Tape machine

[Sir Bergersworth]

hey all,
I have some 7" reels of some great bands (Beatles, Grateful dead, Santana to name a few). These were givin to me by a family friend who doesnt have a reel to reel to play (neither do I).
Anyway, I was looking to buy a tape machine to listen to these and maybe record 2 track drums to.
Can anyone give me any advice on what make/model is prefered on these machines?
Should I concentrate on looking at Akai or Teac
Are the preamps in these usable? I am sure there are some mods out there as well.
Thanks for any advice!
Sir Bergersworth

[albee1952]

I assume these 7" reels are quarter track? I would not bother using one for recording into PT(just my opinion). I would look for a cheap TEAC or TASCAM unit, transfer the music, then ebay the machine. Maybe a local studio has one you could rent for a few days? Don't get me wrong. I love the sound of a good tape machine, but that usually means 1" sixteen track or 2" tape. Now mixing down to a half inch 2 track would be a different story.

[Sir Bergersworth]

from what I gather they are two track tapes (obviously, not 1"). not cartriage type that has 4 tracks.
I dont want to transfer these tapes to Pro tools, I want to listen to them.
I was also thinking that I could use it to record drums to or to bounce tracks to and back into pro tools. Are these machines not that great sounding or what? How do they differ compared to a 1/4" machine? better heads?

[ejwells]

Post deleted by ejwells

[RadioMoo]

Well, they're most likely recorded FROM LPs, so they're essentially 8 bit transferred to tape.

8 bit?!? Digital LPs? No, these were dubbed from special masters that were made up just for this format; their speed and the fact that they're several generations removed from the original master should tell you that the quality isn't the greatest, but in the case of the Beatles, whose CD all sound horrific, you might actually enjoy the tapes better.

When folks talk about doing drums on tape then boucing the tracks into ProTools, they're talking about multitrack tape. 1" or 2"

Right, but that's not to say that a low-end deck won't impart some analogue magic; it's worth a try if you don't spend too much.

I