Tascam Gear & other Affordable Classics
The saying that if you can't make a hit record with a TASCAM or FOSTEX, you're not going to do it with a STUDER or a 50K vintage console, rings so true. Really, there are other reasons for TASCAM gear not having the resale value and it has nothing to do with its capability.
I wish more musicians would research / ask about / study / practice recording and not go off with yet another "which sub 1K preamp would you recommend" question.
Hey there everyone;
Wow., what a GREAT thread and what a wonderful forum~! I am new here and actually came here EXACTLY for this topic (in a round about way). I recently had the opportunity to purchase a venerable old Tascam M-520 console in excellent condition and for a very modest price, but it was going to be a four hour drive each way for me get it., and soo., I wanted to do some research first.
I began my recording career back in the '70's with a Tascam Model 5 and a 3340 (moved to a 40-4) using
a Revox A-77 half track for mixdown. SM-57's & 58's and a bag of EV RE-10's 15's & a 20 and such that I got from a radio station, used my living room for the studio (drums), bathroom for "iso" (guitar, vox, etc.) and the bedroom for control. Then LIFE happened.
Baby came, better job, rent, more expenses and my Studio went into storage. I still own a crusty 57 or two and an EV RE from that era and some fond memories, but little else. Some years ago I began thinking about "retirement" (OK, so it was way more than just SOME years ago) and what I was going to eventually do about achieving My Lifelong Dream of having A Recording Studio.
I began assembling and closeting pieces of gear here and there and grabbed
a Seck 1882 mixer in mint condition while they were still around (British design & sound console targeted squarely at the Home Recording market). But when I saw this Tascam M-520, a Real Mix Desk, I really began to salivate, but realized that I needed to perform some due diligence first.
From all of my reading here and elsewhere regarding the M-520, and my life experience as an engineering tech (soldering iron in hand by 12 building Ham gear, working for Grumman Aerospace doing NASA soldering on aircraft, RADAR, weapons and Nav systems by 22), I can "smell" good, basic, well designed equipment and it does not all have to be high end "boutique" to get the job done.
When I first heard (saw) the Beatles on Ed Sullivan as a young child (not even sure if we had a COLOR TV yet!), I just KNEW that this was MAGIC and something that would affect my Life forever. Those Beatles records were recorded (like the equipment that we sent a man to the moon) on gear that is SO far eclipsed by almost anything built today that it is insane.
Soo., to the OP, I say thanks for bringing this specific subject to the foreground at this particular time for me and to the other posters who have replied, I give a hearty thanks for re-enforcing what I have already sensed to be true. With the Great Moooove (MOOO) to digital, many are discarding wonderful gear for a pittance in deference to newer, more fashionable gear.
Is this newer, faster, flashier gear better? Perhaps what is more pertinent is to ask, What gets the job DONE?! The magic of The Beatles, OR of YOUR next hit (or not) album or tracks that makes musical history (perhaps not even in your lifetime, for goodness sake), may be more in your own hands and ears than in the gear that you happen to be using.
I have an amateur vinyl record pressing (very limited) of some folks hanging out just jamming here locally from the mid '60's or so (I think) and which somehow ended up in my hands. There is a bunch of noise and noisy partying and jamming on this LP, but then at one point there is one bit that comes through and is unmistakable in it's prescience & character.
This unmistakable character was the voice and guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix~! Possibly (probably) recorded on a cheap Home Recording system with passable equipment and then pressed for personal interest / archive with no forethought to making anything even closely resembling "commercial". But, still, that Jimi MAGIC comes through and is evident.
I am thinking that too much emphasis is easily placed on making everything way pristine and "perfect", when in reality, the shear beauty of Human Created Music is, at least in part, in it's imperfections. There is a great Star Trek episode where Data is composing and performing music that is "too perfect" and has no SOUL because it is just too., perfect. Hmmm.,
At the same time, we obviously want to be able to capture as much of that inherent MAGIC with as little of any distracting ambient noise and this is where our "modern equipment" shines. We have come a long way from recording sound on magnetic wire (and then tape), but most of todays (last 20 years) gear is much more than adequate for this purpose.
I am now THRILLED with my "new" Tascam M-520 (Sweetbeats, you may recognize this console, I think?) and am even more thrilled with the prospects of what I will create while using this board and all of the fun that will accompany the making of this MAGIC and music. For those of us who just love to "get under the hood", this classic old (and now AFFORDABLE) gear holds even more endless pleasures. What a GREAT time to be HERE~!
Thanks again to everyone. Here is my own recent personal addition towards the making of that Magic & Music;
Tascam M-520
I couldn't pass up the deals on some of the stuff. That's how I wound up with a TSR-8 and a 38. I've got two mixers, but I think the 520 would make them pale in comparison. I could just look at the M520 and never do anything else, it's such a work of art. However, I would definitely be thrilled to put it to use!
