Reel Tapes

Things you'll need to digitize reel tapes:

The Basic Requirements

• A Mac G4
• The Echo Mona analog to digital audio converter--the one at the top of the picture.

• A Reel Tape Recorder/Player

• 2 Shielded XLR microphone cables

• Reels!

Sound Monitoring via External Speakers

• The Mixer

• 2 speakers
• A stereo RCA cable
• 2 XLR stereo cables
• Stereo 1/8 inch mini jack to dual RCA cable.
• 2 RCA to 1/4 inch jack adapters

The Setup

The Audio Editing Station

This station should be set up already, but if it's not, here's what needs to be connected & where.

• Plug the Stereo 1/8 inch mini jack into the headphones jack of the G4. Connect the dual RCA (red & white usually) ends to the 2 adapters and plug the Red end into channel 4 and the other end into channel 3 on the mixer. Remember, Red is Right. In the following picture, the yellow arrow points to channels 3 & 4.

• Plug one end of each XLR stereo cable into the L or R jacks in the "Main Out" section of the mixer (top right and corner). Plug the other end into the respective speaker.

• Plug one end of the stereo RCA cable into channels 1 and 2 on the mixer. Channel 2 is right and channel 1 is left. Plug the other end into outputs 1 & 2 on the back of the MONA. Output 1 is left and output 2 is right.

• Plug everything in and turn it on.

Now you're set up to hear sound from your computer and from the MONA on the external speakers!

The Reel to MONA Connection

• Take the 2 shieled XLR microphone cables and plug one end of each into the back of the Reel Recorder.

Plug the other end into channels 3 & 4 of the ECHO MONA.

Setting up the Reel Recorder

Mounting the Reels

• Mount an empty reel onto the right hand (take-up) reel table. The 3 teeth on the reel spindle must line up with the reel drive nail in order to mount the reel. If they are misaligned, you can pull out the spindle and turn it to align it. When the tape is mounted, pull out the spindle and turn it so that the teeth no longer align. This will lock the reel into place on the recorder.

• Mount the reel you wish to digitize on the left-hand (supply) reel table. Follow the same procedure as above.

Threading the Tape

There are detailed instructions on page 4-6 of the manual for the reel recorder.

• Thread the tape as is shown in the following picture. (scan from manual to follow)

• Wind the tape onto the empty reel just enough to keep it in place. Here's what it should look like when you're done.

Reel Recorder Settings

• There are two speed settings on the MX-5050 reel recorder: High (15 ips or inches per second) and Low (7.5 ips). If your reel has no markings indicating the speed at which it was recorded, chances are it was recorded at 7.5 ips (especially if it's one of Regula's). The speed control panel is to the lower left of the recorder heads.