Soundcraft E8 meets Tascam 38

B

BillyFurnett

New member
The following are questions of signal routing concerning the Soundcraft E8 (8 mono channel) mixer to and from the Tascam 38 8 track tape machine.
(Most if not all of these question will likely apply to SOME non Tascam mixers used in conjunction with the 38 or possibly other multi-track tape machines.)

1. Is using the insert as a direct out giving a good enough signal to the tape machine?

2. When using the insert send does one HAVE TO use a TRS cable OR will a mono 1/4 to RCA cable work? (I mean if I insert a 1/4 monoplug half way into the jack will it just give me the send I need to go to the tape machine?)

3. (May be a dumb question, but) Are the line level inputs on the mixer the best way to recieve the tape machine outs...Like for mix down?

4. When using the Soundcraft how would one monitor the signal being Recorded? (From the tape machines out into a spare mixer channel? OR from the mixer before it goes to the tape machine?)

5. (Here's the doozy!) With the Soundcraft how does one send a sub mix of multiple mixer channles to just ONE mixer channel so it can be sent out to a single tape machine in? Is this possible to do with the feature set of the E8?
Here is a link to the E8:

http://www.soundcraft.com/products/eseries_home.html


As always,
Thank you everyone for the help.
:)
 
Last edited:
Answers.

1 - The insert is not a direct out. It is a bridge point that connects two stages of circuitry inside the mixer. If you fashion a splitter into the TRS loop, you can use it as a direct out but, you will only have the gain structure of the trim control to adjust your level that gets to the recorder. This is a draw-back to the idea you had in your mind about what that mixer could do for you.

The M312 boards have inserts as well as direct outs on all the input channel strips which would make use of all the controls on the channel except the pan control.

2 - You must use a TRS jack into that mixer. halfway inserting a TS jack will be hit and miss and may damage the circuitry of the board.

3- Yes

4 - You would make use of the aux mixing buss that the board offers and create a mix that has the desired levels of what is on tape, balanced with what you are playing live. Then, in the master section, you would monitor the aux mix while you were tracking, (recording).

5 - The E8 is a 8 x 2 mixer so, you could use all the channel's at once to create a sub-mix of what was to go to tape through the left and right outs.

You best bet with this mixer is to get a patch bay and take the stereo outs of this board and put that into the bay and from there, via patch bay jumpers, select which track or tracks, ( max 2 at a time), get that signal to record from.

As an example, plug a stereo drum machine directly into channels 1 & 2 of the patch bay and record those on tracks 1 & 2 on the recorder, use the mixer to get a guitar going to track 3 via the patch bay and one recorded, use the mixer to blend the tape's tracks through the aux system and record the next part to track 4 via patch bay selection and so on till the song is completed.

Once finished, monitor the mixer's stereo outputs and send that to a two track recorder for mix-down. This could be a computer's wave recorder, a cassette deck, a DAT, or a stand-a-lone CD burner deck.

Or, hold out for a M300 series or similar board and gain a few more conveniences like direct outs and 4 buss architecture along with a more industrious monitoring section for over dubbing sessions and mix-down tasks.

Hope that helps!

Cheers! :)
 
Whew!
That was an eye full.

Thanks alot for the endless patience and indepth answers Ghost.
Hopefully my questions and your answers can help someone else here sometime. (I'll likely come back to the thread for reference myself.)

Ok, so who wants to sell me a M-320?? LOL

The search continues.
:)


(BTW-I got my few pieces of gear back tonight without incident.)
 
(BTW-I got my few pieces of gear back tonight without incident.)

A few?

Don't leave us hanging!

What happened there?

Nosy bbs'ers ( like me), need to know!:D
 
Maybe you guys are seeing something I'm missing,...

but I don't see this Soundcraft Spirit E8 mixer as being suitable for 8-track recording at all.

The main reasons, being that [1] this is only a 8x2 stereo mixer, and all signals are bussed to the main L/R stereo buss, AND therefore, [2] by virtue of this design, there is no adequate tape return signal path, isolation or submix capability for CUE. Sorry!

[Just stick with the M30, used for ~$125]
 
LOL ok

I got ALL of my gear back without any problem.
(I meant like, the few pieces of mine that were still over there.)
They even delivered it! (Of course if I went to get it while everyone was there they'd have to hear the truth while all together instead of the luxery I provided by allowing half of them to paint their version of things to the other half..., but the other half will hear it from me directly so there's NO MISTAKING my feelings which led to my actions of leaving.)
I WAS "Questioned" about some cable that I never even knew exsisted, but of course they forgot to bring a cable of mine that was there. (LOL)
BTW Missing cables are apparently the new hot button topic to bring up in place of things important things like the hard fast TRUTH such as free tuners, brand new capo's, $100.00 guitar cases, or drummers YOU'VE know for 15 years, but can't ask why they show up once a month for three times a week practices. (LOL)
The list just goes on and on, BUT the list now has an end to it.

:)
 
Quote:


"...Just stick with the M30, used for ~$125"

A Reel Person



Ok, good advice Reel... Now would you prefer a money order or cashiers check as the payment medium??
(I'm NOT kidding!! LOL)


:)
 
Re: Maybe you guys are seeing something I'm missing,...

A Reel Person said:
[Just stick with the M30, used for ~$125]
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree with that.

The Soundcraft is a nice board but it is very limiting for the intended application.

M30, M208, M216, M308, M312, M320, M50, M512, M520 would all be wonderful choices and more flexible and usable.

Cheers! :)
 
I haven't decided to part with my dearly beloved M30 yet,...

but that could change from month to month/TBD, given my current unemployed status. When I decide to start selling stuff, I'll surely let you know!;)

I wouldn't kid you, though, I think the M30 is one of the best mixer deals around, and at their current low Ebay bid prices, can't be beaten.

Really, if you have such a grand live setup that you'd need more than 8-inputs, just get two M30's for less than an M312 or M320.

The M30 isn't a hard to find item, is it? I usually see a few on Ebay almost every week.;)
 
I feel you Reel (Things are rough all over nowadays)... I'd much rather hear your situation has taken a favorable upswing instead of knowing you had to sell off parts of your collection.
Yikes! That would suck.

This reminds me that I've been meaning to ask Ghost if he knows the song "Things are rough all over" from the film by the same name. (You could do a smokin' cover of that tune Ghost!)


:)
 
I have no time for covers:(

I barely have enough time for original stuff!

But, thanks for thinking of me!:D

ARP has a flair for covers! Perhaps he is familiar with the song?

ARP?

:cool:
 
I just heard that song again for the first time the other day and you (Ghost) came instantly to mind.

If I can find an mp3 link I'll post it just for kicks. I don't know why I thought of you... Something in the funky sound of it. Kind of like Zappa, but not really... It's just a weird little song that I forgot about. LOL I don't know.

:)
 
Actually, I don't know that one either! At least not by its tittle.

Probably if I heard it, I would know it.

Who was the band that played it, Billy?
 
I'm not exactally sure, but I think it might actually be Cheech and Chong doing it.
(It plays over the films closing credits.)
It's like a Funk/R&B piece with a horn section but I can't tell if they are real or a midi sequenced horns.
(Its SOMETHING LIKE that disco collab you did Ghost.)

The lead vocal line is for the most part a careless scat like mumbling (Or it's buried in the mix) and kind of comes off like they had no lyrics at the time of recording, yet like scat, it creates and coveys the mood (In this case a funky r&b feel), then here and there the singer ends sentences that illustrate the gist of how he has been screwed around again like, "..And she just said no way!", then it goes to the chrous part which has female backups singing "Things are rough all O-o-ver.." then there's a slightly "different" turn around with the horns and drums.

I could hear the Chilli Peppers remaking it, but I think they would make it come across funky in a preconcieved way and not weird and carelessly mental funky like Zappa would.

It's not the greatest tune ever, just a cool little weird B-side kind of thing that's funkiness may in fact be due in part to it's sounding somewhat dated.


:)
 
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