Otari

Also known as: Otari Inc., Otari Electric, Otari Electric Co.

Otari is a Japanese manufacturer of professional audio equipment, founded in 1965 in Tokyo by Masayuki Hosoda. The company took its name from the village of Otari in Nagano Prefecture, where Hosoda was born. Its first product was the DP-1000 high-speed tape duplicator in 1966, and Otari went on to become one of the most recognized names in reel-to-reel tape machines for recording, broadcast, an...

12 Products · Used by 25 Artists

Otari MTR-90 Analog

$6,995.00

1 available store

^# 27

in Analog Rank

12 artists using

Otari MTR-90 MKIII 2" 24-Track Tape Machine with Remote Control and Auto Locator Analog

$4,500.00

1 available store

^# 38

in Analog Rank

Otari MX-80 2" 24-Track Tape Machine with CB-124 Remote Control Unit Analog

^# 44

in Analog Rank

Otari 5050MKIII-8 Analog

4.5 (2)

^# 52

in Analog Rank

5 artists using

Otari MX5050mk3 Analog

5.0 (1)

^# 80

in Analog Rank

Otari MTR-10 Tape Decks

5.0 (1)

^# 27

in Tape Decks Rank

Otari MTR-15 Cassette Recorders & Duplicators

1 artist using

Otari MX-80 2" 24-Track Tape Machine with CB-140 Remote Control Unit Analog

Otari MX-70 Analog

$2,100.00

1 available store

Otari DP-4050E-C2 Casette Copy Machine Cassette Recorders & Duplicators

1 artist using

Otari MX-5050BIII Tape Decks

3 artists using

Otari MX5050 Analog

4 artists using

The brand is best known for its analog multitrack and mastering tape recorders, particularly the MX-5050 series, which became a staple mixdown and tracking machine in radio stations, project studios, and mid-tier recording facilities worldwide. Its larger-format decks — the MTR-90 24-track, the MTR-100, the MX-80, and the MX-55 — were widely adopted in professional studios as more affordable alternatives to Studer. Otari also produced the BTR broadcast series, the Concept and Elite analog mixing consoles, and later the DR-100 nonlinear recording system and the DAS series for digitizing analog audio.

Beyond music recording, Otari built a substantial business in industrial tape and cassette duplication systems, supplying the broadcast, post-production, and film industries. The company is headquartered in Tokyo with manufacturing facilities in Nagano Prefecture, and while it wound down production of analog reel-to-reel decks in the mid-2000s, its tape machines remain in active use and are a regular sight on the used market among engineers chasing analog workflows.

Otari has 12 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Analog, Tape Decks, and Cassette Recorders & Duplicators. Their gear is featured by 25 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock, Electronic, and Pop. Notable users include Jack Shirley, Kevin Shields, and Mark King Level 42.