Using 2 688s with ATS 500

[diskobox]

hello,

is it possible to use the tascam ATS 500 to sync two Tascam 688s together giving me 14 tracks?

also, is it possible to sync a 488 with a 688 using the ATS 500?

thanks very much!! Ian

[A Reel Person]

I believe you could also sync the 488 & 688, with the 488 as code-only master and the 688 as slave.

[diskobox]

thank you. If you synced the 488 and the 688 together, would that mean you could record 11 tracks simultaneously? (7 on the 688 & 4 on the 488)

cheers!

[A Reel Person]

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[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by diskobox

thank you. If you synced the 488 and the 688 together, would that mean you could record 11 tracks simultaneously? (7 on the 688 & 4 on the 488)

cheers!

If one is a 4 track and the other is an 8 track the you lose a track on each one for striping time code so that would mean 8+4-2=10 tracks in total, not 11.

Cheers!

[diskobox]

the 488 is an 8-track but thanks anyway

[diskobox]

do you think using the ATS 500 to sync the two together is a good option or are there any better options?

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by diskobox

the 488 is an 8-track but thanks anyway

That's what I thought but since no one else caught the fog in this thread, I figured I should do likewise.

So then, math lesson two;

8+8-2=14 tracks. Not 11 or 10.

do you think using the ATS 500 to sync the two together is a good option or are there any better options?

The better option is to buy a singular 16 track deck and loose all the spaghetti of running two small format cassette decks.

An open reel 16 track deck like an MSR16 goes for around 700 bucks on ebay and the sound quality from that would walk all over your two very nice but lesser fidelity cassette units.

Cheers!

[A Reel Person]

Where this post went awry is when our friend described hooking a 688 & 488, for a combined 11 simultaneous tracks, which is correct.

The sync code would be on track 8 of the 688, so that gives you 7 audio tracks.

The sync code would also be on track 8 of the 488, but you could easily record on any 4 tracks simultaneously, except 8 which would be outputting sync code.

7+4=11.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by diskobox

thank you. If you synced the 488 and the 688 together, would that mean you could record 11 tracks simultaneously? (7 on the 688 & 4 on the 488)

cheers!

I missed that part completely!

My apologies.

Cheers!

[diskobox]

how efficient would sync'ing the two 688s together be? would the two tapes not go in an out of time with each other?

[A Reel Person]

The two tapes should stay in sync, for the most part.

Cassette's a budget format to begin with, and 8-tracks on cassette is a small modern miracle. Syncing two cassette 8-tracks should be fine, with all the limitations and considerations you'd have with any sync'd set of units. If there's any mechanical slippage in either 688 cassette mech, you could be subject to the tracks drifing apart, but in theory if all things are mechanically sound, it should work fine.

A single #-track platform will always be a little more stable and robust than most of the sync systems out there, but a sync system should be functional.

Something like an MSR-16 would outperform two 688's in every way, with the added expense, size, added full sized mixer, etc. Syncing two 688's is feasible, if you want to go that way, but it will obviously never perform like a larger system.

With that being said,... DO IT!