Help me choose a USED mixer

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jamievespa

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Hi guys,

Would you care to give me your opinions regarding a mixing desk for my Tascam 38. So far I've seen:

Tascam M-216 - 16 channel, 4 buss, no phantom power

Fostex 812 - 12 Channel, 8 buss, +24v phantom power


Both of these desks would match the 38 in terms of -10dB operating level. I'm just torn between what may be the better of the two, I'm drawn more to the Fostex having 8 separate busses.

Or would I be better looking at something like a Soundcraft Spirit Studio, even though they run at +4dB?

Any other suggestions would be great :)

Thanks guys :)
 
This is a complicated question with a very personal answer...

Let me boil it way way down :)

Buy the Fostex 812. It has a huge number of features that will help you out, like Direct Outs and Tape Returns. Don't be fooled though, the Fostex is an 8 buss mixer but they treat bus 7/8 as the stereo main output. It's not 8 busses, plus the main buss. Using the same logic, the Tascam 216 is a 6 buss console, 4 groups plus the main stereo outs.

The Fostex is perfect for your setup as the first 8 channels are setup like an inline console, allowing you to send to tape and monitor the return without having to patch all over the place. You can wire you gear up to the board and just leave it as is.

Really cool little mixer.

If you want to get something else, be sure to get a 16 channel board or make sure it's an inline board like the Fostex is. You need 8 channels to send to tape and 8 channels to come back from it if you want to keep things simple. It cane be done with less but the wiring gets more complicated and a patch bay becomes a necessity, rather than a nice option.

Robert
 
How about neither of those two?

The mixer is going to have a huge influence on the sound of your system (all those pre amps) so hold out for one that actually sounds good--otherwise why go to the hassle of working in analogue?

In the economy end of the market, there's only one mixer I'd consider and that's Allen and Heath--probably an old Mix Wizard 16:2 for the direct outs--buses are less of a consideration for multitrack studio recording. The Mix Wiz is built like the proverbial brick outhouse and, in the unlikely event something goes wrong, is also relatively easy to fix. The pre amps sound great and the EQ is musical and useful.

The -10/+4 thing isn't a biggie--just run low or, if you really care, put a pad in each output.

If you care about analogue sound, forget the Tascam and Fostex.
 
I had a Fostex 812 and it was brilliant. I had to get rid of it when I upgraded to 16 tracks. i replaced it with a studiomaster 20/16/2 desk but in many ways I prefer the Fostex. It's very low noise, the EQ is great, it's got a good monitor section, nice chunky faders with no routing buttons in the way and nice soft-touch mute switches. It's also got a very good array of connections with direct outs on every channel and access to all the buses. I was actually considering buying a second one when I bought my 16 track and chaining them together to form one console. I thought it would look weird though so I didn't (stupid reason I know). Overall, it's a really nice, easy to use, great sounding desk. I enjoyed using it an awful lot. So much so that I'm starting to miss it whilst writing this, I may have to buy another (or an 820) at some point!

One thing that was a pain with it was the lack of a separate stereo buss. Instead, this is combined with channels 7 and 8. This could be a bit annoying but I never found it too much trouble. I would recommend connecting the 7 and 8 buss outputs to an audio switchbox and then connecting the outputs on the switchbox to your 8 track and master recorder. That way you can easilly just switch between multitracking and mixing.

Cheers
James
 
Hi all,

Thanks for your replies, Bobbsy, the only reason I kind of narrowed it down to those as they're quite readily available near me.

I've been more drawn towards the Fostex but yesterday I found a Carlsbro ProMix 16:8:2 local for a good price so I'm going to check that out tomorrow

Thanks again :)
 
To add a bit of comic relief, I've used an original Mackie CR-1604 for nearly 20 years and it works just fine, though not as slick as a more dedicated, inline recording console. However, it's been in the shop for about a month, pending replacement of a defective phones/CR output fader. First issue in 20 years so I'm not really complaining.

In the mean time, I'm back to using a pair of Roland SMX-880 line mixers that I bought 30 years ago and not really minding it. Those are the same mixers I started mixing with my Otari 4-track back in the early 80s. I remembered that I also have a little M-Audio DMP-3, and that is a perfectly good two-channel preamp, which is about all I need. I wasn't using it much because the Mackie preamps are adequate and I was kinda annoyed that the DMP-3 doesn't feed power to the VU meter lamps any more, but really, that's no big deal.

Anyway, lack of sends makes running effects at mix time cumbersome, but it really hasn't been a big deal. I record the effects when I track or use the patch bay to connect the tape track to the mixer and an effect at the same time. The same applies to eq, since the line mixer has none, but that is simpler as I can just patch to an eq and then into the mixer.

The sound of these line mixers is superb. With so little circuitry in the way, the sound is very accurate to what comes off the tape. Very cool and reminiscent of my early recording days.

Anyway, that's my humorous setup at the moment. The interesting question will be whether I immediately change back when the 1604 comes home. The other nice feature with the line mixers is that they are in the angled rack that is the back part of my mixing desk, leaving the desk space right in front of it open for a writing space and other various musical activities. That is very handy compared to filling that space with a mixer.

OTOH, I recognize that most folks would probably not want to be limited by simple line mixers. During the 90s I had both the Mackie and a Tascam 388 and I really liked the mixer section of the 388, so if I we're buying a recording mixer, I'd be more inclined to go with the Tascam mixer over the Fostex, just because it would seem more familiar. Plus, I don't really need more than 4 channels sent to the recorder. The Mackie is at most a "4-bus" mixer, but it has a total of seven different aux sends, so you can essentially use those as separate recording channels, if need be. I use the monitor bus for recording all the time, because that is the one that bypasses the channel eq section.


Cheers,

Otto
 
+1 on the preamps unless you use standlone. No phantom can be a problem, but is easy enough to remedy with phantom pwr adapters, or if you use tube mics or dynamic mics which don't require phantom. Also, 24v phantom is --probably Ok, but really, phantom is --supposed to be 48v, you **may** notice a difference depending on the microphone.

Some food for thought, do you envision recording more then four tracks at a time? having more returns for effects etc, may be nice as well. I got by for a long time w/ a Teac 5 and Tascam 38, the big issue for me was only one effect buss (or two if I used the cue send as an effect send) not the four busses. I also prefer the movement type VU meters as opposed to LED's. You may not care, it's a personal preference only for me.

I'm assuming you chose the two examples as having access to one or the other in the near term?
 
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If you're in S. California, I just put my loaded M3700 up on ebay. Don't know if that's allowed to say around here.. just zap my post if so and I'll understand!
 
Firstly, I love to hear why you are selling. Second, are you the seller from Hemet? If so, I don't see all the parts listed... PSU?

Just curious :)
 
Mine is the one listed for Wildomar with the blue pic and says "loaded"! Which it is of course. The description shows everything included. I made sure to list the psu... for the life of me, I don't know how people end up with consoles without power supplies for sale.

I'm moving back over to OC and am going to get a different console after all these years to interface with a 2" machine.
 
Hi guys,

Yes Blue Jinn I chose those two as they come up quite often however I eventually found a Carlsbro 16:8:2 on Gumtree (UK Online free ads- similar to craigslist) for £80 which was an hours drive away so I snagged that!

If anyone's interested Carlsbro was an English manufacturer of pro audio gear from the 1960's up to today, they continue to make PA gear with digital instruments however production has moved to China.
 
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