Tascam M-520 vs Ramsa WR-S4424

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funk5

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I picked up a M-520 about a year ago or so. Haven't used it much since this last month as I now have a space to have gear set up again. I've mainly just have some stuff hooked up to my monitors for now and haven't done any recording quite yet. Though I have enjoyed it!

Anyone care to comment on what would be better quality/sound between the M-520 and a Ramsa WR-S4424? There is one locally available for $200. Is a step up from the M-520? The Ramsa would be a little bit smaller in size as well as weight: 60.5 lbs. vs the 100+ weight of the Tascam!

Or on the other hand would I be better off with something new like a Allen & Head ZED 14 or 420? Or any other opinions would be welcomed.

If it matters, the kinds of music I would be doing would be a mixture of analog & digital synths & drum machines along with live instruments doing rock, funk, experimental electronic leaning more towards danceable.
 
I don't know if anyone here has heard and used all the boards that are being asked about...odds are slim that there is someone who could completely answer that.

But, if you have a perfectly good M520 and you like the sound of it, I'd safely recommend to just keep it and use it. It's a decent board and fairly flexible connection and routing-wise and in those respects, buying an other similar framed mixer will not get you any vastly different features. So, it really comes down to sound quality over all and what you have is no slouch. Think about that before you leap into uncharted seas!

Cheers! :)
 
Slightly off -topic, but I was just curious on how the older Tascam mixers compare the newer models, in terms of features, routing flexibility, construction quality/reliability issues, etc..

For example, how does the M-208 compare to a M-1508?
 
The Ghost of FM said:
I don't know if anyone here has heard and used all the boards that are being asked about...odds are slim that there is someone who could completely answer that.

But, if you have a perfectly good M520 and you like the sound of it, I'd safely recommend to just keep it and use it. It's a decent board and fairly flexible connection and routing-wise and in those respects, buying an other similar framed mixer will not get you any vastly different features. So, it really comes down to sound quality over all and what you have is no slouch. Think about that before you leap into uncharted seas!

Cheers! :)
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I hear you and yes it is a nice mixer. Something that weighs in is the size. The M520 is pretty big for the amount of channels. I don't have a real big room so if I could have a smaller desk that would be nice. It would also be nice to have something with 1/4" I/O's instead of RCA as well as being balanced!

I'm curious too what people think of the new Allen & Heath's particularly the ZED 16 & 420. The 420 seems to have more flexibility at least with having direct outs and at least 4 busses.
 
funk5 said:
I'm curious too what people think of the new Allen & Heath's particularly the ZED 16 & 420. The 420 seems to have more flexibility at least with having direct outs and at least 4 busses.
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I took a peak at the ZED 14 with the 4 buss system on the company's website. (I couldn't find any links to the other models you mentioned), It looks to be a decently featured and speced unit for its size but it does lack dedicated tape returns and also lacks unbalanced doubled buss outs. So if you did want to run anything other then a balanced 4 track recorder, you will find yourself running out of connections and needing to use adaptors or other aux sends or the direct outs to feed the channels of the recorder deck which will require re-patching.

You haven't stated what you record to? Normally, you pick a mixer that's suited to your recorder. What are you using or planing to use?

Cheers! :)
 
I would be recording to disk via a firewire interface....hopefully I won't get much flac for posting up in the analog only forum! Getting some sort of tape recorder is not out of the question though. That would be fun.
 
funk5 said:
I would be recording to disk via a firewire interface....hopefully I won't get much flac for posting up in the analog only forum! Getting some sort of tape recorder is not out of the question though. That would be fun.
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Well, if you're tracking to a computer then the ZED14 would do the trick without a problem and allow you to work with a 4 track analog deck with balanced connections at some point down the road. And yes, it sure would be a space saver in comparison to the M520 which was designed to work with 8 and 16 track analog decks. But space saving will really be the only benefit as the sound quality is pretty similar. Though the "British EQ" on the A&H may sound a bit different depending on how you set it. All of that said, if a computer is your destination recorder, there's a boatload of different pre-amps and integrated front end units out there to pick from and the A&H board has no digital interface within it. They actually pimp it as a small live sound mixer geared to smaller bands playing live, feeding a PA system. You might want to pose your question over at the DAW forum and see what all the other digi-hipsters are using.

Cheers! :)
 
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