mixdown deck

ametth

Sir Cool of Coronado
I've been looking for a deck or reel to reel to mix my music down to. I've been thinking about the tascam 32 reel to reel. anybody have any experience with this machine? thanks.

ametth
 
I have used many Tascam reel to reel decks. They are all very good quality and reliable. However if this is a used one, you must be sure that the heads are not too worn. 100's of hours will cause the heads to lose frequency response and lower the signal to noise ratio! A new cassette recorder with new heads will sound better than a reel to reel with worn ones....test it out for yourself. I have.

I made mixdowns to a Professional Reel to reel at 15 IPS. Then made some to a new Sony Cassette deck. The difference was amazing! Bigger is not always better.

Then I purchased a Minidisc deck and compared it with the tape deck... It blew the tape away...and no hiss between songs!

Sincerely;

Dom Franco
 
yes, I have read all those, but forgot about the VCR..I'm recording on a computer and wanted to mix to analog, so I will try the VCR thing and see how it turns out. thanks Dragon.

ametth
 
Ametth (or A myth?)

You might want to try mixing down to a Sony tape deck of ES quality. I know there are more expensive tape decks, but the ES quality Sonys do a pretty good job. You can check out their specs on the net somewhere I'm sure. I used a Yamaha tape deck for a long time and it was pretty good; however, the Sony twin deck ES model has some neat features. If you want the automatic deck doors, it's more money. I opted for the push-the-button door model -- about the same specs. Give one a listen or try to rent one for a couple of months to see if you like it.

Good sounds Methman.

Green Hornet
 
I checked out that website with the $279 effects package. My question is:
has anyone got any first-hand reviews of individual effects included in that package? That long list of effects sounds just a tad hokey when you break it down title by title.
Which has no bearing on whether they've got killer effects for the money. Bad marketing can scare folks away from the best products.

Sonic Decimator?
Yeah, I need one of <those>!!!!
Anyone who's heard my mp3s would agree.
Hall Reverb considered a separate effect from
Room Reverb or:
HyperVerb?
High Pass Filter listed separately from Low-Pass Filter, High-Pass Filter Band-Pass Filter, Band Reject Filter?
More Stereo?,
Compressor and limiter?
Single Delay and Multi-Delay?
etc.

My brother used to critique my attempts to satisfy the writing requirements of various academic institutions as: "Filler".

This effects list seems to outdo my best efforts.

[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 10-22-1999).]
 
OK, drstawl, you're on. Whip up about 15 seconds' worth of tasty guitar with some sonic meat in it, dry, as a 44.1 mono WAV file, upload it to ftp://ftp.homerecording.com/incoming/ and I'll process it with some of these effects and post 'em all as MP3s for the troops.
 
well dragon, I wanted to mix down to analog because I'm not very confident in my mixing skills on a computer, I like turning nobs..so I wanted to get a good sounding analog deck or digital for that matter, but I want to mix throug my mixer.
 
Well- the file's done, but I goofed up and sent you a stereo .wav file instead of a mono .wav file. Hope you don't mind.
It's TastyTidbit.wav
 
My dear ametth, I believe you are missing my point.

Mix through your mixer, use all your effects, turn all your knobs all you want. Just plug the output of your mixer to the input of your sound card, save the result as a stereo WAV, and there you are.

You should be able to do this even if your output is coming from the same sound card.
 
How do you sync up the mixer with the tracks on your PC? I'd like to do the same eventually. Right now I'm using my digital mult-tracker to mix down to my PC--stereo coaxial out of the multi-track and into the PC to create the wav. I can't tweak each individual track on the PC that way, but that's where I'd like to be in about 3 months (after saving some more bucks for the software).

Bill
 
Bill,

I have a multi i/o soundcard(s), 8 in and 8 out (X 2), so I have 16 tracks. what software are you saving up for anyway? I use n-track studio with my setup, it works great and only cost 35$(or 55$, depending on what version you get), I just recorded a band (my first recording) with my setup and will be posting an mp3 soon for all to hear and critique. good luck.

ametth
 
Anyone work with the TEAC 4340 4-track reel-to-reel? I'm getting one for free (I like that price) and I'm interested in anyone's experience with it. I record on a Fostex A8 8-track reel to reel and get good clean sound on it. I just like working with tape, warts and all. After being on a computer all day at work, the last thing I want to see is anything with a cursor and a screen. This is not to knock digital sound--far from it. Digital is great and if I could afford both I'd be there.
 
Yes, I used one of these back in the 70's....
Just keep the heads clean (If they are not ruined already), You should get a pretty good recording. Use the highest speed 15IPS? and hit the tape HARD! with a lot of signal. (Into the RED!) Back off if the distortion is too distracting. Use new tape, it can handle hotter signals.

Good Luck

Dom Franco
 
Hey Dom, since you are a little older. Do you know when the Fostex B16 come around and then when did they die out. Im going to build a home analogue studio, and want 16 tracks. How beat up could the heads have gotten and are they pretty much impossible to repair since the whole set of A16/B16/E16 have gone out of commision. Ive found a number of B16 and E16, should i just suck up the extra couple $100 and get the newer E16 or does it not really matter? thanks. (oh yea the B16
 
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