Fostex E-22 (from 1985)
The E-22 was Fostex's half-inch two-track mastering recorder/reproducer. It came out in late 1985 alongside the quarter-inch E-2. Recording Engineer (December 1985, p.144) announced the pair as new additions to the Fostex line. It pointed to the totally microprocessor-controlled transports and a repeat-hold function that could be engaged from the front or rear of the machine, with an in- or out-of-phase "feedback" option.
DB Magazine's Len Feldman covered the E-Series in November 1987 (p.50), noting that the E-2 and E-22 were similar in all operating respects and control features, with the decisive difference being tape format: the E-2 ran quarter-inch tape at 15 and 7½ ips, while the E-22 employed half-inch tape. The same piece described a five-digit electronic tape counter that read in hours, minutes and seconds, and an optional foot switch for punch-in/punch-out — useful on a deck aimed at production and post-production work.
A Studio Sound test from March 1987 (p.132) measured the cue track and found it considerably narrower than the left and right tracks. That produced significant low-frequency response deviations, with a peak around 200 Hz. The noise figures showed the right channel measuring 2-3 dB better than the left. The reviewer also flagged the hinged front panel. It opened to expose the trimmers, but its limited movement made the lower controls awkward to reach, and every adjustment needed a small screwdriver. Wow, flutter and speed were examined in that report too, but the surviving text doesn't preserve the figures.
Fostex's own advertising (for instance, DB Magazine, July 1988, p.11) pitched the E-Series as a production and post-production workhorse heard nearly every day in movie soundtracks, commercial television and cable shows. It cited servo control of the reels in edit mode for precise cueing and spot erase, plus a pitch control that displayed the exact percentage of speed deviation.
The record is thin beyond that. Production years, original price and a full spec sheet aren't documented in the material available. What survives describes a half-inch mastering deck from the mid-1980s that shared its transport and controls with the more common E-2 and offered the wider half-inch format.
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