notbillcosby
Member
After about 3 months, I finally got tape and a demagnetizer for my Tascam 388, and have started trying to learn the thing! I've recorded some test stuff, and so far everything seems to be working. The "feature set" on here is making me really, really appreciate my 488 mkII; Things like 2 memory points and the overall ease of use and monitor routing are making the 488 feel like a Cadillac in comparison. The idea of "PGM" and "CUE" on the 388 are confusing me, and I feel a little stupid because of it. I think my brain wants one to be playback and one to be through-the-board signal, but I THINK it depends more on what's being routed through certain busses... but I really have no solid description of what's what. Someone should really spell that out for me- I'm plenty competent when it comes to digital recording, but I have ZERO experience with tape outside of the 488mkII!
Has anyone else noticed how many typos are in the manual for the 388? I don't mean they say "Recod" instead of "Record"... I mean important stuff, like saying "Put the so-and-so switch in the CUE position (up)" when in reality, the CUE position for that switch is DOWN, so which do they mean? This isn't a specific example because I can't think of one off the top of my head, but reading the manual, I've come across a ton of things like that that's making it extremely difficult for me to learn what the hell I'm supposed to be doing. Lots of elements simply aren't explained well enough for me to understand what's going on. In contrast, the 488mkII manual is so well written that I straight-up enjoyed reading it. Every element of everything was so clearly overly explained that I had no problem understanding every aspect of that machine.
I'm a little confused about how to route things through the monitor mix all the time, but can usually figure out how to make it do what i want it to after flipping switches a few times. One problem specifically: I have my monitors plugged into the Stereo Outs on the back of the 388. When I'm overdubbing, say, acoustic guitar through an LDC, I'd love to be able to turn down the speakers and up the headphones. When i turn down the master LR fader, it kills my headphone volume too. Aaagh. How do I send the tape signal from track one and the the live signal passing through channel 1 on the board and being routed to track 2 to headphones but not speakers? Are they expecting me to have passive speakers and an amplifier between the Tascam and the monitors that could control their volume? ...Because that isn't the case.
Also, when i hit play or stop, it makes a slightly jarring CHUNK noise that I'm not used to hearing. I'm pretty sure it's normal, but since I've never had a tape machine before and have absolutely no idea if it's functioning at 100% or not, it's worth asking
Thanks!
Has anyone else noticed how many typos are in the manual for the 388? I don't mean they say "Recod" instead of "Record"... I mean important stuff, like saying "Put the so-and-so switch in the CUE position (up)" when in reality, the CUE position for that switch is DOWN, so which do they mean? This isn't a specific example because I can't think of one off the top of my head, but reading the manual, I've come across a ton of things like that that's making it extremely difficult for me to learn what the hell I'm supposed to be doing. Lots of elements simply aren't explained well enough for me to understand what's going on. In contrast, the 488mkII manual is so well written that I straight-up enjoyed reading it. Every element of everything was so clearly overly explained that I had no problem understanding every aspect of that machine.
I'm a little confused about how to route things through the monitor mix all the time, but can usually figure out how to make it do what i want it to after flipping switches a few times. One problem specifically: I have my monitors plugged into the Stereo Outs on the back of the 388. When I'm overdubbing, say, acoustic guitar through an LDC, I'd love to be able to turn down the speakers and up the headphones. When i turn down the master LR fader, it kills my headphone volume too. Aaagh. How do I send the tape signal from track one and the the live signal passing through channel 1 on the board and being routed to track 2 to headphones but not speakers? Are they expecting me to have passive speakers and an amplifier between the Tascam and the monitors that could control their volume? ...Because that isn't the case.
Also, when i hit play or stop, it makes a slightly jarring CHUNK noise that I'm not used to hearing. I'm pretty sure it's normal, but since I've never had a tape machine before and have absolutely no idea if it's functioning at 100% or not, it's worth asking
Thanks!