Your TASCAM 788 songs

[jackson_pollock]

Hi,i need some help here.
I have the option to buy a working tascam 788 for 50e ,is it woth of it?
I tried to search but came out with few samples of its recording quality.
Did anyone used it and can please post some?
Thanks.

 

[A Reel Person]

Yes!

Ok, I've not used the 788. I've heard the sound quality & it's quite good.

The 788 is not being sold at rock bottom prices because of poor sound quality. It's not as modern data import/export due to no USB functionality. Instead, it has a SCSI interface and is intended to hook up to it's own dedicated CDR recorder. It records up to 6 tracks simultaneously @ 24-bit/44.1kHz resolution. It has 1/4" inputs which require XLR transformer adapters, no XLR inputs or phantom power.

The 788's features are not as slick or up-to-date as more modern offerings from Tascam. Keep in mind you'll either have to get the CDR788 to export data, or use S/Pdif I/O or analog Line Outs to output either digital data or analog mixes, respectively.

For 50E, $69.50 USD, it's a steal.

 

[jackson_pollock]

Hi, thanks for your reply.
I' ve heard a good song made with 788 by Sam Lunsford but the other demoes i found seem to have a stange noise on high frequencies(digital clipping?).
Maybe is better to change the question: how does 788 perform compared to 2488? I've heard good things from the old 2488.
Keep in mind that i would use it as mere recorder/player,digital effects and heavy editing just aren't for me.
Sure 50 euros is a deal,but not for a dust collector.

 

[A Reel Person]

...

If there's distortion on the recording, I wouldn't blame the recorder. I've heard some awful stuff done on the 788 that was end-to-end clipping. I've also heard some incredible stuff.

Pretty much anything this guy did was great: (B.SABBATH) https://homerecording.com/bbs/search.php?searchid=552409
Here's something by B.SABBATH I fished out of the list, above: http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1322&alid=-1
B.SABBATH used the 788.

The 788 menu and interface is very similar to the 2488. The 2488 generation and machines going forward have USB. The 788 & 2488 both record at 16 and 24 bit, and I've heard the sound quality is virtually the same on both.

I think you may be nit picking or looking for flaws in the 788 that will only cost you 50€. I don't see any. I think it's a steal. The most cumbersome part of the 788 is the SCSI interface to the dedicated plug-in CDR788 for importing/exporting data, not the sound quality. The technical obsolescence had driven prices way down, but it's still very competitive sound quality. The 788 came with a factory recorded demo song on the hard drive. That pretty much shows the quality you can get.

If USB connectivity is important, and it's a very handy feature, skip the 788 & get the DP02, 2488Neo or DP24.

 

[RAMI]

Grab it. That's a great deal. The sound is fine on it. For that price, I'd buy one just for the hell of it, even though I used to own one, moved to the 2488, and now record in my PC.

But as far as hearing good or bad recordings done on a particular machine, that's a horrible way to assess it. 99% of what you hear, good or bad, will tell you more about the person who made the recording than it will about the machine.