Hello, im fairly new around here but i have a deep passion for home recording specifically on decks and formats that were considered rather low end or "pro-sumer" in their time. I kow the advent of lofi indie and electronic has flooded these forums with young guys trying to get very cheap uncared for decks to make magic lofi tape sounds and it becomes annoying for older guys who were around when the stuff was new and largely regarded the stuff as junk and i have been guilty of driving my tech crazy doing stuff like that!! When i was 13 i wanted to home record and my guitar teacher handed me a brand new Tascam 414mkii and thats how this whole mess started for me. that was a decade ago!. Anyways ive slowly built a prosumer home studio ala late 70s-late 80s and id like to share some of my recent grabs!. Firstly i finally got my hands on my dream deck which is a Tascam 238. The ease of 8 channels on such a available and user friendly format like cassette was the main reason. Its in the shop that sold me it currently getting a calibration but i also got two mixers to try with it. The first is a mint Mackie CR1604 which i am aware is not the best board but works flawlessly for a split console 8 track setup. my only complaint is the EQ is pretty garbage. I got it to replace a worn out and noisy Tascam M-208 which i love but could use some recapping but man the M-208 EQ ROCKS! I was so unsure the mackie would be good enough i also scored a mint Tascam M-30 from japan that i assume would be a step in a more colorful direction than the mackie. The mackie is nice because i dont ever have to wonder if the mixer is the cause of any signal issues as its so bright anything odd im hearing would be the decks its wired into. I also recently got a Teac A2340 which really suprised me for being so old it really works well! the sound quality is not so bad but it needs to be calibrated for ATR MDS-36 imo. with my 238 being in the shop in a pinch i also got my hands on a working Fostex A8 which is really cool! Im rambling but i have built a full on madmans lofi tape lab in this room. other decks include a 424mkiii and Porta 05 i found mint in box and my trust Tascam 112rmkii which i bought withoug knowing i needed a 3 head and i just accidently got the 3 head version of the 112 and mines one of the later ones so its heads and everything are close to new. I dont really have any outboard gear besides a microverb 2 and micro limitewr but im working on getting a rack together when the 238 is done and racking up that and the 112 and some EQ and a compressor. Id like anyone to show off any new toys they got and offer any advice to me on managing all this new equipment as im really excited to get to work. Could anyone offer tips on a good noise reduction for the A2340? ITs not a hiss factory but could be a little quieter