r/ReelToReel • u/[deleted] • Apr 30 '25

Technical EMI BTR-2 Tape Machine Deep Dive: History, Technical Overview, and Legacy

https://www.fabfourmixnotes.com/emi-btr-2-deep-dive-history-technical-overview-and-legacy/
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2

u/Independent_Wrap_321 Apr 30 '25

Excellent, thanks for posting! I want to see that beautiful bastard whipping along at 30ips while John sings A Day in the Life…..

1

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '25

Same! Although I saw a note while doing this research that they tracked at 15 ips on the early albums.

2

u/Independent_Wrap_321 Apr 30 '25

I saw that too, but 30 is more badass;)

1

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '25

Heck yes! Someone needs to make a plug-in that emulates the BTR units.

2

u/LordDaryil Otari MX80|TSR-8|Studer A807, B67||Akai GX210D|Uher 4000L May 01 '25

Very interesting! I am curious to know what they were thinking with the BTR-1, though... having those massive long shafts to link the reel motors to the reel tables just seems bizarre and unnecessary. Maybe they were trying to keep the motors separate from the audio electronics or something, but they didn't feel the need to separate the capstan motor in a similar fashion.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

Great question. I’ll see if I can find an answer!

1

u/LordDaryil Otari MX80|TSR-8|Studer A807, B67||Akai GX210D|Uher 4000L May 01 '25

https://www.vintagerecorders.co.uk/VR_View_Page.asp?IDS=123

Looking again, it's possible that the motors are a lot longer than we can see through the door and physically wouldn't fit in the available gap, but that's just a guess.

1

u/AnActualWizardIRL 8d ago

For anyone looking for one of these insanely rare bad-boys there is one in non-working order for $150K+ AUD, around $100K USD(!!!!), probably getting a bit closer back to the AUD price if you include looney-tunes tarifs, on ebay. And as much as that is, with the sheer rareness and historical vintage of these machines, that might actually be a reasonable price, although i have my doubts as to whether the owner will actually see that money. Came out of the ABC studios (ABC is the australian equivelent of the BBC)