Tascam M520 Story...

[A Reel Person]

Thanx for the info!

At some future time maybe you could contract to make a couple. Maybe one for me. Or I'll have to put my DIY hat on and break out the soldering iron. The price of the hardware seems reasonable. The multicore wire should be easy to find.

 

[cjacek]

Man, that's great news, Cory! I love TASCAM!!!

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[ethyrvalve]

Hey cory,
RE: the conversation in the other thread on using the 58-ob's +4 or -10 connectors... I've read that the RCA connectors on the unit are the knees of this otherwise rock solid design. I initially used the RCAs and one of the channels would crap out on me from time to time.
Now I'm using a Fostex 5030 line amplifier to interface the 58 with the mixer. It's the only time I've been happy with a Fostex product. I bought another for connecting outboard gear to the mixer. They don't tend to go for a lot of cash.

here's how i've set up my stuff:

(excuse the rat's nest)
those tascam RCA-to-TS patchbays don't tend to go for much (i paid $25 for one, and the other got tossed in with my m1b). I found putting a couple on the meter bridge really sped up recording for me:

it's a terrible photo, but the 5030 line amp uses RCAs and XLR jacks (pin 3 hot), it converts 8 channels balanced-to-unbalanced and 8 vice-versa. unlike the ebtech model, it's an active design (i'm not sure what would work better).

 

[sweetbeats]

At some future time maybe you could contract to make a couple. Maybe one for me. Or I'll have to put my DIY hat on and break out the soldering iron. The price of the hardware seems reasonable. The multicore wire should be easy to find.

Dave, I will definitely keep that in mind, and I'll update you and all as I learn which direction I need to go. If time wasn't such a commodity for me at this station in life I would love to make one for you whether or not I'm going to need one for myself!

PETE!

So cool to see your setup!

Thanks for putting up the pictures! That is a working studio! I love it!

So in the first picture, that's the 58 in the middle, your new-to-you B67 on the right...what's on the left? Is that a Fostex E2 or E22?

Yeah, cjacek and others have warned me about those poor unfortunate RCA jacks on the 58... I'll have to be careful if I end up using them...I don't think they were used in its original install loaction, so here's hoping!

I'll keep the 5030 in mind though if I need to do that...hopefully not.

Do you have any opinons on the signal-path quality when using the unbalanced vs. the balanced I/O on the 58 (outside of the hardware integrity issue)?

I have two Neutrik 48-point TRS patchbays now...need to get some RCA-RCA or RCA-TS patchbays at some point to go along with the M520. Not sure what all I'm going to need yet, but my tiny studio will command the use of patchbays as the M520 will be backed right up to a wall with virtually no wiggle-room. This condition will likely change eventually, but at present my "studio" is extremely humble. More gear per square foot than the competition is my marketing strategy!! I'm likely to track down Tascam patchbays like yours. Good quality and cheap.

Thanks again for the contribution!!

 

[Richard King]

Here's a 512 that I designed a theater system around MANY years ago. The patchbays in the picture (right side of the system picture) are 2 ADC 96 point TT patchbays. The Model 1's were used as matrix mixers to feed the various speaker locations throughout the theater. Thought you might be interested in what patchbays were used at the time. We got lots of signal density as each 96 point bay was only one rack space.

 

[cjacek]

I've read that the RCA connectors on the unit are the knees of this otherwise rock solid design. I initially used the RCAs and one of the channels would crap out on me from time to time.

Yeah, cjacek and others have warned me about those poor unfortunate RCA jacks on the 58... I'll have to be careful if I end up using them...I don't think they were used in its original install location, so here's hoping!

Yes, those pesky 58 RCA connectors.

I personally would use 'em only in the most careful of examples. I'd first use something like deoxit so that it not only cleans but lubricates the connectors and then very, very carefully insert the cables and make sure that they can't be yanked on or endlessly re-patched. You certainly don't want tight fitting connectors or any pushing / pulling, turning or bending going on. Alternatively, yes, a patch bay or the XLR's, I'd use. Honestly, I'd be scared as hell to use the RCA's, especially if they were worn out by the previous owner and are 'hanging by a thread'... One careless insertion of the RCA cable and your previously functioning XLR is also outta business... I like this quote "the RCA connectors on the unit [58] are the knees of this otherwise rock solid design".

BTW, cool picts ethyrvalve and Richard.

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[sweetbeats]

I got some spares today...

I got some spare parts for the M520 today for a paltry sum...

Tracked down a guy over at the TapeOp Message Board who had parted out his M520. Turned out he had some scrapings left.

The scrapings turned out to be a 4-channel input block. He said there was stuff missing, no knobs etc. I was interested anyway for the pots and switches and having some spare input channel PCB's was a nice idea.

Well, see the pictures below. It is almost totally complete, and it even came with a bunch of shorting jumpers which is great because I'm...uh...short a few.

Here's what I pulled out of the box...

Here it is put together...

Another view...Reminds me of a scene from Star Wars...

The underpinnings...

It is a suprisingly clean set...

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Definitely the way to purchase parts unless new is absolutely needed.

 

[sweetbeats]

What is up with the faders on the M520??

This is really wierd...lookit the differences in the faders between the M520 I bought, and the faders on the parts block I received:

My M520 came with the nice really smooth and quiet ALPS faders. The parts block has these standard basic units. Did the M520 come have option choices when new or something? The difference is just so drastic...

 

[ethyrvalve]

Hey Cory,
thanks for the kind words about my basement dungeon. The other machine is an otari mx5050 bII. I really wanted two 2-tracks because i love using tape delayed reverb during mixdown.

Did you notice that bit in the brochure that said something like "all faders are field replaceable with penny and giles 100mm units." I had my hopes up that my faders were going to be p&g's, but the alps ones--exactly like yours--are working fine.
Are those new ones literally no-name?

BTW, if you ever have some downtime i'd recommend that you exercise the buss assign and eq bypass switches while you wait to get the mixer up and running. Mine were extremely crackly. After a few hundred taps and couple drops of de-oxit most of them are fairly quiet now.

 

[Richard King]

Alps made a variety of faders at the time. Both are probably Alps faders, just a different model. The smaller one looks like the ones that were used in the model 5's, 3's, 35's, etc. in that time period, of course yours has the longer throw.

 

[ausrock]

Yep, those new faders look very much like the Alps that are in my S/craft console.



Ethyr,

Could you please explain how you do the tape delayed reverb.

Chris

 

[ethyrvalve]

Could you please explain how you do the tape delayed reverb.

Chris

Hey Chris,

you just need a 3-head tape machine that lets you monitor off the repro head (which is slightly downstream from the record head). Even some nicer cassette decks will fit the bill.

Here's how i do it:
1) Send the signal (vocals for instance) to the 2-track--I use the aux send sends on my mixer to do this
2) now in the 2-track you should set it to monitor off the repro head (in the case of the otari there are switches that let you toggle between monitoring the input signal or monitoring off the tape)
3) patch the output of tape machine to a free channel on your mixer. this should be a delayed signal. The amount of delay depends on the tape speed and the distance between the record and repro head on the 2 track.
4) Don't assign the delayed sound to any channel but send the signal to another aux connected to the reverb. (you might want to EQ the sound going into the reverb depending on the sound you're going for)
5) return the reverb unit's output to a free channel.

(if you do assign the delayed signal to a buss in step 4, you'll let an echo sound. you can also aux send the channel with the delayed signal back to the 2-track for that crazy syd barrett tape echo feedback sound--be careful though, things can overload quickly and it can get very loud)

 

[ausrock]

I think I've got the idea now .

Studio is still coming back together after being gutted due to (minor) flooding 12 months ago so I've still got to reorganise all my "connections" and make sure everything is functioning OK after a year's lay-off. Main tracking is to either a D160 Fostex or ATR-60 1" and both will hopefully be synched shortly, they run through a 24 chnl S/craft and I only use the PC for receiving the stereo mixdown...........BUT, I do have an MX-5050 1/4" sitting around so things could get interesting in the not too distant future.

Chris

 

[sweetbeats]

* Power supply arrived today from out of state...report is that the box looked undamaged, and I talked to the shipper about how it was packed (professionally packed) so it should be intact. Alas the umbilical is MIA...since the connector on the back of the console had a bunch of bent pins I'm wondering if the umbilical didn't get damaged...anyway, I followed up with Tascam and ordered the cable ends, BUT...one of them, the plug or the socket, is back-ordered. Not a big deal EXCEPT that it may mean its out of production. The parts rep is doing me a favor...they're going to send a message to the factory in Japan and request an ETA on the part. That will avoid having to wait for the back-order to be generated...they're going to call me when they know. Here's hopin'.

* straightened the pins on the power connector on the console. I'm going to trace the pins to make sure nothing was damaged.

* I've cleaned the innards of the console out. Its still naked on the work-bench, but it is relatively dust-free. Haven't exercised any pots or switches. I'm planning on waiting until I connect power and run signal tests to know what is needed, and I'll leave the console stripped until I know what needs replacing.

* Speaking of replacing, in addition to the nearly complete 4-channel input block shown above, I scored another input block AND an entire master section for $69 plus shipping. This gives me replacement parts galore for the future. This latest set of parts does not include any knob, switch or fader caps, but all the rest is there including the nicer ALPS faders...12 of them. I'm pretty well setup anyway with knob/switch/fader caps anyway between the last input block and Herm I've got everything plus extras.

* Talked to Tascam enginering about the power umbilical cable stock...unshielded multi-conductor power cable...likely 20ga. Talked about it like it was standard fare. Not sure where to get it, but I haven't started looking yet either.

* Next steps? Test power socket pin integrity on the console; test the power supply; assuming the power supply is okay set the power supply right behind the console and unscrew the socket on the back of the PS and, using the slack in the line (hopefully) direct-connect the PS to the console, cross my fingers and push the big orange button.

 

[Richard King]

Re the faders. If I recall correctly, the larger faders have their track(s) on the side of the module while the smaller one has the track(s) on the bottom of the module. The larger ones, because of this were less susceptible to spill problems. This is, of course, if that memory cell in my brain is still activated.

 

[sweetbeats]

Richard,

you've got at least one good brain cell (many more I reckon)!

You are absolutely right...the larger ALPS faders, in addition to having the tracks vertical, have open bottoms so spills will also run straight thru as well as fare a better chance at missing the tracks altogether...HEY! GET THAT BEER OFF THE BOARD!

The smaller bodied faders are also physically much less smooth and are physically noisier. The ALPS fades are liquid smooth.

 

[Richard King]

Richard,

the larger ALPS faders, in addition to having the tracks vertical, have open bottoms so spills will also run straight thru as well as fare a better chance at missing the tracks altogether...

Heehee... you just woke up another brain cell. I do remember that fact.

 

[sweetbeats]

Pulled it out of its well-packed caccoon tonight.

It is in suprisingly good shape...even still has the feet on the bottom. The upper screw-holes on the ears have never seen a screw.

Took a couple pictures, posted below. I have not touched it as far as cleanup. Its really straight and clean under the dust and a couple goobers.

Might do Ethan's smoke and kill tests later tonight.

Researching 20ga. 20-way multicore power cable...haven't come up with anything yet. Any suggestions?

Haven't heard back from Tascam yet on an (hopefully) ETA for the back-ordered umbilical connector... Will likely try to call them tomorrow.

 

[Beck]

cool... but don't power it up during a full moon.

 

[cjacek]

Man, minor dust aside, it's in really good, clean condition. It's dated 1988.

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