2488Neo-CD burning trouble

  • Thread starter Thread starter kazi101
  • Start date Start date
K

kazi101

New member
I Have the tascam 2488neo and I just finished recording and mastering a song. When I play it back through moniters and headphones it sounds great. The problem is when I burn it to a CD the cd is always glitchy sounds and very distorted. I have no clue on what to do so any input would be helpful. I was using a CD-RW 4x cd btw which I beleive is compatable.
 
Well if you follow the Mixdown procedure and record the Master Track properly you should be able to preview the results (Check the master) before you burn the CD. If the master sounds okay then the CD should be no different.

This is assuming all your gear is functioning properly.

Are you listening to the CD on the 2488neo?
 
I have the same problem with the neo

I too, have the same problem with my new neo. My recording was clean and sharp. Mix down clean and sharp. Burned it to CD, and when that CD is played on the neo, it too sounds terrific! The problem is, I played the same CD on: 1. My computer, with great altec lansing speakers. 2. A portable CD Player. 3. My big screen TV with DVD player. ALL three of these things will play my Jackie Evanko newest CD with great clarity. But when I play my own CD from the neo, it sounds like nothing I ever recorded!!!!
I wrote David Wills, who wrote and produced the Tascam DVD tutorial and explained the problem succinctly, but its the weekend and do not expect a reply very soon. You might write him also, at: dwills@mindmediaimc.com. I used a common Memorex CD-R, and the tascam manual warned of problems if you were to use a CD-RW, so I used the CD-R, and it still ended up garbage. The only alternative I can think of, is to patch your outputs to a stereo amp, and OTHER Good Quality CD Recorder, and burn it that way. Since MY outboard recorder seems to cut in and out during recording/ playing, (something wrong with it...) I will probably have to buy yet one more piece of unnecessary gear to make good CD's. I am just grateful I checked this CD on other gear, before sending out copies because it would have been a huge embarrassment!
I DO Love the Neo, and what I can do on it. What concerns me, is what I cannot do, and why I can't find out how to fix it! One of my concerns was, does the Neo require a specific make and model of CD to come out right? And if you make a masted CD, from which to burn MORE copies, would they come out Good, or garbled? If anyone knows the real answer to this, I'd really like to know, because this tune I'm working on, is for a charity fund raiser for childrens miracle network/ st. judes hospital for children, and I'd really like to get this show on the road. Best wishes, Axel
 
Let me get this straight: Sounds good on the neo, doesn't sound good anywhere else. It's a good chance the mix isn't up to par yet. To get your mixes to sound decent on multiple sound systems is called "translation". You have to get it to translate to other systems. A big step towards getting your mixes to translate well to other systems is to address the room you are mixing in. You need to acoustically treat it so you are hearing your mixes properly and accurately. This would include decent (doesn't have to be expensive) monitors.

Browse through the Studio Build section of this site to learn more about treating your room. It doesn't have to be expensive and it gives you the biggest bang for the buck to getting good mixes.

If you already have decent monitors and a treated room, then take notes when listening on other systems and go back to your mixes and try to make adjustments. It's not an easy skill to acquire.

hth,
 
The only times I have had any issue with burned CDs is if the mix levels are too high, remember the 2488 has a broader bandwidth and can actually go past "digital zero" better than most common players and if you push the levels too much you can get the dreaded digital distortion which players deal with differently, one way is the drop out you described.
Even tho the 2488N has "mastering tools" they do not conform to red book standards and can cause glitchy playback.
 
I'm having the same issue using the 2488neo. I bought mine back in '10 and spent the last two years recording and got about 10 songs completed. I mastered them using the compression/eq/noise shaper "Mastering Tools" and the final master sounds crisp, clean, dynamic and I have great levels. But, when I burned the master tracks to CD using the internal CD burner and then playing the CD on my home/car stereo the tracks not only have a much lower volume than a normal CD, but have lost much of the dynamics and sounds mushy compared to the master. I even tried buring the master directly to a pretty good Sony CD recorder and the results were not much better. So unfortunately I'm in the same boat as you at this point. Very happy with the Neo up until now. I think we may be over looking something simple and I have been trying some different mixes to see if they "burn" any better but very little luck to this point. Also bought the David Wills tutorial and emailed him about this also - no reply. Very frustrating to think you've got good recordings but can't properly burn them. I've had home studios for over 30 years and this is my first foray into digital. Never had this issue recording any other way....ever - unless the tracks themselves were no good or had issues. If anyone has any additional input or ideas, please I'm all ears......................
 
If your mixes don't sound good on other systems, it's probably a room/mixing skills /monitoring issue. First of all, it's totally normal that your CD will be lower volume than a commercial CD unless you master it with a limiter and get the settings right. I've never heard of a 2488 or DP-24, or any other machine, burning "bad" sounding CD's compared to what you hear from the master directly coming out of the TASCAM. It's always user error and/or lack of experience.

Mixes not sounding good on different systems is a common problem for home recordists and almost never has anything to do with the machine. Is your room treated? Do you have good monitors placed properly? These are the things I'd look into.



(I realize this is a 2 year old thread, but it was revived with the same question so I figured I'd answer it)
 
Hi Rami and thanks for the response. I have a feeling you are right on with this one. I have a very low budget studio where the room is not treated what so ever. My moniters are Tascam AL-V8 which get the job done but are not great. I have some older inexpensive rack effects and some lower end microphones. I may keep experimenting with the mastering process and see if I can improve the sonic output/quality of the mix and I've also talked to a few professional mastering engineers to see what they will charge to master the CD. And honestly the CDs I have burned with the 2488 CD burner are not "bad" per se', the lower volumes just make them sound muted and without "punch". I was hoping there was some operation/step within the 2488 that I may have been missing but of course it's never that easy! It's a continual learning curve. Thanks again for taking the time to respond and have a great one! G-man
 
G-man60 said:
Hi Rami and thanks for the response. I have a feeling you are right on with this one. I have a very low budget studio where the room is not treated what so ever. My moniters are Tascam AL-V8 which get the job done but are not great. I have some older inexpensive rack effects and some lower end microphones. I may keep experimenting with the mastering process and see if I can improve the sonic output/quality of the mix and I've also talked to a few professional mastering engineers to see what they will charge to master the CD. And honestly the CDs I have burned with the 2488 CD burner are not "bad" per se', the lower volumes just make them sound muted and without "punch". I was hoping there was some operation/step within the 2488 that I may have been missing but of course it's never that easy! It's a continual learning curve. Thanks again for taking the time to respond and have a great one! G-man
Click to expand...
You definitely have the right idea. Get to know the speakers and room you're working with, play your CD's on other systems and you'll get to know what seems to work on most systems and what doesn't. We all try to get the best out of what we got. :)
 
Hi everyone. I have the same problem in tascam2488 neo. I finished mixdown and mastering, i followed the procedure in the manual how to create CD, and when i inserted the CD-R to create CD, it appeared in the LCD " Insert a blank CD". Is there any specific CD-R to create CD? I used a Kodak CD-R. Help please..thanks
 
plasma4209 said:
Hi everyone. I have the same problem in tascam2488 neo. I finished mixdown and mastering, i followed the procedure in the manual how to create CD, and when i inserted the CD-R to create CD, it appeared in the LCD " Insert a blank CD". Is there any specific CD-R to create CD? I used a Kodak CD-R. Help please..thanks
Click to expand...

It may be the type/brand of CD you are using. I use a standard Sony CD-R 80 min and that works fine on my 2488. I would try a couple different brands and see if they are recognized by the 2488. I hope that helps? G-man
 
Yeah I'm thinking about maybe the brand of CD is the problem. I'd tried a couple of brand CD (memorex and Kodak CD-R80 min) but i experienced the same problem. I'll try Sony CD-R 80. Thanks G-man.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top