Connections for Tascam MSR-16

T

taraxman

New member
Wondering what the simplest way is of getting a Tascam MSR-16 up and running through a mixer? I've got a shitty Alto 16 channel mixer that's got 8 insert channels. I assume there is no way around having to buy hundreds of bucks worth of TRS snakes?
Advice would be greatly appreciated.......... thanks
 
The simplest way is connect the outputs of the deck (RCA/Phono) to the inputs of the mixer, which are typically TRS jack. That at least gives you the ability to mix recordings.

I usually use a sub-mixer as the front end so that I can apply EQ to the track I'm recording, and it also allows me to select which instruments I'm recording. But in this case I'm recording things layer by layer to build up the song, so I can get away with using a pair of 4-way Y-leads (mirroring the mixer's stereo out across all the channel pairs). If you're recording an entire band at once, a patchbay is probably a better idea.

The MSR-24 has a switch which allows you to link the first 8 channels so they're mirrored to 9-16 and 17-24, I'm not sure whether the MSR-16 has this too.
 
jpmorris said:
The MSR-24 has a switch which allows you to link the first 8 channels so they're mirrored to 9-16 and 17-24, I'm not sure whether the MSR-16 has this too.
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Mmh, I don't have a manual for the MSR-16. Where's teh switch on the MSR-24. I don't know about this. FYI 1-4 on the Fostex model 80 are normalled to 5-8 also.
 
Blue Jinn said:
Mmh, I don't have a manual for the MSR-16. Where's teh switch on the MSR-24. I don't know about this. FYI 1-4 on the Fostex model 80 are normalled to 5-8 also.
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On the MSR-24 there are two switches, for 9-16 and 17-24. IIRC they're on the same backplate as the RCA connectors.
 
Just got my MSR back from being serviced. To reiterate..... is there any other way of multitracking other than using INSERT channels? I've already spent way too much dough on getting it up and running, so I don't wanna buy lotsa insert cables etc when i'm not sure that's exactly what I need. I tried plugging the previously recorded tracks just into the line inputs, but obviously you're gonna get those tracks back underneath the new track if the output of mixer is going to the MSR. Would a patchbay solve anything?
The switch that you guys are talking about.... does that enable being able to hear previous tracks?? Real Confused and just wanna get some recording done! Advice would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! Many thanks
 
Also, I'm using RMGI 911. Is this tape usually noisey with this deck? It gets much worse after any recording signals stop.....
 
taraxman said:
Also, I'm using RMGI 911. Is this tape usually noisey with this deck? It gets much worse after any recording signals stop.....
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Do you mean the machine is running loudly acoustically, or that the recorded signal is noisy? Is the DBX enabled? Because narrow-track like that really needs noise reduction to work.

Regarding the mixer setup, I've only ever done this using a dedicated mixer, so the machine outputs go into line-in on the mixer and I have a smaller submixer to handle the instrument end. I think an important things to take into account when planning the strategy is whether you're going to be recording as a group or doing a solo artist thing where you build up the song a track at a time. That will determine your approach, really.
 
Thanks for your reply. Kind of a little o both. But the recorded signal I mean. Is there a special way to use DBX without it making it flat sounding with no resonance? Yeah I'm recording solo so doing layer by layer. Do you connect the two mixers?... How do you hear the track you're recording while hearing the previous stuff on the other mixer? Thanks Alot!
 
taraxman said:
Figured it out ha. Thanks for your advice jp
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Cool. Yeah, with the mixers, I have a small mixer at the front. The instruments connect in to that. I then split the outputs up with a 4-way Y lead that I made, and that goes into the inputs of the tape deck. The channels alternate left and right out of the sub-mixer e.g. 1=L, 2=R, 3=L, 4=R and so on. That way I can arm a pair of tracks if I need to record in stereo or just leave everything panned centre for mono instruments.
The TSR-8 has 8 inputs and the MSR-24 can mirror the first 8 inputs to the rest of the tracks too.
The outputs of the deck go to the big mixer.
 
What mixer(s) specifically can be used with an MSR-16 in this manner?

I recently had a PSU scam happen and I'm likely going to sell the M3500 mixer that came with the deck because it's just too much for me.

I'm a singer songwriter that builds things up as I go.

Can summing boxes like ones from Dangerous Music be used with this machine to monitor?
 
rorohello said:
What mixer(s) specifically can be used with an MSR-16 in this manner?
Can summing boxes like ones from Dangerous Music be used with this machine to monitor?
Click to expand...

The beauty of using a small mixer for front-end and a bigger one for mixdown is that anything with enough channels will do the job. Otherwise, you'd have to find a proper recording mixer with switchable inputs which will be rare and expensive since most people are using DAWs these days. The other approach is to get a live mixer with far more channels than you would otherwise need so that you can use 16 for mixdown and 8 for front-end.

As I was saying at the time, a lot depends on how many inputs you need to record at once. If you're only ever going to be recording one instrument at a time, you can use a 4-way Y lead. If you are going to be recording multiple instruments live, you'll need a front-end mixer with lots of output groups. In either case, a patchbay is likely to help immensely.

At the time I was originally replying to the thread, I was probably using a Yamaha MG14 as front-end mixer, and a 20-channel Soundcraft MPXi20. These days I'm using a stack of Behringer RX1602 1U mixers as the front-end, because it saves space. The drawback is that it has no EQ or preamp, and although it has FX send, the return will eat up one of the channels. I have three which I'm chaining.
For mixdown I'm using an Allen & Heath GL2400-24.

I've never heard of the Dangerous Music unit before, but given that it costs about as much as I paid for a professional 24-track deck, I suspect it would be colossal overkill.
 
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