noise reduction advice?

[nicarp]

Hi--

I'm new here, and new to recording, mostly. I got a mint-condition TASCAM 22-4 for $30 the other day (been used maybe 10 hours or so), along with a Teac 2A mixer for $10, and am looking forward to checking it all out. I noticed in the 22-4 manual it talks about the importance of using a noise reduction unit to keep hiss down. It talks specifically of a Teac dbx unit, but mentions that there are many different noise reduction units one could use. There's a pawn shop here in town that has a Teac Dolby unit, model number AN-60. Would this be compatible with my 22-4? The 22-4 manual shows the deck connecting to a noise reduction unit via jacks labeled "encoder" and "decoder," but this AN-60 doesn't have those. It comes with a cassette for tone calibration, which means nothing to me. Any advice on whether I should buy this or not would be great--I can probably get it for $40 or $45. Thanks!

Nic

[Herm]

Congrats on the great score. You cant beat the price for a unit like that.
And welcome to the Analog forum.


Save yourself some greif and get a Tascam dx-4d. They run up to about
100.00 on ebay. They also made another dbx unit for the 22-4 that I think was a called rx9 but I would get the dx-4d instead its much better unit.
ANd if you havnt looked into tape yet check out some Quantegy 407 it works well with the 22-4. You can find it here http://www.usrecordingmedia.com/

And good luck with your machine

[nicarp]

Thanks, Herm--I appreciate it. Maybe I'll wait to find a dx-4D on eBay or somewhere. Should I not even bother recording until I find one? Will it just be too frustratingly hissy?

I ordered Quantegy 457 tape from American Musical Supply--it's 1/4" x 1800' x 7"? Will that work or does it need to be the 407 you mention?

Thanks again very much--

Nic

[Herm]

I think the 457 will work ok, Maybe Beck will come in here and he can shed some light on the tape.
And yes go ahead and play with the machine it will still do a great job even with out the noise reduction. Just keep your levels high and hiss wont be that much of a problem unless you get into bouncing alot of tracks.

[nicarp]

cool--thanks much--

[Beck]

Yeah 457 is great -- actually more than you need. 407 is also a great tape and a little cheaper. But then people get good results with 456 on that machine, though I would tend to shy away from 1.5 mil thickness on a regular basis. Then again most home recordists are not in a high-use production environment, so not likely to do any damage regardless.

Tape to head contact is technically better with the thinner tape like 407, 457 and Maxell 35-90, etc. However, print through is better with 406 or 456.

Ask anyone, I can be a little anal when it comes to tape selection sometimes – it’s just one of my things I guess. I found early on that I could get marginal equipment to really perform beyond expectations if I was careful matching tape to machine.

As for noise reduction the DX-4D is really the way to go. The AN-60 you mentioned is Dolby B and I believe it has a non-defeatable MPX filter for FM radio. The AN-80 has the same problem. An MPX filter is something to watch out for when looking at consumer Dolby units. If you can’t turn it off, your high frequencies will be cut off at about 15 kHz and above.

Best of luck,
Tim

[nicarp]

Thanks, Tim--glad I got the right tape. Thanks also to you and, again, Herm, for shooing me away from the AN-60. I had a hunch that wasn't hgeat I wanted, so I'm glad I checked.

By the way, a little about myself--I'm a singer-songwriter type in Iowa City, Iowa, looking just to have some fun recording with this cool new gear I got. Something about this analog thing really intrigues me--I've often been a little intimidated by, and unhappy with the results of, digital stuff. I got a Fostex digital 8-track (MR-8, I think it's called) a year or so ago and hated it. I'm sure I'll be pestering folks here with plenty of questions as things unfold. I'm happy to have found this discussion list--it's just what I need, as I'm something of a techno-idiot.

Thanks again to the both of youse--

Nic

[SteveMac]

Originally Posted by nicarp

Thanks, Tim--glad I got the right tape. Thanks also to you and, again, Herm, for shooing me away from the AN-60. I had a hunch that wasn't hgeat I wanted, so I'm glad I checked.

By the way, a little about myself--I'm a singer-songwriter type in Iowa City, Iowa, looking just to have some fun recording with this cool new gear I got. Something about this analog thing really intrigues me--I've often been a little intimidated by, and unhappy with the results of, digital stuff. I got a Fostex digital 8-track (MR-8, I think it's called) a year or so ago and hated it. I'm sure I'll be pestering folks here with plenty of questions as things unfold. I'm happy to have found this discussion list--it's just what I need, as I'm something of a techno-idiot.

Thanks again to the both of youse--

Nic

Analog is the way to go, man! At least on the low end of things. I feel bad for kids today who think there are no other options than digital recorders. Some are bound to give up thinking that they don't have what it takes to achieve the right sounds. I remember when the ADATS came out, a friend of mine had one and I pretty much had to refuse to record anything on it. Even though they were being used in pro studios I really couldn't find anything good about it. I was lucky enough to have a 4 track reel recorder and knew how I liked things to sound.

[Herm]

Can you imagine growing up thinking that the digital shit like you buy now days is all there is?
I feel sorry for them. Kinda