Recording Medium

[mastahnke]

I have a vast array of recording gear, and I would love to hear reviews from people here about what types they use for what. I have a Tascam 488 MkII a complete hard disk computer based system, a DA-88, a Technics two Track reel to reel and of course minidisk and cdr.

I would love to hear if anyone else uses reel to reel, and if anyone has some big advantages to minidisk.

Is a minidisk as good as recording to dat? I want to get a portable recorder to sample some sound effects with, or would a DAT walkman be much better, even with a 500$ price differnece?

Thanks

MIKE

 

[Dragon]

A minidisk cannot be as good as DAT, simply because minidisks compress and lose some data and DATs don't.

That said, only your ears will tell you whether the $500 difference is worth it. For home use, probably not.

 

[Fishmed]

I have used a minidisc for about five years now premarily for my mixdowns. At the time I bought it, there really were no other reasonably priced digital gear, not that it was a cheap item in itself. I used it for home (hobby) use and with the gear I had it has preformed fine. Now that I am getting into better gear, I am looking at getting a DAT recorder. By the way, does anyone preference one DAT over another - Tascam, Sony,etc...?

 

[Recording Engineer]

I use a used Fostex Model 20 1/4" 2-track reel-to-reel for mixdown before I go to CD-R. I would prefer to use 1/2", but I got it for a deal along with a used Tascam TSR-8 1/2" 8-track. They were next to brand new (Tascam had less than 50 hrs. and the Fostex had a lot less than that), all for $1000 U.S. After using these, the next time I upgrade, I'll sell these and stick with reels; you don'y know until you've experience both. Although, I feel using both worlds together is the way to go, that's what I'm doing.

 

[Hot Rocks]

I have a tascam 488mkII,a tascam 246 4 track,and a tascam 388 reel to reel 8 track mixer/recorder combo.I love them all for different reasons. For messin around with Ideas,the 246 is my main deck of choice.It's built like a tank,a bit bigger than the newer portastudios,almost as big as a 488mkII, has 6 vu meters,4 band eq,was built in japan, and as mentioned in Dragons review of the 488mkII,if you do something that you like and want to expand on,you can put that tape in the 488mkII for more tracks.They can be easily moved,and sound great if used with proper recording technique