Old reel-to-reel tape recorders are just a pile of scrap metal for most today. However, for our parents and grandparents, they were once the only way to listen to music in the pre-digital era. Moreover, in Soviet times, it was not easy to acquire one of these devices. For each of its lucky owners, such a device was a symbol of the holiday. Consider the most famous models of reel-to-reel tape recorders of the USSR.
Tape recorder: what kind of animal is this and what is it eaten with?
Before the advent of digital players, tape recorders were used to record sound information and play it back.
They existed in parallel with gramophones, gramophones and other turntables for vinyl records.
Initially, these devices recorded on steel wire with a specific coating. Later - on magnetic tape.
Besides tape recorders forrecording sound on the basis of this technology the VCR was invented.
But by the early 2000s, both devices were finally forced out of the market by digital media. And today they are found only among lovers of antiquity.
Reels
In the early days of tape recorders, wire was used for recording, and at sunset they were adapted for rectangular compact cassettes with magnetic tape. However, in its golden era, the main carrier was the bobbin. Also called coils. Hence the name - reel-to-reel tape recorder.
Each of these devices consisted of two metal or plastic plates with a rod in the center. A magnetic tape with information was wound around it.
It was always necessary to use two reels to operate a reel-to-reel tape recorder. One was called the server, the second was the receiver.
For playback, the tape was rewound from one to the second. In the future, they could change places.
To extract the sound, the feed mechanism allowed the tape to approach the magnetic head of the reel-to-reel tape recorder. She acted as a reader, writer and eraser. By the way, it was this important detail that became the ancestor of disk drive heads, without which no computer can work today.
The first tape recorder reels were quite bulky due to the thickness and width of the tape. Gradually, it decreased along with the reduction in the size of the coils. They eventually evolved into compact cassettes. Those little rectanglesin fact, they contained both the feeder and the receiver spools at the same time. Due to the reduction in the width of the tape, the sound quality deteriorated. And although in everyday life the cassette recorder was rapidly replacing the reel-to-reel one, professionals still preferred to use the latter. This lasted until the spread of digital devices.
Magnetic tape
The main and most valuable thing in any reel was a magnetic tape (film). It contained all the information.
The width of the magnetic tape varied from country to country and from period to period. For Soviet reel-to-reel tape recorders, 6.25 mm was considered standard.
In contrast to the width, the standard allowed 3 thickness options: 55, 37, 27 or 18 microns. The fact is that thick tapes had better mechanical properties and were more durable. But they were "capricious", because for a snug fit to the reading head they required strong tension, which means that not every tape recorder was able to cope with them. In addition, a thick tape was placed on a reel much less than a thin one.
For comparison: 525 m of film with a thickness of 37 microns were placed on a reel with a diameter of 18 cm. In the case of 55 microns, there was 175 meters less tape on the same spool. Not surprisingly, thinner, albeit less reliable, films were used for domestic use.
As for tape manufacturers, in the USSR 3 enterprises specialized in this: "Svema", "Tasma" and "Slavich". Abroad, the most famous were TDK, Sony, 3M, BASF and Agfa.
A Brief History of the Reel-to-Reel Recorder
Firsta full-fledged working apparatus was invented in 1925 by Kurt Stille. He was recording on wire.
2 years later magnetic tape was invented and patented. Initially, it was based on paper. Later, it was successfully replaced with a stronger and more durable polymer film.
As for the reel to reel technology itself, it was also developed in the 20s. At this time, Schuller proposed the design of an annular magnetic head. Subsequently, it became a classic. It consisted of an annular magnetic core with a winding on one side and a gap on the other. The write current was applied to the winding. It caused the output of a magnetic field in the gap, which magnetized the tape in time with the signal change.
When the reproduction process took place, everything was exactly the opposite. The tape closed the magnetic flux through the gap to the core, inducing an electromotive force in the winding.
The first household reel-to-reel tape recorders and magnetic tapes for them began to be produced in 1934-35. German firms BASF and AEG. By the way, it was with the light hand of the latter that the name "tape recorder" appeared.
For several years, the Germans were the kings of this niche.
After the victory in World War II, the American and Soviet sides "borrowed" the design of their tape recorders and magnetic tape from AEG as a reparation. In the future, each of the countries began to actively develop the resulting technology.
The most famous Soviet brands of tape recorders
Unfortunately, in the USSR they often preferred to copy other people's inventions,and not to create our own, despite the fact that our scientists developed a lot of interesting and revolutionary ideas that in the future could promise technological leadership for the country.
For example, at the dawn of the tape recorder era, it was in the Soviet Union that they invented an analogue of paper tape - cellulose tape. However, the development of their discoveries required finance and time. But there were no guarantees of a positive result. Therefore, preference was given to already proven "stolen" inventions, which were modified and renamed. Then they went into production. This happened with cars, cameras, computers and tape recorders.
In fairness, we should not forget that this was done not only in the USSR, but also in the same European countries and the USA. But there this habit is not as widespread as it is here. Therefore, having stolen technology from the Germans on a par with the Soviet Union, by the mid-50s the Americans had improved it so much that they were able to record not only sound, but also an image on magnetic tape. This is how video recorders were invented. The irony is that this breakthrough was made by the Russian Alexander Poniatov, who was forced to leave the country during the revolution of 1717 and settled in the USA after many years of wandering.
As for the successes of the USSR in this area, by 1949, on the basis of ready-made technology, the first Soviet household reel-to-reel tape recorder "Dnepr-1" was put on sale. It was a single-track tube fixture that worked with standard 6.25mm magnetic tape. Despite somethe failure of the model, it has proven itself well. In the future, new, more advanced devices of different brands began to appear.
In the early years, reel to reel tape recorders were a very expensive and scarce commodity. Therefore, ordinary Soviet citizens received a more or less free opportunity to buy them only by the middle of the 60s. This was largely due to the emergence of their own enterprises in almost every republic, specializing in the production of reel-to-reel tape recorders.
In Novosibirsk they released "Note", "Comet", "Hoarfrost", in Nizhny Novgorod (in the USSR it was called "Bitter") - "Romantic", in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) - "Astra" and " Orbit", in Moscow - "Yauza", in Omsk - "Saturn", in Kyiv, in addition to "Mayak", there was "Jupiter", in Kirov - "Olympus", etc.
Not all models of these brands were successful, but many of them were very, very worthy. To provide for everyone, it was necessary to simplify production to the point of impossibility. This race for mass production led to the fact that more than half of all tape recorders were of disgusting quality. So radio amateurs often had to take soldering irons and fix factory defects.
Lighthouse
Consideration of the most famous Soviet models should start with the products of the Kyiv plant "Mayak".
While being "Dneprom" (until 1963), the company produced 14 models of reeltape recorders. All of them were tube and were designed for a tape 6.25 mm wide. Not all of them were put into mass production.
Dnepr-8 (1954) deserves a special mention. He became the first reel-to-reel tape recorder, powered by batteries. Compared to other instruments, it was considered portable, weighing only 6 kg. To start it, it was necessary to use a gramophone-type spring motor. The procedure should be repeated every 5 minutes, using the side handle. A sort of hybrid of a gramophone and a tape recorder. It used reels with a diameter of 10 cm (100 meters of film). The recording playback speed is 9.6 cm/s.
After 2 years, a more revolutionary model came out - "Dnepr-9", the first Soviet two-track tape recorder. Based on the Dnepr-5 model. Weighed 28 kg and was designed for coils with a diameter of 18 cm (350 m). Playback speed - 19.05 cm/s.
After changing the name, the Kyiv plant produced all the same tube models, but under the name "Mayak".
Since 1971, the company has been producing transistor coil devices.
The reel-to-reel tape recorder "Mayak-203", as well as its colleague "Mayak-001 stereo", which brought a prize from the international exhibition, was considered the best in quality.
The last one began to be released in the autumn of 1973. It was possible to record and play mono / stereo phonograms on it. And also re-record from one track to another many times with the possibility of overlaying a new recording on an already finished one.
Also, "Mayak-001" had a tape footage counter and 2speeds (19.05cm/s and 9.53cm/s). This miracle weighed 20 kg. It came with a control panel. It was very difficult to buy such a device.
The first "Mayak-203" rolled off the assembly line in the fall of 1976. It allowed recording mono/stereo from various sources (microphone, pickup, radio/TV/radio line and other tape recorder).
This model had 3 rhinestone speeds: 19.05cm/s, 9.53cm/s and 4.76cm/s. Compared to before, he was tiny, weighing 12.5 kg.
Note
These goods were produced by the Novosibirsk Electromechanical Plant. Since 1966 tube, and since 1975 - transistor.
Interesting nuance, if you try to find the "Nota" reel-to-reel tape recorder, you will fail. Since this company produced only prefixes. They could listen to reels on most radios or radios.
They were, of course, cheaper than the most budget tape recorders. And that is why they have gained special popularity among the people. Especially among radio amateurs who use them as the basis for their own inventions.
For example, the cost of the first tube "Notes" in 1966 (speed 9.53 cm/s, 15 m coils, two-track monophonic) is 80 rubles. At the same time, the cheapest reel-to-reel tape recorders cost 85 rubles. and more expensive.
In addition, the purchase of the "Nota" prefix made it possible to save space in already tiny apartments and communal apartments, as well as to attach them to the work of radiograms.
Mostpopular tube models - "Nota-M" (speed 9.53 cm / s, 2 tracks, weight 9 kg) and "Nota-303" (the same weight, speed and number of tracks, but this set-top box could record sound from a TV, radiogram or other tape recorder).
Among transistor models, the following were considered the most successful:
- "Note-304". It was designed on the basis of "Hoarfrost-303". It had 4 tracks and weighed 8 kg. Speed - 9.53 cm / s. She could produce both recording and voices, music from any source. It was possible to adjust the volume, recording level, pause.
- "Nota-202-stereo" and "Nota-203-stereo" had a common appearance and were assembled according to a similar scheme. However, the latter did not have hitchhiking. Otherwise, these four-track set-top boxes were very similar. The mass of each of them was about 11 kg. They had two standard playback speeds. Allowed to record from most devices.
Comet
Reel-to-reel tape recorders under this name have been produced in Novosibirsk since the 50s. By the way, in addition to various models of the Kometa reel-to-reel tape recorder, another brand of such a device was also produced here - Melodiya.
The most famous were such devices:
- "Comet-212-stereo". Due to its special popularity, it had several modifications: "Kometa-212-1-stereo" and "Kometa-212M-stereo". original modelhad 2 motors and 2 speeds (19.05 cm/s and 9.53 cm/s). Weight - 12.5 kg.
- "Kometa-214" - reel stereo tape recorder, developed on the basis of models 209 and 212. It had 2 standard speeds. Weighed 11.5 kg. Its feature was the possibility of two-channel monophonic synchronous recording from microphone inputs. As well as overlaying a new record on an already finished one.
- "Comet-120-stereo" was considered more professional. It had 2 tracks and 2 standard speeds for "Comets". Comes with two columns. Only one mass of its central part was 23 kg. The design provided for the possibility of mixing signals from both microphone and general inputs, multiple re-recording with simultaneous overlay of a signal coming from any input. It was also possible to listen to a re-recorded phonogram, control the signal during recording and the playback level with indicators, maintain pauses in the recording when the tape was moving.
Orbit
Tape recorders of this brand were produced at the Leningrad plant "Pirometr". It is noteworthy that the product line included both tape recorders and set-top boxes.
The most famous models from the first category: reel-to-reel tape recorder "Orbita-204-stereo" and its colleague "Orbita-205-stereo". All of them had 2 standard speeds, as well as 4 sound tracks. Weight 15 kg.
In these models it was possible to adjust the volume, balance, timbres, recording level, pause.
Among the tape recorders-prefixes "Orbita" the bestwere considered stereo models 106 and 107. They had 2 speeds, 3 motors and 4 tracks. The weight of each is 24 kg. Such set-top boxes were designed to record music and voice from a microphone, radio, TV, as well as to play them through 2 external speakers.
Olympus
And the last among the most famous devices of this kind in the USSR are the Olymp reel-to-reel tape recorders.
They were produced at the Kirov Electric Machine Building Production Association named after. Lepse. Most of the products are tape recorders. Although their goods included tape recorders.
The most successful model is considered to be "Olimp UR-200", designed on the basis of "Olimp-005 stereo". It had a very specific scope - the recording of telephone conversations. Naturally, the secret services were his main target audience.
Those of the civilians who purchased this colossus weighing 20 kg did not complain either. Since even in the role of an ordinary tape recorder, the Olympus UR-200 was a very high-quality product. It had 2 speeds: 19.05 cm/s and 2.36 cm/s. Other features of the device include a quartz speed stabilization system, auto-correction, electronic switching on all inputs, bias current adjustment. The tape recorder had a full auto-reverse, a timer, a luminescent indication of the recording level and a tape counter. With its help, it was possible to search for the desired fragment by pauses.
As for consoles, the best ones were:
- "Olimp-003-stereo". Tape recorder-prefix of the highest complexity group. 4 tracks and 2 classic speeds. Weight 27 kg. Designed to record music and voice from a microphone, radio, TV.
- "Olimp-005-stereo". Top class device. Weight 20 kg. 2 standard speeds, as well as full auto reverse, timer, luminescent indication of the recording level, tape counter. In future years, "Olimp-006-stereo" was developed on its basis.
As you can see from the descriptions, the stuffing of most "Olymps" was just fantastic. One could say that in the USSR they finally learned how to make good reel-to-reel tape recorders. There was only one fat-fat minus. These devices appeared in the late 80s - the first half of the 90s, when cassette recorders almost completely replaced reel-to-reel ones.
