Making CD from Tascam 388.

[j.harv]

Just a problem Im having.
I just finished tracking a song I wrote on my 388.Well,almost complete except vocals.
I did a rough mix and got my levels set quite nicely to my ears.I was curious to hear what this would sound like on CD,so I hooked the master outs of the 388 to my Tascam CD/RW 700 CD recorder.The master VU's on the 388 were reading 0 to +3 and sometimes a little into the red.I set the levels as high as I could without clipping on the CD recorder.I burned the song to disc and listened back on my stereo.I was not pleased with the sound of this.First I had to turn the volume on my stereo way up.And also the mix just sounded really squashed and muddy.I didn't run the mix through a compressor between the 388 and the Burner.I really liked the sound I heard through my monitors during mixing.Everything sounded loud and clear.
Is there anything Im doing wrong?
Is there a way to get a good loud clear sound when going straight into a CD recorder.
I would love to get it to sound the way it does when I play it back straight from the 388.
Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Jason.

 

[James K]

Hi,
I don't use a 388 but I record with a Fostex R8 through a Fostex 812 mixer and mix straight to CD. I set the output L/R faders on the desk so that the meters aren't pinning at all and have lot of movement. I then set the input level on the CD recorder so that the meters are peaking fairly near the top but not clipping at all. I always get a good sound (i.e. very close to what was coming straight out of the desk) with a decent level when played back. I master the track afterwards on Cubase using a Waves L2 plug in and not much else. That gets the level up further but the level is usually fine on the original CD straight from the CD recorder.

I have had a problem in the past with the CD clipping without it showing up on the CD recorder meters when mixing. Even when it wasn't clipping, it was sounding squashed and compressed like you described. I fixed it by bringing down the level on the mixer and bringing up the input level on the recorder. The only explanation I could think of was that the output from the mixer was too high and was overloading the input circuitry on the CD recorder before it even hit the level control and the meters. It could be that you're having the same problem. Try bringing down the L/R faders on the 388 and turning up the input level on the CD recorder to see if that helps.

Cheers
James

 

[dodgeaspen]

Tascam CD/RW 700 CD recorder? You don't want to use that! The best thing to do is sell that to me!!! I've struggled with converting analog to CD. Every time I tried it the thing either clipped or just sounded horrid. Believe it or not, I did a track from my 38 to my MTR-10 then to the line input on the computer the sound was a lot better. As a footnote, I've been dying to buy a Tascam cd rw but the price always goes above what I can afford at the time. Good luck.

 

[j.harv]

Thanks for the replys fellas.I guess im just gonna have to keep messing around and burning Cds till it sounds right.
Dodge,I got my Tascam CD recorder for $100 mint in the box off local classified.I lucked out on that one.

 

[briank]

woopsydaisy

 

[briank]

I wouldn't hit a digital recorder with hot levels like you can with analog gear. Try adjusting the analog input level on the CD recorder so that you're peaking at no more than -6dbfs tops. The relative level will be quieter, yes, but you can get away with it because digital is quieter--so you worry less about signal to noise ratio--but it's less forgiving as far as headroom. When you're hitting 0dbfs, you're into digital clipping and squaring off transients, so I'd worry more about keeping headroom to the digital converters and see if that improves anything for you-

 

[SteveM]

I have a sony cd burner. I record cds clipping in the red because that's were store bought cds sit. However, the mixes still aren't loud enough .

 

[briank]

I have a sony cd burner. I record cds clipping in the red because that's were store bought cds sit. However, the mixes still aren't loud enough .

Store bought CDs meter like that, and are loud like that, because they've been mastered (or technically, premastered). Raw studio mixdowns are a different animal, much more apparently quiet. If you're seeing red on the CD recorder's meters during mixdowns, you're hitting it too hard.

In the mastering stage, a mixdown is sequenced, edited, sonically tweaked, and typically compressed/limited and brought to a commercial loudness. A little info - http://mastering-media.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-is-mastering.html another http://www.mrtoads.com/html/audio_mas_whatis.shtml one more CD mastering - audio mastering - music compact disc mastering: Background FAQ

 

[Chilljam]

I have a sony cd burner. I record cds clipping in the red because that's were store bought cds sit. However, the mixes still aren't loud enough .

trying putting a limiter and heavy multi-band compressor on your final mix. Play around with the compression on different frequency bands until you get the sound you like and get minimal clipping.

Professional mixes that are extremely loud don't 'sound' distorted yet have levels in the red because the peaks are only in the red for a couple of ms before the compressor reduces the gain on them and so you get a 'soft-clip'. They still do distort though... trust me, a lot of people can hear it and a lot of people hate the sound of it.

 

[Blue Jinn]

trying putting a limiter and heavy multi-band compressor on your final mix. Play around with the compression on different frequency bands until you get the sound you like and get minimal clipping.

Professional mixes that are extremely loud don't 'sound' distorted yet have levels in the red because the peaks are only in the red for a couple of ms before the compressor reduces the gain on them and so you get a 'soft-clip'. They still do distort though... trust me, a lot of people can hear it and a lot of people hate the sound of it.

I hate the sound of it.

Couple of more thoughts & questions: How does the CD sound through the 388's monitors? I.e are you getting a false idea of the mix down sound b/c the monitors are compensating for other factors (room acoustics, etc.) I don't have a 388 so I don't know if you can monitor the 2 track CD through it, but that might be worth trying. Or put another way, are you listening to the mix and cd on two different systems? If so can you listen to both on the same system. E.g. use the same hi-fi setup for the 388 mix as the CD and see if there is a difference.

Do you mix to anything else, i.e. two track analog, how different is that?

What do you normally mix to?

 

[SteveM]

trying putting a limiter and heavy multi-band compressor on your final mix. Play around with the compression on different frequency bands until you get the sound you like and get minimal clipping.

Professional mixes that are extremely loud don't 'sound' distorted yet have levels in the red because the peaks are only in the red for a couple of ms before the compressor reduces the gain on them and so you get a 'soft-clip'. They still do distort though... trust me, a lot of people can hear it and a lot of people hate the sound of it.

Yes, digital distortion is ugly. The led could read anything though. Apparently with this particular deck it's not perfectly calibrated because it's not distorting. But that is beside the issue. It's sort of not a great burner.