Connecting multi effects processors for guitar and vocals on the TASCAM 2488 Neo?

J

Jared Misner

New member
What is the right way to connect multi effects processors and or analog footpedals to the Tascam 2488 neo? I am a guitar player and also record vocals with multi-effects (Digitech Vocalist Live 5) to the 2488 Neo. And What about the different impedance levels? Front jack is Hi-Z for guitar and bass, but what do I use for Vocals with the Vocalist live? Also how do I Mic my amp to the Tascam 2488 Neo using a Shure SM-57 dynamic mic? Really need help on this. I play all of the instruments for my music and these are the answers I need to finish my Albums and jingles. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :guitar:

Please E-mail me something that will help me sort this all out please!!!!

My e-mail is jaredmisner@yahoo.com

Thanks, Jared
 
Probably a good idea to crack the books that came with yer various devices, they'll usually help get you going in the right direction. No offense, but I think not knowing how to mic something into a machine that does nothing but get mic'd somethings in it might require maybe a little studying up before asking people how to do stuff. Get the basics down so you can ask specifics once you've gotten something recorded.

Good luck with it.

rct
 
Jared Misner said:
Also how do I Mic my amp to the Tascam 2488 Neo using a Shure SM-57 dynamic mic? Really need help on this.
Click to expand...
you plug the mic into the neo and stick it in front of the amp.

Can't help you with other aspects of the neo but rct has a point.
The Neo has places to plug mics and the amp has a speaker that you put the mic in front of.
What help is needed for that?
 
Others above are correct about the SM-57 - get an XLR cable (male to female), plug the female side into the SM-57, the male side into one of inputs 1-4, make sure the phantom power button is NOT engaged (i.e. you do not want phantom power turned on for a dynamic like the 57). Then point the 57 at the amp, and adjust the input gain on that channel until you get the appropriate input level.

For connecting the Vocalist 5, it looks like the device has stereo line outputs, which you can either use in stereo, or you can select mono on the back of the unit and just run the signal out of the Left/Mono XLR output jack. A 5 second perusal of the manual for this thing makes me think the signal coming out of the Digitech Vocalist is line-level. So, you would need to get female XLR to male 1/4 TRS cables, which you would run from the XLR line outs of the Digitech to 2 inputs on the Tascakm 2488 neo (line inputs, specifically). So, something like the following cables:

Pro Co BPBQXF5 (5') | Sweetwater.com

You can get whatever brand you want, just make sure those are the connectors used.

As for plugging guitar effects into the neo, you'd need to provide more details on your effects chain, since different effects units have different types of outputs.
 
Thanks

Appreciate the help cusebassman. The Neo also has mic/line written on the inputs on the machine. Do I have to internally change between the 2? I am new to digital equipment, because I've always used old school analog equipment until recently so I'm just trying to get the input levels set correctly for a proper recording/Professional sounding album. Is there an internal switch between Mic and Line levels on the Neo? I know these are things that could be found in the manuals, but with my other job I just don't have the time to research like I'd like to. I'm no idiot to recording by any means and have used analog equipment for many years, but I'm not so used to the digital side of the Neo. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jared
 
Jared Misner said:
Appreciate the help cusebassman. The Neo also has mic/line written on the inputs on the machine. Do I have to internally change between the 2? I am new to digital equipment, because I've always used old school analog equipment until recently so I'm just trying to get the input levels set correctly for a proper recording/Professional sounding album. Is there an internal switch between Mic and Line levels on the Neo? I know these are things that could be found in the manuals, but with my other job I just don't have the time to research like I'd like to. I'm no idiot to recording by any means and have used analog equipment for many years, but I'm not so used to the digital side of the Neo. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jared
Click to expand...
things like mic/line are no different for digital than for analog.
And no ..... there are no internal switches to change something that you might have to change constantly.
Would any manufacturer on the face of the entire Earth really make you open up the unit everytime you had to change from mic to line?
Sounds like a silly question doesn't it?
The mic/line inputs send 1/4" to line ..... if you plug an XLR into them it goes to mic.

I too am old school and still do a LOT of my stuff in an analog way. The "I don't know about digital" is sorta a cop-out since as far as plugging things in goes, there really isn't any difference between the two until you get into digital-only connectors like USB's or HDMI's or stuff like that.
Until you get to those ..... everything's the same as far as connecting stuff goes.
 
Oh and also...The effects pedals I use are as follows. MXR EQ, Flanger, Phase 90, Stereo Chorus, Compressor, and other stompboxes. I can plug my guitar or bass into the front input, I know that, but the unit has an effects loop and I don't know much about how it all connects to the Neo and if there's an internal switch to turn it on or off, or if I need to assign it to certain channels on the board. I know I could always just mike my amps or acoustic, but there are situations where I would like to plug straight into the Neo and still use my stompboxes. I like versatility, what can I say lol
 
I'm talking about changing the internal signal of the neo from mic to line using the digital interface. I'm not fucking stupid. I know how to connect the damn cables from an instrument and how an effects loop works. But there are internal DIGITAL SWITCHES ON THE SCREEN, to turn effects, eq, and other parameters on or off! I'm not talking about taking the fucking thing apart!
 
I'm a little confused - in one statement you say "...but the unit has an effects loop and I don't know much about how it all connects..." and then in the next you state "I know how to connect the damn cables from an instrument and how an effects loop works"

Anyhoo... perhaps you need to put some time aside to read the manuals as per RCT's advice and then take some time out to experiment with your routing options. I would think that reading a couple of pages takes less time than waiting for an answer on here... Plug your gear in and then "flick" the diital switches and see what happens. If the switch says "off" then the FX/EQ is off. Pre is prefader and Post is post fader

As a quick get goer - if you are going from your Gtr > stompboxes, then plug into the front HiZ jack (just like you would an amp). If you are using a mutli FX unit that states "Line outs" for outputs, plug them into the back of the 2488.

A routing I use for my guitar is:
Gtr into the HiZ, routed to channel strip 1. I then use the "FX1 Send" control for channel strip 1 to send the signal from Send 1 to a multi FX unit. The stereo line outs of FX unit are then sent back to inputs "A & B", these are then routed to either two free mono channel strips (say 3 & 4) or to a stereo pair.

This works for me.

The internal Loop just uses the FX on the Neo such as the Reverb, Delay etc....

Another bit of advice that was given to me years ago and has never failed, follow your signal. It will (usually) start with the guitar and end when it gets to the "tape" or digital medium.

But again - take some time to get to know your Neo, have a read of the manual - you dont need to read it cover to cover to get the stuff you want to know

Zeek
 
Jared Misner said:
I'm talking about changing the internal signal of the neo from mic to line using the digital interface. I'm not fucking stupid. I know how to connect the damn cables from an instrument and how an effects loop works. But there are internal DIGITAL SWITCHES ON THE SCREEN, to turn effects, eq, and other parameters on or off! I'm not talking about taking the fucking thing apart!
Click to expand...

My job doesn't leave me time to understand how these things work for me AND for you.

Yer fulla crap, you got no idea what yer doin, and yer hoping that everyone else will take time out to get special wittle You on your way to a hit record. It doesn't work that way. Good luck with it.

rct
 
Jared Misner said:
I'm talking about changing the internal signal of the neo from mic to line using the digital interface. I'm not fucking stupid. I know how to connect the damn cables from an instrument and how an effects loop works. But there are internal DIGITAL SWITCHES ON THE SCREEN, to turn effects, eq, and other parameters on or off! I'm not talking about taking the fucking thing apart!
Click to expand...
boo hoo .... you said internal and that means inside the unit.
In this case you should have just said 'is there a switch?'

As for getting all mad ..... once again boo-hoo ...... there's nothing difficult about any of this ..... you just want us to tell you how rather than spend 45 seconds looking at your manual.

Most of us are getting tired of newbies that won't exert themselves at all and then get mad when we point out their laziness.
I said nothing that should have you all angry and couldn't care less about your laughable reaction.
 
Lt. Bob said:
you plug the mic into the neo and stick it in front of the amp.

Can't help you with other aspects of the neo but rct has a point.
The Neo has places to plug mics and the amp has a speaker that you put the mic in front of.
What help is needed for that?
Click to expand...
I played for years, live. Me on guitar , a bass player, sing aand a drummer. All I ever used was a boss overdrive pedal. Didn't even need a volume boost cause only 1 6 string. We played metal. I never mic'ed my own gear. At shows, the soundguy did it. In the couple pro studios I played in, the engineer did it. I bought a Neo about 5 years ago and to me, the instruction seem like it is in code. Like listening to hardcore nascar fans and all you know how to do is put gas in a car. I don't know what to do
 
What analog recorder and mixer were you using before? When it comes to the equipment you have, there should not be any differences in plugging them into the 2488, compared to what you were doing before in your previous experience. Whether its an analog mixer or a portastudio- the concepts of mic and line level signals, high and low impedances, etc remain the same. The Neo manual and diagrams are pretty clear to explain these things and what-connects-to-what.

Instead, I would think any confusion you have with the Neo are with the things that Are different- such as understanding the jog dial and navigating thru all the menu options and so forth..

The Neo has an effects send output that is meant for an external rack processor. If you have pedal effects which are high impedance, and you connect them to a low impedance mixer input, you need to put a direct box between your guitar/pedals and the mixer input. It would be the same with an analog mixer as well.

If reading the manuals are inconvenient for you, and other folks here are turned off by your slothfulness, then simply go on You Tube, there are LOTS of instructional videos on the Neo, or how to connect all sort of things to mixers or portastudios and so forth- sounds like you prefer learning by watching, more than by reading or doing, thus Y.T. should be useful to you.
 
Jared Misner said:
Thanks

Appreciate the help cusebassman. The Neo also has mic/line written on the inputs on the machine. Do I have to internally change between the 2? I am new to digital equipment, because I've always used old school analog equipment until recently so I'm just trying to get the input levels set correctly for a proper recording/Professional sounding album. Is there an internal switch between Mic and Line levels on the Neo? I know these are things that could be found in the manuals, but with my other job I just don't have the time to research like I'd like to. I'm no idiot to recording by any means and have used analog equipment for many years, but I'm not so used to the digital side of the Neo. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jared
Click to expand...
I just bought an old ART reverb unit. When it said to move the jumpers inside of the rackmount unit, depending whether for mic or line, I had no idea that anyone would build it so as to have the whole cover removed. It took me awhile to find them. Crazy
 
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