Should I be hitting the tape harder?

[arjoll]

Andrew, thanks for the continued support, man. I really appreciate

No problem at all, none of this stuff should be difficult; and I know that Radio One used a Mackie 24.8 with an MSR16 as well as Protools for a few years.

I have tried rolling the MSR away from the board, none of my outboard gear is turned on at this point(not unplugged, but not powered), just recording straight from the DM PRO into the board to the MSR and back. Monitors are on, that is all.

I would eliminate everything, including your monitors (the Mackie does have headphone out from memory). Unplug it all, just to eliminate it. In theory there should be no problems if the gear is not plugged in to the mains, but if it is plugged in but not turned on, or in the same rack as something that it, you can still get an earth loop. Given the frustrating problems its better to be safe and just eliminate everything, then add stuff back unit by unit.

I believe, but can't remember for sure, that I unplugged the outs of the MSR but left the cords plugged into the tape returns of the board and all was fine.

Everything does seem to point to the MSR, but here's something else worth trying - try just plugging two of the channels into a normal stereo, and see if you get the hum there. Could be worth a try.

I am going to borrow my neighbor's multimeter tomorrow and check the outlets that I have these things plugged into, existing and the ones I have tried alternately on different circuits, and just make sure the polarity correct.

No! Whatever you do don't plug a normal multimeter into a low impedence mains line. Too dangerious. If you want to check if your phase/neutral/earth connections are correct then get a cheap plug-in tester - usually they have three neons wired between the various lines. They're not perfect - they can't detect a neutral/earth transposition for example - but will at least tell you if phase is on the right pin. Not sure where you get them now, I found this online but its a UK one. I'm sure RadioShack have something similar.

If you do want to get the power tested properly, you need the right equipment. The area I'd really wonder about is earth resistance - if that was too high and you're not getting an effective earth then there are some major safety issues as well!

Dirty power? Well it is a 1952 house, but the extension 'Florida Room' all of this is in is circa 1981...not new, but new type of wiring and the main panels were upgraded during the renovation from glass fuse to circuit breaker.

I really don't know must about US home wiring (other than the fact that they do something weird about feeding you two phase 240V and splitting it into two 120V phases - if this is done in your house make sure that you're on the right phase; I once did live sound at the local community hall and ran the foldback on a plug at the other end of the hall to the sound desk; the hall was fed with three phase, the outlets were on different phases and it wasn't pretty!).

Based on experience of NZ wiring - our last house was built in 1950 and a real 'bitser' due to shortages during the war. Mostly TRS, both in and out of steel conduit; all the local guides said that dated it in the 20's! Newer stuff, since the 70's, was all TPS (plastic coated) and fine. For a standard 230V/16A circuit 2.5mm TPS is specified; for US 120V/??A I have no idea. As long as its TPS you should be ok though.

From memory Beck knows a bit about house wiring so might be able to offer some US-centric advice here??

If it is the MSR which right now that is what it seems, I need to figure whether to get a new MSR ... , look into an MS-16 which I really dig the idea of but again I will likely be buying "blind" and asking the right questions as well as using PayPal to at least get some security if there is a dispute, or buying a new Alesis HD24. I would still be partially analog with the latter, but I just don't know that the long term media I trust, don't want to switch media and 'upgrade' 5 years down the road, and I really am not sure of how separated the sound may come off.

I don't mind the Fostex D2424LV Probably not the best forum to talk about going digital, but I understand why. I think both have their places, you'd have loved the MSR if it worked properly, but maybe a 1/2" 8 track to lay down drums etc and pull it into the Fostex, Alesis or even an Maudio 1010LT.

Back to the MSR, if the sound is from that area then I really think your tech is still not doing his job properly, I have listened to the tracks I recorded on the dbx version with dbx engaged and I have no trace of 50 Hz - listening on my laptop on Audition after being copied with a Protools rig!

Oh yeah, something that worries me on an HD24, though the converters are supposedly good ones, is that I would converting analog in converting to digital, then converting back to analog to the board for mixdown (mixing on a computer screen I don't think I could ever do...that is probably the biggest thing about the consumer digital process that turns my stomach the most). And then converting back to digital to get it postable/producable. Unless of course I sold my CDRW700 and got a tape mastering deck. But it is still going to be converted for listening and sharing somewhere down the line. The plus side is if I buy new, I can always test drive it and return it if I don't like it. Man, I hate when my sensible side creeps out of me.

Not sure on this one, I must admit due to my lack of multi-track capability at the moment I'm mixing/editing 'in the box.'

Keep everyone informed, but don't go poking multimeter leads into your mains outlets!

Oops - 10:30pm Sunday, time for bed, I've got work in the morning!