Hi everybody,
I'm in kind of a desperation. I have a Soundcraft sim 762 2" 16 Track that as far as I can tell won't perform up to spec. I know some people consider this machine a POS, but ZZ-Tops best selling Eliminator Album was recorded on one so it can't be that bad, at least I hope...because I really like the transportability of this machine!!!
Here is the problem, I get a signal to noise ratio of 50db on all channels no matter how i tweak the bias, the tape noise is VERY present, always. In comparison, my 2 track machines with practically same track width and speed give me something like 70db on +6 calibration and tape noise is almost inaudible. The transport on the soundcraft is fine, cards have been recapped, power supply partially. Bias signal looks like a decent sine wave, not obviously distorted. The noise is definitely coming off of the tape, but I couldn't figure out yet if I get it from record or replay, or both. When I push the tape hard I get compression earlier than I would expect, I'm running SM900 at 15ips. I have absolutely no clue why the tape-noise is so apparent. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanx!
I'm in kind of a desperation. I have a Soundcraft sim 762 2" 16 Track that as far as I can tell won't perform up to spec. I know some people consider this machine a POS, but ZZ-Tops best selling Eliminator Album was recorded on one so it can't be that bad, at least I hope...because I really like the transportability of this machine!!!
Here is the problem, I get a signal to noise ratio of 50db on all channels no matter how i tweak the bias, the tape noise is VERY present, always. In comparison, my 2 track machines with practically same track width and speed give me something like 70db on +6 calibration and tape noise is almost inaudible. The transport on the soundcraft is fine, cards have been recapped, power supply partially. Bias signal looks like a decent sine wave, not obviously distorted. The noise is definitely coming off of the tape, but I couldn't figure out yet if I get it from record or replay, or both. When I push the tape hard I get compression earlier than I would expect, I'm running SM900 at 15ips. I have absolutely no clue why the tape-noise is so apparent. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanx!