TASCAM MS-16 crosstalk - help -

C

Chip Whitley

New member
Hey guys, I just recently got a steal on two MS-16's that are in great shape. Heads are great, everything was absolutely well maintained and kept up.

The only problems I have encountered was I had to reseat the card on channel 16, which is great now, and I have a lot of crosstalk/bleed. It doesn't appear to be like track 1 is on track 2, but everything recorded is lightly, *lightly* on everything else. I searched 'MS-16 Crosstalk' all over the web but couldn't find anything.

I'm running through a Yamaha RM-800 and have tried every test I can think of to make sure it's not a board problem.

The part I found in the manual only says to use specific tools that I don't have, so my question is, how do I solve this problem? Any info on where to look or what a usual suspect might be would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks kindly,
Chip Whitley
 
Did this cross-talk problem show up before or after you reseated the channel 16 card?

If after, try pulling the card and reseating it again or just swap it with another card from the other machine to see if that fixes it.

If the issue was there from the beginning, I'm not sure what to suggest other then basics like making sure the heads are spotlessly clean and directly recording a line source to the recorder to see if that clears up the issue. And if so, re-check your mixer/patchbay wiring regime for leakage via faulty signal routing.

Cheers! :)
 
Only thing I'd add, is, 'Is it out of spec?'

I think with using digital for the last 20 years, our ears must have become much more attuned to hearing any cross-talk.....if I'm right, I think some recorders and mixers have cross-talk spec levels @ around -70dB. Well, everyone would hear bleed if the monitor amp was turned up sufficiently. I think I remember the Yamaha board you mentioned.

From the SOS review,

"One or two odd operational points are worthy of note. Firstly, the inclusion of two Mic/Line-Tape buttons for each channel, one at the top and one in the Monitor section, causes a little initial head-scratching. You might expect that there would be only one such button, which would select between Mic/Line and Tape by its up or down position. Just keep in mind that pressing the button at the top of the channel doesn't simply switch between states. You certainly use this button to decide whether the Mic/Line or Tape input passes through the main channel, but you also have the freedom to set up a separate monitor mix of the same audio material, which means the Monitor section's Mic/Line-Tape switch would be in the same position as the main switch (a note to the unwary: if you were to inadvertently engage the Monitor To Stereo switch at this stage, two mixes of the same material would appear at the main stereo output). For monitoring tape returns (during tracking), or to use the monitor signal path as a source of extra mixer inputs, the Monitor section's Mic/Line-Tape switch would have to be in the opposite position to that of the switch at the top of the channel."

You haven't got a 'double mix' going on or it may be that the mix from the other section is bleeding through to your MAIN/ MONITOR mix.

Al
 
I found the source to my problem. It was on the mixer not the deck, thankfully. Just incase anyone has the same set-up or runs into the same problem, the Yamaha RM-800 has balanced inputs, but only 8 of them(channels 17-24.) I was running XLR-TRS in and that was causing my problem of crosstalk on every channel. By backing the TRS connection out a click, it solved my dilemma, so I've got some wire snipping ahead of me, but atleast it was nothing to do with the MS-16's.

Thanks all for taking the time to read, respond and help. This place is an amazing source of knowledge that has helped me many, many a time.
 
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