Boss BR1600CD or Tascam 2488?

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Richard F

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I am having a difficult time deciding between the Boss BR1600CD or the Tascam 2488. What did you choose? Any help would be greatfully appreciated. No band application, but I do extensive multi-tracking and use lot's of effects. I will master on the machine rather than the computer. Thank you all...
 
All things being equal, and they never are, I'd go with the Tascam.

I've always had good luck with Tascam stuff from my 644 to my US-122.
 
thank you...

Thank you... most of the local opinions I've recieived are 60/40 for the Tascam. I'm upgrading from a Boss BR864 and was sold on the BR1600... until the Tascam was recommended by a friend. Anyone else want to offer an opinion?
 
I looked at all of those and I choose the AW16G. I've had it for a few days and its great. The record quality is first class and so are the features. It is very solid and not cheap plastic.
 
Richard F said:
Thank you... most of the local opinions I've recieived are 60/40 for the Tascam. I'm upgrading from a Boss BR864 and was sold on the BR1600... until the Tascam was recommended by a friend. Anyone else want to offer an opinion?
Click to expand...

I'd go with the tascam I started out on the br-8 and upgraded to the tascam 428 I would recommend any tascam product. (almost)haven't tried all of them that's why I say almost
 
Hi, Richard. I think you need to read up on each of these machines a bit more before buying--a quick comparison of features will show that they have very individual, different strengths and weaknesses. Your own preferences will probably determine which would fit your needs best.

I'd search online via google, where you'll find some in-depth reviews and even direct comparisons of some of these models. Then, try to get to a shop and actually see and touch them--the control surfaces are quite different, and one may fit you (your hands, eyes, and logic) much better.

All of the above led me to the Yamaha 16G, but I'm not saying that would be best for you. Enjoy your search.

Best,

J.
 
URL please

Would anyone have url's to these comparison sites? I'm not lazy . It could take weeks to sort what comes back from google.
 
Sorry, I don't have them handy, but you can start with the sound-on-sound
magazine site (find it easily on google). The (older) archived reviews there are free to read online and very helpful, at least in terms of understanding the differences of these machines. The articles often do mention other competing machines, too. The recent Boss, Yamaha, and Tascams are there--and others, too.

But I don't agree with your assessment of time. Just spend an hour or two of searching on google, using good key words and then running through the results for entries that don't look like stores. I found much of what I needed in one evening, just poking around and trying different key words.

Best,

J.

Alright, I can't to stand to see a colleague suffering, so here's a quick start for you that I just found on google: http://www.soundonsound.com/
Go to articles/reviews, and have some fun there.
 
Price ?

Which is cheaper ?

The Boss or the Tascam ?

(Because I am saving up for the Boss).
 
I've had my AW16G for a few weeks now and I'm very happy. I've been dumping songs from my HD24 and mixing them on the AW16G. This machine is well built and has a lot to offer. The Korg and Tascam just seemed very chaep to me. The Tascam was like a toy.
 
I've had my Br-1600Cd for a week and cannot help but wonder if I did or did not make the right decision.

The sales guy wanted me to buy the much cheaper Yamaha.

The Br-1600 has alot of dummy features that get in the way.
(I'm no expert, but the dummy features are really dumb).

I'm going to use if for a while, and then upgrade. (Or downgrade).
 
You really should look at the aw16g its very professional. Some people say its hard to learn but after a week I had it mastered. Its geared more toward recording and mixing.
 
I own and use a Fostex VF160 (now VF160EX), a truly great machine that can be had for $799. Incredible. Very solid and stable. CD burns are flawless. 16bit, 2 XLR inputs, effects are OK if not overused. I do all recording, mixing, editing, burning on the Fostex.

I think there are many great machines, and if you can't make a great recording on any of the ones mentioned, it will be your fault. I say that smiling, in the sense that the technology out there is wonderful.

The Korg D1600 mkII is another fine machine, and I think that I'd go there before either the TASCAM or the Boss. One reason is that it will also do 24bit recording (though not as many tracks at once as the TASCAM). But also because it's got a reputation for being easy to use, Korg support is excellent, AND this machine has been out a long while and doesn't seem to have any systemic glitches left in it.

My understanding is that the TASCAM 2488 has had some teething issues, and my sense is that people don't love TASCAM support... tascamforums.com is an excellent forum that seems to take the place of TASCAM in terms of tech support.

Boss machines often record with data compression. You'd want to make sure that you could record with no data compression. Boss has a reputation for great effects -- which you could really take advantage of.

But really, all of these recorders are very capable of faithfully giving back what you put in.

You may want to take the time to download the manual of something you're thinking of getting. I've found Korg manuals are very clear, others not as much. Looking at the manual gives you a good sense of what the machine will be like.
 
Well.....

Now I've got the Br-1600Cd

Some mics (Sm57's, Sm58's, Behringer B-1)

A compressor (ART TCS with V3)

and A Behringer B-1 Mic

...now I just need a competent and confident set of ears,
which you can't buy in stores. I know I have a good combination
of gear, I just don't know what sounds good and what sound bad.
 
I always start off buy listening to a commercial CD that has the sound I'm after it kinda tunes my ears for me.
 
deepwater said:
I always start off buy listening to a commercial CD that has the sound I'm after it kinda tunes my ears for me.
Click to expand...


I know this is the wrong Thread for this question, but were semi on the topic. What is a good compression setting to point me in the right direction of getting a commercial sound...

ie: Attack, Release, Ratio, Threshold..... I just need a setting to run my mixdowns through to get headed in the right direction...
 
mattkw80 said:
I know this is the wrong Thread for this question, but were semi on the topic. What is a good compression setting to point me in the right direction of getting a commercial sound...

ie: Attack, Release, Ratio, Threshold..... I just need a setting to run my mixdowns through to get headed in the right direction...
Click to expand...

Janis Ian's "Breaking Silence" uses no compression, and it's one of the best sounding disks around. The problem with compression is it can really squash the transient life out of a mix because there are no real dynamic highs or lows left. It's all the same.

So, try a Threshold of -15db and a compression ratio of 2:1. Not too quick attack or you'll steal the snap out of drums.

I forget what kind of music you do, but why not try getting away with no compression -- just a great mix that holds together without being squished together? The compression should enhance a great mix, not get in the way or try to replace a great mix.

Just one opinion.
 
about the korg d1600 mkii

I have the Korg D1600, about 6 hard drives worth. I wanted to find a way to bring all that music into my computer for editing, as the editing is not that easy. The D1600 MKii has USB, but you still need to transfer from bounced down tracks 1 and 2...I might as well keep my old one and input selected tracks directly into my computer [saving the time consuming bounce down procedure].

The Disc at Once feature seems useful, allowing CD recording from one long live session, divided in different songs, or from an artificially created song made up of other already recorded songs. However you cannot create a CD from a playlist in just one pass.

Overall, I have liked the Korg D1600, except for the features I listed above. There's not enough new features for me to keep the blue D1600 MKii, but I'll still be cranking out mighty fine tunes on the D1600. For a beginner-intermediate who wants to record a lot of music it's great value and quality. [PS It's easy to replace the D1600 hard drives if you make a lot of music-- any standard hard drive seems to work, but there's a limit of 100 songs per hard drive -- with eight virtual tracks per song.]
 
br1600 or yamaha aw16g

im on the verge of ordering a br1600cd but dont understand why some say its only an 8 tracker really not the full 16. Why is this?
does the Yamaha aw16g have the full 16 tracks to use individually before mixing down?
Also, would i need to get any other equipment to record, or can i record, mix down, and then transfer to cd all from the unit itself?

and one more thing - im upgrading from a tascam porta 7 (hey, ive learnt to capture my 'art' with this baby), is this thing gonna be confusing to learn?
 
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