Tascam 22-2 or Fostex E-2?

[vwcsonic]

Hi,

Looking at both these used to use for mixdown. Looking for some character and warmth after recording/mixing on my digital 16. Is one of these far superior, or what are some of the pros and cons? Thanks.

[Herm]

22-2 Is the way I would go cause some parts are still easy to get. Like the belts and pinch roller from tascam. Also they share alot of the same parts as their other recorders so it would be easier to find used parts.
And they sound great! I have 3 of them and wouldnt part with any of them.

[Beck]

The 22-2 is my only half-track mastering reel-to-reel. I don't need anything else -- excellent all around machine.

I don't think the E-2 is a bad machine, but keep in mind you can still buy brand new heads for the 22-2 from Tascam for around $40.00 each if/when you need to replace them.

Fostex has no real support of analog legacy stuff anymore.

-Tim

[A Reel Person]

I've not gone to Fostex for legacy deck parts, so I'd not know. I do know that I got some Fosatex legacy deck manuals from them, a couple years ago. Also, I did call Fostex about the obsoleted FD-4, and tech support was very thin. I got my answer, that the FD-4 internal HD upgrade I wanted was no longer available. I don't know if this can be used as an indicator. On the flipside, I've never called Tascam tech support, outright, so I have nothing to compare it to. However, it's my opinion that if you called Tascam with a tech question on a reel tape deck, you'd be laughed at & told you're way out of step with the times. Take the above statement as an opinion, only.

The Fostex E-2 is more of a full on pro deck, with center timecode track and Accessory 2 sync compatible plugs and capability. Dolby C NR is standard on the E-2.

The Tascam 22-2 is more of a budget minded unit, with no timecode or other fancy features. Noise reduction would be an add-on component to the 22-2, (the DX-2D).

With that being said, and given that I own an E-2 and not a 22-2, it'll probably seem contradictory if I said that I generally prefer Tascams over Fostexes, when they overlap on types or classes of decks.

Aw, heck,... buy them both!

Tascam: Fostex: Can't they all just get along?

Heh.

[tubesrawsom]

I have a 22-2 but im still waiting for my tapes to come (im in isreal) but the machine is so nice. Get it.

Peace

[A Reel Person]

I just remembered that I have called Fostex for legacy gear parts & they did have them. Also, to the best of my knowledge, I believe that Fostex still does repairs on it's own legacy gear, but I have not used their services.

I know for a fact that Tascam still does repairs on it's own legacy gear, and I have used it.

I guess I was implying above that (other) miscellaneous technical support on legacy analog gear may be thin at both Tascam & Fostex.

Yamaha is another company that will repair it's own legacy analog gear.

[tubesrawsom]

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

I just remembered that I have called Fostex for legacy gear parts & they did have them. Also, to the best of my knowledge, I believe that Fostex still does repairs on it's own legacy gear

Thats a nice piece of info. I was looking into fostex 8 tracks. But i also want a tascam 8 track, Maybe I'll get both.