Sad TASCAM day...

miroslav

miroslav

Cosmic Cowboy
I watched this eBay listing to the end...just to see what would happen.

This 32-channel M-3700 console sold for a couple of hundred bucks only. :(

Tascam M 3700 32 Channel Studio Mixer Console w Power Supply Manual | eBay

This was close to a $10k console back in the day...and now, you can't give them away.
Which leaves me wondering WTF am I going to do with my M-3500 which has to go now that I got the Trident in the studio...???
I had a feeling I might get stuck with it because no one would want to buy it...and this listing is confirming it.
I'm going to try and sell it locally...that way at least the buyers won't worry about the shipping aspect...but still, I doubt there will be many interested buyers out there.
 
I've seen the demand (and therefore price) of these drop considerably in my area as well... a number of them sold for below $400 this year.

I think they have reached the point now where you will inevitably start running into problems with aging caps, various components drifting out of spec etc. and I think few people would be willing to restore a 32ch console these days unless it's some big ticket boutique item.

Then again I sold my 12ch Fostex mixer a few weeks ago which had issues (headphone out and phantom power not working) for a bit more than what that M3700 went for! :facepalm:
 
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It is sad.

I have seen a bit of resurgence with consoles but it's more high end stuff.

Older mid line stuff had seen some hard hits. Local buyers are few and shipping a console is expensive.

Not many people know how to work on them them themselves, and try to find a local shop for service.

I know a guy locally with a fully functional Mackie 32 channel 8 buss board who had been trying to sell for 2 years. Even at 300 bucks it didn't move.

Sad to say, but I think if we have consoles, we're stuck with them.

Good thing. I like mine. :D
 
I have come to the realisation that my M3700 will become a boat anchor when I finally shut shop one day. One here in Oz sold for AU$700 a few months ago, complete with patch bays, sidecar, and monitor shelf. New they were AU$30,000.

Out in my shipping container (extended storage LOL) I have the first 2 larger live mixers that I owned, worth nothing.

The problem with the M3700 is that it's too big for a home bedroom studio.

Alan.
 
RFR said:
I know a guy locally with a fully functional Mackie 32 channel 8 buss board who had been trying to sell for 2 years. Even at 300 bucks it didn't move.
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Oh, the memories! Back in the 90s, when I was building my ADAT studio (which only ever amounted to two of them), the Mackie 32/8 was on my TO DIE FOR list. I used to lust after that thing. :)

Admittedly, that was back when I didn't know too much about consoles at all. I'd probably never even heard the name Neve before.

Now ... yeah ... I probably wouldn't pay $300 for it either.
 
Chilljam said:
I think they have reached the point now where you will inevitably start running into problems with aging caps, various components drifting out of spec etc. and I think few people would be willing to restore a 32ch console these days unless it's some big ticket boutique item.
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Yes...my M-3500 is 26 years old, and yes, it got to the point where the aging components where on my mind...but I didn't really want to invest the time, effort and money to recap/rechip that console. So I got an old Trident London and just did the complete overhaul on it instead. IMO...it was more worth it putting in the time, effort and money on the Trident that it ever would have been on the 3500.
Also...the 3500/3700 are more of a PITA to work on because the channels are not individual strips, but rather 4-channel "chunks", and it's a bit of work to break them up into individual strips before you can do anything on them...not to mention, if I recall, the chips are surface mounted to the boards, rather then in sockets...and the components are bit more jammed up on them.
Still...if you are motivated, they certainly can be recapped at least, which is would bring them back to new spec.

My the 3500 is functional, everything works...though I'm sure after 26 years it's not in the same spec it was when new.
I've got a lot of spare parts, spare power supply...so maybe that will make it a bit more enticing to someone. :D


witzendoz said:
The problem with the M3700 is that it's too big for a home bedroom studio.
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Says who? :p
 
Miro the ICs are surface mount on the M-3x00 consoles??? Not through-hole? Or are you just making the the distinction of them not being socketed?

That would be a turnoff for me right away in terms of working on them. Surface mount is a pain.

I recall doing the refurb on my M-520 and those channels are in 4-channel modules as well. Not a deal breaker but definitely not as nice to go through as a console with individual strips for sure.

Back on topic...I've seen some crazy stuff going (or not going) for crazy prices in my neck of the woods too...great if you are buying, terrible if you (like me) are trying to sell stuff, and in general just...well...sad. All that circuitry and utility and functionality on a larger 8-buss console going for the price of a Behringer 8x2 line mixer.

The larger analog consoles are just intimidating and overkill to what most people are looking for.
 
I've started seeing high end consoles going for nearly nothing. Any of the Amek, ssl, etc... consoles from the mid 2000's are going for much less than $10k now. About 10 cents on the dollar.
 
sweetbeats said:
Miro the ICs are surface mount on the M-3x00 consoles??? Not through-hole? Or are you just making the the distinction of them not being socketed?
Click to expand...

Yes...that's what I meant...no sockets if I recall, just through-hole (not surface mount).
Seeing how you have to handle chips carefully, avoid the static and all that...sockets make it quick-n-easy.
 
Farview said:
I've started seeing high end consoles going for nearly nothing. Any of the Amek, ssl, etc... consoles from the mid 2000's are going for much less than $10k now. About 10 cents on the dollar.
Click to expand...

I dunno...but for some reason, the Amek stuff just doesn't seem to move.
It's like it lost it's original charm, plus it's now old.
It doesn't get a lot of love from the reviews I've seen on audio sites.

The SSl consoles...there some on eBay right now. I'm not up on all their models/variations...but I see them with like $50k-$60k asking prices....though I don't know if people are buying at those prices.
Those very large consoles only appeal to large studios that can handle the footprint.

The small to mid size pro consoles though still get a decent crowd.
Before I got the Trident 24 London...I was really looking for a good Neotek, but they all tend to sit in the $10k to $15k range, depending on channel count and model. Maybe like a real old Series I you might find for $7k-$8k...but it ends up being like a 16 channel, or needs a lot of TLC.
Anyway...those kind of desks still appeal to the project studio crowd...but they were $25k to $40k new.
The real low end of the "pro-ish" desks, the stuff that was sub-$10k when it was new 20+ years ago...that stuff just ain't moving.
That's where the TASCAM consoles fall...just like the Mackie stuff and a few others.

The Trident I got to replace the TASCAM...I will most likely hold on to it until the end of my recording days (unless I hit the lottery), and that's why I made the effort to do the full refurb on it, but even without it, these lower-budget Tridents (well, they were about $30k new) seem to get decent play on the used market. I think it's because 1) they are not crazy large, and 2) people know that you CAN upgrade them and mod them quite a bit to end up with a very good sounding board.
I hate to say it...but the TASCAM, Mackie...etc stuff...just doesn't have that same kind of vibe...even though it's capable of decent audio quality when fully operational at/near spec.
I guess it's just how things go.

Worst case...if I can't get a decent price for my 3500...maybe I'll find somewhere to donate it to. It's still got life in it.
 
Thinking about it, it was the smaller digital consoles from the early 2000s that I was looking at. Vintage digital is not desirable.
 
Farview said:
Vintage digital is not desirable.
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Oh yeah..."vintage digital" is an oxymoron.
It mistakenly gives that impression that it's still got some life, but like computers, it's good as a doorstop, that's about it. :D

Unlike analog stuff...there's just not much you can do with it...there's rarely any options to upgrade or mod it.
 
Since we were talking about AMEK...this listing has been up a few times, and it just doesn't move...

...though the seller has "0" feedback...and it shows he only joined back on the 17th of September...which makes me wonder if this whole thing is even legit. I could swear this listing has been around since earlier in the summer....?

Anyway...if it is legit, a thousand bucks starting bid for an AMEK Einstein, plus some extras...is pretty cheap.
Even the $2.5 BIN price is cheap. Heck...a year ago, before I got my Trident....I might have given this a real serious consideration at that prices...and it looks like the seller will ship.

Amek Einstein Super E Recording Console Mixer Full Works Great | eBay
 
miroslav said:
and 2) people know that you CAN upgrade them and mod them quite a bit to end up with a very good sounding board.
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When you say upgrade, are you talking component level upgrades? (...just curious..... I'm not going to be in this trailer forever.....)
 
bachelorb said:
When you say upgrade, are you talking component level upgrades? (...just curious..... I'm not going to be in this trailer forever.....)
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Yes....lots of component changes.

As I've mentioned (and there's an entire thread on this forum describing everything with pics)...I recently moved away from my TASCAM M-3500 console to a Trident 24 London that I picked up back at the end of February.

The console already had some mods/upgrades...and then during the summer I went ahead and did the entire thing...recapped all the channels, and I swapped out the rest of the stock chips/opamps that the previous owner didn't do.
He did the first 16 channels with new/different chips...I finished the remaining 12 (it's a 28 channel board) and I also rechipped the 24 monitor/return channels.
AFA the caps, I replaced pretty much all of them except for a couple of channels that had already been done (I'm talking over 1200 caps...or something like that).
I also replaced all the fader packs...28 + 24 + the main stereo fader....and I also modified the EQ on the 28 input channels and 24 monitor channels to change the values of the HF and LF shelf and a couple of other things in there.

The previous owner also upgraded the power supplies and distribution, plus heavy duty grounding mods...well, he had someone do it for him. Originally, there was a single PS unit...now there are 4 separate higher quality PS units, each one with a dedicated task (+ mains, -mains, logic and phantom power). Really top-notch upgrade.

End result...with all that done, the console is now better than original spec,since the new caps are better, the new chips are better, the new power supply/distro is better, and the grounding is better...not to mention, the previous owner also had sent out the main stereo channel strip and aux bus strip for modifications, so there a lot more headroom and cleaner summing.

<EDIT>

Here...if you want to slog through it. :D

https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...gear/trident-24-london-my-new-console-387341/

Not rocket science...but it was a bit of work for sure.
 
I enjoyed the slog...... I notice a lot of people recapping so I was looking that up too..... For you, is recapping mostly preventative maintenance for future problems, or fixing a known problem?
 
Over 12 hundred caps!!!!! Thats a hell of a lot of soldering.

A simple answer for why re-cap.
As they get older the sonic properties decrease. New caps bring it back to like new and sometimes better sound quality.
 
I had my soundcraft Ghost rechipped. It made a big difference.

It seems that the circuit designs of these mid level consoles are pretty good, but they tend to be implemented with cheap parts.
 
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