From one tascam user to another...

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Benreturns

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My dear old Tascam 488 MKII has started doing funny things that it never used to do. Ive had it nearly 2 years 2nd hand and it must be a decade old... I will keep using it until it is beyond repair and on its deathbed where it will retire with full honours.

But the question for me eventually will be... what do i replace it with?

I want to go digital (terrible i know), its just that there is no clear upgrade for a tape based system from the 488, its the best of the bunch. I also want more than 8 tracks. 12-16 will do.Effects send/returns (at least 2), 3 band EQ etc...
Under £1000 on ebay will be my budget unless i can get something new at that price..? Can I? Keeping in the Tascam family would be nice (2488?), but a new one will wipe out my budget in one go.

Has anyone got any suggestions?? I dont want to go PC/Mac yet. I want a good ol' portastudio will real knobs and where i can plug a nice condenser mic into and hit record when the urge takes me.

Cheers all
 
As much as I am a die hard analog fan and user myself, I must confess I have heard some very decent sounding productions done on the 2488.

I have no idea how friendly/unfriendly it is to use and I am sure that anyone who has been used to the hands on - no menu - instant action/reaction realities of analog will find the 2488 a letdown but 24bit digital is nothing to sneeze at either so perhaps check the forums on it and see how others are taking to it.

As for remaining in the analog world, a MSR16 with a decent mixing desk would also be desirable and be a big step up in fidelity from your 488.

Cheers! :)
 
Benreturns said:
Has anyone got any suggestions?? I dont want to go PC/Mac yet. I want a good ol' portastudio will real knobs and where i can plug a nice condenser mic into and hit record when the urge takes me.

Cheers all
Click to expand...

I guess I can understand that, I have two cassette portastudios, and use them exclusively. But you can still get a PC/Mac (or use the one you already have) and use the 488's mixer as a desk. Then your only out-of-pocket expense is the software.
 
Have you looked at the Tascam 788? I spent my formative years wearing out a Tascam 644, and when the 788 hit the market it looked so familiar...

You would need an external CD drive for comumicating w/the outside world, but from what I've seen the whole shooting match can be had for between $700 and $800 dollars. And with the dollar's weakness against the pound, now might just be the time to buy...
 
Hi all, thanks for all the input.

Mark,FM, unfortunately im not looking for a reel to reel machine (I would be a great experience, but i need something fast and easy to maintain...)

sssceintist, the 788 is a good machine so i hear but I would like to expand on 8 tracks. Its funny, when i was on 4 track i thought 8 would be all i ever needed. But then i got 8 and i quickly learnt new tricks and now im busting for a few more tracks to play with.

I suppose a 2488 would be ideal (or an SX-1 in a perefectly?!) and im thinking of a Yamaha AW16G. Anyone got any thoughts on this? Maybe even one of those 24 track jobs (mX2424?) with a mixer...?

Just playing with ideas really. My 488 still not bitten the dust. Thanks for all the input so far.
 
Benreturns said:
im thinking of a Yamaha AW16G.
Click to expand...

That's the one I finally settled on. It's very well made, feels like a low-level professional machine as opposed to a sophisticated toy and has the Yamaha effects that I like built right in.

Give it a serious look when you're ready to buy a new machine.
 
Yeah i definately will. I dont know why i like the look of it. Very sleek? Id love one of those big Roland Monsters - maybe one day tho ay?
 
ben. no disrespect - but i can do 80 tracks on my pc.
tiotal cost including computer , about 550 bucks.
if you want more details. ask.
 
manning1 said:
ben. no disrespect - but i can do 80 tracks on my pc.
tiotal cost including computer , about 550 bucks.
if you want more details. ask.
Click to expand...

You've gotta admire his persistence...
 
manning1 said:
ben. no disrespect - but i can do 80 tracks on my pc.
tiotal cost including computer , about 550 bucks.
if you want more details. ask.
Click to expand...


No ok... lets see what this PC thing can offer then. It just seems a waste cause i have bought aload of outboard gear over the last year (rack FX units, a Masterlink etc...) and i love the feel of those fade nobs when im mixing. I dont like the thought of bringing a mouse and monitor into a creative realm. And theres software problems yadda yadda ...

BUT... for my 550 bucks what could i get? quality wise? what would i need?
 
ben. you only have to read the back posts of mine on this bbs. just search under my name. i used to like real knobs years ago as well.
now the mouse etc is second nature.
lets take the new amd sempron pc's for example. with a couple of good hard drives. loads of tracks. amd sempron pc's in my area go for 350 bucks around. just add a nice fast second hard drive and a delta sound card.
powertracks multitrack software that i use will do way more than your 488.
i mean you no disrespect, but until youve tried it ...you wont see what i mean. i dont need outboard effects units because all the effects are included. ive got 48 tracks to play around with. really - ben..
its a no brainer. heres a challenge to you if you dont believe me.
get hold of any half decent pc from a friend, download the powertracks demo
to it and start playing around with the track laying and effects, and the midi. THEN - if you still feel its not for you , go back to your 488 approach.
you guys can laugh at me all you wish , but millions of folks are recording happily this way. frankly - with friends who were using cassette format i'm batting 99 per cent wouldnt go back. AND you can still have magical "tape sound" if you know how to eweave a tape machine into the equation.
anyway up to you. only laugh at me after youve tried it. peace.
 
manning1 said:
you guys can laugh at me all you wish , but millions of folks are recording happily this way. only laugh at me after youve tried it. peace.
Click to expand...

Many of us have tried it, and like the real sound and feel of a tape-based home studio.

The wave of the future is digital, but there are always a few holdouts, clinging to their ancient gear. You, manning1, are a thorn in the side of the Analog Gods, doing your best to convert the poor helpless who will surely be left behind as the masses march into the Promised Land of non-linear/non-destructive editing and unlimited undo. Go in Peace.

But haven't you noticed that when you are expounding on the merits of athlon and ram, we don't come barging in, hijacking the thread with our recommendations on reel to reel warmth?
 
Makes me wonder...

What do REAL studios record in? You see these big desks in Abbey Road or somewhere but these are just mixing desks surley? What do pro's actually record onto?

Back to my upgrade problem. I am a realist. I just wonder... How do you connect up mics and stuff to a pc? XLR input etc... Doesnt all that stuff cost alot more? What about pre-amps??
 
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Ben. re...what real pro's use. frankly - the technology change paradigm is creating a huge shift. you will see on the net if you surf various
recording forums thousands of threads on this issue. some pros' recording the big names have gone all computer with "in the box mixing"
particularly now that the amd 64 and opteron systems have become sooo
powerfull. peoople are telling me dual opterons will do 150 tracks.
then you have people using a combination of pc and tape.
then you have others all tape. in summary - it varies.

smigital. actually i'm not trying to be like a nun converting the analog holdouts.
all i'm suggesting is see how it works for YOU. i REALLY am not being closed minded. ive recorded on 2 inch multitracks in the past through great boards in big studios. one way is to combine the two technologies.
for example one trick ive used is to record a track on a pc then send it out to tape track, and then bring it back into the pc.
one advantage i just have to shout out though is the fact that even on a puny pc i can record 40 tracks, mix to stereo, then reimport the mix into a new session and add 39 more tracks. this is very powerfull imho.
i'm not trying to be an ass. just detailing techniques ive learnt from more experienced folks than i . also - it is a fact that really great songs are being done on the pc every day without touching tape. but its the old saw...
how the tool is used by the user. merry christmas folks.
 
Click on manning1's name...

and no link is offered to visit his homepage.

I, for one, would like to hear a home recording that needed 60 to 80 tracks to make it sound right. I can do it on a four tracker with one bounce.

Too bad he's so nice and congenial, it makes him much more difficult to dislike. ;) (just kidding manning1, you seem like a nice guy who likes to help folks, with a personal distaste for punctuation and formatting)
 
smigital. merry christmas to you.
i never actually use 80 tracks. max i normally do is 24 to 32.
because i dont believe in overproducing.
but many studios use way more than 80 even.
particularly for big shot productions. i know it sounds unbelievable, but thats
the truth. particularly the film guys with all those smpte triggered effects.
it can get rather hairy. i dont know if you remember this but , in the past stephens made a 32 track 2 inch machine using 2 inch tape. some big studios had two !!
maybe its not for you smigital. but it IS for lots of people.
 
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