Picked up a Teac 3 and I am happy.

[leddy]

Found some gear at a local yard sale. I got a Teac 3 8ch mixer for next to nothing. It all works. Needs a little cleaning, but all channels are good. I was never blown away by Tascam mixers. I am shocked by how much gain there is on this one. I plugged in everything from old ribbon mics to an RE20 and it was nothing but quiet mic signal. Other Tascam mixers I've used seemed fuzzy. This one makes it sound thick, but clear.

Are these nicer than other Tascam/Teac mixers? Did I just get lucky and find one that just works better than the others?

I might change the side panels to match the wood in my mixing room and keep it around...

 

[lonewhitefly]

Found some gear at a local yard sale. I got a Teac 3 8ch mixer for next to nothing. It all works. Needs a little cleaning, but all channels are good. I was never blown away by Tascam mixers. I am shocked by how much gain there is on this one. I plugged in everything from old ribbon mics to an RE20 and it was nothing but quiet mic signal. Other Tascam mixers I've used seemed fuzzy. This one makes it sound thick, but clear.

Are these nicer than other Tascam/Teac mixers? Did I just get lucky and find one that just works better than the others?

I might change the side panels to match the wood in my mixing room and keep it around...

i'm not too familiar with the 3 model, but i have and use a model 5, and i think the biggest difference between the '70s era Teac mixers and later Tascam stuff is the fact that they uses transformers throughout, which certainly gives a fatter sound. now, i'm not going to sit here and tell you that they will blow anything else away, but i am way more comfortable using these mixers than most of the '80s or later things that came to the market.

i've had a love/hate relationship with my model 5 BUT ... i have recorded and mixed a lot of cool things on it, the EQ is the biggest limitation, so you certainly have to work around that ... but the limitations can be learning experiences and are certainly a kind of older way of working that lends itself to all kinds of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of creativity. i kept thinking that i was held back by the board's limitations, then i realized that i was held back by my OWN limitations. a whole new world opened up as i began working WITHIN the limitations instead of AGAINST them.

i love the '70s teac stuff and have learned to appreciate all that they are and all that they are not. and they certainly have massive charm and a certain energy and vibration missing from any other mixers and recording machines. use it like it's the only mixer that ever existed and you'll see what it and you are truly capable of !

 

[miroslav]

Ahhh...that was my first "serious" recording mixer way back...from the late 70s to late 80s (when I sold it).
It was married to my 4-track and 2-track 1/4" decks (they also went at the same time).

Had a lot of fun recording with that setup.

 

[leddy]

i'm not too familiar with the 3 model, but i have and use a model 5, and i think the biggest difference between the '70s era Teac mixers and later Tascam stuff is the fact that they uses transformers throughout, which certainly gives a fatter sound. now, i'm not going to sit here and tell you that they will blow anything else away, but i am way more comfortable using these mixers than most of the '80s or later things that came to the market.

I figured I was hearing some transformer thickening. You are spot on with the EQ section - almost useless. At the very least though, it's another color of preamp or maybe a summing box. I need to mess around with it some more.

 

[SteveM]

I agree with LWF, the teac recorders and mixers have a certain charm that is not there with the later Tascam stuff. The M35 is right on the cusp of that TEAC/Tascam transition. That also uses transformers in the mic pres. Maybe why I've preferred it.

 

[miroslav]

Yeah...not much of an EQ section, but at the time when I got mine back in the late '70s, along with the 4-track and 2-track...
...that setup was a bigger deal to a home rec guy than someone running PT on a DAW at their home studio these days!!!

That's the gear that really started the home rec revolution, not the computers and DAWs. Yes, computers/DAWs certainly blew things way out for the home rec crowd....but it was the 4-tracks and TEAC mixers that made a lot of guys like me go "Hey, I can have a recording studio in my house!" and there was something magical about being on that leading edge of a new era and being one of the first "home rec" guys.
I had a lot of musician buddies and new a lot of bands at the time...and I was the only one that had a home rec setup.

 

[sweetbeats]

Yeah...not much of an EQ section, but at the time when I got mine back in the late '70s, along with the 4-track and 2-track...
...that setup was a bigger deal to a home rec guy than someone running PT on a DAW at their home studio these days!!!

That's the gear that really started the home rec revolution, not the computers and DAWs. Yes, computers/DAWs certainly blew things way out for the home rec crowd....but it was the 4-tracks and TEAC mixers that made a lot of guys like me go "Hey, I can have a recording studio in my house!" and there was something magical about being on that leading edge of a new era and being one of the first "home rec" guys.
I had a lot of musician buddies and new a lot of bands at the time...and I was the only one that had a home rec setup.

That is really cool, Miroslav...

And then they introduced the 144 and it just shoved that gate open wider didn't it?

I didn't realize the M-35 was transformer balanced...wait...is the M-30 transformerless?

Hey...

You want transformers, how about these?