Tascam 238. What Mixer, and do anyone have the manual?

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mrtascam

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Hi, got some questions..
Does anybody have a scan for the Tascam 238?? Seems pretty easy to use, but it could be nice to have the manual.

How is it when conecting to a mixer..? Could I set it up with an 4 or 6 track mixer just to check it out, or will i burn the unit to oblivion with a lack of Ohm inpendance or something like that?

What kind of mixer would be good? I guess I want to keep it analog.. Tascam m30/35/208??
Any experience with Fostex 812? Is it 80's in a good or bad way?
 
Ok,...

Could I set it up with an 4 or 6 track mixer just to check it out,...
... You could

~ or will i burn the unit to oblivion with a lack of Ohm inpendance or something like that?
... I don't think there will be a problem.

Tascam m30/35/208??
... Any of those would do fine, incl. M308, M312, M108 & many more.

Any experience with Fostex 812? Is it 80's in a good or bad way?
... It's very similar to Tascams functionally, but engineered with different esthetics. However, the 812 is an 8-buss mixer vs the Tascams mentioned above being 4-buss mixers, so I guess you could view the 812 as superior. In workflow terms it's not a huge difference.

Here is a good resource on Fostex manuals: Manuals & Downloads | Fostex

:spank::eek:;)
 
The Tascam M-200 series are great mixers and the M-208 was suggested for use with the 238 in Tascam literature at the time. It depends on how many channels you need, but the M-208 or M-216 would do nicely. The specs and real-world performance of the M-208 are a bit better than the M-30/M-35.

I don't know about the manual for the 238. I haven't seen it online, but I haven't looked lately either. The service manual is out there and I have a pdf copy of that, but it won't do you much good finding your way around the machine functions.
 
Thanks for the input. I found the service manual, but I hope not to need that soon...
I will have a look around. Something with nice features.. and not too big.

What does 4 an 8 buss mixer mean? I'm not sure if more than 4 tracks would need to be recorded at once, but it would be nice to be able to send all 8 out and in to a computer simuntaniusly.
 
...

Busses are subgroups. You can group any of your basic mixer inputs into any combination of 4, or 8 in the Fostex 812 example. The 4-buss is usually adequate for solo & small group recording up to 4-tracks simultaneously, and 8-buss is way more handy for recording bands or up to 8-tracks simultaneously.

If you consider the mixer independently of the 238 tape recorder, an 8-buss mixer would be more suited to feeding a computer interface 8-channels at a time. With a 4-buss mixer, to get 8/simul you'd go to a configuration of buss & direct-outs.

If you're considering feeding the computer 8-channels simultaneously from the 238 recorder itself, it is feasible regardless of your mixer configuration.

:spank::eek:;)
 
I thought 8 in and out would be common om mixers, even if I know they are not on the 488.

On the back of a 208... (can't post photos yet)..
If he 4 big PGM OUT's down to the left work as I hope, they could be split in to left and right, and put in to different inputs making itt 8 lines out. Then do the PAN afterwards on the computer.

I guess I can send the sound straight from the 238 to a computer if I relly need to, loosing influence from the mixer.. for better or worse. The initial plan is to use the computer as little as possible though.
 
Not quite,...

The 4 PGM Outs on the M208 each have 2 connections in parallel, so whatever's on one connector will be identical on the other. The 4 PGM Buss Outs split Left/Right on Even/Odd, respectively. Buss 1/3 correlate to Pan Left, and Buss 2/4 correlate to Pan Right. You're still limited to 4 PGM Outs, each with 2 taps in parallel. For 8-Simul Out you'd use either Direct Outs or a combination of PGM Outs and Direct Outs. Otherwise, you'd need an 8-Buss mixer, (Fostex 812/820, Tascam M512/M520).
:spank::eek:;)
 
You can't send the eight outputs of a 238 to anything without a mixer, with the exception of an interface with a minimum of eight inputs.
 
Thanks for the input. I hope I can find something soon. It looks like most mixer do not have a set of 8 inputs and outputs for conecting with an 8-track. This seem to be the case with all modern mixers, plus older PA/livemixers.
 
Anybody having luck with the Soundcraft 200 mixers? Seem to have nice features and EQ. But how does it sound? I would like it not too mudy..
 
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