Restored my dads R2R but no tape loop on integrated

You won’t get feedback if you’re careful but sooner or later you’re gonna trip up.
Bleed through is likely. Try it, might work good enough for be you.
Good luck with a difficult process.
Phono stage direct is best if you have a phono pre. Again plug in the deck and then move to the amp.  
Not for me.

A tape loop is to monitor and correct a recording being MADE. A true tape loop unit will have tone control that can be applied to the loop or be switched out of the loop for play back.

Direct head playback is not on a lot of RtRs, 

I have a unit that should be here today the 3rd. Phono/tape direct head playback. Here is the deal, the RtR I use is XLR playback and record TOO. The direct head playback is RCA.

Do you see that a loop is really not needed now?

You fix the volume while recording but correct with a downstream EQ in series.

AND if you need a loop make your own and add the good EQ (tone control for recording correction) BEFORE the recording device and where you can monitor via headphone (at the EQ before and after)

Feedback? As long as the headphones aren't "MICed" and no other way to introduce a  feed (speakers on while recording). Where is the feed back coming from? Unwanted noise, speakers need to be off and vibration control ON big time... Heck I remember that from 45 years ago..

Crosstalk wasn't an issue we use TWO MONO preamps... There use to be a reason for that old stuff being that way... TWO mono preamps.. I still have a pair..

I'll be recording soon. I'm going to use a STL tube 15 band EQ, Mac C2500, Decware ZP3 and Otari MX5050 BII2. The 5050 has a preamp bypass I installed, and the direct head playback mod, I've yet to install on this 5050 (I've done 4 others). It's posted on my page.. The schematic for the mod..

Have fun, that pre OUT just might work.. :-)

Huh?

A true tape loop unit will have tone control that can be applied to the loop.

A "true" tape loop has nothing to do with EQ.
It is only a circuit that adds another layer to the amps outputs avoiding feedback. It’s inputs come from the selector switch. It’s outputs go to the monitor switch. You can put a recorder in there, and/or any processing (EQ, compressor, expander, etc.) that you desire. I use a dBx 400 switchbox that allows 3 recorders and 4 processors pre or post.
If the recorder’s outputs go to the selector switch you WILL get bleed through (maybe inaudible) and eventually you WILL punch record with it selected. Maybe later, maybe sooner.

The $64K question is:.
Why tape record in 2021?

Why tape record in 2021?

With a good set of mics you can make nice recordings of real things.


Or- you could make a mix tape of just what you want to hear, rather than have to listen to cuts you don't like on an LP, CD or streamed album.

@fuzztone Thanks for clarifying. So basically having inputs/outputs connected to selector switch will lead to feedback (even if inaudible) and if I were to accidentally record with the selector set to R2R output this could cause damage.

I don’t think I will be swapping the integrated, in the short term at least, so I think phono preamp direct to R2R and R2R output to line in on my integrated would be the simplest option. And monitor using the headphone jack on R2R which i would prefer anyways vs having it play out on my speakers (i could even keep my integrated in standby during recording this way). However, that would require me to disconnect phono preamp from R2R and connect directly to my integrated for normal playback of my TT or always play through the R2R and set monitor to ‘Source’.

One thing i hadn’t considered is my phonostage (Hegel V10) has dual outputs in the form of unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR. I reached out to their customer service and they said there is no issue having both connected simultaneously. So I was wondering if I could connect the unbalanced RCA direct to R2R for recording and connected the balanced XLR direct to integrated for normal TT playback. This would remove the need to constantly unplug & move connections. During TT recording I would keep my integrated in standby, the phonostage would feed direct into the R2R and i could monitor from headphones. During TT playback I would leave the R2R turned off and select the XLR input on my integrated. During R2R playback I would select that input on my integrated.

Why tape in 2021? To be honest I have no good reason aside from the sentimental value it holds being my dads old R2R. He was in music production and it was a timely coincidence that he found it in storage as I only put together my hifi system a few months ago. Along with that he pulled out a trunk of 100+ records which i haven’t had a chance to look through yet.

@oldhvymec Thanks for the tip on speakers & vibration during recording. Initially i thought it would be easier to monitor through speakers but due to my lack of tape loop and possible feedback, using headphones connected to R2R seems the best option.

I’ve looked into direct head playback mods but I’m trying to avoid getting sucked in too deep as its a huge time investment and I’m already spending more than expected on this R2R restoration.

@vinylzone Yes you're right, its switches output of the headphone jack and rca outputs on the back. So that would give me the option of monitoring either through speakers or headphones i guess.