An analog question for those who record

An excellent VCR for making audio only, Hi-Fi stereo recordings is the Harman Kardon VCD1000. I purchased one of these new in 1985 for around $700. A few years ago I cleaned out my shed and gave a ton of stuff to a local thrift store including the VCD1000. I later realized what a stupid mistake I had made and with a stroke of luck I was able to obtain another one from Craigs List for $30. After a full service, ie: belts, friction wheels, cleaning and lubrication, etc. the VCD is up and running perfectly. I still have the original owners manual and sales brochure.

This deck was the HK flagship VCR from '85 through '87 and was based on the top of the line Mitsubishi deck with cast aluminum transport, transformer power supply and no expense spared electronics. HK then added an audio section of their own design which allowed for audio only to be laid down on the tape using a built in sync signal without vidio information. This unit is a heavy, rock solid, made in Japan VCR, not to be confused with the flimsy units of recent production.

For analog recording of vinyl to tape from my TD-124 w/ SME3009 and Sure V15 Type IV, I have a Nak CR-3A, Luxman K-105 and Sony TC-K677ES cassette decks and also a Teac X-7R reel to reel.

The VCD1000, in my opinion as well as others that have listened, has the greatest dynamic range, no hiss and most faitful to the vinyl reproduction. All VHS recordings were made using the best Maxell or TDK VHS Hi-Fi tape in SP mode, and Maxell XL tapes were used for the standard recorders.

I highly recommend the VCD1000 for VHS audio only recording. Be sure that the deck is serviced and adjusted properly, set it for audio only recording in SP mode, use high quality Hi-Fi tapes and use the same machine to record and play back the tapes. The service and owners manuals are available on the web, and an early Mitsubishi VCR remote works well with the VCD1000.

If you find one of these decks and set it up properly, you won't be disappointed.

I have heard many good things about the Korg MR-1, MR-1000 which allows you to record in DSD or double DSD resolution. Some have said in that mode, it is very close to the native analog source. You can transfer the files to your PC...arrange a playlist from all your recordings and then transfer back to the Korg for playback in DSD or double DSD mode..Not too expensive either.

Yes, the korg-2000 is really truly excellent (and this is from an analog guy)
But if you want to stay analog, go with reel to reel.
Good tape isn't hard to find , RMGI makes it, and yes it's pricey, but it will last for ages if stored properly.
VHS hi-fi was a kickass medium for straight audio, but useless for searching out tracks and yes, prett well obsolete.
Reel to reel is far from dead, once you've heard a tape project release, or better yet, a 15ips safety master dub, you will be forever ruined.
Until, of course, you get your own!
Lol...

I use vhs for those moments when I want to avoid flipping the lp. I've been happy with the quality and the ability to play for hours on EP. I'm not sure that I would use it for critical listening. I use an old pioneer cassette deck for setting the levels. The system works pretty good, but I've noticed added bass from the recording (probably from the pioneer).
Don

Years ago (early 90's) I did a bit of hi-fi audio recording on a VHS Hi-Fi vcr. Tapes sounded great. Did not do much of it as I was more likely to record onto cassette for my car audio system. Fast forward to modern times. I from 2008 onwards added some cassette decks to my gear to archive many of my LP's to get a good analogue copy of my LP's and to have fun with such. I added a reel to reel about a year ago and it was a fun medium but very costly to buy good tape stock for. Fidelity was great though.

Most recently I reacquired a VHS HiFi vcr and began to make some tape dubs off my vinyl and IMO the audio fidelity is near impeccable to the original source. One would have to under the highest scrutiny listen to hear much a difference between a Hi-fi vcr tape and the source. Of course VHS is a more cumbersome format for search and for doing any heavy editing, but for archiving LP's or CD's one can get at the fast speed on a T-120 tape 2 hours of audio and at EP speed 6 hours with no loss in fidelity. IMPRESSIVE!

BUT! On must search out older vcrs say from the late 80's to the early 90's as these had better design and most often included manual record level settings. Late 90's to more current 2000's deck were/are just built rather cheap.