Its time (need your advice)

[Congratulations]

Hey all, new around here. Ive got some dough, but I still naturally want to be as frugal as humanly possible (considering most of this old analog junk has worn heads, calibration issues..). I need to buy a half inch multitracker. Something that can do 15ips, and at least 8 tracks.

I usually latch on to brands and models (analog synths for instance) but when it came to this, I was pretty lost. I talked to a guy named Moe who had a Tascam 70-8 8 track machine. But that was in 1976 and I couldnt find ANY info on it.

Hey, I would most definitely prefer this future purchase to be 70s. You see Im recording an album with my piano instructor, and were going to make it sound as 70s as humanly possible. 70s drums, analog synths, the real deal. Its going to be prog rock, like Yes or Triumvirat. But I need something better than my stupid Akai 1/4" machine (which is hissier than my 424Mk.3 four track. Anyone want to explain how 1/4" tape being played at 7.5 ips can sound hissier than 1/8" tape at 3 3/4 ips??).
Anyway, I got a bunch of free half inch quantegy (spelling?) at work and I figured instead of buying the tascam 388 (which is what Id been looking at) I would just go all the way. Half inch seems right, but I need some direction.
Thanks for all the help!
John

 

[kiira]

Hey all, new around here. Ive got some dough, but I still naturally want to be as frugal as humanly possible (considering most of this old analog junk has worn heads, calibration issues..). I need to buy a half inch multitracker. Something that can do 15ips, and at least 8 tracks.

Hi hi,

Congratulations Congratulations.

I have a Tascam 38, which is an 80s 1/2" 8 track machine. It sounds great but if I were doing it again I think I would look for a TSR-8 or a MSR-16 which are the later model 1/2" 8 and 16 track decks. The 80 can get some problems with the boards... some were made kinda crufty I understand, and also the relays can get wonkey and need replacing. I think I've not read that the TSR or MSR have these problems, they're a bit better made. Other people own those decks here and can give you better advice. The later Tascams also have better sync capability with accessory 1 or 2 connectors so you can use FSK, MTC, or SMPTE to sync them into your studio. I use this on my Tascam 238 deck and an mts-1000 syncronizer and if you do midi, like drums or whatever, it is VERY cool.

You didn't say what your budget was? You can get a good 1/2" deck for under 1k$ yanno. Be aware it will need servicing prolly. A pinch roller and belt is almost mandatory for 80s decks if they have not been replaced. They literally turn into tar. It would help a LOT to get a user and service manual and to learn some basic skills like how to bias for different tapes. I've learned this and it is kinda fun.

There's other nice 1/2" machines made by Fostex (2 head though) and Otari. I would consider a Fostex G16 or Otari 5050 mkIII myself.

Hey, I would most definitely prefer this future purchase to be 70s. You see Im recording an album with my piano instructor, and were going to make it sound as 70s as humanly possible. 70s drums, analog synths, the real deal. Its going to be prog rock, like Yes or Triumvirat. But I need something better than my stupid Akai 1/4" machine (which is hissier than my 424Mk.3 four track.

mmmmm I doubt if the tape deck is going to give you either a 70s or 80s vibe itself though tape is going to really sound different and I think better than digital. I've never made a good sounding digital mix that was all tracked to a DAW myself, though more skilled people sure can. I think the 70s sound will come from your equipment, your synths and such but really it's going to be from your production, the songs, how the drums and all are recorded and mixed especially. You don't really have to have a 70s tape machine to do that and an older machine may have more service and parts availability problems yanno?

My studio is almost all 70s and 80s hardware. 60s guitars and amps. 80 synths and samplers and drum machines. It's like a 1984 20$ an hour project studio.

tra! hope this helps some. this is the place for good analog info!

Kiira