Otari MTR-90 (1979–)
A two-inch, 24-track analog recorder that studios kept buying long after everyone else had moved on.
Overview
The Otari MTR-90 was introduced in 1979, a two-inch 24-track analog recorder. Japanese hardware was still a rare sight in the control rooms of big-budget studios at that point. DB Magazine (November 1980, p.55) noted that Japanese manufacturers were well established in consumer audio and had made inroads in pro digital and broadcast, but analog multitrack remained largely the domain of European and American builders. The MTR-90 was Otari's bid to change that, and by most accounts it worked.
The transport is what set the machine apart. Otari's own advertising described a "pinch-rollerless" transport built around a 60mm direct-drive capstan, paired with what the company called the industry's first CPU-controlled three-motor system. According to Otari's marketing copy, that gave you digitally timed silent punch-ins, electronic cueing, a digital timer, and varispeed of ±20% with 0.1% readout. SMPTE interface access was provided for audio-video and audio-audio synchronization. Spot erasing was handled through a narrow head block design. These were the features studios cared about in 1982, and Otari led with them.
The MTR-90 went through multiple iterations. By 1982 the Series II was on the market. Studio Sound (September 1983, p.67) reprinted a review from Hugh Ford, originally published in November 1982. Ford called the MTR-90 Series II "a very well-built machine" whose tape transport shared many features with the premier recorders of European manufacture. That was a direct acknowledgement that Otari had closed the gap with the established European builders.
Production ran well past the point where analog was supposed to be finished. Mix Magazine (January 2000, p.89) reported that the MTR-90 was still in production and available as the MTR-90 Mark III, twenty years after its introduction. The same piece noted that the machine had earned a reputation as "The Workhorse."
Used MTR-90s sold at prices that reflected their professional standing. A 1990s-era classified listing in Recording Engineer offered an Otari MTR-90 at $26,000, alongside an Ampex MM1200 at $12,500 and an MCI JH24 at $17,000. Another listing in the same publication priced an MTR-90-II 24-track at $25,500. These were not budget machines.
Mix Magazine (January 2000, p.89) noted that as tapeless digital recording took over, Otari's RADAR II HDR Series became the preferred replacement technology for open-reel tape recorders. So the company that built the MTR-90 also built the machine that replaced it.
For anyone encountering an MTR-90 today, the appeal is straightforward: it's a two-inch 24-track machine that was built to work, was built to last, and was built by a company that understood what studios actually needed. The pinch-rollerless transport, the CPU-controlled motors, the SMPTE interface — these weren't gimmicks. They were solutions to real problems, and they're why the MTR-90 earned its reputation.
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