Totally analogue for 1 year...

[AnalogueInQatar]

Hi, I'm new here, although I've been lurking for around 12 months.

I own an aiwa adf910, bought new in december 1991 and unused since the minidisc arrived in the summer of 1999. I admit, I was brainwashed.

This deck is currently in storage and 3500 miles away from me. I may get it here in 6 months if I'm lucky.

I got the tape urge last week and finally bought a mint adf810. I've also ordered new belts for when it arrives. I should have it running here from September (i am currently working overseas).

I plan to go 'all analogue' for 12 months from September as an experiment. The network will be switched off and all I will have is vinyl and cassette, just like in my teens!

I've heard some wonderful advice dished out here, over the last year and would love some myself.

1. Is the adf810 inferior to the 910? The belts are not the same product number and I'm now worried it won't be as good. The 910 from memory was simply breathtaking. I used to dump cd to it then play the tapes, they sounded lush.

2. How easy is it to change the belts? Any tips on how to get into the mechanism? Whilst I'm in there, should I oil/vaseline any bits?

3. Finally, the 910 had a tone generator for calibration but it appears that the 810 has the knobs, but no cal. Tone button. So how do I set bias and rec. Sensitivity?

Thank you in advance for any help. I'm really excited about the project and will hopefully update with youtube videos over the 12 months.

Dave.

[Squank]

Hi there! Welcome back to the analogue world of sound and to TH!
You'll find great support here from the members.
What else are you planning to use for your listening pleasure? Amp, speakers etc?

[AnalogueInQatar]

My record deck is a modded technics 1210 with Jelco arm and goldring 1042.

The amp is a new old stock Exposure 23 and 28, so as you can see i am a child of the 80s.

I also have a gyrodec and aiwa adf910 that I am trying to bring to the party, if logistics allow next year. I should be up and running by September, so I want to get the aiwa adf810 tuned up over the summer hols, ready for the project.

I am determined to not use a cd or server for a whole year, hopefully I will rediscover my record collection which is due to arrive tomorrow after 4 years in storage!

Bring it on!

Does anyone have any help/ideas for points 1,2 and 3 in the original post?

Best wishes,

Dave

[A.N.T.]

1. Is the adf810 inferior to the 910? The belts are not the same product number and I'm now worried it won't be as good. The 910 from memory was simply breathtaking. I used to dump cd to it then play the tapes, they sounded lush.

2. How easy is it to change the belts? Any tips on how to get into the mechanism? Whilst I'm in there, should I oil/vaseline any bits?

3. Finally, the 910 had a tone generator for calibration but it appears that the 810 has the knobs, but no cal. Tone button. So how do I set bias and rec. Sensitivity?

Thank you in advance for any help. I'm really excited about the project and will hopefully update with youtube videos over the 12 months.

Dave.

Hi Dave,

1) I have both the AD-F810 and the AD-F910 in my collection of about 120 decks. The 910 is better on several counts, it has better mechanics, better head, better electronics and better features. Even the AD-F800 is considerably better than AD-F810. However there are many 3-head decks around that not as good as the 810, as there are quite a few much better than the 910.

2) Changing the belts is reasonably straightforward on the 810. However most likely you'll need to change the idler tyre as well, clean pinchrollers and possibly clean and grease reel axes. You will also need correct belts for that deck - available at the moment only from Fred Marrs and from me. Belts for Aiwa decks on sale on eBay (except from marrscommunications) are not good.

3) On the 810 you need to use either your ears or a computer with a soundcard to do calibration.

Cheers

Alex

[mark902]

i've been all analog since september and it's great. brainwashed indeed. once i went to cd in about '93, analog was a bad word to me equated with tape hiss and warbly sound.

now my ipod is my new portable ebay and email checker. only. except if i have dead batteries in my walkman.

i'm not too familiar with your deck, but i do have some decks with the calibration knobs and no tones. the sensitivity is pretty easy since i have a tuner with a calibration tone for setting levels of the matching deck. basically you just record the tone and flip between source and tape adjusting the sensitivity until the meters are hitting the same levels. it can be done with music too, but i find it easier with a solid tone.

the bias though, is more tricky? i guess. it's hard to say what is right when it comes to adjusting bias by ear. i just listen and flip the monitor switch and adjust until i can't hear that much of a difference in high frequency response. i find this easier with music rather than a tone.

i find analog to be more work. but it's fun work and the results are worth that fun work. so. have fun.

[AnalogueInQatar]

Thanks Alex, thanks Mark.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

I have a tone generator on my ipodtouch so I'll use that and a pair of phones. It all makes sense now, how to calibrate. The method is in reality the same on both decks but just more 'visual' on the ad-f910.

I've already ordered 810 and 910 belt kits from Marrscommunications. I wasn't aware of the idler tyre needing replacing. What is it and where would I be able to source idler tyres for 810 and 910 decks?

I'm currently, waiting for even more paperwork to get processed so I can finally receive my turntable, amp and records from Customs in the docks here.
So, hopefully by the end of next week I'll be up and running with the vinyl. All the tape stuff will begin in September hopefully. I have loads of stuff recorded from the 910 from 1992 onwards. Radio sets, compilations etc...I've also been trawling ebay for blanks and have a few dozen to get started with.

I'm itchin' to get the decks back up.

I do have a final question that I'd love to know more about.

I know that recordings made on one deck don't transfer to another deck perfectly when using Dolby C.

Most of my 910 recording are Dolby B.

Will they play on the 810 without problems or do I HAVE TO use the original recording deck for playback. I'm sure I heard that Dolby B was more forgiving when played across different decks (although I'm not 100% sure)

Thank you all in advance for your wonderful help. I am truly grateful of the community here and promise to upload bits to youtube once the setup is running from September.

Best wishes from Qatar.

[CottonSwab]

Well thats me too...actually I weened off of CD's last spring after dumping a grand into an SACD player so it's coming up on a year for me.

I'm loving it. *reelspin*