Recording - direct or through mixer

[PoorBoyRecordings]

Hi everyone. Am new here and a bit new to making my own recordings. My question is : I bought a Teac A-3340S 4 track reel-to-reel and was wondering if it would be best to record each track seperately with a mic or run each track track though a mixer doing the recordings ?

 

[pehjott]

welcome

micing sounds mostly better, but it depends on what you want to record...

 

[Herm]

Are you asking if you should use the mic preamps in the recorder or an external unit?

You may gain a little cleaner sound using a external preamp. But I doubt it wil be a huge improvement in the sound.
If you have a external mixer or preamps for it give it a try. It cant hurt.

 

[RRuskin]

Are you asking if you should use the mic preamps in the recorder or an external unit?

You may gain a little cleaner sound using a external preamp. But I doubt it wil be a huge improvement in the sound.
If you have a external mixer or preamps for it give it a try. It cant hurt.

The pre amps in most of today's mixers are considerably better than those on the 3340. Recommended signal chain: Mixer or pre-amp output to 3340 line input.

 

[PoorBoyRecordings]

thx for the replies

thx for the reply guys. i have been micing directly through the recorder and come up with some pretty good sounding recordings. I will try through a mixer and compare to see which works best with my setup. I am using the Teac A-3340S reel-to-reel and will be using a Teac 2A mixer and MB-20 Meter bridge.

 

[PoorBoyRecordings]

The pre amps in most of today's mixers are considerably better than those on the 3340. Recommended signal chain: Mixer or pre-amp output to 3340 line input.

Hi rick. Thx for the reply. I bought a Teac A2 Mixer with the MB-20 meter bridge but am getting a terrible hum. Any suggestions ? Also, the mics are lose when I plug them into the mixer, but just around the ground. I have to stuff a piece of tin foil around the mic plug to make it tight. Is the mixer in need of repair or is this just a thing with older/vintage equipment using new mic's ?

 

[RRuskin]

Hi rick. Thx for the reply. I bought a Teac A2 Mixer with the MB-20 meter bridge but am getting a terrible hum. Any suggestions ? Also, the mics are lose when I plug them into the mixer, but just around the ground. I have to stuff a piece of tin foil around the mic plug to make it tight. Is the mixer in need of repair or is this just a thing with older/vintage equipment using new mic's ?

The Model 2 was quite possible the worst piece of gear TEAC/Tascam ever made. Remember, I said "modern" mixer in my original post. That being said, describe your signal chain: mic/input to mixer/output to tape machine. Describe all cables and connectors, too.

 

[PoorBoyRecordings]

signal chain, etc.

The Model 2 was quite possible the worst piece of gear TEAC/Tascam ever made. Remember, I said "modern" mixer in my original post. That being said, describe your signal chain: mic/input to mixer/output to tape machine. Describe all cables and connectors, too.

Arrrr. I should have known I would get one of the worst mixers made. Always my luck. As for the signal chain: I run the mic's through the mixer directly to the tape deck, and then do a mixdown back through the same mixer ( the teac ). I custom make all my cables so they are short as possible to try and prevent any unwanted noise and hum. I do the Mixdown to an Akai Model CS-M3 cassette deck.

 

[Herm]

Forget about it. Use it and make some music. Dont forget that most all of the big boys with their noses in the air and up each others butts about gear will snub any and all of tascam or teac stuff. Are they just in their thinking? Yea maybe for them but for a bunch of home recordist that just like teac and tascam gear its all great to us.
Do you get the results you want ? Thats all that matters.

And screw the rest of um

 

[RRuskin]

Arrrr. I should have known I would get one of the worst mixers made. Always my luck. As for the signal chain: I run the mic's through the mixer directly to the tape deck, and then do a mixdown back through the same mixer ( the teac ). I custom make all my cables so they are short as possible to try and prevent any unwanted noise and hum. I do the Mixdown to an Akai Model CS-M3 cassette deck.

Does the unit hum when nothing is at any input? Low Z mic with XLR out going to a matching transformer before the input? Does the input chain work without hum/noise in another system?

 

[RRuskin]

Forget about it. Use it and make some music. Dont forget that most all of the big boys with their noses in the air and up each others butts about gear will snub any and all of tascam or teac stuff. Are they just in their thinking? Yea maybe for them but for a bunch of home recordist that just like teac and tascam gear its all great to us.
Do you get the results you want ? Thats all that matters.

And screw the rest of um

The biggest problem with the Model 2 was that it was an RFI and EMI magnet no matter how careful one was with cables and connectors. That made it unusable in far too many settings/applications. Even the TEAC/TASCAM folks thought it was a toad.

 

[PoorBoyRecordings]

Does the unit hum when nothing is at any input? Low Z mic with XLR out going to a matching transformer before the input? Does the input chain work without hum/noise in another system?

It hums all the time. And as I was thinking about this after reading your post, I don't have the silly thing grounded. Gonna try that next and see if it helps.

 

[PoorBoyRecordings]

Forget about it. Use it and make some music. Dont forget that most all of the big boys with their noses in the air and up each others butts about gear will snub any and all of tascam or teac stuff. Are they just in their thinking? Yea maybe for them but for a bunch of home recordist that just like teac and tascam gear its all great to us.
Do you get the results you want ? Thats all that matters.

And screw the rest of um

Thx for the reply Herm. Kinda made me smile. I'm not trying to make professional recordings but the best as possibly can be made using all vintage equipment. I have been a musician for almost 40 years playing drums, bass, rythm guitar, and a little bit of lead guitar with limited experience ( I just never had the feel for it to pick it up naturally ). The only thing I use modern with my setup is Digital Drums as I live real close to neighbors and don't want to disturb them .

Forgot to say that during all the years of playing music I never got involved in doing recordings. I did some recordings when I was learning drums to listen to and learned where I made mistakes etc. Other than that, I am a " Recording Greenhorn ".

 

[RRuskin]

It hums all the time. And as I was thinking about this after reading your post, I don't have the silly thing grounded. Gonna try that next and see if it helps.

If it hums with nothing coming into it and regardless of physical location, you probably have a power supply problem. BTW - The Model 2 was never considered a professional piece of gear. The lowest consoles in the TASCAM food chain that deserved the "Pro" label were the Model 3 and it's variant, the Model 30.

 

[PoorBoyRecordings]

If it hums with nothing coming into it and regardless of physical location, you probably have a power supply problem. BTW - The Model 2 was never considered a professional piece of gear. The lowest consoles in the TASCAM food chain that deserved the "Pro" label were the Model 3 and it's variant, the Model 30.

It doesn't hum with no mic plugged into it. Only when I plug a mic in then hums all the time. Sorry, forgot to mention that. I ordered some new Sure PG48 Mics. I know they are not the best of mics but better than the Radio Shack thing I was using. The hum, may be from the mic or the way I had to stick the tin foil in around the ground on the mic plug to get a good ground as lose as they fit. I read in another post somewhere on the site where someone else, Newbie I think, has the same probs with his mics being lose when plugged in.

 

[sweetbeats]

Well there ya go...

What kind of inputs does the Model 2 have? 1/4" unbalanced? And is it like the M30 (for instance) where there is no variable gain head amp (no TRIM knob) just the head amp and an ATTenuator switch?

If so, then yeah like Rick said you want to have a XLR-F to 1/4" TS matching transformer adapter for the PG-48, like this:

That is Radio Shack cat.# 274-016

Its not just an adapter, but an adapter with a transformer in it to convert the balanced XLR to unbalanced 1/4", and ya don't have to get it from Radio Shack...other people make 'em.

 

[PoorBoyRecordings]

Well there ya go...

What kind of inputs does the Model 2 have? 1/4" unbalanced? And is it like the M30 (for instance) where there is no variable gain head amp (no TRIM knob) just the head amp and an ATTenuator switch?

If so, then yeah like Rick said you want to have a XLR-F to 1/4" TS matching transformer adapter for the PG-48, like this:

That is Radio Shack cat.# 274-016

Its not just an adapter, but an adapter with a transformer in it to convert the balanced XLR to unbalanced 1/4", and ya don't have to get it from Radio Shack...other people make 'em.

Hi Sweetbeats. The mixer only has 1/4" phone input jacks for the mic's but no XLR inputs. Do I really need the adapter with the PG-48 mic since they are 600 ohms or could I use a cord that has been reduced to the 1/4" on the mixer input in. Radio shack has one for balanced mics made this way but have never tried.

Ya got me about the Trim ... I am new at all this and don't know what that is. All the mixer has is the ATTenuater switch for mic or line input, plus the normal controls. i.e master volume, individual input/output for channels 1 - 6, tone controls ( bass and treble ), pan controls, etc.

Also, I just tried a friends mic ( don't know the name or model ) and the mixer did not have a hum so that was due to the cheap mic I was using.

Thx for your reply and help. BTW, If I do need to get some of those attenuaters, where can I get them besides Radio Shack ?

 

[RRuskin]

It doesn't hum with no mic plugged into it. Only when I plug a mic in then hums all the time. Sorry, forgot to mention that. I ordered some new Sure PG48 Mics. I know they are not the best of mics but better than the Radio Shack thing I was using. The hum, may be from the mic or the way I had to stick the tin foil in around the ground on the mic plug to get a good ground as lose as they fit. I read in another post somewhere on the site where someone else, Newbie I think, has the same probs with his mics being lose when plugged in.

That's why I kept asking what your entire signal chain was. If you are using a hiZ mic straight in, or are using a low Z mic without an adapting transformer, you are bound to run into problems.

 

[RRuskin]

Hi Sweetbeats. The mixer only has 1/4" phone input jacks for the mic's but no XLR inputs. Do I really need the adapter with the PG-48 mic since they are 600 ohms or could I use a cord that has been reduced to the 1/4" on the mixer input in. Radio shack has one for balanced mics made this way but have never tried.

Ya got me about the Trim ... I am new at all this and don't know what that is. All the mixer has is the ATTenuater switch for mic or line input, plus the normal controls. i.e master volume, individual input/output for channels 1 - 6, tone controls ( bass and treble ), pan controls, etc.

Also, I just tried a friends mic ( don't know the name or model ) and the mixer did not have a hum so that was due to the cheap mic I was using.

Thx for your reply and help. BTW, If I do need to get some of those attenuaters, where can I get them besides Radio Shack ?

You need the matching transformers. You probably won't need to add any attenuators.

 

[sweetbeats]

+1 to what Rick is saying...you're asking for trouble getting a simple adapter vs. getting the transformer. You can get them from Full Compass, Musician's Friend, Music123, Zzounds, Sweetwater, Sam Ash...You name it, though the Radio Shack price is about the going rate at any of those places, you can get it locally, and (unlike some things at Radio Shack) it is comparable quality and comparable price.