Newbie question regarding Tascam 38 to Tascam m-35

A

Analongnewb

New member
Hello all,

This is my first post as well as my first venture into analog and have a very embarrassingly basic question. For connecting the two together do I just need to buy eight different RCA cables? Then connected them from the 38 to the 35 by Direct out, cue out, tape in, and line in? I just want make sure Im buying the right things because RCA cables are surprisingly expensive. So yes I know such a newb I am.
Anyway the help would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks
 
"Newbie" questions welcome here.

Yes, either from the direct out jacks or the two sets of 4 group outs on the mixer to the 8 tape machine inputs, and then from the 8 tape machine outputs to the tape return jacks on the mixer.

You'll need 16 RCA - RCA cables total, but to save cost you could look for two used 8-channel RCA - RCA "snakes" like HOSA brand or something...it'll likely save you over getting 16 individual cables or 8 stereo cables.

That help?
 
Great question, I am also a newbie for analog recording- just got myself 4 track Teac 3340-s and trying to figure out how to set up and what not. Actually my biggest challenge for the moment is finding tape 10.5.

Thanks again for asking ur question and SweetBeats ur knowledge is much appreciated!
 
What do you have for a mixer?

There are a number of places you can buy 1/4" tape on 10.5" reels...splicit.com, U.S. Recording Media among others.

3340S was my first open reel tape machine and I still have very fond memories of it; its operation and sound.
 
I am pretty sure the 3340 is going to prefer 1mil tape, in which case you want to get LPR-35. You can also use NOS Maxell UD-35 or UD-35B or Ampex 642. Don't use any used tape that is black on one side. (Back coated) Read the "sticky shed" thread, if you plan to get anything other than new tape from one of the suppliers mentioned above. You can also get Quantegy 457 from Quantegy. They claim to be making a comeback, but the claim is about three years old now.
 
Hello again,

So I am having trouble with the m-35 and m-38 connection.

I have plugged everything in correctly, the RCAs are in the way they're supposed to be and I am currently plugged into channel 2, my channel 1 VU meter doesn't work on my 38 so I'm in channel 2. I have set the input to mic and have set the submix to buss and press the assign button to one. Everything is great except I get signal in channel 5 instead of channel 2. Also, when I push down assign button two I get signal in channel 6, assign button 3 I get signal in both 3 and 7, and assign button 4 I get signal for channels 4 and 8. Basically I just need to know how I get the signal for channel 2. Playback works fine, everything else I can get but I just can't seem to get the signal channel for two.

Thanks, the help is greatly appreciated.
 
You should have the buss 2 assign button down, channel and group 2 fader up. If hooked up properly to the 38 using the Line/Aux jacks from the M35, then you should receive the signal on both channels 2 and 6 on the 38.
 
I did this and I can faintly hear the thing I recorded on channel 2 and thats with me pumping up the faders and trim. There is also still nothing going on in my channel 2 VU on the 38. I know that one works because there is something previously recorded on the tape so i can watch the meters during playback. I have it set up so channel 1 and 5 are plugged into the tape in on the back of the 35 as well as 1 and 5 grouped together on the Line/Aux out. On the 38 its just straight across plugged in 1-8. Should it not be that way?

Thanks for helping such a beginner out I really appreciate it.
 
Well it sounds like you have it hooked up properly. Try a different cable to track 2 input on the 38 if you haven't already. To eliminate the M35 as the issue, if you know buss 3/track 3 record fine, use that cable and route it to track 2 input on the 38. Set buss 3 assign on the M35 and record enable track 2 on the 38. See what you get. Also, I would re-route the track 2 output cable on the 38 into a known-working tape in on the M35.

If all else fails, and track 2 is still not recording properly, then you may want to look at swapping the track 2 card inside the 38.
 
Well I don't know what I did but track one and two work now. So that's nice but very strange as to how they started working. I also have another question for you nice people. How do I bounce tracks? Do I just pan them appropriately then arm the track I want them all to be bounced onto? I really have no idea as to how to do this.
Thanks again for your advise/answers.
 
It may possibly be a problem with the card seating or something. As for bouncing, the '38 won't have a way to do that internally. You have to mix the tracks you want to bounce (only those tracks!) and record the mixer output onto an empty track (a patchbay is useful for this kind of rerouting).

Then, when you're completely happy with the bounce you can erase and re-use the original tracks. A less destructive method is to bounce onto a second machine, but you need two 38s for that, obviously.

Make sure that the sub-mixing is done with the output set to 'sync' - if you bounce with it set to 'repro', it will be delayed about 1/15th of a second later than the rest of the song (which is why 'sync' mode is called 'sync' mode in the first place). The TSR-8 only has two heads anyway so this wasn't a problem for me when I was bouncing things.

Finally, remember that if you bounce to a single track you will lose the panning of the mix because it's mono.
If you want to bounce down into stereo, you will obviously have to bounce to a pair of tracks instead of just one.

Does that help?
 
For bouncing, you probably don't even need to re-cable if hooked up the standard way to the M35. Just assign the tracks/channels you want to bounce to the appropriate stereo (or mono) buss outputs that correspond with two (or one for mono) tracks on the 38. Make sure not to buss assign the record enabled tracks back onto itself to avoid a loop.
 
jpmorris said:
It may possibly be a problem with the card seating or something. As for bouncing, the '38 won't have a way to do that internally. You have to mix the tracks you want to bounce (only those tracks!) and record the mixer output onto an empty track (a patchbay is useful for this kind of rerouting).

Then, when you're completely happy with the bounce you can erase and re-use the original tracks. A less destructive method is to bounce onto a second machine, but you need two 38s for that, obviously.

Make sure that the sub-mixing is done with the output set to 'sync' - if you bounce with it set to 'repro', it will be delayed about 1/15th of a second later than the rest of the song (which is why 'sync' mode is called 'sync' mode in the first place). The TSR-8 only has two heads anyway so this wasn't a problem for me when I was bouncing things.

Finally, remember that if you bounce to a single track you will lose the panning of the mix because it's mono.
If you want to bounce down into stereo, you will obviously have to bounce to a pair of tracks instead of just one.

Does that help?
Click to expand...

Very good explanation! I tried bouncing some vocal tracks using the the repro head and the results were cool, But I was looking for that kind of effect.
 
Awesome, this definitely helps! I really appreciate all the help. I'm going to try it out all of today and if I can't seem to get anything I will get back to you all.
Thanks again for all your help
 
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