External Bounce - Tascam 488mkII

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taperocket

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Hi, so heres the deal. I'm recording an album on a Tascam 488 MKII and I recorded 8 tracks for each song and then bounced them to my DAT recorder. I read an article in Tape Op by a band that recorded on the same unit and they suggested recording back onto the 488 on four tracks (two lefts and two rights) rather than two to thicken up the sound. So I took their advice, and it does thicken up the sound but I'm getting a minor swooshing effect in the songs when I play back all 4 tracks. Its not very apparent, it may even be my imagination but I hear it. Now, what could this be? Could the track pairs be out of phase even though they are the same recorded signal? Has anyone had any experience with anything like this or know what this might be?? Help! I need to get this album done! Thanks...
 
It does, indeed, sound like phasing issues,... the way you describe it.

No, it shouldn't happen, but what "should" or "shouldn't" happen in theory, often differs slightly from what "does" happen, in the real world.

Technically, there should be no phase issues between BUSS-L & BUSS-R, GROUP 1/3 & 2/4, on tracks grouped [1-4] and [5-8], ESPECIALLY if you're recording all 4 tracks simultaneously. Any deviation from those basic guidelines, and your results may vary.

What exactly,... or why you're getting this slight phasiness of your sound, is a bit mysterious, but I'd recommend more investigation into the signal chain, technique, & things like that. Hopefully, you're using the internal Busses for routing any similarly paired tracks, and NOT external patch cables, to route your sound around-&-about, to the 4-target tracks. [internal routing = key point].

Certain things like that,... technique & signal chain,... are hard to determine, sight unseen, over a bbs. I'd recommend further troubleshooting to determine what's causing it, or abandoning the technique altogether, if it's not a viable solution.

You're right though,... given that I'm making certain assumptions that all else is "normal" or "standard" configuration,... you "shouldn't" be getting phase issues on a 488mkII, when recording simultaneously to tracks [1-4] and [5-8], or any other combination of 4-tracks [range: 1-8], when RECORDED SIMULTANEOULY. [simultaneously = key point].

I also read the 488mkII recordist's article in Tape Op, and I own & understand the 488mkII,... just as qualifiers.

FYI: Any deviation from "normal" or "standard" patching and routing techniques, and all bets are off, as far as what you could expect to get as the coherency of the resulting recorded sound.
 
Reel,
Yeah, I'm going through the busses and recording all 4 simultaneously so I dunno....I also noticed that it doesnt happen all the time when I play back so maybe it has something to do with the nature of the cassettes themselves. I'm quite sure now its a phasing thing though because if I lower the paired tracks it becomes much less apparent, even somewhat unnoticeable. So I may just stick with this technique as the sound does benefit a lot but just have the paired tracks at a lower volume. I just need to finish this album and move on with my life! Thanks, Todd.
 
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