Questions about Tascam 44-OB 4 track reel to reel

[bobyoung53]

How are you doing everyone? I'll make it quick, my brother-in-law just gave me a 44-OB reel to reel which was supposed to have been restored right before he bought it, he didn't realize it was basically a professional deck and never really used it, I think he bought an Akai reel to reel for his system.
But anyway, I was thinking af setting up an analog studio with this and was wondering what would be a good board to go with this, I have noticed that M-30 boards seems to be plentiful and was wondering about opinions for this or other boards. I don't really want to spend a fortune on one but want a decent board, any hints or advice about this deck would be helpful.
I have not received it yet so am a complete newbie with it.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

First you want to see if the deck works right. No need to get a board when the deck might not work right. The Tascam 44OB is many levesl above any Akai deck and those a generally junk full of lies and bad transistors anyway.
The 4 buss mixers can work with the deck even to the level of the Model 2A but depending on how much you want to do in a studio mixer wise then you may want more input channels. Mixers are old and may have problems with them. I bought a 44OB because being a Teac Technician I know which ones are the better ones and this is it. I think it sold for about $4500 when new. It is a very solid deck that you can tell by picking it up. It has Woelke heads in them and these are also used in Studer decks.
Goes to show you a person will throw away a Diamond and select a common rock to take home- this indicates stupidity if you ask me. If you do not want to keep the machine I have had a few guys ask me where they can get one.
If it was restored by a typical bonehead- they it will not be restored or even work right. I come across decks all the time that are so called restored and most of them are cases of Fraud

 

[bobyoung53]

Thank you, well hopefully it will work right, he said the reason he didn't want it was because it was a 4 channel deck, It has the manual with it so at least I have that. I'll be back once I get my hands on it.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

It is a 4 channel deck but if you use tracks 1, 3 it is the same as a stereo deck. So it has double or triple use- Stereo, Quad and Multitrack.

 

[Woody]

Sky wave TDR,
I recently got a 44OB. The rca outputs work but I hear nothing from the xlr outs when hooked up to my mixer. Am I missing something obvious? Is there an internal switch to choose between rca and xlr outputs?I do not have a manual.

 

[Woody]

Bobyoung 53,
Could you send me a PDF of the manual for the 44OB? I could offer you a few bucks for your trouble?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Hi Woody the mute relays might be blown out for the XLR outs as they are DPST relays. It is a common problem I have seen but also some Marcon caps can be shorted in the unit. There is NO Pdf file I have even seen for the 44OB as the manual is just too large. Stereomanuals.com may have them in paper form. The manuals with foldout pages and that are rarely scanned as they are really too hard to do for most people. I use Coto relay and put them in IC sockets so as to preserve the board. I have never had a Coto relay fail in all the times I have replaced relays.

 

[Woody]

Thanks!
Is there a separate relay for each channel? It seems improbable they would all fail at the same time. I have a manual from a Tascam 48 that I think is close-Is this so? If it is relays, is this an expensive fix? Thanks so much for the help.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The relays have been a problem in all Tascam decks and they said it was a nicked coil in manufacturing but there have been a lot of nicked coils out there from Omron. The way you test them is with an ohm meter measuring the coil which is pin 2 and 6. I seem to remember they measure like 1500 ohms. If 2 and 6 measure infinite then the coil is open. There were some cheaper Hamlin relays but to date I have used Coto relays. Yes each card is a separate channel and so 4 relays in 44 and 8 relays in 48, The RCA are also muted by a relay but it is a single pole relay. The coil is in the same pins. I cut leads off a AMP type IC socket so there are two at each end then these sockets go into the board and can then take the relay. The relay number is 8L02-24-00 and they are from either Mouser or Digikey. https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetai...2pyFaduik2xApWQvfrnLDuxkyhrApJ%2BZFj%2Blc3I8=

The double pole relay can be used in single pole (RCA) position but a single pole can not be used for the XLR which requires two poles. If you see Markon 100uFd or 220uFd caps it would be good to change those for the same value in Nichicon, Wurth or Panasonic FM 105*C caps. The Marcons have not been aging well and a bunch have shorted in 48 and Z6000 where used,

 

[SkywaveTDR]

It is possible to have other problems as well and you would have to determine but the relays are a big problem that usually shows up like 90% of the time but not every time.

 

[Woody]

Thanks again for the knowledge. While that sounds like something I could do, experience dictates it should go to a pro. Or maybe I just leave it as it is and use the RCA outputs.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Well a lot of people do use the RCA and do not worry about XLR connectors but on the machines I work on I have to make everything work as I am an old Teac guy from 1982 or even earlier. I worked at Teac in 1982.

 

[Woody]

Are the xlr outs wired as Pin 2 hot on these machines?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

I believe that they are. This is the ISO standard for a long time now. It was the standard even when I was in broadcasting in 1996.

 

[bobyoung53]

Bobyoung 53,
Could you send me a PDF of the manual for the 44OB? I could offer you a few bucks for your trouble?

The manual I have is the Operation/Maintenance manual, but all that is in it is section 5 and 7, Theory of Operation and Maintenance, so it looks like I'm looking for a manual myself.

 

[bobyoung53]

I believe that they are. This is the ISO standard for a long time now. It was the standard even when I was in broadcasting in 1996.

StereoManuals.com doesn't seem to have anything for the 44OB it has two for the Tascam 44, I'm just looking for a user manual, would a Tascam 44 user manual work for a 44-OB?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

No, They are different and the Users manual is the same as the maintenance manual. They are very large and thick folders which is why they are not easy to scan.
I am communicating with Stereo Manuals and if he is willing I can send him a manual to be duplicated. I will have to see if he is still in business.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

What do you need to know about the unit? I may just be able to tell you. The repair of the unit is another story as they can be complex devices to fix but I don't see a lot of 44OB failures. The Tachometers and Pinch rollers are the two greatest repair parts usually serviced by Terry's Rubber Rollers.

 

[bobyoung53]

No, They are different and the Users manual is the same as the maintenance manual. They are very large and thick folders which is why they are not easy to scan.
I am communicating with Stereo Manuals and if he is willing I can send him a manual to be duplicated. I will have to see if he is still in business.

Alright great, I may buy one today from ebay. I basically just need to know how to operate this thing. For example I don't know what TRZ and STC stands for.
Function select, do I press the channels I want to record onto, such as 0ne and three? If so would I leave them on to play it back? A basic user manual is what I need as I have a lot more questions.

Incidentally this place in CA restored this thing in 2016, the owner also previously worked at Teac/Tascam so hopefully it's done right.

http://adrianproaudio.com/

 

[bobyoung53]

No, They are different and the Users manual is the same as the maintenance manual. They are very large and thick folders which is why they are not easy to scan.
I am communicating with Stereo Manuals and if he is willing I can send him a manual to be duplicated. I will have to see if he is still in business.

I'm using channel 1 and 3 but it doesn't seem to be recording unless I'm just not setting up playback correctly. The channel 1 and 3 red lights are blinking when I try to play it back. I put 'output select' on 'input' when recording (?) and 'repro' (?) when trying to play it back but the meters aren't moving and no sound although when recording the meters move and the 'input' and 'output' controls respond to their being turned up and down but the preamps in the unit are just acting as preamps, I don't hear it being recorded as I still hear the music I'm running into it with the unit stopped.
I haven't had a reel to reel for fifty years and that one was a much simpler one, I don't even remember if it were a mono or a stereo, was a tube Akai. O I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this thing.