mixer for a tascam 58

[nbu]

Hi,
i'm looking to get a mixer to use with a tascam 58 (+4 db). don't need more than 8 tracks, something w/ not too big a footprint, not too pricy and w/ decent mic pre's. I know the mackie vlz pros are reputed to have nice mic pres, but would the tascam m30*'s be a better bet? Any other suggestions?
thanks

 

[cjacek]

Hi,
i'm looking to get a mixer to use with a tascam 58 (+4 db). don't need more than 8 tracks, something w/ not too big a footprint, not too pricy and w/ decent mic pre's. I know the mackie vlz pros are reputed to have nice mic pres, but would the tascam m30*'s be a better bet? Any other suggestions?
thanks

There were 2 versions of the 58. The first one, 58, with RCA ins / outs (-10db) and another one, the 58-OB, with both RCA (-10db) and XLR (+4) ins / outs. If you have the latter one then you don't need to use the XLR's. Those are great if you're using long cable runs but if you keep it short, RCA's are fine. The point is, you can get a great mixer at -10db, such as the TASCAM M30, which is geared for true multitracking, would be less expensive and sound better imho. The M30 is a 4 bus mixer but you can set it up for 8 track recording. On the other hand, if you don't need to record 8 inputs at once then that's a moot point. Actually any of the TASCAM mixers would work well.

 

[cjacek]

This is the typical 4 track setup:

 

[psychedelicsoun]

I must be confused... could you please clarify for me what the -10db, 0db, and +4db levels mean? Which cables are they usually associated with? I'm pretty close to understanding lo-z and hi-z and I think I've got an understanding of the different types of cables (1/8in, 1/4in, RCA, XLR, stereo and balanced or unbalanced) but I must say interfacing a tape machine with my modern set up has been confusing for me. I bought an insert snake so I could hook up my mixer to a patchbay and have line outputs for a tape machine because the mixer I have (Onyx 1640 w/ firewire) doesn't have other unbalanced outputs but it does have a balanced Dsub 25 pin connector. Say I'm using a typical tape machine with 8 or 16 RCA inputs and outputs. Tell me if this is correct: should I have the insert sends normalized to the inputs of the tape machine and the outputs of the tape machine normalized to the insert return? Since I won't be printing to tape, should I just use the DSUB connector to and from the tape machine and have a seperate effects input area in my patchbay? Also the DSUB connector is balanced and the inputs/outputs of the tape machine are (Obviously) unbalanced. If I could figure out how the levels and balanced/unbalanced cables play out in this scenario I might be able to finally figure out how to hook it all together. Sorry if this is confusing; it's been confusing to me too. Thanks so much for reading all of this

 

[nbu]

There were 2 versions of the 58. The first one, 58, with RCA ins / outs (-10db) and another one, the 58-OB, with both RCA (-10db) and XLR (+4) ins / outs. If you have the latter one then you don't need to use the XLR's. Those are great if you're using long cable runs but if you keep it short, RCA's are fine. The point is, you can get a great mixer at -10db, such as the TASCAM M30, which is geared for true multitracking, would be less expensive and sound better imho. The M30 is a 4 bus mixer but you can set it up for 8 track recording. On the other hand, if you don't need to record 8 inputs at once then that's a moot point. Actually any of the TASCAM mixers would work well.

thanks for the reply cjacek. I have the 58-OB & I would like to have the ability to record up to 8 tracks at once.