[beat]

Hey guys,
I am trying to get some music for this otari reel to reel I scored. All I see for sale is usually four track and I believe this otari is only two track...What does all this mean?

thanks, Beat

[thayerg]

You bought one!!! Brave man.

A two-track records the left and right channels on the top and bottom halves of the tape (viewed from the side). Thus the tape only records in one direction.

A four-track puts the left channel on one quarter of the tape (track 1) and the right channel on another quarter (track 3). That way you can turn the tape over when it has reached the end and play back the second 'side'. You are right to avoid playing four track tape on a two-channel player, because each channel would get both 'sides' of the tape at once, one of which is backwards. Note that you can however play two track tape back just fine on four track machines.

I hope you are degaussing the heads and cleaning them religiously--basically whenever you play a tape. Otari is a great brand.

[Danny Kaey]

recording 2 track on 1/4" tape increases the S/N ratio by roughly 3db... since you are recording on twice the tape area as compared to 4 track recording on 1/4" tape.

Most prerecorded tapes were all release on 4 track, though the earliest releases are indeed 2 track tapes.  Try to stay away from 3 3/4ips recordings as they mostly sound dreadfull... stick to the higher speed of 7 1/2 ips and you will be surprised at the quality... some of my tapes sound far superior to anything today, even the best SACD's and vinyl...

enjoy!  

[beat]

Thanks guys,
I get it now. So basically if the same album was on 2 and on 4 track tape, the 2 would inherently be twice the size. This is a good thing right? I can't wait to finally get this thing going. My investment into it so far is nothing so even if I have to take it in I am still doing ok. It should work well though, my buddy took good care of it and rarely used it. I'll keep you posted.

adios, beat