i'm thinking of buying the tascam 488 8-track for use as an analog aspect to my digital recording. is this a good idea? can i record my tracks on to the tascam then send them to my digital boss br1180 recorder?
Here is what you can do with your 488. [I used to use one before I moved to digital.]
You can record on 8 tracks, probably not at once but it is possible if you choose, and then mix that recording and put it into a DAT or a regular cassette.
Then, you can send the DAT recording or cassette recording back into your digital box and merely remaster it in 16 bit {if that's what your digital box can do?] and then burn that to CD.
I'm still remastering old tapes from my 488 into my Yam 2816 and tweaking a bit where possible and burning CD's.
As Rebebro says, you can't do it track per track; however, you can do remastering of the stereo track via the cassette or DAT.