Tascam M-35 Tascam 2516

[DESSERT DWELLER]

Hello,

I'm looking at some mixers on E-Bay this week. I need one to go with my Tascam TSR-8.

I'm trying to chose between a M-308. M-35. M-2516. I think the 2516 is an 8 buss which is a plus. I think it also has phantom power which is also a plus.

I have never heasrd the M-35 mentioned around here. Is this not a popular mixer?

Thanks for all of your help. I'm really starting to get excited to start doing some analog recording. I've spent a few years on various DAW's and have not been all that satisfied with the sound or the process. I tend to spend way too much time tweeking a thousand different settings on all the effects.

I actually prefer recording myself singing and playing acoustic on my $50. Radio Shack hand held cassette recorder. Everything just sounds warm and slightly distorted.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Of the three boards you mentioned, I only have experience with the M208. Actually, I own two M312B's which is the slightly newer and bigger brother to the M208.

I find my mixer to be very open and clean sounding and very well suited to working with an 8 track recorder so long as you don't need to record more then 4 tracks at any one time as it is a 4 buss mixer. It offers many simple and straight forward routing possibilities and is very reliable and sturdily constructed.

The M35 is an older design and while it too, is a good sounding board, it wouldn't be my first choice in this field of three.

The M2516 is a newer board by a few years compared to the M308 and would offer additional channels to play with, which is alway nice for effect returns and additional sources that you may wish to bring into the mix. I can not attest to it's quality in regards to sound and build quality but I am sure it is at least as good as the M35 older board and if it does have phantom power built in, it is that much more of a bonus feature to have if you are owning condenser microphones that require it.

If the need for something great is required and you can give yourself a bit of time to find one, I would hold out for an M312B or M320B which does have the extra channels to work with and phantom power. As well, I know these boards sound amazing and are sure to please the most critical ears.

Cheers!

 

[DESSERT DWELLER]

Thanks for all of your help Ghost.

Is the M-308 going to sound the same as th M-312B?

Does the "B" refer to phantom power?

How would I go about recording more than 4 tracks at a time on a 4 buss mixer. I have read that I can uce the direct outs. Is that an involved process that would require switching around a lot of wires?

I guess I would only need to record more than 4 tracks at once when recording my band with live drums.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Is the M-308 going to sound the same as th M-312B?

Yes. Same mixer. Just a few extra refinements.

Does the "B" refer to phantom power?

Yes.

How would I go about recording more than 4 tracks at a time on a 4 buss mixer. I have read that I can use the direct outs.

Correctamundo! The M300 series offers direct channel outs so technically, it can be an 8x8x4x2 mixer with a quick re-patch.

Cheers!

 

[cjacek]

Hello,

I'm looking at some mixers on E-Bay this week. I need one to go with my Tascam TSR-8.

I'm trying to chose between a M-308. M-35. M-2516. I think the 2516 is an 8 buss which is a plus. I think it also has phantom power which is also a plus.

I have never heasrd the M-35 mentioned around here. Is this not a popular mixer?

Thanks for all of your help. I'm really starting to get excited to start doing some analog recording. I've spent a few years on various DAW's and have not been all that satisfied with the sound or the process. I tend to spend way too much time tweeking a thousand different settings on all the effects.

I actually prefer recording myself singing and playing acoustic on my $50. Radio Shack hand held cassette recorder. Everything just sounds warm and slightly distorted.

Leave the m-35 alone! I saw it first!!! (Just kidding ). Sort of .. The reason the m-35 isn't talked about too much 'round here, imho, is that it is not as popular as the m-30, when it comes to it being a regular selling item on eBay and just being a popular seller in general for its simplicity and quality and such. The m-35 is basically an m-30 but with more things to play with I suppose. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I think all those you mention are quality boards though.

Daniel

 

[muttley]

I have the 2524, it sounds very good and clean, it also has the direct ins/outs so as there is no repatching of cables...........
Also it has MIDI on the thing, real handy for auto muting,also you can control some MIDI devices as you track/mix.........
Solid unit no problems, the battery needs to be changed very ten years or so, its for the MIDI settings memory.



da MUTT

 

[iMayne]

Tascam M-2516

Hello

Im trying to change my Tascam memory battery. Anyone knows where it is located and what type to replace it with?

All the best!

 

[RRuskin]

Leave the m-35 alone! I saw it first!!! (Just kidding ). Sort of .. The reason the m-35 isn't talked about too much 'round here, imho, is that it is not as popular as the m-30, when it comes to it being a regular selling item on eBay and just being a popular seller in general for its simplicity and quality and such. The m-35 is basically an m-30 but with more things to play with I suppose. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I think all those you mention are quality boards though.

Daniel

The M-30 is the 2nd generation Model 3. The Model 35 is sort of a Model 5 version 2.5. (if you count the 5A as version 2.0) The 35 has 2 8X2 aux systems to the 30's 1. The 35 is fully modular while the 30 is not. The 35 may also has better transformers in the front end. The nice thing about the 35 is that it is easier to repair and/or modify. Transformer and IC upgrades can make a substantial difference in performance in both of these mixers but the 35 will be less of a pain to get apart and back together.