Interface as external preamp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nate_dennis
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nate_dennis

nate_dennis

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I was thinking about plugging in my Tascam 122 into my USB for power, then plugging in a streo pair of condensor mics and trying to route the Audio into my old Tascam 488 to get a few extra mic pres. Anyone know if this will work?
 
Don't see why it won't work, but in anycase, just try it. Doesn't cost you anything :-)
 
should be fine, only issue is you will have to make some choices on what are the best ways to route the audio from the us 122.
you have two options,
1) the line out
2) the channel inserts

if you go for the line out option, first you will need to get adapters to change the rca outputs to whatever sort of input you need on the 488 (1/4 in im assuming) unless it has rca inputs. then enable direct monitoring and ensure that the mono option is turned off. this will give you one mic on the left and one on the right. (i suppose you have three options as you could do this on the heaphone out too, with a y cable splitting stereo 1/4 inch into two mono outputs)

second option is the channel inserts, these are a little more confusing to understand, but simple enough once you figure them out, each insert is a stereo jack, in which one side of the stereo field is sending a direct out and the other side is recieving the signal back into the us122, I think if i remember correctly the left side sends and the right side recieves(i may be wrong experiment), so insert a 1/4 in stereo y cable with two 1/4 in mono outs (or whichever the 488 needs) into the insert plugs. now you would plug the left side of the y cable into your input on the 488 and you should have success, with this method you have the option of routing audio back into the us 122 if you have any desire to do so by plugging the right side of the y cable into whatever external output you want to send into it. You need to do this for both channels, so this option requires two y cables.

i hope that was clear, its a fairly simple concept that proved a little more difficult for me to explain then i would have liked.

good luck, i think you will be pleased with the results as imo the preamps in the us122 are very good and will give you a pleasant sound.
 
I use the Line6 UX8 exactly in the same way...just using the computer to prossess the preamp voicings.
 
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