fostex model 80 to computer/reel/DAT??

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Bobby Darko

Bobby Darko

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Hey guys,
Just a quick question. I recently obtained a model 80. IN the future I will be recording stuff (obviously :D ) and burning it to cd to go to a master engineer. What's the best way to do it?
I always used Audacity and my very average pc, but I guess the sound detoriates a lot from this process. I recorded on cassettes (tascam 688) and mixed it to stereo to my computer. What's an affordable upgrade in mixdown? A consumer's reel to reel deck maybe? Or a DAT? Or a cd-rw? New soundcard? Please help me out....
 
ranting thoughts:

1.Good soundcard (or call it recording audio interface, or "system") for you computer is a good idea regardless. Too many options nowdays. I know that digidesign products are great, m-audio products are good (well, even - great, depending on your demands). There are other. I don't have any personal experience with other "popular" soundcard/interfaces makers brands.

2.Stand alone cd-recorder if you are fine with paying for one is the least painful way to get good digital stereo recording done. (also, probably arguably so.)

3.Mixing down to analog tape is RIGHTEOUS thing to do. BUT! there are other issues involved here. A lot to do with what you record, what for, how do listen to your recording, what your demands are, expectations etc etc...

4.I would recommend to permanently forget the word "DAT". Just forget it and never worry about even thinking of it. :)

also I am ranting here very generally.
*********
also, in respect to "go to a master engineer", I think you don't want to know what I have to say :p ;) , but one note, though: since it is going to a master, then why not to ask that very master for an advice about the "it", after all the master is the one who is going to be transforming what ever it is into a master-piece. :D

/respects
 
If you're on a budget, yet you want solid results, consider getting an M-Audio 24/96 soundcard, and WaveLab Essential.

WaveLab Essential is a software editor, you'll be able to record your mixes to 2-track stereo with that... :)

Anyway, that's one option...
 
I started with what Golden says. M Audio 24/96 card and Wavelab, though I bought the full version. You can get excellent results.

If you're tracking to tape, make sure your machine is aligned to the type II tape used. The mixdown will only be as good as the tracks.

Cheers Tim.
 
thanks so much guys,
I'm definatley saving up for the M-Audio card. About the tape II, I knew that, never used any other than TDK SAII, but since I'm moving forward to a Fostex Model 80, I want to improve my mixdown facility as well. Thanks again guys!

some of my tascam 688 shit by the way:
www.woodyandpaul.com
 
Bobby Darko said:
some of my tascam 688 shit by the way:
www.woodyandpaul.com
Click to expand...
Very cool site. I like the style and humor and all that. :cool: :cool:
The problem is I could not figure out how/where to listen to something. I think I've tried everything, I've clicked on everything that moves and everything that is stone-paralyzed, including damn Lenin's dirigible (I mean both of them) :D .
In musique section when clicking on "listen" I get some sort of screen, like a video-player which makes me dizzy and has no sound to it :(
Tips? :D
 
hey zee,
well yeah, the last thing you tried should work. It works on my old crappy comp. I guess you need active x (at least that's what my pc tells me). That video is merely a little loop. CHeers!
 
Hey Zee
mm, that's strange, i'll let the guys know. By the way, you got a fucking nice studio there dude (jealous!), wow! miles ahead of my simple portastudio...
 
Golden said:
If you're on a budget, yet you want solid results, consider getting an M-Audio 24/96 soundcard, and WaveLab Essential.

WaveLab Essential is a software editor, you'll be able to record your mixes to 2-track stereo with that... :)

Anyway, that's one option...
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I've done in the past.
Pretty good results, but still noticeable lost of low frequencies.
 
I have a model 80 as well

I track with a Fostex model 80 and then dump all 8 tracks (at the same time) on my pc using an M-audio delta 1010lt card. That card allows you to record 8 separate tracks, simultaneously.

The mix/final edits are done on the computer.

The sound is great. Just use your monitors and compare the playback from the recorder, with the playback from the computer.
 
hey Fred, sounds like a nice setup! However, I'm not interested in mixing on my computer, I just want top dump the stereo mix somewhere good. I guess a cd recorder would be very nice or the m-audio as people suggested. The thing with the cd recorder is that I'm mixing as I dump it, so it's gonna take a shitload of cd's to dump a whole album, even if I get it right at the first time with every song..
maybey a cd-rw writer??
 
_DK said:
That's exactly what I've done in the past.
Pretty good results, but still noticeable lost of low frequencies.
Click to expand...

Hey DK, have you any solutions for this loss of low frequencies?
 
Bobby Darko said:
hey Fred, sounds like a nice setup! However, I'm not interested in mixing on my computer, I just want top dump the stereo mix somewhere good. I guess a cd recorder would be very nice or the m-audio as people suggested. The thing with the cd recorder is that I'm mixing as I dump it, so it's gonna take a shitload of cd's to dump a whole album, even if I get it right at the first time with every song..
maybey a cd-rw writer??
Click to expand...

Check out the Alesis Masterlink. It has a built in hard drive that you burn to first. It samples up to 24bit/96k. You can perform all sorts of "mastering" edits if you wish to (fades, normalize, eq, compress/limit). You can customize the order of your songs before you burn the cd. It has balanced and unbalanced I/O. When I worked at a rental shop I used to take it home to put my ananlog masters on to cd. I would go from a vintage Ampex 440 to it and it worked like magic.

Just a thought.
 
thanks for the tip Amphony. I guess you have the solution for my problem, I want a Masterlink now! BUt I guess the new problem is the cost of it. I'm gonna search for second hand masterlinks right away! Thanks!
 
Some other good choices if going the CD-R/CD-RW route…

- HHB CDR850
- Fostex CR300
- Pioneer PDR-555RW (this one is a consumer model and you can't switch off copy protection, but the unit sounds good)

These are all re-writers, but you don't have to record that way. You can continue to use a single CD until you close it.

I mix to analog half-track first and then to the CR300. This is a purist approach, as you end up with an analog master. Thus you have the original analog material preserved for transfer to future digital formats that may represent it more favorably.

It’s very rare these days that I want to bring material into the digital realm for editing. Nonetheless, I always bring it in through a stand-alone CD recorder rather than a soundcard.

It may seem to make more sense at first glance to go with 24/96 or whatever, but that only means you will add more digital-to-digital conversion if your ultimate destination is 16/44.1 CD.

At this point in history A/D conversion is generally preferable to adding stages of D/D conversion. If recording to DVD-R for example, I would use the analog outputs to transfer to CD. But I avoid the need for any further conversion, analog or digital, by initially converting at the A/D stage to the word-length and sampling rate of the end-product.

:)
 
Last edited:
Golden said:
Hey DK, have you any solutions for this loss of low frequencies?
Click to expand...

Yes:
- definitely, a better sound card
- better cables (?) - haven't tried that

If you have a good ear, you will always hear a difference between the analog source and a digital mixdown.
 
_DK said:
Yes:
- definitely, a better sound card
- better cables (?) - haven't tried that

If you have a good ear, you will always hear a difference between the analog source and a digital mixdown.
Click to expand...

Indeed... I've noticed a diff between the tape master and the computer "transferred" master, myself. That just seems to be the nature of the monster. :)
 
Hey beck,
thanks for the tips on cd-rw recs. My goal is to transfer it to an analog master first to, but since I have to save up for a quality 2 track mahine first, my first goal is to get a machine like you suggested. Like you I want to keep it as analog as possible. Not only because of that endless discussion we all know, but because I just don't like to spend hours and hours behind a pc monitor and clicking my fingers numb.
I am glad other people notice signal loss when transferring too, because I thought I was hearing things that weren't there, but now I know...
Thanks again for all the input guys...
 
Bobby Darko said:
Hey beck,
thanks for the tips on cd-rw recs. My goal is to transfer it to an analog master first to, but since I have to save up for a quality 2 track mahine first, my first goal is to get a machine like you suggested. Like you I want to keep it as analog as possible. Not only because of that endless discussion we all know, but because I just don't like to spend hours and hours behind a pc monitor and clicking my fingers numb.
I am glad other people notice signal loss when transferring too, because I thought I was hearing things that weren't there, but now I know...
Thanks again for all the input guys...
Click to expand...

Bobby,

Definetely get the analog two track first. You should be able to score a quality 1/4" two track for under $600 easily. I agree, you should stay in analog as far as possible. Once you get the mix down to tape then transfer to something like the Masterlink. All the best!! :)
 
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