I have one of these. Two tape speeds are possible: 7.5 ips (inches per second) and 15 ips. There are several reasons why this kind of deck will sound better than even the best cassette deck. First off, because the tape is moving so quickly past the heads there is far less chance of oversaturating the oxide on the tape. Thus, it will have much greater dynamic range (diffeence between the quiet and the loud sounds). Secondly, there will be a superior frequency response in the high frequencies without needing lots of tricks such as Dolby and metal tape and lots of EQ and bias adjustments. Thirdly, there is less chance of wow and flutter. Cassette tape runs at a very slow 1-7/8 inches per second and on much narrower tape than on this class of open-reel recorder which uses 1/4”. To improve on this class of machine you’d go up to half- track tape heads rather than what was called quarter track (1/4 track). That means the record and playback heads would have two gaps rather than the four like you can see in the video. OR, you’d get a 1/2” tape machine and shell out some pretty good money for 1/2 tape. Basically, this of it this way: The wider the tape and the faster the tape speed the quieter the result (less tape hiss), wider the dynamic range, and wider frequency response. Now, this A-3440 must be a later model than mine because Teac engineers went more ‘pro’ with its design. The overall layout of mine inside is messier, with little PC boards stuck here and there , making access to the motors, solenoids, flywheel, andbelts more difficult. The simul-sync switches on mine are up on the tape head cover, looking almost like an after-thought. In fact, the PCB (printed circuit board) that the simul-sync switches are soldered to is broken because the recorder must have fallen over on its front sometime in its life. Those switches stick out more than anything else, including the reel locks so they took a beating. Anyway, thanks for doing a video about this unit. Yours and another guy’s tear down and servicing YT video have helped me get mine back up and running! We’ve come a long way since this type of sound source for home listening, haven’t we? Now I can say to my Alexa Dot (which cost $40 and has no moving parts) ‘Play Beethoven string quartets on Tidal’ and I’ll get it in about 5 seconds, playing through my wonderful Mirage M1 speakers, Parasound FET preamp and Parasound power amp. I didn’t have to touch a thing. Still, I do miss the machinery sometimes - the feel of tape, the excitement of rewinding when you fear the plastic reel is going to fly apart and cut your finger off, that kind of stuff. Heck, I could barely list my 3440 up onto the shop bench to work on it a couple of days ago. I can’t say I miss having to demagnatize and clean the heads, either.

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because of this video, I was able to fix a Simul-sync issue I was having with my recorder!!!!! You pointed out the 4 little cards that pertain to simul-sync inside the deck. My Teac was only playing out of one speaker while in "sync" mode on channel 2. The UV meter wouldn't even move on channel 2. But... it played back just fine out of both speakers & the meter worked on channel 2 while in "play" mode. I have spare parts for this machine. So I replaced the channel 2 simul-sync card. Voila!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My machine is working great on channel 2 now. I am excited!!!!!!!!!!!! I got this unit at an estate sale for $200.00 a few years back.

How I love analog electronics. The days of tape MTR are dying away. Analog recordings are so warm. I'm glad they still make turntables and tube amps. MOSFETs are close, but are no replacement for thermionics. Thanks for sharing this.

Teac owners could use your help.

Great overview!

hello, thank you for this informative video about the teac 3440. I have had one since the 1980s and I would like to use it again to retrieve old recordings.

I found the best Tape formulations for TEAC and TASCAM non EE decks is Scotch 996 or Maxell UD XL1.. Both are extremely low noise, non-shedding, and have MOL @ 15 IPS of +8db VU with no saturation

Thanks for all the great information and visual of the inside. Appreciate the explanation of the components. Sounds like you really know a lot about them.

Any tips on working on those flat relays

Where did you get those blue NAB sdspters? Do you have the link?

Just picked one of these up for 300 bucks. I ordered a capstan belt and am hoping that is all it needs, but I'm suspecting it might need a new microswitch for the tensioner arm play shutoff

I have one with the dbx unit. Absolutely a game changer. The nicest sound recordings you xan imagine. I'd even put it ahead of digital. Just warmer, clean, beautiful

Heya! Great little vid. Cheers! ..I don't suppose you might know why this machine, working Perfectly before moving to new location, would Suddenly be completely unable to record across all channels? (All jumpers in place, Source shows all incoming signal on all channels. The machine will Erase on all 4 channels, but Nothing coming through the inputs\meters, while recording enabled .. will actually make it on tape. I am Utterly flummoxed. Any ideas welcome. (Also re-seated every last board to be safe..). Thank You!!!

I have a Tascam 32 and the right channel goes out every so often.i wondered if the connections need cleaning. I read that it happens sometimes. I don't have anyone near me that repairs them.

matching DBX unit is RX-9 (I have one), although other DBX's like the 224 would likely work

A little tidbit all Maxell tapes have a leader tape of head cleaning and on the end as head cleaner as well the beginning is clear and the end of the tape it's red so you know whether you're at the beginning or the end of the tape

Looks to me like you can find the date code of your machine (approximate) on the back of the VU lighted meters.

If you ever , please do a video on an 80 8! There’s not one on KZread! Great vids

That beast was my dream machine but I could not afford it back then.

I think these were manufactured between 1974 and 1977. I think I found a date code of 1977 on the motor on mine. I replaced my ICS from the 4558 to the 740SL op amps. Mine is a lot quieter now.