Fostex A8

B

Blackdog.sn

New member
Hey,
I came aross this Fostex 8 track reel to reel. The heads are said to be new within a year, and only have 40 hours of play on em. the price is around 250-300. Is it a good deal...should i wait for a tascam 388?
 
Blackdog.sn said:
Hey,
I came aross this Fostex 8 track reel to reel. The heads are said to be new within a year, and only have 40 hours of play on em. the price is around 250-300. Is it a good deal...should i wait for a tascam 388?
Click to expand...

The Tascam A 8 sound is good and runs at 15 ips with dolby NR. I have one but it is broken now and has had several problems. I don't know about any body elses luck but I've had more luck with the Tascam recorders. With my A8 the motor slows down and I've had a few channels go on it. Kind of a bummer cause was a cool little machine.
 
For myself if i was going to go the Fostex route I would look at R8,s first.
They are the newest of the fostex reel machines and you would have a better chance of getting a better machine. Its hard for me to phathom that someone actually spent the money on putting new heads on a machine as old
as a A8. The heads had to cost more than the machine was even worth. But if you can find a nice tascam 388 now thats a differant story.
 
well theres two auctions on ebay with 'buy it now' options for an R8 (at 299) and a A8 (at 275), the A8 looks in better condition though.
 
I think,...

the A8 is a better deal in the $175 range, unless it's really-really mint. I bought a mint R8 for $250 a few years ago, if it's anything to'ya. I'm just using this as an example. Ebay deals vary by the day, and YMMV.

The A8's reels are belt driven and the 388's reels are servo motor driven. That's a significant difference in build quality, not to mention the A8's plastic with a metal sub-frame, and the 388's all-metal construction with wood side panels. -Huge difference-.

Although the A8 runs 15ips and DolbyC, the 388's an almost unbeatable package, running 7.5ips & dbx, w/integrated 8x8x2 mixer. IMO, the 388 with 7.5ips & dbx somehow sounds better than the A8 with 15ips & DolbyC. Honestly, I've never been impressed with DolbyC, but I've always been happy with dbx. Again, YMMY.

Plus, consider that the A8 (std) only records 4-tracks simultaneously/max, and the 388 records 8-simul/max. The upgraded A8LR is the one that records 8-simul/max, but it's more rare to find, and costs a bit more than the A8 (std).

The 388, in total, is really hard package to beat. If you get the A8, which is an acceptable baseline, you should consider that the "matched" mixer to the A8 is the Fostex 350, which is really cheezy, and nowhere on par with the 388's mixer section.

The 388 will do SMPTE sync, with DIY cabling and a compatible synchronizer, and the A8 does not. You'd have to step up to the Fostex Model 80 or R8 to get plug-compatible sync option.

Just some things to consider.
 
A Reel Person said:
the A8 is a better deal in the $175 range, unless it's really-really mint. I bought a mint R8 for $250 a few years ago, if it's anything to'ya. I'm just using this as an example. Ebay deals vary by the day, and YMMV.

The A8's reels are belt driven and the 388's reels are servo motor driven. That's a significant difference in build quality, not to mention the A8's plastic with a metal sub-frame, and the 388's all-metal construction with wood side panels. -Huge difference-.

Although the A8 runs 15ips and DolbyC, the 388's an almost unbeatable package, running 7.5ips & dbx, w/integrated 8x8x2 mixer. IMO, the 388 with 7.5ips & dbx somehow sounds better than the A8 with 15ips & DolbyC. Honestly, I've never been impressed with DolbyC, but I've always been happy with dbx. Again, YMMY.

Plus, consider that the A8 (std) only records 4-tracks simultaneously/max, and the 388 records 8-simul/max. The upgraded A8LR is the one that records 8-simul/max, but it's more rare to find, and costs a bit more than the A8 (std).

The 388, in total, is really hard package to beat. If you get the A8, which is an acceptable baseline, you should consider that the "matched" mixer to the A8 is the Fostex 350, which is really cheezy, and nowhere on par with the 388's mixer section.

The 388 will do SMPTE sync, with DIY cabling and a compatible synchronizer, and the A8 does not. You'd have to step up to the Fostex Model 80 or R8 to get plug-compatible sync option.

Just some things to consider.
Click to expand...

I recorded for years on a 388. My drummer had it and we practiced at his house and recorded songs. I had the rostex E16 and a boatload of good equipment but nowhere to record a full band w/drums.

Lord I would not want to record on that 388 again. The sound is alright but has no headroom at all. I gave up trying to get a good drum or guitar sound even with my best mics and pre-amps. I have hundreds of tapes of great songs but not so great recordings. My drummer used to be impressed big time with the E16 recordings done on my big mixer with the same mics and pre-amps.
 
The Fostex A-8 is cool and sounds good. But, it is NOT built like a tank, while most of the Tascam stuff is. If i was to buy an 8-track today, I'd get a Tascam of some sort.
 
I scored an A 8 a couple of months ago from ebay. The guy had a $100.00 buy it now on it for 2 days with no takers. He didn't have much of a description about the condition. He didn't say it was OK, but he didn't say it had problems either. I crossed my fingers and took it. I figured at the very least I could re-sell it AS-IS for parts. Well, I lucked out. The heads were filthy ,but cleaned up and were in nice shape. It's recording some very nice tracks for me.
I do miss the fact that I can only do 4 tracks at once with it though.
I also wish it had a "regular" tape counter. If you shut it off, when you turn it back on ,the LED readout resets to "0" automatically. Kinda stinks if your half way through a reel and want to "return to zero" to the beginning of a song.
 
You shouldn't keep the tape on it when you aren't using it. It's supposedly not very good for the tape.
 
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