Interface Recommendation - Teac 80-8 / Tascam 244

[chillward]

Hey there, after reading a lot on this forum and getting a lot of help I got me a Teac 80-8 with a Tascam M216 and now it's finally time to get my interface. My plan is to record on the 80-8 through the M216 and master on a 244. I know some of you might get upset about the last sentence but I really want to try to master on the cassette tape and then bring the master back to the 80-8 and so on just for the search of "a sound".

I am looking for recommendations on an audio interface which is in my budget (80-100 usd) and which is capable of bringing the 2 mastered tracks to computer. No need to work on the songs on the computer I just want to bring them to the digital world for releasing them. It's hard to put tape on bandcamp and co., unfortunately.

Thank you for reading this!

 

[jpmorris]

Do you have any specific requirements? More than 2 channels? OSX? Linux? A completely standalone device so it'll work on any OS at all?
What sort of connection do you need for the computer? USB usually works fine for a stereo interface (unless it's shoddy and causes ground loop noise like my Edirol UA25). For PCIe the Asus Xonar D2X works very nicely, and is shielded from the rest of the machine.

 

[Mack Caster]

Hey there, after reading a lot on this forum and getting a lot of help I got me a Teac 80-8 with a Tascam M216 and now it's finally time to get my interface. My plan is to record on the 80-8 through the M216 and master on a 244. I know some of you might get upset about the last sentence but I really want to try to master on the cassette tape and then bring the master back to the 80-8 and so on just for the search of "a sound".

I am looking for recommendations on an audio interface which is in my budget (80-100 usd) and which is capable of bringing the 2 mastered tracks to computer. No need to work on the songs on the computer I just want to bring them to the digital world for releasing them. It's hard to put tape on bandcamp and co., unfortunately.

Thank you for reading this!

Look into the Alesis 4 channel mixer. $99.00. It will do as you wish with extras to spare. Make sure you click on one of the communities ads, as it will help pay for their hosting if you decide to buy it.

 

[miroslav]

I am looking for recommendations on an audio interface which is in my budget (80-100 usd) and which is capable of bringing the 2 mastered tracks to computer.

Any 2-channel interface will be more than adequate for your audio coming off the cassette player. Just go to Sweetwater or Musician's Friend and buy the interface that fits your budget (even the cheapest ones will do) and that will work with your computer OS, and the type of hook-up you want to use...USB, PCIe, whatever you have.

 

[chillward]

Do you have any specific requirements? More than 2 channels? OSX? Linux? A completely standalone device so it'll work on any OS at all?
What sort of connection do you need for the computer? USB usually works fine for a stereo interface (unless it's shoddy and causes ground loop noise like my Edirol UA25). For PCIe the Asus Xonar D2X works very nicely, and is shielded from the rest of the machine.

Oh sorry forgot to mention the digital specs. I do work with a Macbook operating with OSX. I think USB would be best suited but there's also a firewire port. Is there anything you could recommend for the TEAC 80-8?

 

[chillward]

Any 2-channel interface will be more than adequate for your audio coming off the cassette player.

Is there anything I have to consider between an interface transporting from the 244 to the laptop and the 80-8 or shouldn't that be a huge problem / difference?

Look into the Alesis 4 channel mixer. $99.00. It will do as you wish with extras to spare. Make sure you click on one of the communities ads, as it will help pay for their hosting if you decide to buy it.

Thanks I will definitley look this one up!

 

[chillward]

Look into the Alesis 4 channel mixer. $99.00. It will do as you wish with extras to spare. Make sure you click on one of the communities ads, as it will help pay for their hosting if you decide to buy it.

I just saw there is an 8 channel version as well. could this bring me the 8 individual tracks recorded from the teac 80-8 to the notebook? If so, I might consider using a DAW.

 

[Mack Caster]

I just saw there is an 8 channel version as well. could this bring me the 8 individual tracks recorded from the teac 80-8 to the notebook? If so, I might consider using a DAW.

No. Most if not all mixers that have USB capabilities, will only give your a left and right input into a DAW. I own the 8 channel as well and they are two channels only. Your original post only stated you needed an input if I am not mistaken,

"which is capable of bringing the 2 mastered tracks to computer".

I also use the Tascam US 16x8 and I use Reaper to lay down 16 separate tracks at once. If this is what you need to do, check out the Tascam 4x4 audio interface.

 

[miroslav]

Is there anything I have to consider between an interface transporting from the 244 to the laptop and the 80-8 or shouldn't that be a huge problem / difference?

What you have coming from your tape machines is analog audio...that's all that the interface will see or care about.
I will assume your cassette if running on -10 dBV unbalanced, so you want the interface to have both a +4 dBu and -10dBV choice. The unbalanced/balanced is not much of an issue...and most interfaces will take what you give them without a problem.

Now...coming out of the interface, if you plan to go back to the analog gear, again just make sure the output format can be adjusted to fit your analog gear. Low into High isn't usually an issue, but you're better off avoiding having a +4 signal going to a -10 input...though much of that stuff can be adjusted usually.

Do you know what the I/O specs are of your analog gear?

 

[jpmorris]

As I suspected, the Alesis tops out at 16 bit, 48KHz. That's good enough to equal DAT or CD, but a device capable of 24 bit 96KHz would be an improvement, especially if you plan to do any digital correction afterwards.

The M-Audio M-track 2x2 looks decent except that they've done this weird thing where they've put the two input channels on the opposite sides of the chassis, literally one at the front and one at the rear. A cheaper alternative is the Behringer u-phoria umc202hd, which at least has the left and right channels next to each other. I've yet to find any complaints about USB bus noise - other than that it's probably just a reference design for the codec chip anyway.

 

[chillward]

As I suspected, the Alesis tops out at 16 bit, 48KHz. That's good enough to equal DAT or CD, but a device capable of 24 bit 96KHz would be an improvement, especially if you plan to do any digital correction afterwards.

The M-Audio M-track 2x2 looks decent except that they've done this weird thing where they've put the two input channels on the opposite sides of the chassis, literally one at the front and one at the rear. A cheaper alternative is the Behringer u-phoria umc202hd, which at least has the left and right channels next to each other. I've yet to find any complaints about USB bus noise - other than that it's probably just a reference design for the codec chip anyway.

Great, thanks for the information! I bought the Alesis IO 2 now very cheap second hand. I'll try this one at first but the behringer is definitley an option! Last thing I'll need (because of my now tight budget) is a Hall/Reverb unit. I found the TC Electronic M300 FX Processor cheap in my city. Is there anything I'll have to consider when buying this unit for the Tascam M216 Mixer and the Teac 80-8?

Plus I found a Tascam 48 today also in my city pretty cheap (not sure about condition and yes I think I developed a serious reel to reel addiction) but I heard it already has a Time-Code on it. Looked it up but couldn't find anything. Do you know anything about that?