Beocord 5000 or 5500 vs. proffesional Tascam Rackmount cassette...

11 replies
K(
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krisb (archived)
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Posted June 10, 2008 at 10:16 GMT
#1846152

Hi I was just wondering...

Obviously I realise that there are a ton of different tascam rackmount cassette models but...

I'm just starting a fun project with my best mate from back home (Aylesbury England).

He's now in Sheffield England, and I'm in Athens Georgia.

We've both bought nice Tascam (Cassette!) 4-tracks and some nice Ampex and Quantegy tapes.

Were going to do a 'Postal Service" style project where we will each start songs and then mail the tapes to one another so that we can each add to the others tracks. I have Pro-tools etc but we are trying to keep it super Lo-Fi in the vein of Guided By Voices and Pavement etc.

Now what I am wondering is this, I want to use an external cassette recorder to bounce down to and mix down to etc.

How do the Beocords stand up to pro Tascam cassette decks?

I'd rather add the beocord to my 5500 set up, but I can get Tascam cassette mastering decks for as little as $40 including postage on ebay.

The 5000 and 5500 seem to generally run around $100-$150.

 

Any ideas?

Thanks for your help!

kris
 

TO
Offline
tournedos
Bronze
Posted June 10, 2008 at 10:27 GMT
#1846153

I think soundwise both are really good decks, but for your application, 5000 might be a better choice since it has conventional sliders for setting the recording level, and a proper level indicator (separate for both tracks). But if you use a mixer in front of it, you can control the level on that and probably have good VU meters for the master tracks also.

5500 on the other hand would obviously fit the rest of you 5500 system better. I'm glad I don't have to make this decision 🙂 

K(
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krisb (archived)
Bronze
Posted June 10, 2008 at 10:37 GMT
#1846154

Yeah I've bought a tascam 644 4-track and it has a 16 channel mixer (pretty crazy for a 4 track!), so levels shouldn't be a problem.

It's funny, but for the past few months there have been a TON of beocords on ebay and now that I'm looking for them, they've all vanished! Typical eh? 

B(
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ben12345 (archived)
Bronze
Posted June 10, 2008 at 11:09 GMT
#1846155

I believe that the 5000 offers slightly better performance due to its conventional none auto reverse system when compared to the 5500. The 5500 uses a much smaller combined rotating erase/playback head, compared to the full sized fixed heads in the 5000.

It also has the advantage of one large flywheel, instead of two small ones.

 Ben.

Peter
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Peter
Gold
Posted June 10, 2008 at 13:59 GMT
#1846156
I would go for an 8004 - cheap and the best tape deck made by B&O. The 5500 is limited by the autoreverse. A 9000 is an option but probably not any better than the 8004.

My B&O Icons:

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P(
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Puncher (archived)
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Posted June 10, 2008 at 14:01 GMT
#1846157

AdamS
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AdamS
Bronze
Posted June 11, 2008 at 09:12 GMT
#1846158

Personally, I think the Beocord 5000 is an undiscovered little gem, and they appear to be worth about £20-£40 on UK eBay at the moment, even in working order!

 

B(
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burantek (archived)
Bronze
Posted June 11, 2008 at 09:27 GMT
#1846159
krisb,

i am currently in sc ~3 hours from you.

i have a cosmetically challenged bc5000 that may need belts as well (can't remember -haven't touched it in eons.)

i will be happy to pull it out tonight and give you an evaluation of it if you are interested.

as it is simply taking up space at present -you may have it for free if you are interested. (sort of a pass on as others on this site have done the same for me -makes me all warm and fuzzy!)

don't get too excited though, as it ain't that pretty!


K(
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krisb (archived)
Bronze
Posted June 11, 2008 at 09:38 GMT
#1846160

Wow! Thanks!
That would be absolutely amazing, thats very generous of you!

Where are you in SC? I was down in Charleston this weekend for the Spoletto festival actually!

Saw the new "Gorrillaz" related musical,"Journey To The West". 

 

Kris 

B(
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burantek (archived)
Bronze
Posted June 11, 2008 at 09:50 GMT
#1846161
kris,

i float between columbia and the coast -spending a lot of time in charleston.

columbia is my hub though -and the location of the bc5000.

i will de-mothball it tonight, and try to take some pics.

again, not very pretty... but happy to help!
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