As is the case with a lot of Tascam stuff from the old days, the M-200 series under promised and over delivered. They were pitched as a “budget” do-all for the small studio or band. It turns out they were built rather well and by today’s inferior standards would hardly be considered budget sound wise. They now have an almost cult following in the hack & mod community.
They sound just fine right out of the box, but really purr when the stock JRC4560 op-amps are replaced with Burr-Brown 2604’s.
I own both
the M-208 and M-216. I’ve tricked out the 208 with Burr-Brown OPA2604’s and Analog OP275’s on each channel strip. I plan to do
the M-216, but haven’t had the time yet. Sound wise it runs circles around many newer pricier boards, including some of its bigger Tascam brothers. It was touted as having generous headroom and it delivers. It generally epitomizes that elusive “warm, clean sound” everyone is trying to resurrect these days.
The M-200 series could have used another effects send and stereo return. The mid-freq sweepable eq is taking up more space than it should because its not stacked, but has separate knobs for level and freq. The low freq is set at 100 Hz. I wish that was sweepable as well.
On the other hand they didn’t jam the panel so full of knobs that you can’t lay your fingers on the board without inadvertently fat-fingering an unintended setting. I would describe it as a small board with a big board feel – not like the pea-size knobs made for elfin fingers like today.
All in all I’ve never felt lacking in anyway while using these as my main mixers. There are always trade-offs no matter what you choose. I’m so pleased with the sound of these boards the absence of a convenience here or feature there isn’t an issue.
Well, another of my secret weapons revealed – the M-200 series mixers.
Tim