No disrespect at all! I'm trying to keep reminding myself that the 388 is most likely hyped up by people who don't know a whole lot about recording, they just know what gear certain musicians use. I do love the lower-quality sound of the machine though, at least what I have heard on recordings that used a 388.
Do you think there are ½” 8 tracks that produce the similar lo-fi like sound? If I had a budget of $2000-$2500 but wanted something that kept the quality of recordings pretty hissy, and low-quality, what would you recommend. That link you sent is for an awesome machine, but the thing is, I need a mixer as well, and I don’t know which ones are good, or how to choose a quality one!
TBH...I never quite "got" the whole lo-fi thing.
I mean...back in the day, I did a LOT of "lo-fi" recordings...using a 1/4" 4-track and then mixing down to a cassette deck...or even using a cassette deck to bounce stuff, but eventually I added a 1/4" 2-track mixdown deck. Mind you, these were still consumer grade machines, but the open reel decks were actually pretty good sounding. They were made by Akai, and they had glass & crystal ferrite heads...so quite smooth.
Still, there was plenty of lo-fi to be had.
While there is certainly a lot of nostalgic connection and history with those recordings (I still have all the 1/4" tapes and cassettes from then)...all I ever kept thinking about and trying to do was to get away from that "lo-fi" stuff and move up to more pro quality equipment.
I don't know what the appeal is with "lo-fi" recordings, other than it has that garage band, "demo tape" sound...
...which IMO, is liked by some people because it *removes* the need to reach any pro level quality. It's lets you off a lot of hooks when you don't have to try and get pro quality...and it's more of a "as-it-falls" approach...which can be fun, no doubt. Take what comes and don't touch it afterward.
Also...I think a lot of people confuse "lo-fi" with pro music that was recorded back in the '50s and '60s...as though THAT was the original intent, but quite the opposite, they were trying to get as pro/pristine quality as possible, and the "sound" that is often associated with some "lo-fi" music, is really about the production and just the limitation imposed on it (they didn't have DAWs with 1000 tracks and 500 plugins)...but there was no conscious "lo-fi" production goal, as there seems to be today with some folks.
Now if some people like the hiss and the noise and the "garage band", "demo tape" thing...that's OK, but frankly, I don't think you need to use older, crappier gear to get there. I mean, if you want some hiss, these days you can probably use a plug-in
...but really, it's more about the arrangements, the tone selection for the instruments, and the limited/sparse production approach...not so much the lousy Signal to Noise on some cheap cassette deck.
Of course...maybe for some, the hiss and the noise is the "effect" they want to add to their music....though I tend to try and get as far from that as possible these days. I had enough of it when I was stuck with a 4-track and cassette to last me a lifetime.
Check out some of the Daptone Records stuff...it has that very old-school sound, which I think a lot of folks associate with "lo-fi"...but there's really nothing lo-fi about the quality. I mean heck, they did a bunch of stuff for Amy Winehouse back in the day...and while the music sounds "old"...there was no "lo-fi" intent with the audio quality. They have some decent gear at the Daptone Studio...even an old Trident 65, which I'm happy to see, considering I have the bigger London 24 version.
So nothing shabby about the gear...it's all about the production and the music.
Look behind Gabe in the beginning...there's an Otari 1/2" 8-track.