The MX-5050 in the Period Press

Otari's own full-page ad in db, The Sound Engineering Magazine — "MINI-PRO! Little brother to the MX-7000--the MX-5050" — the maker's name for the machine in print, already listing the optional DC capstan servo. It ran in the same month the machine launched at the New York AES, alongside Billboard's launch report. The ad is on page 33 of the PDF (printed page 31).

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The MX-5050's US launch story and the earliest Mini-Pro print on this site: Earl Paige's "Otari Will Adapt Retailing Modes" — the $1,345 two-channel launch price, Brian Trankle's 30-day-trial retail plan, and a captioned photo of the machine. The article is on page 67 of the PDF (printed page 51).

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The follow-up a week after the launch story: Billboard's AES show report notes "much interest in the new MX-5050 'Mini-Pro' professional recorder" at Otari's booth and adds the four-channel price — $1,945 alongside the $1,345 two-channel. A single paragraph, so no transcribed excerpt — the quotes on the history page are the whole sighting. Find it on page 71 of the PDF (printed page 35).

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The first sighting outside the US: London distributor ITA's 'New Products' ad for the MX-5050 at £440 + VAT (page 5 of the PDF), and the same issue's trade-show report noting the machine on ITA's stand — with the 'Mini-pro' name — Otari's own — already in print (page 63 of the PDF, printed page 65).

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A two-page spread for ITA, Otari's London distributor, laid out in columns by category. Under 8 Channel it offers the OTARI MX5058, a new half-inch eight-channel machine, at £1920 + VAT, photographed close up on its rack-mounted electronics panels, with the reels at the foot of the frame. Under New Products it repeats the MX5050 feature list from ITA's September advert — edit and cue, motion sensing, identical sync and replay levels, 600 ohm XLR outputs, an extra quarter-track replay head, 7½ and 15 ips — and prices the two-channel at £440 + VAT and the four-channel at £590 + VAT. The spread is on pages 4 and 5 of the PDF, with the Otari MX-5050 panels on page 5.

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Billboard's New York report on the Audio Engineering Society's first weekend convention, headed "First Weekend AES Wins a Solid 'Yes' Vote", gives Otari one item in John Woram's section, "Much Interest In New Audio Technology": two new eight-track recorders, the one-inch MX-7308 (15/30 or 7½/15 ips, +4 or +8 dBm balanced outputs, $8550 in the console-mounted version with remote control) and the half-inch MX-5050-8, which "sells for just under $4,000". It is a dated US price for the first-generation eight-channel machine at its first trade showing. The item is on page 64 of the issue PDF (printed page 48).

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Studio Sound's report on the 52nd AES Convention in New York, held from 31 October to 3 November 1975, names Otari as the busiest tape-machine exhibitor, with two new recorders and a duplicator. Beside the MX-7308, an eight-channel machine on 25 mm tape, and the DP-1010 duplicator is the MX-5050-8: eight tracks on 12.5 mm (half-inch) tape, the transport in one section and the electronics in another, bolted together for transit, with a rack-mounting version also offered. The paragraph begins at the foot of page 18 of the PDF and continues at the top of page 19 (printed pages 18 and 19).

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The period review: George W. Tillett's Equipment Profile of the MX-5050-2SH at $1,450, with measurements and the famous warning that the manual is "written for engineers". The MX-5050 feature starts on page 56 of the PDF (printed page 60).

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Otari's advertisement in db, giving the two-channel machine's pitch in the maker's own words — 68 dB S/N, 19 dB headroom, 60 dB crosstalk, and an "optional variable speed dc capstan servo". Its closing sentence is the most useful line of period copy on this site: the MX-5050 is "also available in four channel (¼ inch) and eight channel (½ inch), the eight channel with dc capstan servo as standard" — optional on the two-track, standard on the eight, from Otari, in 1976. The ad is on page 32 of the PDF (printed page 30).

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The Australian period review — of the MX-5050-2SHT, the exact designation on my deck's rear plate. Brief but rich: it decodes the 2SHT designation (15/7.5 in/s, four-head assembly), documents the flat-belt capstan drive and 6-pole induction reel motors, and names the Australian distributor, Klarion Enterprises — whose sticker is still on my machine. The review is on page 23 of the PDF (printed page 21).

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Otari's full-page UK advertisement in Studio Sound, August 1976, placed from ITA's Pratt Street address: the MX 5050 described in nearly the same feature list as ITA's launch advertisement of September 1975, now offered in 2, 4 and 8 channel versions at recommended retail prices from £590, beside the one-inch MX 7308 at £4450 and the DP 4050 cassette copier. A reply coupon asks for details of each machine. The ad is on page 9 of the PDF, which carries no printed page number.

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Audio's Annual Equipment Directory, where the whole Otari line lands in three rows of a comparison table. It is the site's only period price for the four-channel MX-5050-QX ($2,195), and its capstan column is the quiet find: the plain MX-5050's cell carries both a hysteresis and a dc capstan, while the QX and the eight-track carry dc alone — the option-versus-standard split, printed in a consumer annual. The same table also gets one thing wrong: it lists an idler capstan drive for all three Otari machines, where the site's one bench review — Electronics Australia's, of the base two-channel machine — describes a belt drive; the QX and eight-track have no period bench evidence of their capstan drive at all. The Otari rows are on page 108 of the PDF (printed page 110).

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The 'Survey: Studio Mastering Machines' — where the UK trade press prints "MX-5050 Mini-Pro" as the model designation itself, not a nickname. The Otari section also lists the one-inch 8-track MX7308 and a half-inch, eight-track MX-5050-8 at $4000. The Otari entries are on pages 50 and 52 of the PDF (printed pages match).

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Studio Sound's preview of the 55th AES convention: "Three new professional recorders are being introduced by the Otari Corporation." Two of them are first-generation variants missing from this site's model list until now — the four-channel MX-5050-QX, which the magazine calls a "compact four track recorder", with an integral dc capstan servo and ±10% speed correction, and the full-track MX-5050 FL. The third is the half-inch eight-channel MX-5050-8, a different machine. The round-up is on page 31 of the PDF (printed page 33).

The same issue carries C. E. Hammond's full-page advertisement for the half-inch eight-channel MX 5050 8SD, transcribed with it: page 63 of the PDF (printed page 65).

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The 1976 model-year directory listing the MX-5050-2SH, the four-track 4SH ($1,420) and the DC-servo varispeed 2SH-2 ($1,650) — period proof of the first-gen line-up and prices. The MX-5050 listings are on page 86 of the PDF (printed page 84).

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A short new-products item headed "Otari's Son of MX-5050", introducing the Mark II as the latest generation of the MX-5050. It gives the Mark II as a half-track two-channel on ¼-inch tape and a four-channel on ½-inch, with separate transport and electronics, a DC servo with ±7% pitch adjustment at 15 and 7½ ips, response of 35 Hz to 25 kHz ±3 dB at 15 ips, and an extra quarter-track playback head and head-cover splicing block on the two-channel. Microphone and line transformers, remote control and a floor console are listed as options, and the prices are $2,195 for the two-channel and $3,195 for the four-channel. A photograph shows the machine in its wooden floor console. The item is on page 41 of the PDF (printed page 37).

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A full-page advertisement placed by Otari Electric in Tokyo rather than by a local distributor, photographing three machines tagged MX 7308, MX 5050 2S and MX 5050 8SD. The feature box gives the 8SD its own list — half-inch eight-channel, XLR line connectors, test and calibration oscillator, variable-speed DC servo capstan, plug-in card electronics and head assembly, selective reproduce on all channels, a dbx/Dolby interface jack — while the 2S list carries the DC servo only as an option, and a footnote offers the MX 5050 QXD in four-channel ¼″ and ½″ form. The agents' block names C. E. Hammond & Co. of Byfleet for the UK, alongside the Canadian, French, Belgian, Dutch, Australian and Singapore addresses. The ad is on page 4 of the PDF (printed page 2).

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Otari's full-page ad for the MX5050 MK II-2 in the British trade press, under the headline "The new ¼-inch 2-track recorder with a finish." The copy sets out the Mark II's case: separate transport and electronics, 65 dB S/N and better than 55 dB crosstalk, a DC servo capstan motor for under 0.05% wow and flutter with ±7% pitch control, +19 dBm headroom, 600 ohm +4 dBm outputs on XLRs, motion-sensing logic, front-panel edit and cue, stepless bias adjustment, a built-in test and cue oscillator, an interface jack for dbx and Dolby, remote control and 4-track playback. A coupon asks for details on the MX5050-MKII-2, and the foot of the page lists Otari's distributors in Japan, the UK (C. E. Hammond & Co.), France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Australia. The ad is on page 41 of the PDF (printed page 41).

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Otari's full-page line-up ad in db — nine machines, photographed and numbered. It is the primary evidence that the MX-5050 MARK II was a real, advertised product sold beside the first generation: the MX-5050-2S is reason 1 (with "Optional dc capstan servo"), and the Mark II-2 and Mark II-4 are reasons 5 and 6 — desk-top consoles with separate transport and electronics, and DC servo as standard. The ad is on page 9 of the PDF (printed page 5).

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Otari's full-page launch ad for the B, headed "the best $3000 two channel recorder for under $2000" and pricing the all-new MX-5050-B at $1795 complete with the DC capstan servo — now standard rather than an option. The feature list is the B's specification in outline: TTL/IC logic for punch-in and punch-out, three switch-selectable calibrated record levels (185, 250 or 320 nWb/m), 24 dB headroom with 28 dBm maximum output, ±7% speed control in record and reproduce, three speeds in field-selectable pairs (15/7½ or 7½/3¾ ips) with automatic equalization switching, peak-reading LEDs beside the VU meters, a pulsing record-ready LED and return to zero. The ad is on page 31 of the PDF (printed page 33).

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Otari's full-page launch advertisement for the MX5050-B in db: the DC-servo direct-drive capstan, ±7% pitch control, IC motion-sensing logic, XLR connectors with +4 or −10 dBm switchable output, four heads including quarter-track playback, and 15/7-1/2 or 7-1/2/3-3/4 ips speed pairs, with performance quoted as 63dB S/N, 55dB crosstalk and 70dB erase. Close-up photographs show the head block, the front-panel row of record bias, record EQ and record level trimmers, and the rear-panel remote socket, XLR connectors and slide switches. The ad is on page 23 of the PDF (printed page 21).

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A full-page Otari ad aimed at the engineer building a studio. A control-room photograph shows the machines in use, and the copy names the MX-5050-8D half-inch 8 track mastering recorder and the MX-5050-B 2 track mixdown recorder as the pair to buy, with a closing line listing full track, 2 track, 4 track and 8 track versions. It dates the B to the 8D's era and places it as the mixdown partner of the eight-track. The ad is on page 23 of the PDF (printed page 27).

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An entry in Mix's "Tape Recorders & Magnetic Tape" new-products listing from the B's first months. It lists what the B added to the MX-5050 series: TTL/IC logic for punch in and out, three speeds in pairs (15 and 7½, or 7½ and 3¾ ips), 24 dBm headroom, a DC capstan servo with 7% speed control, LED peak meters alongside the VUs, return-to-zero memory and an extra quarter-track playback head, with +4 or −10 dBm outputs selected on the rear panel. The Sales Managers named as contacts are Lew Barrett and Steve Krampf, at the 981 Industrial Rd. address. The entry is on page 69 of the PDF (printed page 69).

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A full-page, all-text Otari ad that argues the B on its numbers rather than its looks. Under five headings it gives the overall signal-to-noise (66 dB unweighted at 520 nWb/m), electronics S/N (72 dB), +24 dB headroom and +28 dBm maximum output, overall response of 30 Hz to 22 kHz ±2 dB at 15 ips, front-panel bias and level trims with a built-in 1 kHz oscillator, the output switch between +4 dBm 600 ohm and −10 dB high impedance, ¼-track reproduce, NAB/CCIR switching and the 3-position alignment level switch. It lists the suggested retail price as $1,945, up from the $1795 of the launch ads, and calls the MX-5050 series the original compact professional recorder with a 4-year record. The ad is on page 48 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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Otari's half-page advertisement to broadcasters, headed OTARI BROADCAST RECORDERS, with the B first in the line: described as the newest version of a field-proven two-channel machine, with three speeds, 24 dBm headroom, dc capstan servo and modular construction. The Mark II (two-channel ¼-inch or four-channel ½-inch) and the ARS-1000 automation reproducer share the ad, which names Ruth Pruett as the contact for broadcast dealers. The ad is on page 87 of the PDF (printed page 85).

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Modern Recording's Hands-On Report on the MX-5050-B, by John Murphy and Jim Ford: a walk round every front- and rear-panel control, from the ±7% pitch control and memory rewind to the SRL output switch, the three record-level settings (185, 250 and 320 nWb/m) and the internal switch from 15/7½ to 7½/3¾ ips. A listening test against a direct-to-disc record found the machine very nearly transparent, and the bench figures give playback, sel-rep and record/playback response at both speeds, signal-to-noise with Ampex 406, and an input/output transfer curve. The review also records the weak point a later letter took up: the mic inputs are noisy with a low-impedance mic. The review starts on page 72 of the PDF (printed page 74) and runs to page 76 (printed page 78), skipping an advertisement on page 75.

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A full-page advert from ITA, Otari's London distributor. The chief engineer of Independent Tape Duplicators, Aylesbury, says £150,000 of recording gear is fed from the MX5050B, and the ad lists ten features: calibrated splicing block, four heads for 2 or 4 track replay, bias and EQ adjustable from the front panel, switchable NAB and IEC EQ, XLR connectors, a +28 dBm 600 ohm balanced output, a direct drive capstan servo with varispeed, variable or preset output level, 70 dB weighted signal/noise and sel sync on each channel. The photograph shows the B's faceplate in detail. The ad is on page 11 of the PDF (no printed folio).

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Otari's full-page 1979 ad for the MX-5050-B, set as a stack of boxed claims. It gives the performance figures (66 dB overall signal-to-noise unweighted at 520 nWb/m, +24 dB headroom, +28 dBm maximum output, 30 Hz to 22 kHz ±2 dB at 15 ips), says all primary alignments and a 1-kHz test oscillator are on the front panel with secondary alignments inside the bottom panel, and describes the output switch between +4 dBm 600 ohm and −10 dB high impedance. It also mentions NAB/CCIR switching and a three-position alignment level switch, and quotes a suggested US retail price of $1,945. The ad is on page 111 of the PDF (printed page 111).

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A column-width Otari ad aimed at broadcasters, headed "OTARI MX-5050-B BROADCAST RECORDER" over a face-on photograph of the machine. The copy lists the features carried over from the earlier MX-5050 (front-adjustable bias and record EQ, test oscillator, edit and cue, splicing block, motion sensing, selective reproduce) and the B's additions: TTL switching, three speeds in field-selectable pairs, 24 dBm headroom with 28 dBm output into 600 ohms, the ±7% DC capstan servo — pitched here as a way to fit program length to a time slot — peak LEDs, return to zero and LED function indicators. It quotes 66 dB S/N and 30 to 22,000 Hz ±2 dB at 15 ips. The ad is on page 4 of the PDF, beside the Letters column.

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A two-page Otari ad. The first page shows the MX-5050-B in front of three larger Otari machines under the headline "The Otari Machine"; the facing page sets out the B's case in ruled panels: 66 dB overall signal-to-noise at 520 nWb/m, +24 dB headroom and +28 dBm maximum output, all primary alignments including record bias and level on the front panel with a 1 kHz test oscillator, an output switch for +4 dBm 600 ohm or −10 dB high impedance, three speeds, a ±7% dc servo, ¼ track reproduce and NAB/CCIR switching, at a suggested US retail price of $1,945. The ad is on pages 85 and 86 of the PDF (no printed folio).

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A reader's letter to Modern Recording's Talkback column asking about the in-line transformer mentioned in the June 1979 review of the MX-5050-B, and John Murphy's reply. The reply gives the B's mic input impedance as 50 K ohms, explains that a low-impedance mic therefore gave only about 33 dB of noise margin, names the Shure A-97 used in the test (about 13 dB of gain) and the A-95 (22 dB), and says the transformer belongs at the deck end of the line. The letter starts on page 24 of the PDF (printed page 24) and the reply ends at the top of page 28 (printed page 28).

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A near full-page Otari ad set inside Billboard's report on the 1980 AES convention in Los Angeles. It introduces the "New Workhorse" slogan and describes the whole 5050 Series: switchable +4 or −10 dB levels, DC servo motors for SMPTE interlock and video work, quarter-inch transports in full track, two or four track stereo and four-channel versions, and half-inch transports in four or eight channels. The photograph shows the MX-5050B in the optional CSLB cabinet beside the MX-5050/8B in a CSL-48 cabinet, with the one-inch MX7800 eight-track. It also gives Otari's new address at 1559 Industrial Road. The ad is on page 38 of the PDF (printed page 38).

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Otari's 1980 "the New Workhorse" ad addressed to broadcasters. The copy calls the 5050 series the first compact professional recorders the industry accepted and says the machines are SMPTE adaptable on ¼" or ½" tape; it also mentions the ARS Series reproducers and the MX-7800 eight-track. The photograph shows a group of Otari machines, and a small credit says the 5050B and Mark II-4 are shown in optional cabinets from the Rus Lang Corporation of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The ad is on page 31 of the PDF.

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A half-page ad for Flanner's Pro Audio, a Milwaukee dealer, describing the equipment it supplied to Soundtrek Studios in Kansas City. Among the NEOTEK console, UREI monitors, Scully 280B decks and an MCI 24-track, the list includes an "OTARI 5050B Tape Machine" — a small but concrete record of a B installed in a working 24-track studio in 1980. Otari also appears in the dealer's list of brands stocked. The ad is on page 78 of the PDF (printed page 80).

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A full-page UK advertisement from ITA, Otari's distributor, built on a quotation from Peter Houghton of Gooseberry Studios, London, who bought two more MX5050Bs after using one for stereo mix-down beside a 24-track Otari. A ten-point list covers the calibrated splicing block, four heads for 2- or 4-track replay, front-panel bias and EQ, switchable NAB/IEC EQ, XLR connectors, +28 dBm 600 ohm balanced output, a capstan servo with varispeed, variable or preset output level, 70 dB weighted signal/noise and sel sync on each channel. The ad is on page 13 of the PDF; the page carries no printed page number.

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A full-page ad from Bananas at Large, an audio and music dealer in San Rafael, California, built around a studio photograph of the MX-5050B. Two users vouch for it: J.D. Sharp of Corasound Recording, co-owner of the shop, on thousands of hours of service, and Tom Hallstein of Redwood Recording, the shop's audio salesman, who says the 5050B reproduces exactly what he puts into it. It shows the B being sold through local dealers in 1980 on its reputation with small studios. The ad is on page 75 of the PDF (printed page 75).

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Two pages from one issue. Part 3 of Dr. Richie Moore's "Used Equipment Tape Recorders" series in the Sound Advice column gives a dated history of Otari's machines as a 1980 buyer saw them: the MX-5050-SH two-track and MX-5050-FLT full-track introduced in May 1975 and discontinued in August 1978, the quarter-inch QXH four-track of 1975–76, the 5050-8D half-inch eight-track from April 1976, and the current line, the 5050-B among it, debuting in August 1978 with TTL/IC logic, a ±7% DC capstan servo and a one-point return-to-zero. The author also reports syncing a 5050-B to a VTR with its variable speed. Later in the issue Otari's full-page colour ad calls the MX-5050B the best-selling professional tape machine in the world and prices it at less than $2500. The review is on page 17 of the PDF (printed page 17); the ad is on page 55 of the PDF.

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A half-page Otari ad for the MX-5050B, calling it the ¼" production machine that earned the reputation of The New Workhorse. It gives no specifications or price; the copy is about reliability and the machine's return on investment. The photograph is a close, low view across the faceplate. The ad is on page 38 of the PDF (printed page 38).

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A full-page colour Otari ad from late 1980, built around the slogan "The New Workhorse". It gives no specification; its claims are commercial — that the MX-5050B is the best-selling professional tape machine in the world, and that it sells for less than $2500. It also shows Otari's move to 1559 Industrial Road, San Carlos, with a new (415) 592-8311 number, in place of the 981 Industrial Road address of the 1978–79 ads. The ad is on page 65 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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A full-page UK advertisement from ITA showing two MX5050Bs mounted horizontally on wheeled floor stands under the heading 'Doubly effective'. The list gives DC capstan servo, varispeed, TTL IC logic, switchable EQ, an additional 4-track replay head, three calibrated record levels, +28dBm 600 ohm balanced output, optional balanced input and a built-in 1kHz oscillator, and names Cardiff Broadcasting as a buyer. The ad is on page 9 of the PDF (printed page 9).

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An Otari ad for the MX-5050B, filling the lower right of the page and run under the "New Workhorse" slogan. There are no specifications: the copy claims the performance and features of machines costing twice as much and gives a price of less than $2500. The photograph is a close view of the B's front panel, showing the MX5050 legend, the meters and the row of record bias, record EQ and record level trimmers. The ad is on page 44 of the PDF (printed page 44).

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ITA's full-page UK advert for the MX5050B, with two machines shown side by side on floor stands. Its feature list names the DC capstan servo, varispeed, TTL IC logic, switchable NAC/IEC EQ (printed that way), an additional 4 track replay head, three calibrated record levels, a +28dBm 600 ohm balanced output, an optional balanced input and a built-in 1kHz oscillator. It names Cardiff Broadcasting as a user and gives ITA's Harewood Avenue address. The ad is on page 11 of the PDF (printed page 11).

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A full-page ad for Antech Labs, a St. Louis dealer, offering two Otari machines: the MTR-10 Series and the MX-5050-B. The B's block repeats the feature list of Otari's 1978 launch ads almost word for word — TTL/IC punch-in and punch-out, field-selectable speed pairs of 15/7½ or 7½/3¾ ips, 24 dBm headroom and 28 dBm output, the standard ±7% DC capstan servo, peak LEDs and return to zero — so in 1981 it was still being sold as "All-New" beside the newer MTR-10. The drawing-style photograph shows the B face-on. The ad is on page 59 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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The Otari BQ-II entry from Mix's "New Products — Tape Recording Update" listings. The 5050 BQ-Series II, introduced January 1981 at $2,995, is described as a compact replacement for the four-channel QXD: a ¼-inch four-channel with 15/7½ ips, a variable-speed DC capstan servo, selective reproduce, click-free punch-in and punch-out, switchable speed pairs, four head stacks and optional output transformers, with wow, flutter, response and signal-to-noise figures. Otari's separate entry for the MARK III-8 eight-track on the same page is not transcribed. The entry is on page 66 of the PDF (printed page 66).

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R-e/p's New Products announcement of the MARK III/8, introduced as the successor to the MX5050-8D. It lists what carries over from the first-generation eight-channel machine — 15 and 7½ ips, the variable-speed DC servo capstan, selective reproduce, a dual-frequency test oscillator, accessible electronics adjustments and three heads — and what is new: microprocessor control with a real-time LED counter, dynamic braking and transport logic, automatic monitor switching, per-channel headphone monitoring and peak indicators, plus master mode switching, memory rewind and punch-in and punch-out. Delivery from dealers is given as July 1981, with a photograph of the machine and its remote. The item starts on page 92 of the PDF (printed page 98) and ends on page 94 (printed page 100).

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A full-page advert from ITA, Otari's UK distributor, for the MX5050 BQII, billed as the first compact four-track for the serious user. The feature list gives the BQII's specification in outline: microprocessor-based transport logic, computerised motion sensing with dynamic braking, DC capstan servo at 15/7½ ips with varispeed, a real-time LED tape counter with memory, Mic/Line mixing on each channel, plug-in heads, automatic sync/source switching, click-free drop in and out, a test oscillator and bridging input for line-up, optionally balanced inputs and outputs, switchable line input (−15/−6 dBm) and output (+4/−8 dBm) levels with +22 dBm maximum, and remote control, rack mounting and covers as options. A large photograph shows the machine with its four meters. The ad is on page 11 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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Otari's full-page 1981 advertisement for the MX-5050B, calling it the world's best-selling professional tape recorder, three years old in B form. It lists performance (66 dB unweighted signal-to-noise at 520 nWb/m, +28 dBm maximum output, 30 Hz to 22 kHz ±2.0 dB at 15 ips, wow and flutter under 0.05%) and features (speed pairs of 15/7½ or 7½/3¾ ips, NAB/IEC EQ, ±7% varispeed, alignment levels of 185, 250 and 320 nWb/m, zero memory return, 20 dB mic pad), with a suggested professional net of $2,295.00 and Otari's Belmont address. The ad is on page 16 of the PDF; the page carries no printed page number.

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A New Products item in Studio Sound announcing the MARK III/8 as the successor to the first-generation MX5050-8D. It lists what carried over — 15 and 7½ in/s, the variable-speed DC servo capstan, selective repro for overdubbing, a 1 kHz/10 kHz test oscillator — and what was new: microprocessor real-time counting with an LED display, dynamic braking and transport logic, automatic monitor switching, per-channel headphone monitoring, peak indicators on every channel, memory rewind to zero and transparent punch-in and punch-out. It names the two optional remotes, the CR-705A for the transport and the CB-110, which adds channel switching, ±7% varispeed and remote timing, and gives the Tokyo, Belmont and ITA London addresses. A photograph shows the machine with its meter bridge and a cabled remote. The item is on page 32 of the PDF (printed page 32).

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A reader-column item by Ethan Winer, following his December 1981 transformerless-output modification of the MX-5050B. He gives two ways to widen the B's ±7% varispeed. The Otari method, from applications engineer Tom DeFiglio, changes six resistors on the capstan motor amplifier (R7, R9, R10, R12, R13, R14) for a 20% range, after recording a 10 kHz reference tone at each speed so the fixed-speed trimmers can be recalibrated. Winer's own method replaces the 500-ohm varispeed pot with a 10K linear pot, repurposes the memory rewind switch and cuts a PCB trace to route IC1 pin 11 out, for a sweep from about 1 to nearly 30 ips without recalibration. Both schematics are included. The item notes a third fixed speed selectable by an internal switch on the control card. The text is on pages 9 and 10 of the PDF (printed pages 9 and 10).

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ITA's 1982 UK advert placing the MX5050B beside the four-track MX5050 BQII and the half-inch Mark III-8, with a photograph and feature list for each. The B's column repeats the 1981 copy (servo, varispeed, TTL IC logic, 4 track replay head, three calibrated record levels) and now names Cardiff Broadcasting and Radio West as users. The BQII column lists microprocessor transport logic, a real-time LED counter, Mic/Line mixing and switchable line levels; the Mark III-8 column lists a direct-drive servo capstan with ±7% varispeed and single-card-per-channel modules. The ad is on page 9 of the PDF.

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Otari's full-page launch ad for the half-inch MARK III/4 and its eight-channel companion, the MARK III/8, headed "From Our Hands to Your Hands". The copy gives the pair's common specification: microprocessor transport control with an LED counter, a true three-head design, selectable +4 or −10 dBm input and output levels, 15/7.5 ips with continuously variable speed, 10½-inch reels, cue control, dump edit, headphone monitoring on all channels, a multi-frequency test oscillator, locking NAB hub adapters, easy access to a full complement of adjustments and an interface for SMPTE time-code synchronizers. It presents the new machines as built on the reputation of the "5050 Series two channel machines". The photograph shows both machines side by side. The ad is on page 15 of the PDF; no printed page number shows.

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Otari's inside-front-cover advertisement in Modern Recording & Music: Jeff Baxter, photographed with a guitar in his home studio, Casual Sound, says he has done all his pre-production for several years on his Otari, that it has never left the studio, and that some of what he recorded on it went straight onto final multitrack masters. The machine is shown and captioned as the Otari ½″ eight channel MK III-8. The ad is on page 2 of the PDF (printed page: inside front cover).

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Otari's full-page launch ad for the B-II, headed "Industry Standard Chapter II" and naming the new ¼-inch two-channel 5050B-II. It lists what changed from the B — transformerless balanced inputs and outputs, a real-time hours/minutes/seconds LED elapsed-time display, a built-in oscillator giving 1 kHz and 10 kHz calibration tones, and a low-frequency adjustment on the reproduce equalizers — and what was kept: the quarter-inch deckplate and cast aluminum frame, switchable NAB/IEC equalization, +4 dBm/−10 dBv output levels, half-track and quarter-track playback heads, three reference fluxivity levels, three speeds, XL connectors, front-panel record EQ and bias, varispeed, dump edit and the splicing block. It prices the machine at under $2,500. The ad is on page 56 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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Otari's full-page launch ad for the BII, headed "Industry Standard Chapter II" and naming "The New Otari ¼" Two Channel 5050B-II". The copy lists what changed from the B: transformerless balanced inputs and outputs, a real-time hours/minutes/seconds LED tape timer accurate at all speeds, an oscillator giving both 1 kHz and 10 kHz calibration tones, and a low-frequency adjustment added to the reproduce equalizers. It then lists what stayed: the quarter-inch deckplate and cast aluminium frame, switchable NAB/IEC equalization, +4 dBm/−10 dBV output levels, half-track and quarter-track playback heads, three reference fluxivity levels, three speeds, XL connectors, front-panel record EQ and bias, variable speed, dump edit and the splicing block. The price claim is under $2,500. The ad is on page 33 of the PDF; no printed page number shows on the full-bleed page.

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A two-page advertisement by ITA, the London dealer, with MX-5050 entries in three of its panels. On the right-hand page, under "OTARI 2 TRACKS", the new MX5050B2II — the B-II in two-track form — is photographed and described as in stock: microprocessor-controlled transport, LED tape timer, active balanced inputs and outputs, three tape speeds and a reference flux indicator. On the left-hand page the hire list prices an MX5050B Stereo at £60 a week, £40 for three days or £20 a day, and an Otari Mk.III-8 eight-track on half-inch at £110 a week; the second-hand list offers a part-exchange MX5050B, overhauled, at £700, all excluding VAT. The B-II panel is on page 9 of the PDF and the hire and second-hand lists on page 8 (printed page numbers are not shown).

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Modern Recording & Music gave the MARK III/8 two reports in one issue. Len Feldman's Lab Report describes the machine control by control — the rear-panel -8/+4 dBm level switches, eight banks of fourteen screwdriver adjustments per channel, the header with eight VU meters and SRL buttons, the top-surface transport, pitch and real-time counter — then measures it on Scotch 226, the tape it was factory-aligned for: record/play response to 40 Hz at 15 ips and 22 Hz at 7½ ips, 0.27% and 0.21% third-order distortion at 0 VU, headroom of +13 and +12 dB, unweighted S/N of 70.6 and 68.5 dB, and wow-and-flutter of 0.02% and 0.066% dominated by a single 16 Hz (8 Hz at the lower speed) component the reviewer suspected came from a slightly deformed rotating part. The Vital Statistics table sets Otari's figures beside the lab's and gives a list price of $5295.00. Michael Tapes' Hands-On Report follows from sessions in his own studio: praise for the channel ready/record logic and the sound, criticism of the counter's position and the search-to-zero behaviour, a comparison with the earlier "8D", and a note that the CB-110 remote and a forthcoming autolocator answer his complaints. The lab report runs from page 51 to page 57 of the PDF (printed pages 49–55) and the hands-on report from page 58 to page 60 (printed pages 56–58).

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Two boxed sidebars inside Bruce Black's R-e/p feature on getting the best from the eight-track half-inch format. The first profiles Black's own mobile studio, The Truck, whose multitrack is an Otari MX-5050 MkIII-8 that he calls a marvelous, friendly machine. The second, headed for both Otari and Tascam, describes the MARK III/8 as a compact tabletop console machine, names the CB-110 remote for transport, monitoring and record-mode control and the CB-116 autolocator with six cue locations and looping, and notes that its levels can be set for +4 or −10 dB. A photograph shows the machine with its meter bridge and remote beside the Tascam 58 and Fostex A8LR. The sidebars are on pages 96 and 98 of the PDF (printed pages 104 and 106).

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Hugh Ford's Studio Sound review of the MX-5050 Mark III/8, the half-inch eight-track: the full manufacturer's specification, a walk through the front-panel track switching, transport, head block and audio boards, the CB-110 remote control unit, and bench results for inputs and outputs, frequency response, noise (Tables 1–3), distortion, wow and flutter (Table 4), crosstalk and erasure. Ford faults the flimsy tension arms, the transformer slung under the transport plate, untidy internal wiring and a remote whose transport keys stay live at the machine, and concludes the machine and remote are well conceived and that more substantial machines cost very much more. The same issue carries Otari UK's two-page spread quoting that verdict and introducing the CB-116 autolocator. The review starts on page 74 of the PDF (printed page 74) and runs on pages 76, 78, 80 and 81; the spread is on pages 38–39 of the PDF, which carry no printed page numbers.

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An Otari testimonial advertisement built around producer and guitarist Jeff Baxter, photographed in his home studio, Casual Sound, with an eight-channel half-inch machine behind him. Baxter describes doing all his pre-production recording at home on his Otari to save studio time, says the machine has never left his studio and has been reliable, and that some of what he captured on it went directly onto final multitrack masters. A separate photograph shows the machine alone, captioned "The Otari ½″ eight channel MK III-8". The ad is on page 51 of the issue (printed page 51).

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Electronic Industries, a US broadcast distributor, used the centre spread of its own monthly newsletter to present the 5050B-II. Page 10 lists the new features — transformerless balanced mic and line inputs and outputs, switch-defeatable low-frequency reproduce EQ, the microprocessor counter with Memory Rewind, a 1 and 10 kHz oscillator, and front-panel indicators for the 185, 250 and 320 nWb/m record levels and IEC/NAB equalization — over a large photograph with numbered callouts. Page 11 keys those numbers to a 21-point feature list and adds prose on the counter, the Mic/Line mixing, the rear-panel 20 dB pad and −10 dBV output switch, peak LEDs factory-set to +9 dB, the SRL switch and the Ref Flux selector. The spread is on pages 10 and 11 of the PDF (printed pages 10 and 11).

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Otari's full-page launch ad for the 5050 MARK III-2 two-channel recorder, headed "IN 1994, YOUR STATION IS SURE TO HAVE ONE FAMILIAR FACE." Otari introduces it as the compact console version of the legendary OTARI 5050 "B", which ties the Mark III directly to the B line. The copy gives three speeds in field-selectable pairs (7.5/15 or 3.75/7.5 ips), ±7% vari-speed, dynamic braking, an optional full-function autolocator, an external machine-control connector for SMPTE time-code synchronizers, front-panel record calibration, a two-frequency oscillator and an extra ¼-track playback head. The close photograph shows the meter bridge and transport, with MX-5050 on the deck plate. The ad is on page 95 of the PDF (no printed page number is visible).

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A colour testimonial advertisement in Billboard in which REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin, an Otari user since 1978, describes working out songs on the Otari eight-track before bringing them to the band, singling out the autolocator and the remote. The recorder is named in a small line as the Mark III-8 ½" 8 Channel Recorder, and it appears in the photograph over Cronin's shoulder with its meter bridge and reels. The ad gives Otari Corporation's Belmont address and carries the 'Technology you can Trust' line. The ad is on page 55 of the full issue's PDF (printed page 58); the archive preserves it as a single-page PDF.

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Part of a page of Turnkey advertising copy, set out like editorial, in which the UK dealer sells the Otari 5050 III against "overrated domestic machines". It lists the machine's studio features: balanced XLR inputs and outputs with a rear switch for +4 dBm or −10 dBm reference level, balanced microphone inputs with a 20 dB pad, rear switches for three flux-level references and NAB or IEC equalisation with the choice shown on LEDs by the meters, a built-in 1k/10k reference oscillator, front-panel trimmers for bias, equalisation and level with internal playback presets including an LF EQ trim, and a switch for standard-reference-level output. It closes by offering the 5050 III in 2, 4 and 8 track formats. The page also carries unrelated Turnkey items on an MXR reverb and a studio build. The Otari item is on page 20 of the PDF; no printed page number shows.

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A full-page advertisement from ITA, Otari's UK dealer, headed "REMEMBER. ITA FOR OTARI." Beneath two columns of dealer copy it pictures the whole MX5050 range of 1984 in labelled photographs — the B2-II (¼-inch two-track), BQ-II (¼-inch four-track), MkIII-2 (¼-inch two-track), MkIII-4 (½-inch four-track) and MkIII-8 (½-inch eight-track) — around a short block of copy, "THE OTARI 5050 RANGE.", describing five machines from ¼-inch two-track to ½-inch eight-track. The ad is on page 7 of the PDF (printed page 7).

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Otari's full-page ad for the B-II in a broadcast-engineering magazine, headed "One Less Alligator" over a photograph of an alligator's jaws. It pitches the machine to broadcast engineers as the most widely used audio machine for broadcast mix-down, news editing and production, and names four features: three speeds, front-panel record calibration, a microprocessor-controlled tape counter with LED display, and variable speed. A small photograph shows the machine from the front. The ad is on page 37 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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A full-page Otari line-up ad headed "Solutions, Solutions, Solutions": eight photographs of the product line, each captioned, above general copy about Otari's size and service. Two panels are MX-5050 machines. The 5050 BII is called "the industry standard audio machine for ¼" 2-channel or mono recording", singled out for its sonic performance and its durability under broadcast use. The MARK III/8 is called the most widely accepted ½" multitrack for broadcast production, recording studio and audio post-production, and is offered with a remote controller and an autolocator. The ad is on page 75 of the PDF; no printed page number shows on the full-bleed page.

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Otari's two-page product-line spread for 1984: fourteen photographs in red-ruled cells, from tape duplicating systems to MTR-series recorders, under the headline "Solutions, Solutions, Solutions . . .". Four of the fourteen are MX-5050 family machines: the 5050 BII, shown head-on as the upright two-channel; the Mark III/2 on its console stand with a remote unit on a pedestal; the Mark III/4; and the Mark III/8 on its console stand with a remote unit and an eight-meter bridge. Each caption is printed in small red type on black, and only the bold lead-ins naming the machines can be read in the scan. The spread is on pages 6 and 7 of the PDF; no printed page numbers are visible.

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Otari's full-page "Play Otari" advertisement in Musician, aimed at players rather than studios: the Mark III-8 with its autolocator and remote control, shown in a small photograph on its floor stand, is offered as a half-inch eight-track whose performance rivals the one-inch machines. The copy names no prices or specifications; it gives Otari Corporation's Belmont address and telephone. The ad is on page 35 of the PDF, which carries no printed page number.

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A "User Report" in Radio World's reel-to-reel Buyers Guide by Randy Schell, a Houston station builder who had installed MX-5050s from the start: the first machines came with manuals that had no schematics, a later "improved" pair was close enough to use the documentation, and the MX-5050BII is the subject of the piece. He lists what the B-II added — an LED real-time tape clock in place of the mechanical counter, and a dual-frequency (1 kHz and 10 kHz) push-on/push-off test oscillator where the second generation had a single momentary 1 kHz tone — and what it kept: the extra ¼-track playback head, individual sel sync, separate mic and line inputs, a switchable reproduce reference level and an edit dump. Maintenance is eased by a swing-out record/play amplifier and real schematics, board layouts and exploded diagrams; the weak point is mechanical editing, with heads hard to reach and a splicing block that lets go of the tape. He puts the machine at $2,300. The report starts on page 31 of the PDF (printed page 27) and ends on page 36 (printed page 32).

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A full-page Otari advertisement, tagged "Now 'Play Otari' for less", announcing a new low price of $4795 for the MARK III/8. The copy lists what the price buys — +4 dBm inputs and outputs on Cannon-type locking connectors, two recording speeds, a multipin interface connector for SMPTE synchronization, return-to-zero, a headphone amp, and VU metering with peak-reading LEDs — and describes the machine as a tabletop console with meter bridge, designed to work with an optional remote control and full-function autolocator. The photograph shows it on floor stands with the remote beside it. It fixes a late US price for the half-inch eight-track, four years after the 1983 reviews listed it at $5295. The ad is on page 70 of the PDF; the page has no printed folio, but the issue's advertiser index lists Otari Corporation on page 70.

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A boxed dealer advertisement from Full Compass Systems of Madison, Wisconsin, under Otari's logo and the heading "Recording Excellence", selling the Otari MARK III-2 by toll-free phone. The feature list describes it as a quarter-inch two-channel half-track, compact table-top recorder/reproducer with an extra quarter-track playback head, DC-servo capstan, variable speed and balanced inputs and outputs, beside a small photograph of the machine captioned OTARI MARK III-2. The ad is on page 131 of the PDF (printed page 141).

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Otari's full-page "RADIO'S TOP TEN!" advertisement in Broadcasting, a photograph of ten machines from the broadcast line over a short copy block. For multitrack work it offers the BQII, MKIII/4 and MKIII/8 beside the MTR-10 and MX-70; for two-track work the "workhorse" MX5050 BII and the MKIII/2 beside the new MX-55. It places the B-II and the Mark III consoles side by side in Otari's own range at the start of 1988. The ad is on page 21 of the PDF (no printed page number is visible).

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A full-page advertisement from Allied Broadcast Equipment, a US broadcast dealer, headed "Let's Make a Deal": the Otari 5050BII two-track stereo and the Denon DN-950F CD cart machine together for $3499 plus freight and handling, on a sale running from April 9 to July 16, 1988. The copy calls the 5050BII radio's most popular reel-to-reel tape recorder, and the photograph shows it upright beside the Denon. The ad is on page 6 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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A bylined piece by Tom Burrows, an Otari industrial sales engineer, written around Westwood One's use of twelve MX-5050 two-tracks for its coverage of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. It is the maker's own outline of the two-track line: the MX-5050-2SH introduced in 1975; the MX-5050-B (upright) and MKII-2 (console with overbridge) in 1978, called the "new workhorse"; some nine thousand Bs sold over the next five years; the MX-5050BII introduced in 1983 with the MKIII-2 console version soon after; and over 17,000 of these recorders sold by 1988. It lists the B-II's features — three speeds, 10½-inch reels, active balanced inputs and outputs, front-panel record adjustments, an hours/minutes/seconds counter, IEC/NAB and +4/−10 switching, test oscillator, varispeed and headphone output — and notes that seven machines went straight from the box into use at the Democratic National Convention. The article is on page 16 of the PDF (printed page 16).

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Otari's full-page launch ad for the MX-55, headed "The Next 'Workhorse.'" and written against the BII. The copy opens by conceding that the BII had become the "workhorse" standard for two-channel machines, lists what the MX-55 adds (an integral autolocator, a voice-editing mode at 2X speed and normal pitch, a built-in cue speaker, gapless seamless punch-in and punch-out on some models, and every adjustment on the front panel), and closes by promising that the BII stays in the line. It dates the BII's successor to the start of 1989 while confirming the BII was still being sold. The photograph shows four Otari two-channel machines, none named in the ad; one in front has the BII's LED timer and meter layout. The ad is on page 9 of the PDF; no printed page number shows.

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George Petersen's survey "ANALOG MULTITRACK RECORDERS" closes its Otari section with a paragraph on the MX-5050 Series: three-speed machines in user-selectable pairs, 10.5-inch reels, ±7% varispeed, three heads, XLR unbalanced inputs and outputs switchable between -10dBV and +4dBm, a 1kHz/10kHz oscillator, LED counters with return to zero, and dbx compatibility. It prices the MkIII-8, a ½-inch eight-track with overbridge meters, at $5,495; the MkIII-4, a ½-inch four-track in a similar package, at $5,935; and the BQ-II, a compact ¼-inch four-track, at $4,345. The headline and byline are on page 58 of the PDF (printed page 56); the paragraph starts on page 64 (printed page 62) and ends on page 67 (printed page 65).

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A New Products item headed "Otari's MX-5050 Series" announcing the fourth generation of the MX-5050: the B-III ¼-inch two-track, the BQ-III ¼-inch four-track, and the Mark IV series in 2-, 4- and 8-track versions, the four- and eight-track on ½-inch tape. It cites improved high-frequency response and signal-to-noise, more advanced microprocessor control, gapless punch in/out on the Mark IV-4 and Mark IV-8, chase-synchronizer compatibility and better remote capability, notes that the B-III is upright and the Mark IV a table-top console machine, and gives Gould Marketing in Montreal as the Canadian contact. A group photograph shows the machines together. The item starts on page 55 of the PDF (printed page 57) and continues on page 57 (printed page 59).

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A short Products-page news item announcing the improved MX-5050 range: the MX-5050 B-III quarter-inch two-track, the BQ-III quarter-inch four-track, and the Mk IV series in 2-, 4- and 8-track versions on half-inch tape. It lists the improvements as better HF response and signal-to-noise ratio, developments in the microprocessor control systems, gapless and seamless drop-in/out on the Mk IV-4 and IV-8, chase synchroniser compatibility and better remote capability, and gives Otari's UK and US addresses. A photograph shows five machines of the range together. The item is on page 14 of the PDF (printed page 14).

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Otari's full-page 1991 ad for its radio range, from the DDR-10 and ProDisk digital recorders to the CTM-10 cart machine. Two paragraphs are the MX-5050 news of that year: the "workhorse" 5050 BII "has become the BIII – just as tough, and twice as easy to use", with a cue ("Q") speaker, independent left/right reel-size selection and dynamic braking; and a new line of 2-, 4- and 8-track machines, the 5050 MKIV Series, with a built-in autolocator offering three one-touch cue-point memories and return to zero. It is the maker's own statement that the B-III is the B-II's successor. The ad is on page 31 of the PDF; no printed page number is visible.

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A dealer entry, not an Otari ad: Full Compass of Madison, Wisconsin, lists the MX5050BIII in its "Recorders For Less" page among Nakamichi, Technics, Tascam and Marantz machines, calling it "the newest of a tradition of standard broadcast workhorses". The copy summarises the BIII: a two-channel machine with an optional quarter-track playback head and a full-track version also available, all-electronic switching, a mini autolocator with three points plus return to zero, three speeds in two speed pairs, front-panel record adjustments, 1 kHz and 10 kHz test tones, a +4/−10 level switch, dynamic braking, mic inputs with a 20 dB pad and mic/line mixing, and varispeed. It names the accessories by part number: rack-mount kit RK2B, roll-around stand ZA52L22 and remote CB127. No price is given. The entry is on page 27 of the PDF; no printed page number shows.

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A four-page Otari insert sold through the dealer Harris Allied of Richmond, Indiana, headed inside "The Right Tool For Every Broadcast Application". Panel 4 covers the "MX-5050 Series Two, Four and Eight Channel Production Recorders": dbx compatibility, a three-head design, a built-in test oscillator, front-panel calibration, a servo-controlled direct-drive capstan with ±20% varispeed, a four-point autolocator with search to zero and repeat, and a tape timer and speed display. Its options list names the machines of the day, offering gapless, seamless punch-in and punch-out on the BQ-III, Mark IV-4 and Mark IV-8, with autolocators, remote controls and a time-code synchronizer and resolver. Two photographs keyed to the panel show a four-channel machine and an eight-channel console machine. The panel is on page 13 of the PDF, the inside spread of the insert, and the Harris Allied address is on page 14; no printed page numbers show.

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Two items from one issue. The main one is a "Technology Update" article by John Carey, Otari's vice president of sales and marketing, announcing the fourth generation of MX-5050 machines: the MX-5050 BIII quarter-inch two-track, the BQ-III quarter-inch four-track, and the Mark IV Series in two, four and eight-track forms, the four and eight on half-inch tape. He lists improved high-frequency response and signal-to-noise ratio, more advanced microprocessor control, gapless seamless punch in/out on the Mark IV-4 and IV-8, chase-synchronizer compatibility and better remote control, and sets the upright B-III against the table-top, console-mounted Mark IV; a photograph shows the new family together. Earlier in the issue, the dealer Crouse-Kimzey's catalogue page lists the new MX-5050BIII and 5050 Mark IV Series with two machine photographs, and offers the last of the discontinued Mark III-2, Mark III-4 and Mark III-8 from stock. The dealer page is on page 19 of the PDF (catalogue page 5) and the article on page 116 (printed page 100).

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A panel headed "Dynamic Workhorse" on the front of a Harris Allied "Broadcast Express" sales sheet bound into this issue of Radio World. It offers the Otari MX5050 BIII at $3,850 with free shipping, calling it the newest in a line of standard broadcast workhorses: every feature upgraded, all-electronic switching, two channels, and the quarter-track playback head listed as an option rather than standard. A photograph of the machine sits beside the panel. The panel is on page 9 of the PDF (no printed page number is visible).

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