Tascam 246 equipment help!

studiodrum

New member
Good morning's everyone,

I need some help with a 246. What equipment will I need to plug in a few mics do do some simple recording using a 246. We will be using a few sm57's, and a condenser (needing 48v phantom)

My only experience, is with the 242MkII's, and they have the XLR's and pre's built in-- So, I'm kind lost when it comes too what I will need to plug in these mics. . . I'm guessing I need some pre's and phantom power boxes, But dont have any idea what brand or models would get me through?

keeping in mind I'm on somewhat of a budget. . . Don't want to go crazy , . .but, don't want to buy junk either

What's the best way to go????
 
Though the 246 Portastudio only has 1/4" microphone jacks, you can get adapters from most decent music stores and even radio shack that adapt the xlr connector into a 1/4" plug to use with the 246.

Any condenser Mic's you use, you'll need to get an external phantom power supply unit to power them up.

There are many single, two channel and multi channel phantom power supply boxes on the market and prices start from as little as 25 bucks and go up from there depending on the number of channels and the manufacturer.

Here too, a decent musical instrument retailer should carry these small accessories.

Cheers! :)
 
Conclusion?

Okay, sounds great! So, let me make sure that I understand, . .even though the 246 inputs are 1/4", I only need to get the 1/4" - XLR adapter?

So, are the 1/4" Tascam 246 plugs-- balanced, or unbalanced? and the plugs DO have built in pre-amps .. .or dont?

Thanks!
 
Eh,...

The 246's 1/4" inputs are unbalanced, and they do have preamps. They will handle the SM57's if you get the XLR-1/4" transformer adaptors.

The condensor mic will need a phantom power source, which can be bought as an external inline unit. Many mic preamp units have phantom power built in, but you don't absolutely need the external mic pre to work with the 246, the way you just need phantom power.

If you used an external mic preamp, you'd probably want to run it's output into the 246's Unbalanced PGM Input, on RCA connectors, at -10 Line level. Although, if you needed to mix this source with others, it would be just fine to run that mic preamp output signal into one of the six normal 1/4" inputs, and just run that 246 input channel at line level, through use of the TRIM pot. Either way, it's your choice, as long as you keep oprating levels matched. The 246 has OL (overload) LEDs, to aid in matching sources, which is something the 424mkII sorely lacks.

Other condensor mics run off internal batter power, & would be the ones I'd use, for the most part.

The 488mkII was the only Portastudio that supplied phantom power.

Good luck with the 246!!! That's a good choice, overall, in 4-track Portastudios.
 
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Another quick 246 preamp question???

Hey Guys anyone around this weekend to answer another quick question. . . ?


I just want to be sure that I got this straight. . Even though the 246 has pre-amps on the 6 (1/4") input plugs-- I still can run an external preamp?

Now, if I'm using a preamp with XLR's in (for my mics) and 1/4" TS (outputs)--
something like this--> http://www.nady.com/products/product_pgs/pra8_pg.html

Do I still need the XLR to 1/4" connectors???


.. .and then what happens to the preamps that are in the 246 ,. .will an external preamp interfere with the preamp already installed in the Tascam 246???
 
That Nady looks like a sweet piece and perfect for your 246! :)

And, no. You wouldn't still need the adapters we talked about in the previous posts if you got the Nady. Just regular 1/4" TS cables from the Nady outs to the 246's mic/line ins.

About your double pre-amp staging concerns;

As long as you treat the 246's mic/line ins to behave as line inputs by dialing back the trim controls, there should be no real issues to worry about.

Cheers! :)
 
Thanks FM!!!!

Wow, sounds great! Thanks for the help Mr. Ghost!!! Musicians Friend are selling that Nady for $99. bucks!!!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...DRCQLnQOR7ZAToTiXBR/befree_site_id=0020583305
. . .and it also comes with 48v Phantom Power with individual on/off switch-- so that will eliminate the need for individual phantom power boxes for my 2 condensers!

Just one last question for my own sanity. . . . Is there a difference between 1/4" TRS plugs, and 1/4" TS plugs. . .also, when using a board like the Tascam 246 that has 1/4" (unbalanced) inputs,
Theatrically do you lose any quality when you use a XLR to 1/4" transformer plug to convert a XLR mic to fit the 1/4" inputs.--- compared to say a board that has direct XLR balanced inputs???
 
studiodrum said:
Theatrically do you lose any quality when you use a XLR to 1/4" transformer plug to convert a XLR mic to fit the 1/4" inputs.--- compared to say a board that has direct XLR balanced inputs???
Generally, yes. You would lose some quality in those types of adapters as many of them are relying on a low cost internal balancing transformer to convert the impedance and signal from balanced down to unbalanced and these transformers have their own frequency response curves that will affect the character of the sound to varying degrees.

The Nady box looks like a great problem solver for you and I would suggest you get it while you can as the cost of it at 100 bones is cheaper then buying all the adapters, cables and phantom power supply units!

As for TRS versus TS;

The first is a balanced hook up the second is not. Either one can sound good and correct for a given application. Quality of sound had nothing to do with a signal being one or the other though.

Balanced lines and connections are a necessity when you are dealing with long cable runs above 30 feet to reduce the risk of picking up hum and RF interference in the wire itself.

Unbalanced lines work perfectly well and cleanly when the lengths are kept short as they are in most home studios.

Cheers! :)
 
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