tascam MS-16?

  • Thread starter Thread starter James K
  • Start date Start date
J

James K

Member
Hi,
I'm considering buying a Tascam MS-16 recorder. I currently use a Fostex R8 and am pretty satisfied with the sound that it gives me. I originally wanted to upgrade to a Fostex G16 but I'm now rather interested in the MS16. Is this a good idea or not? the main thing I'm concerned about is reliability and availability of spares. Also, will the sound quality be as good as on my R8? I'm assuming it will be as it has a larger track width but I'm not sure if the DBX will sound as good as Dolby C.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Cheers
James
 
Hi James !
Back in the 80's I had a Fostex M80 which was eventually replaced by your R8. Nice little machine. Needing more tracks I sold it and picked up a Tascam MSR-16. That too was an excellent machine. A few years ago a Tascam MS16 showed up on ebay and the unit was in Philadelphia Pa which is only a couple of hours from me. Went to look at it and do some tests, fell in love with it :) and the rest is history.
To answer your question....yes it will definitely sound better then your R8. As you suspect the additional track width and superior electronics do make quite a difference.
It took me a while to bring mine up to spec so depending on condition this is something you may face. If you can see it in person and do some tests at least you'll know what your up against. Some parts are still available from Tascam but most of the metal parts in the tape path (guides,lifters) are not. I have picked up spare parts on ebay from sellers parting out machines. Heads can generally be re-lapped if needed. Often rubber parts will need to be replaced (pinch roller and tach roller). Of course your probably aware of the cost of one inch tape and the standard maintenance items you might need depending on how much of the work you want to do yourself.
I love my MS16 and glad I took the plunge :) Best Regards, Dave
 
Thanks for the reply.
The machine is in the same town as me so I would be able to check it out in person and probably get a very good technician I know to have a look at it. According to the guy selling it, it's in perfect working order. I'm waiting for him to get back to me about how recently the rubber parts were replaced. I've replaced the pinch roller and capstan belt on my R8 and they were both easy to get hold of from Fostex. Do you know if Tascam would be the same? I've had a look at the cost of tape and it's the only thing that's putting me off really. I spoke to an engineer at a studio I recorded at a while ago and he said he reused 1" tapes about 15 to 20 times before he noticed any drop in quality. If this is the case then it's not much of a problem (works out about 4 or 5 quid a go). How many times do you re-use tape?
 
I own 2 MS-16's(1 of them is for parts), they sound incredible.
A giant step up from the Fostex stuff.
To me, the MS-16 is a very professional piece of equipment.
If I don't use the DBX, it still sounds great.
Plus, you can turn DBX on and off for certain instruments.
I calibrate my MS-16's to +6db(with Ampex 456) for increased Output and lower noise.
They come stock at +3db biased for Ampex 456.
It handles Overdriven Guitars, Bass, and Drums REALLY well.
This machine totally accommodates my work style, very simple to use.
Good Luck!
P.S. Try to find one with the AQ-65 Autolocater and the Function Remote
Track Arming Unit, if the machine won't be in arm's reach.
ALSO... Do you have the space for one of these?
What mixing Board are you using?
 
James K said:
I've replaced the pinch roller and capstan belt on my R8 and they were both easy to get hold of from Fostex. Do you know if Tascam would be the same?
Click to expand...
The MS-16 doesn't use Belts like the consumer grade decks.
Depending on the circumstance, the Pinch Rollers can get pretty sticky or hard.
They can be repaired, of course.
 
James K said:
Thanks for the reply.
I've had a look at the cost of tape and it's the only thing that's putting me off really. I spoke to an engineer at a studio I recorded at a while ago and he said he reused 1" tapes about 15 to 20 times before he noticed any drop in quality. If this is the case then it's not much of a problem (works out about 4 or 5 quid a go). How many times do you re-use tape?
Click to expand...

I re-use the newer Ampex 456 quite a bit.
I've often thought about purchasing a table-top bulk tape eraser
and then buying used tape and recording on those to cut costs.
RMGI SM911 1" Tape is about $150 per reel!
 
Okay, it seems like it's a good idea to try and get this. The one I'm looking at comes with the autolocator and the remote. I've definitely got room for it. At the moment I've only got a Fostex 812 desk (which clearly has 4 too few channels) so I'll need to upgrade that too. The guy selling the MS16 is offering a studiomaster 16/2/16 desk too. I've heard these are good desks but I really don't like the look of them (silly reason I know) so I'll try and find something else. I'm not in a massive hurry so I can wait a bit for the mixer.

RandyRhoads1981 said:
The MS-16 doesn't use Belts like the consumer grade decks.
Depending on the circumstance, the Pinch Rollers can get pretty sticky or hard.
They can be repaired, of course.
Click to expand...
Right, what sort of belts do they use and are these available? Also, is a replacement pinch roller easy to find?

Cheers
 
RandyRhoads1981 said:
I re-use the newer Ampex 456 quite a bit.
I've often thought about purchasing a table-top bulk tape eraser
and then buying used tape and recording on those to cut costs.
RMGI SM911 1" Tape is about $150 per reel!
Click to expand...

do you know roughly how many times? It's about 80 quid for a reel over here so I really want to be able to get a lot of use out of each one.
 
I use the Tascam M-520(20x8x16) which is a companion mixing console to the MS-16 and it works great.
You can find them relatively inexpensively, around $500 I guess.
I really like the sound, routing, flexibility, and the ease of use to accommodate my work style.
Anyways, mine is really old, hasn't been given a huge renovation, sat unused for years, and it still hasn't given
me any grief. It just needed some Deoxit for the Faders, switches, and knobs.
The MS-16's and the M-520's are built like tanks.

They don't use Belts at all, it uses a Capstan Servo system.
Pinch Rollers pop up in various places.
There's one at AudioProz.com for about $120.
I have 3 t the moment, if you need one, I could sell it.
Repairing them is a good bet because, let's say I sell you one,
it is really old as well and may only give you a little bit of life
before needing repairs as well.
The main place for repairs is Terry's Rubber Repair.
 
Well, it really depends.
It' up to you, if you don't hear any difference, you can keep recording
if you want to... It might start building up a lot of noise and loose high freq's
I don't know how many times exactly, but I would guess in the 25-30 pass range.
You will get a descent amount of use from each one as long as they're
given the proper amount of care.
 
You were wondering about the StudioMaster, I had one for years and it's a fine console. I finally gave it to my son when I got an M-3500.
 
Track Rat said:
I finally gave it to my son when I got an M-3500.
Click to expand...

That's awesome. Your son is into recording with vintage equipment?
How does the M-3500 sound? They look really cool.
I wish the M-520's Tape Returns had the mini-faders and in-line monitoring.
 
Yeah, my son and I are pretty much into recording. I LOVE the M-3500. 24 channels and pretty much 52 inputs for mixing. VERY cool.
 
RandyRhoads1981 said:
Well, it really depends.
It' up to you, if you don't hear any difference, you can keep recording
if you want to... It might start building up a lot of noise and loose high freq's
I don't know how many times exactly, but I would guess in the 25-30 pass range.
You will get a descent amount of use from each one as long as they're
given the proper amount of care.
Click to expand...

cool. By '25-30' pass range do you mean 25-30 separate recordings/projects or each time the tape passes the head? I do loads more passes than that when working on a single song :/

Track Rat said:
You were wondering about the StudioMaster, I had one for years and it's a fine console. I finally gave it to my son when I got an M-3500.
Click to expand...
hmmm, they do sound like they're good desks. It's just their ugliness that puts me off although they might look a bit better if I swapped the colourful knobs for plain ones. I might get one and then trade it for another mixer (looking at the soundtracs range) when I can afford it. How do you think it compares to the fostex 812? I've got one of those at the moment and I really like it.

Cheers
 
Sorry. No hands on experience with the Fostex.
 
Back in the day I made that exact move: Fostex A80 to Tascam MS16. At first I went with a custom 30ips MS16. I found it very airy and clean sounding. Eventually I found a mint 15ips MS16 model and it served me well for 3 years, doing lots of sessions around town here. Had it mated to a Neotek console. Very reliable machine, and a big step up from the A80. You can get some serious great tones with this setup.

Of course, I jumped from the MS16 to a 3M M56 2" machine and WOW.
 
James KL: Ive had Fostes a deck and a couple of 520 and 320 1980s era Tascam decks. That Fostex you have has poorer routing and fewer features but everyone I recorded in that era prefered the sound of the Fostex deck and said I had made a mistake switching to tascam. Follow your ears and dont be fooled by size, features, name brands or anything but sound. Those studiomaster deck have a sound of their own, down and dirty very British. I love them. Id buy one today if I found a 24 input for about 400 dollares. Good Luck with your purchase.
 
Thrust said:
James KL: Ive had Fostes a deck and a couple of 520 and 320 1980s era Tascam decks. That Fostex you have has poorer routing and fewer features but everyone I recorded in that era prefered the sound of the Fostex deck and said I had made a mistake switching to tascam. Follow your ears and dont be fooled by size, features, name brands or anything but sound. Those studiomaster deck have a sound of their own, down and dirty very British. I love them. Id buy one today if I found a 24 input for about 400 dollares. Good Luck with your purchase.
Click to expand...
I do like the sound of the Fostex a lot. The type of music I mainly record is pop/new wave stuff like Squeeze, the housemartins etc. Do you think the studiomaster would be good for that?
 
Studiomaster

If you like 70s rock, with agressive sounding guitars drums, and big sounds you probably would like the Studiomaster. Some people prefer brighter more accurate sounding mixers. Studiomaster is the most British of all the British boards Ive heard. I guarentee it wont sound like that fostex. It will be a little darker, fuller sounding but maybe less accurate. Not quite as open sounding.
 
Thrust said:
If you like 70s rock, with agressive sounding guitars drums, and big sounds you probably would like the Studiomaster. Some people prefer brighter more accurate sounding mixers. Studiomaster is the most British of all the British boards Ive heard. I guarentee it wont sound like that fostex. It will be a little darker, fuller sounding but maybe less accurate. Not quite as open sounding.
Click to expand...
would the sound on the 70s David Bowie records be a good example? That really fat, punchy sound. I don't really want something that's too dark and heavy but am I right in thinking that I can still get a bright sound out of it if I just boost the top end more than I would on the Fostex?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top