Recorders

A friend of mine has a couple of old stereo tape reels which he'd like to transfer to CD. I've seen stereo reel-to-reel tape machines for sale and I'm considering investing in one, probably a Studer or a Revox, not only to help out my friend, but also because I'm interested in experimenting with tape loops and tape saturation effects. Are old machines by these manufacturers reliable?

Recently, I bought a digital recorder and have been re-recording some of my old compositions from scratch in digital but, to my great disappointment, I am finding that my mixes are sounding harsh and cluttered. I thought digital recording would give me more clarity in the mix because of its higher fidelity. Where am I going wrong and what can I do about it?