HELP, Otari MTR12 problem ?!

[Audio Al]

Hi everyone

I owned a Otari MX55 and it played faultlessly through my hifi system.
The MX55 has now been sold and replaced by the Otari MTR12
Everything else in the system is the same
My problem is very poor audio / distorted output from the MTR12 through the same hifi components used with the MX55 , Both had/ have XLR to RCA cable connections.
If I use headphones the audio from the headphone jack on the MTR12 is fine , and the same with the monitor speaker
I have tried 2 sets of XLR to RCA leads with no difference to the audio output through the hifi system

Any ideas ? as its now driving me mad
I have the switches on the audio boards set to unbalanced and also used the balanced position , No change in the poor / distorted sound
Sadly my hifi electronics is poor I AM a electronics numpty

HELP

[337alant]

Hi Al,
The monitor and the Headphone out are on a separate board so if that sound OK the output from the heads is OK
So if the output from the reproduce amplifiers is distorted then the fault must lie there.
Try pulling the boards out and cleaning the contact surfaces between that and the sockets, I allways give them a squirt with dioxit gold on reassembly.
Inspect the boards for any obvious bad caps whilst you are there.
Another thing to check is that all of the switches and pots are cleaned and lubricated.
I also give all calibration pots a squirt with deoxit as well as they can be noisy.
Another thing is if the Bios is miles out the distortion can be high but I would expect to hear that on the head phones as well but its worth checking.
Im not convinced that the different pin out on the Otari balanced connectors would cause any distortion, I actually swapped my hot and cold pins over on my MX55 and couldn’t hear any difference and mine go to unbalanced Phono’s as well.
Hope you get it sorted Al they are a lovely machine
Maybe Stuart will be along to advise.
If I lived closer Id come round and have a look at it with you

Alan

[mik_rik]

If common to both channels ,could be a 'lytic cap gone down in the power supply or something on the supply rail to the o/p amp board.

[Audio Al]

Looks like I am out of my depth with this so it will be off 2 the repairers soon :)

[Lodgesound]

Hi Al;

I'll be better placed to look at this machine this coming weekend possibly - I still feel the fault is relatively simple.

[337alant]

Whats happening with your MTR 12 Al, got it fixed yet?, thats far to nice a machine to be laid idle :eek:

Alan

[Audio Al]

Whats happening with your MTR 12 Al, got it fixed yet?, thats far to nice a machine to be laid idle :eek:

Alan

Sadly its been sitting here for over 4 months now , I am waiting for Stewart ( Lodgesound )

[Lodgesound]

Hi Al;

Has been a long road but I feel well enough that we can look at this on Saturday - how are you fixed?

[Lodgesound]

PM sent Al...

[337alant]

Stewart sorry didnt mean for you to feel under pressure to fix this , hope your feel better now and making a full recovery.
Best regards
Alan

[Lodgesound]

Not at all Alan - I am just glad to be on the mend now after a terrible start to the year with my health.

Looking forward to hopefully fixing Al's machine.

[337alant]

Good to hear Stewart
Lets hope that the fault is something simple, I'm sure you will have it sorted pretty quickly ;)

Alan

[Audio Al]

Having SOLD my big van I now need to use a van and I can't get one :(
Tried hiring a van , NO GO :(

No way of me getting the 12 over to Stewart :(

Then Like Batman a bolt out of the blue I will be getting a visit for Phil one of the Lodgesound team :)

What a top duo these lads are :D

Im now getting excited that it may be on the way to being fixed and I can OVERDOSE on R2R action

:reel:±:reel:

Will update later as the progress happens
Im interested to see how this is done :eyebrows:

[Audio Al]

:yay::yay::yay::yay:

Its working on playback , Turns out it was the pin connections in the XLR leads , apparently Otari use a different pin configuration to all the others and the 2 sets of leads I purchased were wired for all other machines and not Otari :doh:
Heads and rollers all cleaned , Bias adjusted and set up using a signal generator
I do have a problem with the record side of things :( as its shows a 6db inbalance between the 2 channels that can't be adjusted :(
At a later date some further TLC is required

But at least it now plays and sounds great :yay::yay::yay::yay:

[Lodgesound]

Good news Al........that Phil is a clever one....

[Audio Al]

Good news Al........that Phil is a clever one....

Forgot to mention Phil also swapped all the buttons from the remote into the machine as they were worn out , Now all the buttons work on the machine :D

He is good at wielding a soldering iron

[337alant]

Excellent news Al
And fantastic service Stewart / Phil well done

How does it sound compared to your MX55?.
Alan