Tascam M-308B Story...

Just a little side-trip

Took a few minutes to pull the knob and switch caps off...this is what it looks like today:
IMG_0856_1_1.JPG


Its funny...that picture makes it look like a really small mixer...

Anyway, I was messing with it in response to a question in another thread...answered a question I've had about how to get to the meter lamps since mine don't work. Here's the post for those that want to know:

Tascam 320b meter lights
 
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Cory, I admire your dedication to the cause...

I think this little Tascam looks like a well resolved unit for this size/format of mixer. It would make a cool little sidecar to use alongside the M-___. Hell, for 50 bucks this thing is worth it for all the Tascam spare parts alone, let alone the fact that it's a functioning desk. Hmmm.... I could picture it with some cool custom side panels... or maybe integrated into some sort of desk on roller wheels with rack spaces underneath...
Also, the cool thing about a desk that is a bit rough 'round the edges is that you can play around with alterations/modifications without feeling too bad (is it just me who always feels a bit guilty modifying something that is minty and original?). Just something to think about...
 
Already got the side panels thanks to a goods in trade deal with evm1024...he made up, like, three sets of beautiful mahogany panels when he needed a set for his 312B. ;)

The plan for this mixer is to get it cleaned up, probably recap it or at least the PSU and use it with the 234 or possibly even the 58 if the Ampex 8 track ends up with the M-___.

It'd be a great mixer to learn on. My youngest son likes to operate the mixer and recorder functions on my dad's 424 mkII. I kind of had it in mind that the 308B would be a good step up. He's really interested in it. He saw it for the first time the other day and now he won't stop asking if its ready yet. :) Even when he was a baby he loved plugging and unplugging cables.

So that's the idea...not that I see the 308B as some sort of Fisher Price My First Mixing Board or anything...just that my kids are conscientous and this 308B will never be minty anyway, but I don't have a primary need for it but it could be great for the kids and I to use together.

Again, like I've said before, the 300-series mixers are really amazing feature-wise and in their construction...a quality item. I can't fathom why somebody would go out and spend more for a new mixer and get less features and lower quality. I'm sure it is the tinker factor, but as far as small mixers go this thing is a goldmine.
 
got this mixer but its behaviour is questionable,suspectedly...without a manual! but really knowing a few shortcuts would be fair. its RCA jacks in to their respective places on a TSR-8 and all's well but when recording it seems we can record only 4 tracks at once since signals spill into other channels lest we can figure how to record 8 seperate mics onto their respective channels. in other words: mic #1 records ALSO on track 5,mic #2 records ALSO on track 6,e.t.c.right down the line....and no MUTE buttons only RTN buttons....feedback,playback problems,you name it.

so....can anyone help....we appreciate your support immensly.
regards
krys
 
Your post is a bit cryptic, but if you want to connect the two so that channel 1 of the M-308B records to track one of the TSR-8, channel 2 to track 2 etc., all the way to channel 8 and track 8, connect them using the DIRECT OUT jacks of each channel to the track inputs using TS to RCA cables, and then connect the outs of the TSR-8 to the TAPE IN jacks on the back of the M-308B using RCA to RCA cables. As an alternative path from the mixer to the recorder, connect the PGM OUT jacks to the inputs on the TSR-8. Do this if you don't foresee needing to record more than 4 tracks at once. This will give you flexibility as you will be able to route any mixer channel to any track or tracks without needing to repatch. Connect PGM OUT 1 jacks (you see there are two of them) to tracks 1 and 5, PGM OUT 2 jacks to tracks 2 and 6, etc.

When tracking just monitor your channel inputs as you normally would be routing them to a PGM GROUP or to the L-R buss using the ASSIGN switches on the M-308B control surface, and monitor via headphones or using the output jacks of your choice to your monitor speakers (but I recommend using the MON R/L jacks...those serve the control room function of a recording mixer).

When overdubbing you can monitor your new sources the same as above and monitor your playback tracks via the MONITOR mixer on the M-308B (the knobs and switches above the PGM faders...make sure the corresponding TAPE RTN switch is depressed for the the track(s) you want to hear...you see how those MONITOR channels are labeled 1~8? Those correspond to the TAPE jacks 1~8 which should (if you cabled correctly) correspond to TSR-8 tracks 1~8. So if you want to monitor tracks 3 and 5 you depress the TAPE RTN switches for MONITOR channels 3 and 5, turn the LEVEL pots to 12 o'clock for starters, PAN to taste, and then make sure the ON switches are depressed for those MONITOR channels as well and then you should be able to hear them in headphones and via the MON R/L out jacks.

When you are mixing down, and as another means of monitoring tracks during overdubbing, depress the LINE switch by the TRIM knob of the mixer channel that corresponds to the tape track(s) you want to hear (i.e. for tape tracks 3 and 5 you depress the LINE switches on mixer channels 3 and 5). When you depress those switches those channels are now "listening" or "sourcing" the corresponding TAPE jacks...in other words the LINE switches source the TAPE jacks (unless you plug something into the LINE INPUT on the back of the mixer...that interrupts the connection to the TAPE jack on that channel).

Post back what questions you have.
 
KRYSKEPT said:
got this mixer but its behaviour is questionable,suspectedly...without a manual! but really knowing a few shortcuts would be fair. its RCA jacks in to their respective places on a TSR-8 and all's well but when recording it seems we can record only 4 tracks at once since signals spill into other channels lest we can figure how to record 8 seperate mics onto their respective channels. in other words: mic #1 records ALSO on track 5,mic #2 records ALSO on track 6,e.t.c.right down the line....and no MUTE buttons only RTN buttons....feedback,playback problems,you name it.

so....can anyone help....we appreciate your support immensly.
regards
krys
Click to expand...

Hi KRYSKEPT,

Glad to see you joined the forum.

While the M-308 was a outstanding mixer for 8 track recording, if you really need to record more than 4 mono or 2 pairs of stereo tracks at once, you are asking for more than it was designed to do in a normal configuration. It is a 4 buss mixer.

Look at this picture courtesy of Cory:
https://www.torridheatstudios.com/ftp/Share/Pictures/Tascam M-320B/Rear view.JPG


The program OUTS go into the tape recorder inputs. The tape in's are the returns from the recorder. Are you sure you have it hooked up that way?

Once you confirm you do you can do a test with your oscillator.

I am going from memory - it's been years since I have used this mixer.

Plug your oscillator into channel 1 on the mixer and use a 1K tone at .775 volts.
Gain stage the level by pulling up channel 1 fader to unity gain and adjusting trim to achieve 0dB on meter 1
Take the channel out of the mix by lifting the orange button below the bus assign buttons.
Pan the channel straight up the center. This will send an equal amount of signal to both ODD and EVEN BUSSES.


Press buss assign buttons 1 and 2 on channel 1.
Pull up Busses 1 and 2 until they show 0 dB on the mixer meter which is now showing output levels for buss 1 and 2.

if you where only wanting to use an odd buss/track you would pan HARD LEFT. HARD RIGHT for even busses.


Enable record buttons on tracks 1 and 2 on the recorder.

You should now see tone going to track 1 and 2 on the recorder.
Turn on channels 1 and 2 on the mixer monitor section. When on, the green LED will light.
Pan the monitor section channel 1 hard left and channel 2 hard right.


Pull down buss 2 and you will see that the signal is not sent to that track any longer.
Disable recorder track 1 and enable recorder track 5.
The tone is now sent to track 5.

It is important to understand that TRACKS 1 and 5, 2 and 6, 3 and 7, 4 and 8 share busses.
As I said, it is a 4 buss mixer.

You can send channel 1 to any track on a 8 track recorder by using the even - odd panning on the channel and buss assign switches. The same with all 8 channels.

For now put everything back to the configuration outlined above to record on tracks 1 and 2.


Print the tone on those 2 tracks.

Hear it by rewinding and lifting the tracks record enable buttons on the recorder. press play. IT should now be heard through the monitor section.

Everything you just did to set up the mixer is for recording mode. What you recorded will play back through the monitor section NOT through the mixer channel strips.

You have 3 independent mixes going on now. 1 mix is properly gain staging the INPUT LEVEL by using the channel faders and trim level. The second mix is establishing the appropriate RECORD level by setting the busses at the proper level. The 3rd mix is the Control room MONITOR MIX which is set by the rotary pots in the monitor section. More mixes can be obtained by using the auxes, for talent cues for example.

Next step is to become fast at assigning channels and monitor mixes without thinking about it too much to record and playback various recorder tracks. Practice a while and you will get the hang of it. The beauty of the system is that once set, you don't have to change levels anywhere while recording and playing back.

You can monitor with reverb while recording or monitoring by turning up the Blue pot on the channel while the mixer is setup in record mode. That wet mix is not printed. This is assuming that you have a reverb properly wired into the echo circuit and the levels up on the reverb master.

Let me know how this all works and I"ll post more info. Hope I got most everything right. Again, it's been years since I used the M-308.

Most guys that needed to be able to record more that 4 tracks at once used 2 M-308's cascaded.

Regards,

Danny

opps, Cory beat me to it.
 
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Dano is spot on and he's had a LOT more experience using the M-308B in operation regardless of how long its been. ;)

Like I said you CAN use the M-308 to track 8 tracks at once using the direct out jacks but you lose independence and flexibility and will have to repatch during the process, but I can certainly be done. Think of the PGM GROUPS as a infinitely variable summing patchbay with 8 inputs and 4 outputs, whereas using the direct outs are fixed (unless you repatch or use a hardware patchbay) 1 channel to 1 track x8.
 
BTW, you are correct that the M-300 mixers are without 'MUTE' swiches, but instead they have 'ON' switches which work like mute switches. When the channel is off (switch up), it is the same as being muted. 'ON' is actually a more technically correct term for that function as that is actually what is going on when you unmute a switch...you aren't actually unmuting it, you are turning the channel on. So the M-300 mixer actually have individual mute switches for each channel strip and for each channel of the monitor mixer, they are just labeled as 'ON' and the switch works opposite of what you are used to with a mute switch.
 
sweetbeats said:
Dano is spot on and he's had a LOT more experience using the M-308B in operation regardless of how long its been. ;)

Like I said you CAN use the M-308 to track 8 tracks at once using the direct out jacks but you lose independence and flexibility and will have to repatch during the process, but I can certainly be done. Think of the PGM GROUPS as a infinitely variable summing patchbay with 8 inputs and 4 outputs, whereas using the direct outs are fixed (unless you repatch or use a hardware patchbay) 1 channel to 1 track x8.
Click to expand...

I had mine set up with a patchbay, I have two M312B's cascaded together, using the 1-4 buss outs and my 4 dedicated recording channel strips to feed the patchbay and from there could patch to any of the 16 channels of my MS-16...very efficient, clean set up. The 300 series mixers are killer boards, extremely flexible, great sounding and built like a pro board should be. Incredible that these mixers originally cost 3 to 4 thousand dollars and now sell on ebay and elsewhere for 300-400 bucks. Almost makes me sad to see them holding such little value. :o

Cheers! :)
 
Ghost,

I concur...I as a buyer love that their value has diminished to such a degree, but it is baffling since the construction and engineering easily rival contemporary boards and the features pummel anying even at many times the cost...they are a wonderful product. I can understand (a little better) the low market on analog recorder/reproducers...misunderstood today and more TLC than most want to expend, but an analog mixer is an analog mixer and still widely used...I think they must be misunderstood too.

Mine, though in sad shape cosmetically, was 50 bucks...and it works! Its been in damp storage, around a lot of smoke, and clearly not cared for...gigged like crazy, but it keeps on ticking which is also a testament to Tascam's work. ;)
 
50 bucks!? :eek:

That's just criminal! :D

Then again, the mixer was in very rough condition when you got it. I admire your willingness to go though all the work of trying to clean it up and give it a second life. That takes patience!

Cheers! :)
 
Danny, did you mean to link something?

Not sure what happened to Kryskept...he sent me a PM that indicated he had followed up but I don't know where because it isn't here. :???:
 
I see that Krys posted about the manual again in the Tascam Users forum. There was a manual copy for the 300 series on Ebay recently which I was going to point out to him, but when I retrieved the auction, I see that its already ended and someone got it for only 99 cents, oh well....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200357747624

Maybe the seller still has an extra copy he kept that he could sell, or maybe the seller could put him in touch with the buyer, and the buyer would be willing to make a copy.

I would think that Tascam company itself would still have a copy of the manual for sale, though it may be a wee bit more expensive to buy it from them directly. Maybe someone else can make a copy of just the operating instructions and leave out all the parts lists & diagrams etc for a less expensive price.

I have an original M-300 series binder with the entire manual in it in my collection of Teac/Tascam literature, that I could make a xerox copy of if someone really is in urgent need of it, but I would ask to be compensated for the time it would take for me to copy it and mail it out. Especially as it has a bunch of long fold-out pages.
 
Just FYI, technically speaking, since Teac does indeed sell copies of the operations and maintenance manual you shouldn't sell copies. They don't seem to be as uptight about what goes on on eBay and such, but it isn't right either.
 
Hi Sweetbeats,

I can understand your viewpoint about selling copies, but as you mentioned, I dont think Teac/Tascam is going to go out of their way to condemn anyone who does it, especially regarding a manual thats 25 Years old on a product they made thats long discontinued and a technology (analog) they consider to be obsolete.

I have nothing against buying it directly from them. In fact, alot of the Teac/Tascam literature I have, I paid for by buying it from them. And if its something they no longer have, such as the Tascam 520/512 Brochure that I wanted (since I just recently bought a 512 mixer) I bought one on Ebay, for $25, ouch! (so, believe me, I am not a penny-pincher).

I am also a hi fi enthusiast, and have a collection of 1970's Sansui stereo equipment (anyone here know the awesome 300 Watt Sansui BA-5000 amplifier?). Sansui is no longer the company they were back in the day, so I have been able to acquire alot of hard to find Sansui manuals & brochures on Ebay. Many people have asked me for copies, and be it Sansui, or Teac, etc.. I tell them the same thing, if they want a copy, I'll make it for them, no problemo', as long as they are willing to compensate a fair price (usually $10-20 or so) for me to make & mail out a copy, which I think is only fair as I had to pay for my own original or copy and I never asked for free handouts for myself.
 
I have a 308B that I use to feed a Tascam 48.
I have always patched this way:
sweetbeats said:
connect them using the DIRECT OUT jacks of each channel to the track inputs using TS to RCA cables, and then connect the outs to the TAPE IN jacks on the back of the M-308B using RCA to RCA cables.
Click to expand...
After happily finding and reading this thread, I was wondering what the specific merits of using the PGM OUTs would be - or more specifically what the major disadvantages of the 8-to-8 connecting are (assuming no panning or variable track assignment is desired).


Thanks,
Christian
 
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