TASCAM m216 help please!!!

A

adjogi

New member
Ok i just bought an m216 mixer on ebay that was advertised in "great condition"......looks like i got the shaft.....as soon as you turn up the master faders (both left and right) a really really loud hum comes out...also when i try to plug in headphones it crackles louder than damnation itself!!!

Does anyone have any ideas how to remedy this at all? suggestions? i am a musician but not a techie...however i don't mind giving something a try if its straightforward.

Appreciate any help in advance

Cheers!
 
The loud hum could just be an earth loop or an open signal source, don't panic yet.

What crackles when you plug in the headphones? the Headphones? or the speakers?

We need more information to help you, how is it plugged in, plugged into what? are you using the XLR balanced cables or unbalanced jacks or RCA plugs?

Cheers

Alan.
 
Thank you for responding Alan!

First off the headphones......as soon as i plug the headphones (with nothing else plugged into or out of the board) in it is the headphones themselves that crackle.(incredibly loudly) On a second attempt i notice then when i move or wiggle the headphone jack around i can find a "spot" where they do not crackle so it makes me think that there is a loose connection somewhere inside the mixer.

Now the main L and R faders.....i have NOTHING plugged into the board. I put 2 XLR mic cables into the stereo XLR outs of the m216 and plugged them into my M audio powered monitors and all i got when i pushed up the level on the faders was a very loud buzz/hum.

The power cord is just a 2 prong cord....would this have anything to do with that? pardon my ignorance but as i said i am not a techie!

Now i also plugged a 57 into one of the channels and bussed that thru one of the bus channels into a protools input and didn't get any problems (although if i pushed the signal too much a got a slight hum which ideally i would like not to have).....

let me know if this helps!

cheers

Adam
 
First the Headphone Jack, I suspect that it is most likely worn out or extremely dirty. You could try giving it a spray with contact cleaner but if this does not work it will need replacing. Don't forget that this is an old mixer, the headphone cable could have been pulled and stressed many times in its life.

I am trying to get to the bottom of the buzz hum problem,
1, Turn down all the channel gains
2, Turn down all the faders
3, Turn down all the aux / foldback (monitor) sends on all channels
4, Turn down all the Aux / foldback (monitor) masters.
5, Turn down anything else I may have forgotten.

When you turn up the main faders is the buzz and hum the same?

There is one thing about the xlr cables, if I remember right the old Tascam mixers had pin 3 as the hot (+) pin and the m-audio monitors will have pin 2 hot (+) as is the case now this is standard, it should not cause a hum but it may.

Try swapping the xlr cables so that pin 3 is hot at the Tascam end, i.e pin 3 tascam end is connected to pin 2 M-audio end. You have to do both or the monitors will be out of phase but try 1 first and see if it makes any difference.

Also try lifting the shield, pin 1 at the M-audio end.

Oh you are using shielded XLR (microphone cables) I assume?

Cheers

Alan.
 
That mixer probably could use some electrical cleaner.

The best kind is Deoxit by Caig in the red can for around $20. Electronic stores have it or Radio Shack might have tiny rip-off containers of it. Most any brand will do some good, Deoxit just leaves the best possible coating. WD40 should be avoided like the plague - it attracts dust and makes a gunk although it will work initially. Rubbing alchohol can be used with a Q-tip in a pinch although it's not great.

Spray some in the 1/4" jacks and then put a 1/4" plug in there and turn it around back and forth and in and out... just like a rock 'n roll song. Same for the XLR's. Get a 1/4" burnisher from Markertek if you want the best.

Spray it where the faders slide and move them up and down.

I always do used stuff like mixers, if you don't it's a for sure there will be Rice Crispies snap*crakkle*pop!

Some electrical cleaners even harm plastic like some I got at Home Depot so that's why I use Caig and test it if it's an unknown brand.
 
The buzzing.....i have EVERYTHING turned down on mixer and nothing plugged in and the hum/buzz is there...i tried going out with 1/4inch plugs instead of xlr and still get the buzz but i noticed that if i wiggled those 1/k plugs in the back of the mixer i got LOTS of crackling and sensed that there were "spots" where it didn't hum..

the headphone jack - how easy is that to replace and does anyone know where i can get the parts?
i did give the mixer a good clean and got rid of alot of dust but that didn't solve the problem....

any ideas???

thanks!
 
I'd really exhaust the possibility that cleaning the 1/4" output jacks will remedy your problem first.

It sounds like there's a bad ground, and that could be just because of corrosion, so use contact cleaner and put a plug in there, and after a bit of that if it doesn't work I'd open it up.

There's usually a few different pc boards inside and they are connected by cables. The cables plug into the pc boards and those connections can be cleaned with electrical cleaner.

RE the headphone jack: I had a M216 and I remember taking it apart and it was as I recall a bit of a PIA. Getting to it will be the biggest problem. It's probably a pc mount jack and it probably would be able to be replaced with a generic.

Another alternative is to use another output to another headphone amp (old cassette deck or receiver).

Just for the heck of it, you might try plugging it into another circuit in your place on the off chance that it doesn't like the ground in the outlet it's in... or run a ground to it (cold water pipe, not the greatest but works) and see if that helps.
 
adjogi said:
The buzzing.....i have EVERYTHING turned down on mixer and nothing plugged in and the hum/buzz is there...i tried going out with 1/4inch plugs instead of xlr and still get the buzz but i noticed that if i wiggled those 1/k plugs in the back of the mixer i got LOTS of crackling and sensed that there were "spots" where it didn't hum..
any ideas???

thanks!
Click to expand...

Did you end up trying this?:

There is one thing about the xlr cables, if I remember right the old Tascam mixers had pin 3 as the hot (+) pin and the m-audio monitors will have pin 2 hot (+) as is the case now this is standard, it should not cause a hum but it may.

Try swapping the xlr cables so that pin 3 is hot at the Tascam end, i.e pin 3 tascam end is connected to pin 2 M-audio end. You have to do both or the monitors will be out of phase but try 1 first and see if it makes any difference.

Also try lifting the shield, pin 1 at the M-audio end.

Oh you are using shielded XLR (microphone cables) I assume?
 
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