I am slowly building a mostly analog studio, have a Tascam TSR 8 as my tracking deck, and now need to consider a mixdown deck. From what I have read, a 1/2" 2 track is ideal. However, that may be beyond my budget, and I may need to go to a 1/4" 2 track. Any thoughts on this would be helpful, and I have some specific questions.
Would I get the same results using a 1/4" 4 track open reel as I would a 1/4" 2 track, if I send the left signal to channels 1 and 2, and the right to channels 3 and 4? I'm wondering if the reduced tape hiss from wider tracks is because of the undivided width of the track, whereas the signal on the 2 combined tracks would have a buffer between the 2 tracks? Does this make sense? For instance, if I picked up another 1/2" 8 track and mixed down left to tracks 1 - 4, and right to tracks 5 - 8, would the result be the same (understanding that there is some less track because of track buffers).
More generally, if I have 2 tracks, each an 1/8" wide, would the sound quality be the same as 1 track 1/4" wide, or does the un-interupted width of the track have an effect on tape hiss?
Ziller
Would I get the same results using a 1/4" 4 track open reel as I would a 1/4" 2 track, if I send the left signal to channels 1 and 2, and the right to channels 3 and 4? I'm wondering if the reduced tape hiss from wider tracks is because of the undivided width of the track, whereas the signal on the 2 combined tracks would have a buffer between the 2 tracks? Does this make sense? For instance, if I picked up another 1/2" 8 track and mixed down left to tracks 1 - 4, and right to tracks 5 - 8, would the result be the same (understanding that there is some less track because of track buffers).
More generally, if I have 2 tracks, each an 1/8" wide, would the sound quality be the same as 1 track 1/4" wide, or does the un-interupted width of the track have an effect on tape hiss?
Ziller