buying an 388, need help/advice!

  • Thread starter Thread starter burok
  • Start date Start date
oh, sorry mark - I typed wrong (it's 456)
I gotta find some other tape then, but I can use it for now, when I'm just testing it?

can someone explain anyway how to load the tape?

EDIT: Having a hard time to find european companies selling suitable tapes, anyone who can help? or should I go for tapetape.com instead?
 
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thanks! back to the loading question then, anyone? =)

EDIT: I see on the pictures how the path goes, but I have not a clue how I connect the tape to the empty roll etc... I also read somewhere on the forum here that you have to push the load button after you're done with the physical stuff so to speak.
 
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tApe tension

Herm, on my 388's the right hand tension lever rides about an inch lower than your picture shows. (top of tension roller at about center of tach roller) If I try to lift the tension arm up to match your picture, the servo stops the take-up reel motor. Do you know what the correct position for this is?? Does it matter??
 
Yes, it matters.

The photos show the tension rollers up a bit high, and I'd assume that it was directly after hand winding the tape onto the takeup reel, and before pressing Play. When Play is pressed, the tension rollers should equalize a bit lower.

When in Play mode, the center of the tension rollers should be even with the bottom of the tach and idler roller, R & L, respectively.

If the tension arms are severely out of position, it may affect the wind tension and RW/FF responsiveness. If the tension arm is riding severely low, it might trip the tape-out sensor on startup, which would be if the right tension roller recoils enough to hit the bottom-most end of it's travel. You typically don't see this extreme, but it could happen.;)
 
I managed to get the tape in place, I think - it loads the tape and I hope it's in a correct manner (it ffw the tape to approx 2.30 or something like that) though I'm a bit confused, I was following the manual's step to record my first track but it seems like the "trim"-pots (gain?) for each are not responding for the incoming signal? (I've just plugged in a synth into the line in on channel 1, and using headphones to monitor the signal)

I get a signal, but I simply can't understand why I can't boost it with the trimpot like it says in manual...

alot of other stuff I don't understand either, but - we'll take this for now ;)
 
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Hey Burok

If you've plugged into the line ins then the trim pots at the top of each channel strip are bypassed. You'll have to use the volume control on the synth to set the level going into the 388. The trim pots only work with the XLR mic inputs.
 
thanks once again mark =)

*phew* ... I thought that they were damaged or something. so if the level going out of the synth is sort of low aswell, how should I do then?

I'm also wondering if the rewind should be slower than the fastforward?
because when I load the tape it rolls really fast, but when pressing "rtz" (or using the rewind button) it doesn't go near as fast as the fastforward does. is that normal? I'm trying to figure out if something is wrong with the machine, it's not like I'm really bothered about the speed - but it's always nice to know if it's supposed to be that way.

is the load procedure normal? and after the load (and pressing reset) and if I play the tape forward and then rewind, it goes to minus 00.00.01 - also normal?

note:
sorry about bombing this forum with questions, and probably more to follow - but I got no one else to turn to. hope you don't mind.
 
burok said:
thanks once again mark =)

*phew* ... I thought that they were damaged or something. so if the level going out of the synth is sort of low aswell, how should I do then?

I'm also wondering if the rewind should be slower than the fastforward?
because when I load the tape it rolls really fast, but when pressing "rtz" (or using the rewind button) it doesn't go near as fast as the fastforward does. is that normal? I'm trying to figure out if something is wrong with the machine, it's not like I'm really bothered about the speed - but it's always nice to know if it's supposed to be that way.

is the load procedure normal? and after the load (and pressing reset) and if I play the tape forward and then rewind, it goes to minus 00.00.01 - also normal?

note:
sorry about bombing this forum with questions, and probably more to follow - but I got no one else to turn to. hope you don't mind.
Click to expand...

As I remember, pressing "rtz" or using the rewind button, especially if lots of tape is still on the left reel, may indeed be a bit slower but then picks up speed the more it is operating. For example, forward the tape to almost the end. Then try rewind. It should start slow and then pick up much speed.

Note: the "rtz" wants to take the tape back to "0" so it may slow down when nearing it.

Yes, it's perfectly normal to NOT have perfect 00.00.00 return. All seems to be fine with your 388, from what you describe.

One thing you should keep in mind is to get a 1 mil tape (and not the 1.5 mil you're using now). Tho the recording may be exactly the same on both thickness tapes, the transport and motors are not setup for it. One thing to note is the 388 has smaller motors (and thus less powerful) than found on stand alone reel recorders and the thicker tape may place needless strain on them - another reason to get 1 mil tape.

So, how clean does the tape path look ? It'd be cool if you'd take some digital photos and showcase your 388. :)

You should really try to obtain a 388 manual. It is the most important thing you can do right now.

~Daniel
 
As far as the synth goes, I'd suggest looking in it's manual for a way to adjust the output volume. Assuming the controls are accessed via some kind of menu.

Otherwise the only other thing I can suggest is to get a seperate pre amp for it.
 
mark7: none of my synths except for my emu 6400 ultra sampler can adjust its output level more than max on the volume knob. hopefully I'll get rid of this when using my mx8000 mixer, so I can boost the volume like I use to there, and then just send the signal via the 8 busses to the line inputs of the 388... Haven't really had the time to figure out if there's a better way, but I only got one pair of the 24 channels left on my mx8000, and I thought of pulling back the the 388 main mix/out (or whatever it's called on the 388) to these 2 mono channels....
 
Erm.

What happened to the other 22 channels? :confused:

It's odd that your synth doesn't put out enough level. Usually synths are quite loud.

Mind you, my drum machine is the same. I have to have the master volume control all the way up just to get the VU meters to show -5. I suspect an impedence mismatch in both cases.
 
the other 22 channels are from samplers, synths and some effects are brought back on a seperate channel instead of a usual return to be able to use eq/pan (only 2 returns feature panning on the mx8000) and do feedback loops with for example my re-201 space echo..

the plan is to use my mpc sequencer for all midi stuff and then I had in mind "live'ing" everything in, arrangement-wise.

cjacek: I'll try to borrow a digital camera aswell soon, I'll post pictures ofcourse =)

I'll paste a gearlist, if someone's interested or got any ideas...
also supposed to have a nord modular key + triple-c stereo compressor
...won't get them back until this winter though...

behringer mx8000 mixer + meterbridge
tascam 388 studio 8
alesis m1 active mkII monitors
2x behringer patchbays

mpc 2000xl (32mb, fx, 8-out)
emu 6400 ultra (128mb, 8-out, 20gb hdd)
yamaha an1x
yamaha fs1r
circuitbent speak&spell

roland srv-330 dimensional space reverb
roland sde-330 dimensional space delay
roland re-201 space echo
vestafire rv-1 spring reverb
waldorf miniworks 4-pole
alesis bitrman

edit: also got a 12" 1ghz powerbook, but since I got the388 now I won't use it except for recording the final mix to it.... sold my 828mkII soundcard and my computer sequencers/daw's + I got a amt 8x8 for sale, if someone's interested... got no use for it now anyway.
 
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Mark7 said:
You do know you can use midi with the 388. Don't you?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was bugging you about it in a thread some week ago before I made up my mind to go all-hardware and skip the computer totally. So it's your fault now if it won't work ;)

No, really - the guy gave me one of those tascam smpte > mtc converter thingies, I haven't had the time to try it out yet though - and I still don't fully understand how it works in practise - but I thought that I could synch things manually until I figure out how the actual 388 work... would be nice to try it out, need to get an voltage adapter for it though as the guy lost it.

reading now about the "remix" feature which doesn't make any sense to me - don't understand why you need it since all tracks go out from the main outs anyway as I've understood. (still only tried using headphones with the monitor section on it)
 
You have to record a sync tone on track 8, with the dbx defeat engaged, at no more than -10dBs. This could be from a sequencer or a drum machine. Then, you fill up the remaining seven tracks and use the sync tone from track 8 to drive the midi instruments via the sync box. Plug these into your MX8000, plug the MX8000's stereo outs into the stereo ins on the 388. And away ye go.

Obviously you already know about MIDI chains :)
 
The remix feature is what you use when doing bounces or the final mixdown. Basically it brings each tape track back through the appropriate channel on the mixer so you can EQ, change levels and panning and add effects.
 
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