a little help

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wolfwolf

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Hey there.. for demo-ing my band now has access to a Tascam 80-8 reel to reel 8 track tape recorder and a yamaha mt8x cassette tape recorder - but no mixer.. and no money.

is it possible to use the Yamaha MT8X as the mixer for the TASCAM??

Also, we've no manual for the TASCAM and really need to learn the fundementals on how to use it. We're not even sure how to thread the tape through the heads. Does anyone know where we could gleam such info?

Thanks in advance.
 
a friend of mine had an mt8x - if i remember it has mic preamps.
so you can plug a mic into it (i think it needs a impedence adaptorR),
then route to a 80/8 track input.
 
But unless the MT8X has 8 independent outs, you'd only be able to do 1 or 2 tracks at a time. Any way you can borrow a mixer from someone?

I'm sure a good search here will give you results on 8-track reel-to-reel basics. You may have to wade through a lot of stuff, but it'll be worth it if you're serious about recording yourself and making it sound good. Also the following site has links to lotsa good info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm
 
Do you guys have a PA system? Could give you what you need as a go-between from you to the 8 track....
 
i've just looked at some yamaha mt8x info on the web and it turns out that it does have 8 tape outputs so it could be used as a mixer - it has this tech info -

Tape Out 1-8. Output Impedance 100ohm Rated Load Impedance 10 k ohm or more Rated Output Level -10 dB (at 10 k ohm load)

Would I have to do something to this in between the mt8x and the tascam??
 
Hook it up and give it a try. Does it have mic inputs and line inputs on it? How many inputs does it have all together? That will determine if you can use it as a mixer. If you have the same number of ins as outs. Most mixers have multiple inputs and a stereo out....
 
"Tape outs" on these kind of units are usually the output from the cassette only. I just looked at the manual online, and the best you'd be able to do is use the mixer section to create a stereo (or mono) submix to go to the reel-to-reel. You won't get independent tracks unless you record each instrument seperately.
 
thanks for that Mr MadAudio. I re-read the manual and suspected that might be the case.
 
Hey there. Finally got a tascam 80-8 wired up and the tape threaded through correctly... we put a very old tape on it and it played all 8 tracks back just lovely. Someone's very strange old music from the early 80's!

However, the first thing we tried to do was to record onto the first track using a cable straight from the line-out of a v-amp into the input of the tascam. It sounded lovely though the output on the tascam as it was being played - but when it played back off the tape it sounded terribly quiet and hissy.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
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