Got Two 16-Channel Boards- Which Should I Use Where?

[stevieb]

New to this forum. Happy to be here.

I own a Soundcraft Series 200SR and a Tascam M-216. Both are 16-channel boards, with differences:

Soundcraft has:
British design (therefore Brit preamps, which I am told sound better)
R and L "Mix" (mains or house) XLR outputs AND R and L "2 Track" outputs (will allow me to go to mains AND to recording device, with different levels, I think)
AUX 1,2,3 and 4 (my son, the real sound engineer, tells me two are pre-, two post-fade)

Tascam has:
Tape In and Tape button for first 8 channels,
R and L "Stereo out" (again, mains or house) XLR outputs AND R and L "Output" outs (which I assume would be used as tape outs)...


BUT as far as I can tell, both outputs on the Tascam are post-fader, whereas the 2-Track on the Soundcraft are pre fade, right?

Hold on, the Soundcraft manual calls the 2 Track plugs "Returns." I may be way out of my element, here, but returns means signal goes BACK to the board, right? So these are NOT outputs?

Let me try this approach: What I want to do is provide sound for a 7-piece mostly guitar group, with 4 vocal mics, 7 guitarist (most with pickups, even if they play acoustic- I insisted on this) and a stereo keyboard. Two of the guitars will be in stereo, as we two use chorus. Add a single condenser mic on the very basic drum kit we use (snare,hi-hat, ride and djembe) and that's 16 channels. I'd like to have both a house and a stage system, seeing as I now have two boards. Also, a friend is going to be recording the event to 8 tracks plus stereo L and R, he has a all-in-one recorder with on-board mixer that will allow him to record in 8 tracks and R/L stereo at the same time.

My questions:
Which board would be best as house? Which as stage?

If I use the Tascam as stage board, will my friend be able to pull from it for his recording?

The Soundcraft manual says "Should the Series 200SR be required to provide both the main PA sends and foldback sends then the main mix outputs provide the front of house PA whilst (British, you know) the Auxiliaries may be used to provide the foldback sends, taking the signal for the foldback from the Auxiliary outputs. Using the Auxiliaries for foldback sends allows the Reutnrs to be used for FX Returns on the main PA." Perhaps I sould use it for BOTH house and monitor (Brits say "Foldback") and the Tascam for the recording?

I will be adding reverb to the mix, perhaps only vocal, perhaps overall, so the FX returns will be used. I only have one reverb unit ( may get a second, but won't have one for each channel, for sure.)

That the Tascam board does not provide Phantom power for the one condenser mic is not an issue- I have other devices that do.

There are no doubt some details I left out- please make resasonable assumptions on them, so I can get some answers.

Thanks, all.

 

[TexRoadkill]

If you want to use both boards you will need a mic splitter for every mic. I would just use whichever board has the most Aux sends and/or is most reliable for FOH & monitors.

Use the Aux sends for monitors and the Tape/Direct Outs for recording.

 

[Herm]

It sounds like you have never done this before and its your first time to run sound for a band.
First thing I would do is forget about dealing with stereo for the keys and I have no idea why you are going to try or how your going to run guitars in stereo. Are you really talking about panning instead of stereo.
With the gear you have and the size of the sound job you are doing I think you need to keep it as simple as possible and worry about just the basics.
No stereo and no recording. If you go in with this gear and try everything that you are trying to figure out here I am afraid your going to get real frustrated at the gig and look like a fool. Sorry but I have been there done that.
Good luck with your gig