Otari

Explore Otari vintage audio equipment in the Vintage Technology Archive.

Other Models

• ARS-1000 — Otari ARS-1000 — rack-mount automated radio reproducer, 7½/3¾ ips half-track stereo, $1,200, shown at NAB 76. Built for 24-hour broadcast duty.
• BTR-2 — The Otari BTR-2 — actually an EMI-built valved broadcast recorder — ran 38/76 cm/s, survived a fall down stone stairs, and is a tough, flawed classic.
• DP-4050 — Otari DP-4050 cassette duplicator (1976–c.1990): reel-to-cassette 8:1 high-speed duping, six slaves, ferrite heads, 50 Hz–10 kHz ±3 dB.
• DTR-7 — Otari DTR-7 professional DAT recorder (1992): balanced XLR I/O, AES/EBU, 48/44.1/32kHz, one-bit converters, 3RU rack mount, $1,848 list.
• DTR-900 — Otari DTR-900: 32-track digital multitrack with pinchrollerless transport and SMPTE/EBU sync — a $40k studio machine that behaved like analog.
• EC-101 — Otari EC-101 synchronizer module (1985) for the MTR-90 — plug-in chase-lock card with timecode-only link, 0.2x–2x frame lock, RS-232C.
• EC-102 — Otari EC-102 — a 1U chase-lock synchroniser for MTR-20, MTR-10/12 and MX-70 tape machines, pitched as the budget route to doubling your track count with a pair of MX-80s.
• Mark III-2 — Otari Mark III-2 quarter-inch two-track: $3,295 list, EC-401 pilot-tone resolver and TC-50 time-code support, a broadcast and mixdown workhorse.
• Mark III-8 — Otari 5050 Mark III-8 half-inch 8-track reel-to-reel (1981): 15/7.5 ips, 77 lb, studio-grade transport, ~$3,300 used.
• MTR-100 — Otari MTR-100 two-inch multitrack — pinchrollerless transport, auto alignment, Dolby SR/A on the A variant. Analog mastering muscle from the digital transition.
• MTR-100A — Otari MTR-100A 2-inch 24-track analog mastering deck (1988), auto-alignment under 4 min, 270kg, $59,950 new.
• MTR-20 — Otari MTR-20: mid-80s microprocessor-controlled analog mastering deck with Auto-Alignment, 14-inch reels, and up to half-inch four-track.
• MTR-90 II — Otari MTR-90 II two-inch multitrack — the 24-track studios kept buying used. Period press called it the accepted 24-track.
• MTR-9011 — Otari MTR-9011 — the 24-track analogue multitrack working studios bought in pairs. Period pricing, modular build, and used-market notes.
• MX-80 — Otari MX-80 two-inch analog multitrack — 24/32-channel, constant-tension transport, built-in autolocator, HX-Pro, from $27,950.
• MX5050 MkIII — Otari MX5050 MkIII-8 half-inch 8-track: DC servo direct-drive capstan, 15/7.5 ips, ±7% varispeed, click-free punch. The compact pro multitrack at a non-ultimate price.
• MX5050/2 — Otari MX5050/2 — the two-track quarter-inch workhorse studios bought by the pair for mixdown and mastering. Dependable, affordable, everywhere.
• MX5050BII — Otari MX5050BII two-track reel-to-reel — a broadcast workhorse trusted by stations like WDUV-FM, which ran ten of them.
• TC-50 — Otari TC-50 (1987): the five-pound Otaritech center-track time-code/FM processor that synced quarter-inch two-tracks to video for a fraction of a four-track's cost.