1/4" 8 trk--------1/2" 16 trk ???????

ausrock

ausrock

Well-known member
OK Guys,

In the past I have seen comments/references, the basic meaning of which was that the 1/4" 8 trk format should be avoided.

Can someone explain or clarify the relative pros and cons of this format and why they may or may not apply to 1/2" 16 trk.

Also, re the 1/2" 8 trk format..........apart from the obvious advantage of more tape per track, are there any other advantages?



:cool:
 
:cool: The 2 first mentioned formats are called narrow guage format, Fostex was one company to do this for reasons of economy in the open reel recorders. One can't push the limits too hard on levels as one could on a regular format. the 1" 8trk format is the best sounding in my opinion, for what it's worth......

The narrow guage format is the same trk width as cassette format, at a much faster tape speed, I have a Fostex E-16 and it does a real good job,sounds awsome.......

There's a few more analogue dogues on this forum who can add more to this thread.......



da MUTT
 
1/4" 8-track sounds surprisingly good,...

so don't discount it as an option, until you've heard it for yourself.

1/4" tape is a heck of a lot cheaper than 1/2", but if you're into boosted production value, 1/2" is worth the bump in cost.

I have 1/4" 8-track and 1/2" 8-track, and I like them both.

1/2" 16-track is something I've considered getting, as yet TBD.;)
 
Gilwe and others (lol),

I am looking at a Fostex 80 on Ebay Australia, (see pic), but know virtually nothing about that model. Do you have any idea what a fair price may be in the US?

I intend to add a R2R to our setup here to supplement the Fostex D160 16 trk H/disk recorder. I still have to figure out what will be necessary to allow me to synch the two together, as apart from the fact that I would have to sacrifice one analogue trk for timecode I know very little.

The joys of playing with gear...............

:cool:
 

Attachments

  • fostex 80.jpg
    fostex 80.jpg
    23.7 KB · Views: 377
Hello ausrock, do you know for sure there is some kind of port for timecode, like a dsub or accessory port? Or the machine can read timecode? My MSR's have a port for connecting a midiizer, which generates and reads smpte. I'm not familiar with the fostex, but I would check if unknown. And as far as limits, what limits. ANY 8 track reel to reel is fun!!! Oh, for what its worth, I fooled around with one of these years ago, and I had a ball with it. As far as synching, I don't know its capabilitys. I know you probably could use one of the JL Cooper or Yamaha synch boxs, that will read and generate smpte, but I think the transport has to respond to timecode in order for it to chase a computer or other device. I could be wrong though.
fitz:)
 
Hey Rick.

I was just emailing the seller at the same time you were posting here...........lol.

I don't know that there would be a port on this model, however I believe it is possible to get some of these 8 trk machines to synch. I think I will contact the Fostex distributors and see what they can tell me.

If the seller has a low enough reserve, this thing may be worth getting regardless of whether or not it can be synched to my other gear.

Regards

:cool:
 
The Fostex Model 80 is plug compatible with Fostex syncronizers,...

such as the 4030/4035, syncronizer/controller. You lose one track to timecode, and the connecting cables can be hard to come by, but hopefully a full set would be shipped with the 4030.

This 4030/4035 system is capable of locking two Fostex analog reels together, or vtr, or presumably the 'puter. too. I'm pretty sure the Fostex 4030/4035 will sync non-Fostex decks too, but you're in DIY-land on CABLES.;)
 
A Fostex 4030/4035 syncronizer/controller will lock two Fostex units together, M/S,..

in full Smpte lock.

I think the JL Cooper boxes will facilitate the analog reel as code-only master, with nothing fancy.

I have each piece of the aforementioned Fostex gear, but have yet to hook it up and figure it out completely. Being an economical format, and Fostex-to-Fostex plug-compatible on sync is a big plus.

The Model 80 was designed to accomodate autolocate and sync.

It's an 80's deck. Get one in good condition, and it can be a nice deck to have. I'm a vintage collector. I think I have two.;)
 
:cool: The 4050 will do also as it's a timecode generater and a reader as well as a remote controller.....



da MUTT
 
Update........kind of:D .

The seller hasn't bothered to reply as yet and the current bid price is approaching that point where I would be better of not worrying about this machine and putting some extra dollars out on a 1/2" 8 track, speaking of which..........the following is from a thread I started here a month or so back which only ever received one reply.........

"I know of a store that has both a Tascam 38 and a 58 for sale. Can someone give me an idea of the differences between these two. Unfortunately, they are approx,. 160klms south of here in Sydney, so it isn't feasable to just pop in and have a look at them.

Also, whatever I may end up with, will have to be synched to my Fostex D160 16trk H/disc recorder. Now I know it can work off Midi timecode and stuff, and I know that it is necessary to have a dedictaed track for timecode on a R2R..........but can anyone give me more specific information on this synching process."


Any further advice will be appreciated.



:cool:
 
AS far as my experience with MIDI timecode goes, it doesn't perform very well, at least with Cubase. Is the HD recorder capabale of syncing to SMPTE ? If so, you would like to get a SMPTE converter that AFAIK is the best syncing format.
 
Mutt, the 4050 autolocator, another top choice!

Gosh, Mutt, I have one of those TOO, but like everything else I've mentioned, I've not had time to indulge my sync-related fantasies.

Just forgot, glossed over the Fostex 4050, autolocator, which is another timecode related device. BTW, Fostex has a bunch of other 40XX sync-related products, f/i, the 4020 and 4010, too.

I can't comment more on sync, without getting in over my head. I'm a sync-newbie-virgin, too! It can be done, though, given the right eqipment.

Check the Fostex 4050, as well as the 4030/4035, when it comes to syncing the Fostex 80's model reel-decks.

Thanx Mutt!;)
 
Guys, thanks for taking the time to help, however I ended up letting that auction pass by without bidding........as it turned out, the reserve wasn't reached anyway and I think the seller may have had an unrealistic reserve set.

Time to do some research and learning about Tascam 1/2" 8 trks..........what the different models are and their specific features, etc. Suggestions or information anyone?

:cool:
 
:D LTU/ REEL Person: once you get into timecode/sync recording it's a little more of a setup time, but man it's like having an additional person in your studio helping out. Fun stuff like autolocate, timing recorder to midi-instruments, running alesis machines and fostex together( ana-digi sync ). One can sync video/movies to music/dialogue.........

It's endless...........


da MUTT
 
I'm interested in doing music videos.

I've looked at some SMPTE VCR's, & such. Audio-Video would be cool. Also, linking two analog audio decks would be cool, ah, but only a wild dream for me, at this time. Future/TBD.;)
 
38

I bought a Tascam 38 last December and I am very pleased with the sound I am getting. There were three levels of 1/2" 8 track from Tascam during this era. 38, 48, 58. Higher the number, the more pro the machine. The 38 does not lock to timecode, though I believe you could stripe an outside track and lock a DAW or DTRS system to the tape machine, since the digital machine should chase the tape much easier than analog tape can chase digital. I'm not sure about the 48 or 58.

You might want to go over to the tascam online forums and look in the analog section. Of course, you could search here, but you'd need three characters - i.e. "38" wouldn't be long enough. Supposedly you can use an asterisk * as a wild card to fill in that third character but I always get search errors when I try.

Here's the link for the tascam analog / vintage forum:
http://www.tascam.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=13

I just visited there to get the link and the forums are closed for a while for maintenance, but I figured I'd go ahead and post the link......

andrew
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top