Really impressed with the Tascam 22-2

R

Rickson Gracie

New member
I just got back my 22-2 from the service center and have been tinkering with it ever since. I havent done any pure analog projects yet but just to test it out and get familiar with the unit I have been running my analog outs on the Apogee 800 converter directly into the 22-2 and monitoring the effect of tape with the source/tape button.

Ive been running some Led zep and beatles CDs to tape and it really does sound wonderful. It definitely adds plenty of 'warmth.' Its also interesting trying different input levels. Also bringing it down to 7.5 ips also brings some cool results. The sound isnt necessarily 'worse' on the lower speed but just a different flavor.

I really wasnt planning on using the 22-2 in this way or even going digital to tape at all but i am actually very impressed with the results so far. i cant wait to start my first full analog project:)
 
Aye Rickson, the analogue / digital difference is hard to describe to someone who's never experienced it. But it's instantly noticable even from a digital source. I have heard you need to get to 24 bit / 383 kHz sampling rates before you get close if you're in the digital world. That's way different from anything that's commercially available.

I've just been doing a full A-A-A job on some of our band's stuff, Revox tracking tape to Otari master tape (15ips) to Akai cassette deck in CrO2. I also put the Otari master out through my Boss BR1600 DAW just to have a digital copy. It sounds puny in comparison.

How can you describe the difference? I don't know, maybe analogue is full, warm and kind of 'smeared' whereas 16 bit / 44 kHz digital is narrow, bright and maybe 'precise' or 'regimented'.

Our music sure as heck isn't precise nor regimented. Analogue suits it best.

What tape stock are you using?

Jed
 
Yep, the 22-2 is a nice little beast. It's my only analog half-track right now... just don't need anything else. :)

I use mostly Quantegy 407, but like 3M 207, Maxell XL-35-90B and EMTEC 468 as well.
 
Beck said:
Yep, the 22-2 is a nice little beast. It's my only analog half-track right now... just don't need anything else. :)

I use mostly Quantegy 407, but like 3M 207, Maxell XL-35-90B and EMTEC 468 as well.
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Agree, good things comes in small packages;)
 
jedblue said:
How can you describe the difference? I don't know, maybe analogue is full, warm and kind of 'smeared' whereas 16 bit / 44 kHz digital is narrow, bright and maybe 'precise' or 'regimented'.
Jed
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it definitely smears the top end and makes it more warm and fuzzy in a nice way.

i plugged the output of the 22-2 into an old fisher tube stereo that i play records through and i could definitely tell the difference between the CDs recorded to tape compared with vinyl records. records won the pepsi challenge easily.

it still sounded good but not in vinyl league. probably because the original source is a CD. i cant wait to try it with a project that starts and ends in analog.

listening to vinyl on a good system is what got me interested in analog recording in the first place. i want to best emulate the sound off those records and i know i cant do it with digital.
 
Is this reel a better mastering deck then the Tascam 32? I've been told Tascam is the upper range of the tech side to Teac.
 
dodgeaspen said:
Is this reel a better mastering deck then the Tascam 32?
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No, they're just different. If you like the portability, need to save space and don't need more than 22 or so minutes of music per reel, then the 22-2 is just peachy. The 22-2 is the least expensive to rebuild parts wise.

But you can do everything and more with the 32. And the 32 has little extra features that the 22-2 doesn't have, such as Zero Return. On sound alone they are very close.
I've been told Tascam is the upper range of the tech side to Teac.
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Yes, and both the 20 and 30 series are TASCAM.

:)
 
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