Reel to Reel, 16 Track or 24, and which brand/model...

[Jeroth]

Hey everyone. I currently have a very basic 10in/10out DAW system, and am now looking into some serious gear to get recording local bands, and also get my own work down for demos. I have decided I am definitely going with analogue over digital, from what ive been reading its a trade off between quality and convenience, and in my opinion convenience is no substitute for art. I am looking at getting the Mackie 24.8 console.

If you would suggest any other analogue console within this price range please let me know. Besides that I am looking into a Reel to Reel, but am clueless in this area besides what ive read. At the moment im looking into the Tascam MSR-16, but Im not sure if there are any other options that would be better, such as a 2" 24 track instead, to be able to utilize all 24 channels on the mixer into the tape machine. I DOUBT i will ever need 24 tracks for the music im going to be recording, but having the extra head room would not hurt. My budget for the reel to reel is somewhere in the vicinity of AU$3000 to AU$4000. This is about US$2500 - US$3500. Also, is the MSR-16 the best quality id be able to get in that price range if I do go for a 16 track, or are there better 16 tracks available?

Thanks,
Jeroth

[jjones1700]

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/reeltoreel/

Best thing I can suggest is signing up on that Yahoo group and ask some questions. There are some very knowledgeable people in there that have been working with various sizes of reel to reel for 40+ years. Couldn't hurt. Best of luck.

[Jeroth]

Awesome thanks for that mate!

[jjones1700]

Anytime.

[ausrock]

One thing to consider is the availability of reliable/experienced servicing for R2R gear and that's something that is almost nonexistant here in Oz. There's one very knowledgeable guy in Melbourne (an ex-Tascam employee/guru) and "The Guy" to go to in Sydney retired a couple of years ago and to my knowledge there's no one else with their level of experience.

Secondly, you have to consider media costs........the last spool of 1" tape cost me close to $150AU, 2" is in the vicinity of $300AU..........this gives you approx 32 minutes of recording at normal speed and more often than not is something a lot of "young" bands can't accomodate with their limited budgets.

While I freely admit to prefering analogue, I run both 16 trk R2R and dedicated h/disk recorders through a Soundcraft console, considering the results I've been hearing from local digital (Protools LE) based studios I would have to suggest you rethink your direction...........money invested in your recording environment and upgrading your "front end" (console, preamps, etc) may be a wiser move.

[Ding Dong]

if you are just getting started with reel to reel, you might consider an 8 track unit like the Tascam 38 or TSR-8. A sixteen track recorder will neccisitate a larger mixer, which will cost you a lot more in the long run. It may be a good idea to stick with 1/2 tape too, since it's the only size of tape that is still reasonable affordable.

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by Ding Dong

if you are just getting started with reel to reel, you might consider an 8 track unit like the Tascam 38 or TSR-8. A sixteen track recorder will neccisitate a larger mixer, which will cost you a lot more in the long run. It may be a good idea to stick with 1/2 tape too, since it's the only size of tape that is still reasonable affordable.

I was originally thinking the same thing.

[Tim Gillett]

Jeroth,

I suggest the biggest difference in your recordings will probably not be in the gear you buy, whether it's an analog or a digital recorder, but how well you learn to use it. In the hands of a skilled operator, even average analog or digital recorders can give good results.

By today's standards, the recorders used 40 to 50 years ago were mediocre, but skilled people made wonderful recordings on them.

But without that skill level, the best analog or digital gear will only faithfully record what was fed to it. It wont be the gear people hear but the skills of the man that was using it. And not forgetting the talent of the musicians, without which we have nothing to record.

All the best,

Tim

[MCI2424]

Originally Posted by Jeroth

Hey everyone. I currently have a very basic 10in/10out DAW system, and am now looking into some serious gear to get recording local bands, and also get my own work down for demos. I have decided I am definitely going with analogue over digital, from what ive been reading its a trade off between quality and convenience, and in my opinion convenience is no substitute for art. I am looking at getting the Mackie 24.8 console.

If you would suggest any other analogue console within this price range please let me know. Besides that I am looking into a Reel to Reel, but am clueless in this area besides what ive read. At the moment im looking into the Tascam MSR-16, but Im not sure if there are any other options that would be better, such as a 2" 24 track instead, to be able to utilize all 24 channels on the mixer into the tape machine. I DOUBT i will ever need 24 tracks for the music im going to be recording, but having the extra head room would not hurt. My budget for the reel to reel is somewhere in the vicinity of AU$3000 to AU$4000. This is about US$2500 - US$3500. Also, is the MSR-16 the best quality id be able to get in that price range if I do go for a 16 track, or are there better 16 tracks available?

Thanks,
Jeroth

The Mackie console actually has 48 inputs. There are tape returns. The choice of tape recorder boils down to this:
TASCAM and FOSTEX 16 and 24 track recorders are reliable and can be setup and moved very easily compared tp 2" tape machines. The big machines are the size of a typical washing machine and weigh in the vacinity of 600 lbs. They are a bear to move and installation includes custom balanced connections.

In the end, the 2" machines are king of sound (hence why they were, and still are the standard in any serious studio and many home studios).

The narrow format machines sound fine and you can get very good recordings depending on condition and talent. Depends on what you want and are capable of dealing with. In anay event, do your research and know what you are looking for in a specific machine. TASCAMS and FOSTEXS as well as MCIs and Studers all have various quirks and points to look for. Get educated before you make a mistake.

Small machine = lesson learned
Big machine = serious mistake (shipping alone will pay for a small machine)

[wbalsam1]

I purchased a 24 track Otari Mk III from a studio that switched over to pro tools. The machine was gorgeous in every possible sense of the word. I had to rewire the pin 2 and pin 3 on the xlrs and adapt them to my Tascam M 600 which has db-25 terminations. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. In the end, though, it was too much work for me to try to run my studio all by myself with this Otari, so I sold it to another studio. I nearly cried when it left. I moved back to my ADAT XT-20's and life is so much simpler for a one-man production "team".
With a good recording console, mic's and mic-pre, you'll get a wonderful product out of the Tascam-16 I" tape machine or even easier, the Tascam da-88's although they're 16 bit, I think.
How about the ADAT HD 24 XL and run the final mix to a half-track?