Tascam mixers

Fuzznut

Fuzznut

Searcher
Two weeks ago I bought a Fostex R8 1/4" 8-track recorder and yesterday I bought a Tascam 238 cassette 8-track recorder Yay! :D The plan is to record all of our jams and rehearsals on to the the Tascam 238 and when we decide to do some serious stuff, we'll be using the Fostex R8.

I have now a Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro mixer and about a week ago I bought this cute little Tascam M-106 mixer (btw it has way nicer sound than the Mackie). I've been able to do some recordings using these mixers but I need to get a decent mixer that can handle both Fostex R8 and Tascam 238, or one at a time. I've been looking for old Tascam mixers since I like the sound so much. I now maybe have a chance to buy a Tascam M-216 and/or a M-208, does anyone have any info on the M-216 or M-208? M320 would be ideal, but since I live in Finland these vintage Tascam mixers are pretty hard to find...

Fuzz
 
Lots of Tascam mixers would be suitable.

The M-30 is a super-affordable board, that has 8 inputs and 4 busses, and a separate Monitor and Submix section.

The M-35 is the M-30's big brother, (8-inputs/4-buss) but shares most of it's fundamental design features with the later model, the M-308, more than it resembles the M-30.

The M-308 is part of the 300 series, which includes the M-308/312 & 320. Also, the "B" models of the 308/312/320 sport "phantom power", which is a super-popular and much sought after feature, these days. The 300 Series mixers are 4-buss technology, too.

The 200 Series mixer, (M208/M216) of which you speak, are lower-level boards than the 300-Series, but they are still suitable 4-buss recording boards, in their own right, with slightly downgraded design and features than you'll find on the 300-Series.

The M-50 is a hard-to-find predecessor of the 500-Series boards, but there's one for auction right now, in the US, on Ebay. The M-50 is an 8-BUSS board, and that's a hefty step up from a 4-buss board, but well worth the uplift in cost, while still being affordable.

The 500-Series boards are the M-512 and M-520, and they're pro-level 8-buss recording boards, complete with every feature you could desire, including mic-phase-reversal switches and phantom power. You'll pay a premium for the 500-Series boards, but it's worth it. They're a little harder to find than the 4-buss boards.

Using a 4-buss board to drive the 238 or the R-8 is an adequate fit, technically, but you'll be over-max on the buss-resources to drive all 8 inputs at once. Usually driving 8 recorder inputs simultaneously can be done on a 4-buss board, by a combination of "buss" mode and "direct" mode outputs to the recorder, but sometimes an 8-buss board is a better fit to an 8-track recorder. Budget and availability drives many of your choices, in this matter.

There are other suitable Tascam recording mixers I have not mentioned, such as the M-2600, but the above mixers I've referenced are my favorites.

The availability of this type of Tascam gear may be more limited in Finland, but deals abound on Ebay in the US.

Good luck!!
 
Thanks Reel Person,

8-buss mixer would be best but you're right they're hard to find and costs much. Maybe if I have some luck, some day I'll own a M-520 ;)

I'm thinking of selling the Mackie and buying the M-216. Then use my M-106 to record drums, kinda cheap 8-buss solution with few drawbacks of course...

but thanks again for your input..


Fuzz
 
Fuzznut said:
Two weeks ago I bought a Fostex R8 1/4" 8-track recorder and yesterday I bought a Tascam 238 cassette 8-track recorder Yay! :D The plan is to record all of our jams and rehearsals on to the the Tascam 238 and when we decide to do some serious stuff, we'll be using the Fostex R8.

I have now a Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro mixer and about a week ago I bought this cute little Tascam M-106 mixer (btw it has way nicer sound than the Mackie). I've been able to do some recordings using these mixers but I need to get a decent mixer that can handle both Fostex R8 and Tascam 238, or one at a time. I've been looking for old Tascam mixers since I like the sound so much. I now maybe have a chance to buy a Tascam M-216 and/or a M-208, does anyone have any info on the M-216 or M-208? M320 would be ideal, but since I live in Finland these vintage Tascam mixers are pretty hard to find...

Fuzz
Click to expand...


Here would be my advice:

Go on E-bay and look for a used RAMSA mixer.

People aren't familiar with them, so they sell used for less, but these boards were at least $2,000 when they were new 10 to 15 years ago, and most people who bought them, have taken decent care of them (hey man, think about it....$2K was a lot to spend for a home studio mixer 15 years ago!)

I've seen them sell for as low as $250 for a 16 channel mixer in great shape.

The quality is very similar to Tascam (actually, the Ramsa's had better feeling faders) and the sound is great.


Tim
 
Hmm...

What about Soundcraft Spirit Studio? It's 24x8x2 8-buss mixer. I know this guy who's selling one for 1000 euros, not bad... And it's here in Finland! :eek:
 
Hey Fuzz...
I had one of those and used it for a couple of years....decent board. No meter bridge available for them tho...
Pres are usuable, overall not a terribly noisy board...watch the fx returns as they tend to be a bit noisy.
Tiny little sub group assign buttons with no leds are a bigger pain than you might think, but it's a cheap 24x8 mixer that gets the job done with good, usable eq, and good monitor/tape routing capabilities. I'd say go for it.
 
Thanks TeyshaBlue!

Is the Spirit Studio pres as good as the Ghost pres that Soundcraft makes nowadays? They have to be better than Mackie pres though... ;)
 
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