Tascam 85-16

I've owned new 85-16's and 85-16b's since they were first made over there in Montebello. The dbx units are not a bundled situation. They are integral parts of the machine, included with and shipped with the machine since day one.

The factory dbx units (2 of them, 8 channels each) are the two bottom most units of the three you see in the pic under the transport. You could never get an 85-16 WITHOUT dbx. Those units are basically welded to the unit in their slide out drawers.

The thinking that we (those who were there in the biz) and Tascam had in the days of the 70s-80''s was that these 1 inch machines were trying to compete with the large dynamic range, large band guards, and wider path of 2-inch tape. To run really hot signals on a 16 track one inch (without dbx) meant that the smaller band guards could easily jack up the crosstalk between tracks...which it constantly did if you turned the dbx off. Especially if you were running smpte sync tones on track 16 of an 8516 for example.

So....the integrated dbx did two things. First, it allowed lower recording levels so one wouldn't always necessarily feel the need to pump the vu's over 0db....which allowed extremely good crosstalk figures between the tracks. Second, the 8516 onboard dbx allowed for much quieter signal compared to a 2-inch machine...which was the intent...due to the desire to have a 1980, 1inch 16 track that could remotely hope to compete with a 1980 2-inch 16 track in the market that existed in those years. An 8516 with dbx on gives one very very very quiet bunch of tracks. No hiss. Period.

So, in the year 2005, one may or may not decide that "you don't need dbx on a one inch 16 track". But during the years the 8516 and 8516b were current products, the presence of dbx was indeed necessary for most types of tracking on a narrow guage machine like a one inch 16track...and helped get the machine into professional studios.

Ultimately, the 16 switches on the front of the 8516 dbx units can be totally or selectively switched on or off. The user has complete control over whether to use the dbx units. Some folks turn them off, live with the hiss increase, and like the resulting sound. It's all personal preference. In my years of using them, I always leave the dbx on.
 
I stand corrected. Thanks for that input!

It just looked like a 4ch dbx unit (1U unit in photo #2) had been thrown in. I suppose if it is there, and it also has 16 tracks of dbx, then that's a bonus if you have a 34 kicking around somewhere!

Thanks
Andrew
 
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Damn BRDTS, most every one of your posts that I run accross, is immensely interesting. Thanks again!

Daniel
 
Thanks.

I did give one piece of bozo information though. The 8516 dbx unit is a single unit and is the middle drawer of the three drawers you might see in pictures. I was typing and thinking of the layout of the older 90-16s. If I would've bothered to swivel my chair around to actually look at the 8516b behind me, I would've gotten the info right the first time.

The top slide out drawer has a removable panel and contains all the bias etc setting pots. Tascam even included a little plastic tweaking tool with that fit into a grooved holder inside that drawer. Although mine disappeared within the first couple of years. The lower drawer of the three is the power supply for the machine.

Other 8516 tidbits.

The top transport is mounted on a swivel. There are two, black pull out pins on each side of the top. If you pull those spring loaded pins outward, you can grab the transport and tilt it totally perpendicular ...straight up and down....to easily get to the reel/capstan motors etc.

The 8516 transport function panel (record arming etc) lifts completely out of the machine and can be placed anywhere up to 30-40 feet from the machine (if you have the optional umbilical cable).

The AQ85-90 autolocator, which was an option for the 8516, would plug right in to the function selector at whatever remote distance. The Aq85-90 has 10 cue points and rtz + tape counter.

With that setup, you had remote track arming and transport controls for the 8516...as well as a duplicate set of transport controls still at the machine. Pretty cool setup for it's day. I stopped using the Aq85-90 after the appearance of the Mts1000 (midiizer) in the 80's because the midiizer would do so much more than the basic autolocator. But I still have all this stuff.

Also, the transport can be taken completely off the machine as can also the three metal drawers below. They just slide clear out and then off the machine like a kitchen drawer.

Instead of one 209 lb machine, what you then have are five pieces.. pedestal, 3 drawers, and transport. Plus the 5 or 6 multipin cables that connect everything in the back.

Back in the old days, I could take an 8516 apart in about six or seven minutes, throw it into my little Nissan Sentra (well not throw it) and drive to numerous places to do remote sessions.
 
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