M-30 questions......from a new owner.

[formerlyfzfile]

So....I got an m-30 mixer for cheap.
Spent last night cleaning it up......felt kinda sucks to get the fuzz balls out of.

So tonight I will be hooking it up and figuring it out.

Some questions.....

1) Eack of the 8 main channels has a 3 way switch input selector.
- MIC LINE REMIX

What inputs does the REMIX take from????

2) How do the main channel pre's function...there is no trim, just an attenuation 3-way switch 0 20 40 ????

3) The main channels each have 4 Assaign buttons 1 2 3 4.
Where do these route to.......the monitor section, where there are 4 dual pots (gain and pan)......or to the submix section where there are 8 dual pots and each pot with a 3-way selector (PRE POST TAPE)??????

4) Does anyone have info about obtaining a manual????



Thanks

-mike

 

[formerlyfzfile]

Oh yeah....

...and how should I ground this thing????

Its got a two prong power cord and then a ground nut on the back pannel.

-mike

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Answers

1) REMIX is your tape returns from an 8 track reel to reel or similar multi-track recording device. MIC is Microphone and LINE is keyboards, drum machines and so forth.

2)The attenuation switch positions represent trimmed presets. So, 0 would represent no attenuation of the inputs signal, 20 would represent a 20 db drop and 40 a 40db drop. As an example, a kick drum might require a 40 db pad to keep the input from overloading. A strumming acoustic guitar might work well with the 20db setting. Use of the channel's slide fader would be used to fine tune the required level.

3)The 1,2,3,4 buttons assign or route the channel's input to go out to the 4 recording busses on the back of the board to feed your multi-track recorder. I am not sure about the orange colored knobs if these are buss master levels or not. If they are, set those knobs to 7 for unity gain and pan 1 & 3 hard left and 2 & 4, hard right. The 8 green knobs are for the tape's cue output so that you can create an overdubbing mix that doesn't use up the main channel strips to listen to the tape.

4)Manuals can be obtained by contacting TASCAM's parts department. They have a website with contact information.

www.tascam.com

Cheers!

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Re: Oh yeah....

...and how should I ground this thing????

Its got a two prong power cord and then a ground nut on the back panel.

-mike

If you are experiencing a 60 hz buzz then consider grounding it to a third prong earth ground.

However, the real usage of that grounding terminal is for a record player's ground wire, as the M-30 has inputs for a phonograph player too.

Cheers!

 

[formerlyfzfile]

O.K.....so

The TAPE IN on each channel is accessed from the REMIX position.

That makes sense...8 channeles, 8 TAPE IN's.

The preamp setting is just odd. Usually you turn a trim knob up.
But this you turn the input down via the Atten switch.


Now the ACCESS send & recieve on each channel would be equivelent to an INSERT, yes???

OK. ...the bussing thing...I get it now....EXCEPT......I know that BUSS 1 & 3 are "left side busses" and 2 & 4 are "right side busses" ....and that each channel hass 4 buss assignment swiches.
But why is there a PAN knob with the orange BUSS GAIN for the 4 busses????
Dont you normally (on other mixers) use the CHANNEL pan to select????

What happens if you leave each BUSS PAN centered??

Thanks again.

You da Ghost.

-mike

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Your assumption about the ACCESS send receive jumper ports are correct. They are a more arcane version of the gold old insert TRS that most recent vintage boards offer.

As for your questions about the buss master knobs 1 - 4 , I would assume that the pan functions on these to feed the stereo buss so, as an example you could group a number of parts and reverse them or mono them to the mix-down deck this way. They are there for creative and practical usages.

You would also still be mindful of the channel strips pan controls as you would on any other board where you pan hard left or right to avoid sending signals where they shouldn't be going when two or more buss assignment buttons are depressed on the strip.

A Reel Person can correct me, if I have fouled up anything here as he owns at least 3 of these boards and I don't possess even one currently!

Cheers!

 

[A Reel Person]

No, you caught everything, that I can remember.

Saved me a helluva lot of typing. Ha.

If you leave the pan centered, it will split evenly the assignment beween left buss and right buss, but watch out how the M30 assigns.

If you assign any single channel to any two busses, the pan will split it left/right, no matter what two assign buttons are down.

As soon as you press the third assign button, the board splits, to LEFT=1/2 and RIGHT=3/4.

THEN, when you depress the FOURTH assign button, the the assign scheme remains LEFT=1/2 and RIGHT=3/4.