Mixdown Deck

Z

Ziller

New member
I am slowly building a mostly analog studio, have a Tascam TSR 8 as my tracking deck, and now need to consider a mixdown deck. From what I have read, a 1/2" 2 track is ideal. However, that may be beyond my budget, and I may need to go to a 1/4" 2 track. Any thoughts on this would be helpful, and I have some specific questions.

Would I get the same results using a 1/4" 4 track open reel as I would a 1/4" 2 track, if I send the left signal to channels 1 and 2, and the right to channels 3 and 4? I'm wondering if the reduced tape hiss from wider tracks is because of the undivided width of the track, whereas the signal on the 2 combined tracks would have a buffer between the 2 tracks? Does this make sense? For instance, if I picked up another 1/2" 8 track and mixed down left to tracks 1 - 4, and right to tracks 5 - 8, would the result be the same (understanding that there is some less track because of track buffers).

More generally, if I have 2 tracks, each an 1/8" wide, would the sound quality be the same as 1 track 1/4" wide, or does the un-interupted width of the track have an effect on tape hiss?

Ziller
 
mixdown deck

i dont know if you have heard about it on one of these forums yet but what does VHS mixdown mean to you??? provided you are not beyond trying it just to see how it goes. not sure what you're going after but i have read a lot of stuff on here that sings its' praises. might be just the thing for you until bigger and better things come along, or until you are able to acquire what you really want. just thought that might spark an interest.
little z
 
Thanks for you input. Unless I'm mistaken, VHS uses digital audio. I'm looking for a good analog solution.

Ziller
 
Thanks for that clarification! I'll have to give it try then. Though, if you've been following my inspiration thread, you know I'll have to see how it goes having a VCR in my studio :). LOL!

Question: How does one clean the heads on a VCR? Just use one of those tapes, or open it up and use the alcohol and q-tips? The one I'll try is the one we've had for a few years, and it's bound to need a good cleaning.

Thanks!
Ziller
 
Get yourself a copy of the Alesis ADAT maintenance tape - "The Care and Feeding of your ADAT" -- the cleaning process is identical....

You DON'T want to use any cleaning tapes and ESPECIALLY not the "wet" kind....

Bruce
 
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