Petition

[Irk]

There is enough Analog muthasuckas around. Could we not got some kind of petition going for tascam or someone to start makin' these machines again? I know the demand is not there like it is for digital, and that Studer still makes the 24 track 2" machine but what about the good 'ol 1/4" 4-tracks? Maybe I don't klnow what the fuck I'm talkin' about but I'd sign the goddamn petition.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Manufacturers rarely respond to signed petitions.

They do however respond to signed checks and evidently, they didn't receive enough "signatures" back in the days they were stopping making them to continue doing so.

Every analog enthusiast talks about their love of reel to reel but they didn't love it enough to keep it going by buying them in the same numbers that they ran out and bought cheaper digital recording gear.

If you want Studer to be around in 5 or 10 or 20 years, put down your petition, pick up your check-book and buy one on Monday.

Cheers!

 

[A Reel Person]

Word Up!!!!!!!

They don't want no John Hancocks, brutha, they want the BENJAMINS!!!!!!
Y'know'ai'sayin?

 

[Beck]

At this point I'm afraid Tascam isn't going to respond to anything short of another B25 raid by General Dolittle.

Oh, did I say that? Should that have been in the cave?

 

[wildflower soul]

Manufacturers rarely respond to signed petitions.
If you want Studer to be around in 5 or 10 or 20 years, put down your petition, pick up your check-book and buy one on Monday.

maybe i should go get a mortgage first

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

While technically it is "analog", do you honestly consider 1/4" 4-track to be representative of the "analog sound" you seem to want?

2" 24... sure, I can understand... 1/2" 2-track - absolutely... but 1/4" 4-track is much closer to "portastudio" than "analog sound"..........

 

[The Ghost of FM]

1/4" 4-track is much closer to "portastudio" than "analog sound"..........

What are you, a trouble maker?

You must be, because a guy like you, with your experience, should know better then that, Bruce!

Now apologize!

Cheers!

 

[Jimmie]

Fostex G24S

I'll sell you a 1" 24 track Fostex if ya want, I went digital. Can't believe I am saying that but I did. I recorded my last record digital, check it out at www.jamesrogersband.com alot of people think I recorded 2". hehe

 

[Beck]

A lot of good music has been recorded on 1/4" 4-track, 1/2" 8-track, 1" 16-track, etc, which all have the same track width. And don't forget the track width of 1/4" half-track is equivalent to 1" 8-track or 2" 16-track. So there's no real need for 1/2" half-track. Tape speeds vary - that's worth a whole new thread.

Tape compression is only part of the story. Some properties of analog tape recording are shared by all formats right down to 8-track on cassette. Even that has qualities that digital does not.

Advances in analog tape and tape recorder design have long ago outdated the notion that you must have 2" tape.

 

[TexRoadkill]

And don't forget the track width of 1/4" half-track is equivalent to 1" 8-track or 2" 16-track. So there's no real need for 1/2" half-track.

When using analog formats it's always better to go up in format quality when you lose a generation. The same applies to analog video.

 

[Be Loveless]

It is'nt my intent to turn this into another analogue vs digital thread however.........I'm quite fond of the sound quality of my tascam 488 and I'm still learning and finding ways to get the most out of it but I would love to have access to more tracks and non linear editing/cut/paste options. I am also trying to get into the field professionally which is leading me to school in the fall and the eventual purchase of a pro tools system. While I'm quite comfortable with the simple mechanics and tactile control that I currently use it is unfortunate that the marketplace has spoken......DIGITAL. Digital IS the STANDARD. Analogue is rapidly becoming a novelty. I'm not saying that it is right, I'm just saying that it IS. It's kind of like the art of mechanical drawing, you can barely even find the tools for it anymore let alone someone who could teach you how to do it (I've looked) and now it is an almost extinct artform replaced by CAD (computer aided drafting).

Societal attitude of late is "We don't care were we are going as long as we get there faster and cheaper". Analogue is just one of the victims of this attitude. "We don't care what we build as long as we make it Bigger and Cheaper." Of course about a hundred years ago somebody was probably saying the same thing about the assembly line. Maybe they were right.

 

[Beck]

When using analog formats it's always better to go up in format quality when you lose a generation. The same applies to analog video.

Agreed. That's a point I've made a few times in these forums. However, track width is only one measure of the performance of a given machine. Advances in design have produced more recent machines that are superior to older wider track machines, which was part of my original point -- evaluating an open reel machine solely on tape and track width is outdated.

Many newer machines can also use newer and better tape formulations like Quantegy GP9.

There can be a point of diminishing returns. If your 1/4" mixdown deck is more than adequate to capture every nuance from your source then a 1/2" half-track machine just isn't necessary. It may not hurt, but it won't help either.

Analogy time:

If you have 8 ounces of water you will of course loose some if you try to put it in a 6-ounce class. If you put it into a 10-ounce glass you're fine as you have more than enough to hold it. You're also fine if you put it into a 20-ounce glass, but the 20-ounce glass won't hold any more of the 8 ounces than the 10-ounce glass.

My Tascam 22-2 1/4" mastering deck is out of this world using GP9. It was even more than enough when I used 456 with outboard Dolby C. And unless human hearing takes a sudden evolutionary leap or something drastic like that I have no reason to change what's working.