tape sizes versus sound sizes

B

barbieparty

New member
so now i am in the process of buying a reel to reel, and i was all ready to buy a tascam tsr-8, when someone offered me a great deal (i think its a great deal) on a fostex b-16d.

anyone have experience with both or either of these machines? im pretty sure both use 1/2" tape, but the fostex would obviously have half the width per track.

the extra 8 tracks would make my project much easier, but not at the expense of any loss in sound. would the smaller tape sizes per track kill some sound quality? i heard the larger the tape width used the better, so i assumed that this holds true here too. if the tracks will sound thicker and better on the tascam, thats whats most important. i intend on getting some good tape saturation on drums so i dont want thin tape to hurt it AT ALL.

thanks!
 
Theoretically, a wider tape track width should give you a fuller and more detailed sound and give better guard banding in-between each track so that what you record on one track doesn't leak onto the one beside it.

I have owned in the past a Fostex R8 which was an 8 track recorder, running at 15ips on 1/4 inch tape and while the deck did sound good, I did find the sound quality lacked a little bit of upper end detail that I could more easily capture on my TASCAM 38, which is a half inch, 8 track machine.

Beyond the tape width formats, factors like the quality of the channel amp cards and the power supplies that feed it all do factor into the equation as well and there too, I personally prefer the sound of TASCAM and like their build quality as well.

The B series of recorders from Fostex is a bit of an older series from them and some sonic improvements were made in the newer E series which I owned so, this may be even more of a reason to steer clear.

A low price is not always a sign of a true bargain too. Sometimes it's a telling factor in what the machine is really worth and how much the previous owner liked and valued it.

The TASCAM TSR8 was their newest and last design in that format and without exception, I have never heard a bad word spoken about its sound and build quality. It's a safe choice if you can work efficiently with 8 tracks.

Cheers! :)
 
well, thats very helpful, and exactly what i had expected. i was leaning towards the tsr-8 just because of its younger age, more desirable tape width, and reputation.

its hard sometimes to think clear when someone offers to double your tracks.....hehe.

thanks so much!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top