Otari MX 5050 MKIII-8 Calibration Procedure

9/6/10

INPUT LEVELS and VU CALIBRATION

  1. Turn machine on and wait 20 min for warm up.
  2. Open oscillator program and set Frequency to 1 khz.
  3. Connect TS Test plug to Output 2 on patchbay and connect DVM to leads.
  4. Set output level to 97.5 mv or -18 dbu.
  5. Connect the cable to Channel 1 INPUT on back of 5050.
  6. Set the TEST OSC knob to Line (front of 5050).
  7. Press the All Input Button.
  8. Unclick all SRL switches on the front by the VUs.
  9. Rotate all knobs by the VUs to full Clockwise.
  10. Set the Line Output Level Switches to H.
  11. Set the Line Input Level Switches to L.
  12. Plug the XLR Test plug into OUTPUT 1 and connect the DVM Leads.
  13. Adjust the INPUT LEVEL pots to achieve 1.23 volts on the meter.
  14. Adjust the VU METER LEVEL Pots to achieve 0 db.
  15. Complete steps 5 and 14 for all 8 channels.

Setting a machine up for +6 Levels using a +3 Calibration Tape

REPRO LEVEL SETUP

  1. Demagnetize and Clean machine.
  2. Unarm all Channels and set monitor mode to ALL REPRO.
  3. Load Test Tape.
  4. Play 1k reference level.
  5. Adjust Repro Level on all Channels to read -3 (IEC and NAB).

REPRO AMIMUTH SETUP

  1. Connect 5050 Output 1 to Lynx channel
  2. Connect 5050 Output 8 to Lynx channel
  3. In cubase, setup channels to record from inputs above. Put channels into monitor mode.
  4. Create a Mono group channel.
  5. Play to 500 Hz Azimuth Test Tone from the tape.
  6. Mute channel 8 input on the input channel in Cubase.
  7. Adjust the input fader until -21db is registered on the group channel meter.
  8. Mute channel 1 and unmute channel 8.
  9. Adjust input fader so -21 db is registered on the group channel meter.
  10. Unmute both channels. The Group meter should go to -15 db and be stable.
  11. Play the 8k test tone and repeat the above steps.
  12. Play the 16k tone and repeat.
  13. Set the levels on the inputs for each test frequency. If the meter reads low or is unstable, adjust the repro Azimuth adjustment. Repeat all testing for each frequency after each adjustment.
  14. Replay the 1k test tone on the tape, and adjust REPRO LEVEL for -3db.

REPRO HIGH FREQUENCY EQ SETUP

  1. Play to 10k test tone on the tape.
  2. Adjust REPRO EQ H on all channels to -3db for NAB and -5.5 for IEC.

REPRO LOW FREQUENCY COMP ROUGH SETUP

  1. Play to 63 Hz test tone on the tape.
  2. Adjust LOW F COMP on all channels to -3db (NAB) or -1db(IEC).

RECORD HEAD OUTPUT SETUP

  1. Set monitor mode to ALL SEL REP
  2. Play the 1k test tone on the tape.
  3. Adjust SEL REP LEVEL on all channels to -3db (NAB and IEC).
  4. Play the 10k test tone.
  5. Adjust RECORD EQ H on all channels to -3db for NAB and -5.5 for IEC.

REMOVE THE TEST TAPE

RECORD HEAD AZIMUTH SETUP

  1. Thread a role of scrap tape (same type to be used).
  2. Set RECORD LEVEL Posts to Middle Position.
  3. Set the monitor mode to ALL REPRO.
  4. Set up the oscillator for 10k tone at 1.23 Volts.
  5. Same as Repro head adjustment above.

RECORD LEVEL ROUGH SETUP

  1. Set the monitor mode to ALL REPRO.
  2. Set up the oscillator for 1k tone at 1.23 Volts.
  3. Sent the oscillator signal to channel 1 input.
  4. Record enable all channels.
  5. Unclick the SRL Button.
  6. Start recording.
  7. Adjust SRL Knob on front to 0db.
  8. Click in the SRL button.
  9. Adjust the INPUT SRL to read 0db.

RECORD BIAS SETUP.

  1. Adjust oscillator output to 1.23 Volts at 10k.
  2. Set the monitor mode to ALL REPRO.
  3. Start Recording.
  4. Turn REC BIAS pot counterclockwise until peak is seen, then level starts to fall.
  5. Remember the peak level.
  6. Turn pot clock wise until level reaches peak again.
  7. Continue to turn clockwise until the level falls 3.5 db below the peak.

RECORD LEVEL FINE SETUP

  1. Set the monitor mode to ALL REPRO.
  2. Send a 1k tone at 1.23 volts to channel 1.
  3. SRL Buttons are in.
  4. Start recording.
  5. Adjust REC LEVEL to read 0db.

RECORD EQ FINE SETUP

  1. Set the monitor mode to ALL REPRO.
  2. Send a 10k tone at 1.23 Volts to channel 1.
  3. Start Recording.
  4. Adjust REC EQ H until meter reads 0db.

LOW F COMP FINE SETUP

  1. Set the monitor mode to ALL REPRO.
  2. Send a 50 hz tone at 1.23 Volts to channel 1.
  3. Start Recording.
  4. Adjust LOW F COMP until meter reads 1 db.

CONVERSION TABLE FOR DIFFERENT SPEEDS AND EQUALIZATIONS

Normalized to the 1000 Hz Recorded Fluxivity

Recording 8: 15 in/s, NAB & IEC2 Equalization

Playback 7: 15 in/s, IEC1 Equalization

Recorded Playback Playback

Frequency/ Frequency/ Level/

[Hz] [Hz] [dB]

32 32 5.56

63 63 2.31

125 125 0.83

250 250 0.35

500 500 0.18

1000 1000 0.00

2000 2000 -0.48

4000 4000 -1.43

8000 8000 -2.33

10000 10000 -2.51

12500 12500 -2.64

16000 16000 -2.74

20000 20000 -2.79