts
i use a out side mag film record pre amp it's very powerfull
love the video's still the one with you in them silly glasses about tapes deck i get used ones and pimp them better for my money and i find out how they work
at same time
Museum piece. Thank God for having digital tech that's way easier to use and more affordable. If not better...
I would love to ditch everything out of the window and have 1 single piece of equipment that makes quality music reproduction...but digital just doesn't do it it is not engaging
A tube telefunken open reel would be fantastic! Better than the studer?
The first models, just like the first Studers, are all tubes. Some would say so...I think they are simply top notch, can't go wrong both ways.
I ve a Telefunken 205 ,were can I get tapes for it this days ?
Nice! The best source IMO is recording the masters. Several online shops have them. Otherwise also new old stock lots on eBay are a great place. You should calibrate professionally the machine fpr best results but if it is just for casual recording, don't worry.
Thank you so much for your wonderful videos and for informing us about this legendary machine.
I am just wondering...how can someone place a completely new tape ( which comes only in pancakes or 10.5” reels ), on the old industrial aeg bobby? Isn’t it risky to place the empty bobby to one side, and the new tape to other side?
Thank you Andreas! Risky? No, why? Maybe I am missione something...
ANA[DIA]LOG Because of the difference in diameter and weight when having an empty bobby on the right, and a tape ( which is on a 10.5” reel) on the left side?
@@AndreasSikkis yes, it's better to have a similar spool on both sides but don't worry, these machines are not that delicate. Just make sure in the future to have an empty spool as s pick-up reel when you are using a classic closed metal or plastic spool.
ANA[DIA]LOG Yes , i will follow this . Waiting also your video for a DIY plexiglass cover😉. Thanks again
@@AndreasSikkis well, I did try the DIY cover with raw plexiglass and chemicals to melt it but I absolutely do not recommend it. In the video I will suggest a easier solution maybe obvious but much cheaper than buying it from a store and custom tailored.
surely it cannot play back better than the machine the original was recorded on ?????????
Sure it can! Yes, the original machine has the best parameters but a better machine, with all its electronics, I.e. heads, the pre-amplofication part etc, will surely deliver a better sound. Following your statement, a cassette recorded on a normal Sony deck, for example, will not sound better when played a Nakamichi Dragon....of course it will!
@@anadialog Think you are in for a nasty shock as you get older. I am now 76 and took your hearing test and could only hear 8000 hrz. Whilst I appreciate that some people have super hearing and can hear subtle difference most of us can not. Again most of us can tell the difference between cheap audio equipment and the majority of audio gear that used to be on sale. I have quite a varied taste and like you enjoyed the Alan Parsons project and had all his records on CD and a couple on Vinyl all played on quality audio equipment but to be honest never noticed any difference and not a vast difference when converted to MP3 or Minidisc and to be honest they still seem to sound the same to me now as they did then. This is true of all the music I have going back to the early late 50s (vinyl) Also would like some proof that the cassette recorded on the sony sound better on a Nakamichi Dragon. As a final thought retro may be the rage at the moment but my 7year old grandaughter has no idea what any format other than instant digital is so a generation is growing up who will have no interest in audio equipment. As techmoan points out the failure that was minidisc far outlasted the success that was IPod as you do not need an IPod your phone is better
Esse aparelho e fantástico.
Hi, that machine looks beautiful. Do you know the history of your specific machine? Do you know if it was ever used in a studio by a famous group or artist ?
Please make a video showing how to make plexiglass lids. I want to make a clear plastic / plexiglass lid to cover my dj mixer and seperate components.
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks! No, I don't know anything unfortunately. Ok, in the future I will do a video on the plexiglass covers.
Do you have a Revox PR 99 in your Collection?
No…but I have a Studer A810 currently being modified for an external preamp.
I have a Grundig TS 1000 reel to reel tape deck. Can anyone tell me if this deck was considered to be a high quality machine. How were they in comparison to Revox, Tanberg, TASCAM, or Sony just to name a few thanks
Cool deck. Have you tried to record hi-res digital files to your r2t studer and then playback again? Does sound will change because of tape saturation? Is it possible to make analog backup of digital media on r2r? Does it make sense?
Sure, it sounds very nice just as with cassettes there is a more round and pleasing reproduction. In any case R2R tape is just too expensive to do so, and bulky. That is why I invested in cassettes for recording high-res digital
@@anadialog ..and VHS tapes :D imagine I can buy in japan old professional studio VHS recorder (SONY or Victor) with many many audio options and XLR in/out...crazy stuff...Your Pioneer DAT is very nice, there was also D-07A model with DAC option to use as a external DAC. I'm using old minidisc as a DACs, SONY esprit was amazing current pulse dacs back then, still the sound is very nice, warm, analog in some ways...I personally think digital is better than analog, only vinyl mastering was better...today mastering is crap (must be only fuc.. LOUD) that's why vinyl has so many fans today....With good mastering digital files, tubes in preamp and some nice solid state power amp and of course sensitive horns nothing more I need.... ;)
No dolby noise reduction?
Nope, never on this early machines. That is more of an 80's thing in any case you can get a separate unit.
hi the otari mtr are better more speeds and you can change head blocks and you can pull all the card's out for service great unit just for playing tapes your
deck was made for i turned one down some time ago
Otari are very good...not sa good as Telefunken or Studer though...
PMC what are they like
That can't be good oxide coming off the tape how much grading does a tape get on each play?
I wonder this could be solved by spraying lacquer on the tape as a fixer to keep it in position the oxide?
?
@@anadialog I believe the op believes that your Speakers are PMC, whereas I believe they are ATC SCM35s :)
I was suspecting that! Yes, ATC SCM35! Thanks.
It's normal, especially when you rewind and fast forward. Here you see it more than other machines because it is a flat surface, and it builds up, and a very shiny metal....
@@anadialog yes ATC even better how much do they go for.
I don't know if as good as the tekton impact or the doubles anybody done a comparison
Amazing machines. But 35 micron tape is not an option. Has to be 50 or it'll be ruined on winding :)
In & output need a patch up to use it now
What is the MAX hour of use to avoid on the counter ?
I would stay under 5000/7000...it also depends how the head is consumed...
@@anadialog The heads are the main concern on all of them
Yes, but apart form the amount of wear, I am talking about how this wear appears...if it is asymmetric, crocked etc. This can be even worse than a strong wear.
nice, in fact too nice, but one must have master tapes, otherwise, hmmm, what's the point? :)
In fact...I have them...check this vid: ruclips.net/video/Yly9Ubzs5iY/видео.html and especially the second part: ruclips.net/video/2FmJnYmHOcA/видео.html
Sounds fab! But I don’t feel it’s worth all that hassle bro.
Looks like the tape is not lifted and remains on the heads on rewind and fast wind. Not a fan of that.Too heavy, and non standard connectors, no meters. That is a list of things that means I wouldn't make a big effort to get one of these.
It is moved ahead but it has a lot of friction on that point
It is not easy to find the M15 with digital counter , mostly come with analog counter.
Yup, I said that in the video...
Questa si che è una bella macchina amico mio! Vai sul mio canale a vedere l'intervista che mi hanno fatto al Milano Hi-Fidelity! :-) ;-)
I would be the happiest man on Earth if I'd have Telefunken for a playback and Tascam BR-20 to copy onto. But I need to be the richest man for that ))) Because the first model's price is about $3k and the second - $4.5. It's not about "couple bux because all had it in Germany" unfortunately.
I paid my Telefunken 1.2k€. But I live in Europe a that does make a difference...
@@anadialog Me too. In Slovakia. But all I see now are $3k auction bids. May be it's a matter of a lucky chance to find some around 1k€. I'm almost ready to dive into a world of expensive analog sound. And this first step is quite high (
I'm German and I hate the "German winding". I wonder why we Germans always have to have an extra sausage or should I be wrong and the "international winding" came after the German winding?
😆
@@anadialog Ah ha, you like it. Its funny!
Sorry to disagree but the Japanese took the concept and improved it especially in terms of reliability!
HI to all this would cost you £2500 if you are lucky he was right price was down my otari cost me £660 now over £2500
You can have a good solution to connect VU meters, this link makes remind me the lack of V.U. meters in this monster of pure analog audio:ruclips.net/video/Xv4uVSKzJOs/видео.html, anyway let us know how can you set the volume on it without meters.Cheers
With a mixer ;) thats the way you use this studio maschines! Vu are expensive, realy expensive! Im a lucky guy and have so many professionell vu meter units as stand alone, in tape decks (big studio maschines with 16 track) and mixer! The analoge vu work so well! I dount understand why thay have no more vu as standard in music stuff! Only highpriced pro stuff use thay ana vu meters! But thay are so good, and the nice way is a vu with a perk lamp if you go upper than 0vu! So you have both the vu ana and one peek lamp who say you if you have to high volume!
Btw. please forget cherp china vu meter diy stuff! Thay dount work, it looks nice but you can not use it realy, thay are not good! If you will have vu or use it, you need the pro stuff! Thay are the only thay work correctly, the china diy stuff is for that what thay do (nothing, you cant use it, it is only a fail) to expensive! Its not right! It is not precise! ...forget thay! The cheepest pro vu you can get are from teac! Mb 20 or tascam mu 40 ....meen used vintage gear, but thay (4 x vu meter per unit) cost 100 to 450$ per unit! If you have luck to finde one! Nobody sell his meter becouse thay expensive and rare!!!
Как много слов
Too heavy large and heavy for me.
German wind us a pia.
Not the best recording I ever heard! Your voice is more hifi than that "master" copy. I have much better sounding cassettes with jazz recording.
Not very pleasant to see just talking mouth.
I Know but it's just the first few minutes...the important is the machine!
That 30 minutes of rambling could have been covered in less than 10
u TALK TOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH !
Indeed, not a Fast Food channel ;-)
Very bad