I give up.

  • Thread starter Thread starter AllenM
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AllenM

AllenM

Member
I woke up this morning at 10am and I've been trying to get my damn mixer to work. Now everything is up and running but I tried recording track one then track two got completely confusing. I just need step by step instructions to do this. I dont usually have a difficult time figuring out stuff. But I learn fast.
So your reward for helping me would be...
A wonderful catchy song to sing along to!
And you can go throughout your day with a good conscious knowing that you
helped a great kid begin his musical career.

I have a TEAC a-3340s
and a TASCAM M208
 
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Hey! Up late? It just so happens I got my TEAC A3340-S just today! I can help you hook it up cuz i'm up this late on a normal basis.

Since you have an 8 track mixer your setup should end up similar to mine. 1-4 will be for Mic. From there I think you use the "insert" plugs at the top of the back of the mixer to send to the Line ins on the TEAC. I am just guessing that the "Insert" may be a patch output or something? (You'll notice that this is 1/4" jack going to RCA I have some snakes that I use for that.) You dont want to use go to the Mic inputs on the front of your recorder because the mixer already has preamps for your mics and sending it to the mic input will cause the signal to be way to strong. (I tried it like that earlier today and was not pleased with the results) That's it for the input setup

That output setup would be RCA-1/4" or RCA-RCA going from the line outputs on the back of the recorder to either the Line in or Tape in on the back of your mixer. You will only use tracks 5-8 when mixing because the other 4 are only for Mic inputs. Then you just use the main Balanced or Unbalanced stereo outputs to your monitors! :)

Hopefully I explained it alright. If you cannot get signal into the recorder then it will be that the "Insert" is not the right place to patch out your mics. This is pretty much the same way I have my 3340 and 80-8 hooked up. I'm not using a Tascam board though. :o
 
Well I do have the RCA>1/4 cables but I wouldnt plug into the TAPE IN (it uses an rca conneciton).
 
Yea if you have enough RCA-1/4" then its the RCA line outputs to the 1/4" Line input on the mixer on tracks 5-8. Let me know how it goes
 
Now also when I record do I use one connection at a time.

E.g

Lets say I want to record on track one which is L1.
I use an rca cable connected to PGM OUT 1 from the mixer
to LINE IN L1 on the Recorder. Then I would connect an RCA cable to OUTPUT L1 from the recorder back into the Mixers TAPE IN under Channel 1.
Then will channel 1 on the mixer be in CONTROL for track one? Or would the
1st orange fader on my mixer control the volume for Track on ( L1 )?
 
I think I see what you are doing now. The Program outs carry your input signal from the mics to the recorder. I think that channel 1 will be what you are in control of for mixing. except I think that channels 5-8 should be used for coming back to the tape ins. This will keep you from mixing up your mic input signals and the signals coming out of the recorder.

Again i've never used any Tascam mixer. I use a slightly different setup than you because the I/O on my mixer is a bit different but it seems to be similar. How long have you had your 3340? I can already tell after several hours that it's a very versatile and great sounding deck. :) I think i'll keep it!
 
Well Ive had it for a month its been good to me.
Am i supposed to have ALL the connections connected in order to record?
Like if im only working on track one would I still need to have everything connected?
 
No you don't have to. you can use any combination of inputs, outputs, or both hooked up.
 
Wait...

AllenM...you don't have to have everything connected up, but why wouldn't you want to? The M-208 is setup so that you can have all teh connections connected, leave them that way and have complete control over what goes where and be able to monitor whatever you need to monitor in your 4-track setup all from the control surface of the mixer...no repatching EVER.

Not trying to butt in here, but here's the way I would connect M-208 to your cool-cool A-3340S.

PGM OUT 1 to LINE IN L1
PGM OUT 2 to LINE IN R1
PGM OUT 3 to LINE IN L2
PGM OUT 4 to LINE IN R2

So that handles all the signals FROM the mixer TO the recorder, and note that because mixer channels 1~8 can be routed freely to any or all of the PGM GROUPS simultaneously you don't have to plug or unplug those connections FROM the mixer TO the recorder ever.

Now let's look at the connections FROM the recorder TO the mixer. Tascam gives you a way to have your recorder hooked up to the mixer and also to never have to unplug those connections and be able to monitor, mix, overdub, whatever...

LINE OUT L1 to CHANNEL 1 TAPE IN
LINE OUT R1 to CHANNEL 2 TAPE IN
LINE OUT L2 to CHANNEL 3 TAPE IN
LINE OUT R2 to CHANNEL 4 TAPE IN

If you have the connections as above, here is how you would monitor playback of track 1 of the recorder while listening to a mic plugged into channel 1 of the mixer:

  1. You can listen to tape tracks in two ways, either depress the TAPE switch up by the TRIM knob (now the source of the mixer channel is track 1 of the tape deck, and you would do it this way when mixing down), OR leave the TAPE switch by the TRIM knob in the up position (now the source of the channel strip is whatever is plugged into the MIC or LINE jack), and depress the TAPE switch by the FLB and EFF knobs on the channel strip (now track 1 goes to the FLB knob...turn that up on the strip, and then turn the master FLB knob up which is above the PGM GROUP 4 fader and PAN knob, and lastly depress the FLB switch in the MON section...and you would do it this way when tracking and overdubbing).
  2. Once you have the tape track routed to the FLB buss and you are monitoring the FLB buss in the MON section then we can get your theoretical mic plugged into channel 1 MIC jack monitored...I'm purposely having you plug the mic into channel 1 of the mixer so you can see how the TAPE IN jack can be handled/routed independently of the MIC or LINE jack even on the same mixer channel).
  3. Route the mic to PGM GROUP 2 (channel 1 PAN full clockwise, 1-2 button depressed). Raise the channel 1 fader.
  4. Raise the PGM 2 fader.
  5. Raise the L and R faders
  6. Depress the STEREO button in the MON section (along with the FLB button)
  7. You should now be able to hear the mic AND the track 1 playback AND if you set track 2 of the recorder to monitor the input (LINE IN R1) you should be able to see activity on the track 2 VU meter from the mic.

Okay. That's a lot. Tell me what doesn't make sense.
 
dont give up

Dont give up Allen, there are a few mixer/routing comprehension bumps to get over when you start out recording like this (analog mixer/tape machine). Once you get past them youll be fine. Thats why the manuals Tascam made back then are so great, because they walk you through much of it, and even point out potential areas of confusion with reasons and examples.

Best thing i ever did was get the manual for my m30 when i was starting out. 80 percent of my questions were answered in the first few pages alone.
 
First Where do you live Allen? Maybe one of us is close enough to help out.
I dont think I would give up on the mixer yet. also I would just slow down on this and take a step back.
First thing I would do is clean it up the best I could and that includes taking all the knobs off and doing a it right.
I would take q tips dunked in alcohol and stick them in each hole of the 1/4 inch inputs and outputs to get any crud that you can out of them. I would find a way to clean all the contacts inside and outside of the rca jacks.
You need to invest in some new cords.

Also as far as returning the mixer I am going to have to disagree with that action. I know some of you will not agree but we need to be real here. As hard as it is to hear this, this mixer looked like a piece of crap on the ebay page and that in it self should have been a big sign that it hadnt been taken care of and you where taking a big risk in buying it. It was clear that it was sold through some kind of ebay store and I wouldnt expect them to know crap about the mixer or to have even checked anything out let alone the headphone output.
Good luck with your rig.
 
Last edited:
sweetbeats said:
AllenM...you don't have to have everything connected up, but why wouldn't you want to? The M-208 is setup so that you can have all teh connections connected, leave them that way and have complete control over what goes where and be able to monitor whatever you need to monitor in your 4-track setup all from the control surface of the mixer...no repatching EVER.

Not trying to butt in here, but here's the way I would connect M-208 to your cool-cool A-3340S.

PGM OUT 1 to LINE IN L1
PGM OUT 2 to LINE IN R1
PGM OUT 3 to LINE IN L2
PGM OUT 4 to LINE IN R2

So that handles all the signals FROM the mixer TO the recorder, and note that because mixer channels 1~8 can be routed freely to any or all of the PGM GROUPS simultaneously you don't have to plug or unplug those connections FROM the mixer TO the recorder ever.

Now let's look at the connections FROM the recorder TO the mixer. Tascam gives you a way to have your recorder hooked up to the mixer and also to never have to unplug those connections and be able to monitor, mix, overdub, whatever...

LINE OUT L1 to CHANNEL 1 TAPE IN
LINE OUT R1 to CHANNEL 2 TAPE IN
LINE OUT L2 to CHANNEL 3 TAPE IN
LINE OUT R2 to CHANNEL 4 TAPE IN

If you have the connections as above, here is how you would monitor playback of track 1 of the recorder while listening to a mic plugged into channel 1 of the mixer:

  1. You can listen to tape tracks in two ways, either depress the TAPE switch up by the TRIM knob (now the source of the mixer channel is track 1 of the tape deck, and you would do it this way when mixing down), OR leave the TAPE switch by the TRIM knob in the up position (now the source of the channel strip is whatever is plugged into the MIC or LINE jack), and depress the TAPE switch by the FLB and EFF knobs on the channel strip (now track 1 goes to the FLB knob...turn that up on the strip, and then turn the master FLB knob up which is above the PGM GROUP 4 fader and PAN knob, and lastly depress the FLB switch in the MON section...and you would do it this way when tracking and overdubbing).
  2. Once you have the tape track routed to the FLB buss and you are monitoring the FLB buss in the MON section then we can get your theoretical mic plugged into channel 1 MIC jack monitored...I'm purposely having you plug the mic into channel 1 of the mixer so you can see how the TAPE IN jack can be handled/routed independently of the MIC or LINE jack even on the same mixer channel).
  3. Route the mic to PGM GROUP 2 (channel 1 PAN full clockwise, 1-2 button depressed). Raise the channel 1 fader.
  4. Raise the PGM 2 fader.
  5. Raise the L and R faders
  6. Depress the STEREO button in the MON section (along with the FLB button)
  7. You should now be able to hear the mic AND the track 1 playback AND if you set track 2 of the recorder to monitor the input (LINE IN R1) you should be able to see activity on the track 2 VU meter from the mic.

Okay. That's a lot. Tell me what doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...



Ok this makes sense. But what about 'SIMUL SYNC' on the A-3340s?
I want to hear what was played on the 1st track so I could record in sync on the 2nd track. Do I enable this or do I leave it on 'normal'? Or when on 'normal' does the mixer automatically play whats on the tape when I have the FLB tape switch enabled?
 
Just put that track into sync on the recorder. And use the fold back on the mixer to monitor and press the tape button.
 
I don't have a 3340. I am going to assume that it has three heads erase rec/play and play. Sync on should allow you to "arm" individual tracks for recording while listening to prevsiously recorded tracks. So yes, you want to use "sync" to playback track one to play to and record on track two...
 
Yep...what they said. When in "NORMAL", you are playing back off the repro head (the one furthest to the right). When switched to "SYNC" you are playing back from the sync head which is your record head (the one in the middle). playing a track back from the sync head while recording another track keeps things lined up, sync'ed, timewise to your ears (and on tape). Like Herm said you would just depress the TAPE button by the FLB knob on the mixer channel that is connected to that tape track output...that is the other reason I suggested you connect your tape tracks 1~4 (i.e. L1, R1, L2, R2) to the corresponding TAPE IN jacks on mixer channels 1~4...less confusing (i.e. want to hear track 1 then monitor via the FLB knob on channel 1...track 2 is on channel 2 all the way to 4), and because you can monitor the tracks independently of other inputs connected to those same mixer channels the tape returns aren't in the way so-to-speak of mics and line sources you want to connect to those same channels. You could have all 8 mixer channels loaded with mics and line sources and have those bussed (via the PGM GROUPS) to whatever tape track or tracks you want and still be monitoring any or all of the tape tracks through the FLB.

The M-208 was made for 4-track recording...perfect fit for your A-3340S.

Keep the questions coming, and +1 one to getting a new set of cables. Do yourself a favor and get a Hosa 8-channel RCA-RCA snake.
 
Thanks man.
lets say I want to record on track 1, channels 1,2,3,4.
I would click the 1-2 button and pan channel 1 all the way to the left.
Channel 2 I would click the 1-2 button and pan it all the way to the right.
Now channel 3 I click the 1-2 button and pan all the way to the left?
The part im confused about is paning the channels. Could you explain this?
Thanks
 
You're almost there...think of PGM GROUP faders this way:

PGM 1 is track 1
PGM 2 is track 2
PGM 3 is track 3
PGM 4 is track 4

So whenever you want to send a mixer channel to a particular tape track you depress the appropriate assign switch (1-2 or 3-4) and PAN to the PGM GROUP to which you want to send the signal.

So in your scenario if you want to record mixer channels 1~4 to track 1 of the tape deck then they all need to be assigned to the 1-2 buss and panned fully counter-clockwise. This routes them all to PGM GROUP 1 which comes out of the mixer at the PGM 1 output which is connected (if you did it the way I suggested previously) to LINE IN L1 of the A-3340S, which is track 1.

The PAN knobs on the channel strips are really there just as a way to select PGM 1 or 2, or PGM 3 or 4. The PAN knobs above the PGM GROUP faders are what give you your stereo mix in the MON section...the signals sent to the PGM GROUPS go out their respective jacks at the back right after the fader, but that signal splits at that point (between the fader and the output jack) and also goes to the PAN knob which goes to the L and R master faders which goes to the STEREO jacks at the back and the STEREO source switch in the MON section.

Hope that helps.
 
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