So…interesting…the picture of the jack panel in the M-30 brochure shows BUSS IN jacks next to the mix buss LINE OUT jacks…no AUX OUT jacks…and the Block Diagram in the brochure also reflects this. The Operation/Maintenance manual, however, at least in my -01 revision, shows both BUSS IN and AUX OUT jacks pictured and also reflected on the Block Diagram. The AUX OUT jacks are next to the LINE OUT jacks, and the BUSS IN jacks are directly below the PGM group 1 jack cluster.
So have you actually looked at the back of your M-30 to see which version you have? I assume the version without AUX OUT jacks is an early version. This might seem like a dumb question, but two of my consoles are situated close to walls and it’s hard to actually see the jack panel, so I wondered if you’re able to actually see yours.
The other thing to consider here, though, is the AUX OUT jacks are just parallel jacks to the LINE OUT jacks…like an internal ‘Y’ cable. If your M-30 doesn’t have them, just get yourself a set of 4 RCA ‘Y’ cables…one male to two female…done…instant “AUX OUT” jacks. There are still only 4 discrete output channels…whether you’ve got AUX OUT jacks or you’re using ‘Y’ cables…you can see this visually on the Block Diagram…so you have pairs of tracks connected to each PGM group out and you manage which tracks record by using the track arming controls on the tape deck. If you need to record more than 4 tracks simultaneously you can, for instance, use direct out jacks in addition to the PGM group outputs.
The M-30 I have was made close to the time when Tascam first introduced the model, the two digit code 21, indicates the manufacturing date
to be 1982 (the first quarter of '82). The M-30 brochure I have shows the back of an M-30 on page 11 with a s/n thats close to mine, also a 21.
I have an original (not xerox copy) M-30 manual that was included when I bought it last year from its owner.. I think some of the manuals might have a date code as well when you look at the back cover next to 'Printed in Japan', where I see 1281, which to me sounds like it was printed in December '81 and makes sense if the M-30 and 30 series Tascams' (34 four track, etc) were introduced as new models for 1982 (nostalgia year for me, 18 and graduated high school). I am also glad the owner kept it in very nice condition, compared to the ones Ive seen on Ebay and look a bit beat-up.
I was not aware that there might be any revisions to the M-30. Usually, most Teac/Tascam recorders & mixers remain unchanged during the course of their production run. All I can think for now is the 2A/MB-20 from late '78 thru '83. The tilted side panels vs straight bracket version, and some differences in the shape of the faders and the colored knobs, etc from early to later models.
I will check online to look at various photos of the back of the M-30 as well as their serial #'s, to see if Tascam actually did add Aux Outs to later models if I can find any M-30's from '83, '84 etc... I imagine the M-30 was discontinued by '86 when the next generation of mixers came out, the M-512, 308,... 206, 106. Thus, I think the M-308 would be the closest model to compare to the M-30 in that lineup, and being newer, probably more advanced. Looks like the smallest model would then be the M-06- the nice thing about that model, being the smallest and least complicated, studying its op manual which shows the signal flow via lines/arrows, you can grasp the concepts faster. I did not think it was a recording mixer, until I noticed that despite a small model, it does have 4 Pgm out to connect to a multitrack.
A longtime friend of mine used to work in a recording studio in NY City, and used a Tascam 38 and M-30. I recall visiting him at a session he did in June '85. I will call him and say Hi, as I recall, after he eventually left the studio, he bought the M-30 and still has it, though its probably in storage. I dont know if he would remember any details on how he connected it to the eight track all these later, or which M-30 he had, it could have been made as early as mine was too depending on when his studio first acquired it.
Anyhow, I was just curious since I was just studying the op manual, not so much that I have an 8 track that I wanted to connect it to, but rather just getting better familiarized with its functions and signal routing capabilities.
I do have an M1B, so if I was in that situation, I could put that unit to use, or as you pointed out, use the Direct Outs to make up for the lack of 4 Aux Outs. I suppose another option would be to cascade the M-30 to a 2nd external mixer and use the other mixer if it has 8 track capability, for example, connecting my M-30 to my M-1516, but as I said, its not something I need to do now, its just certain configurations I am pondering in my mind so that I can get a better grasp of how the equipment would be hooked up to do certain tasks, that the Op manual does not always clarify in the best way.
For now, as was discussed in the other post, I am just studying/using the M-30 with hi fi equipment and have made progress to set the controls on the mixer so that it does what I want it to do as far as sending left/right audio from the tuner and cd player to the cassette deck and be able to listen thru headphones and amp-speakers or cassette playback.
As you can probably see, there is no actual "mixing" being done. Obviously, the tuner and cd player are playing music that are already finished songs, but even so, without needing to take out my guitars, bass, and mics just yet to learn with the mixer, I can make some progress in the meantime to learn how vintage recording mixers operate using just hi fi equipment, even if its not necessary, in that I can simply connect the cass-deck to a stereo amp instead to play and record, bypassing so many level adjustments needed when using the mixer instead. On the bright side, its good to use the controls, if the mixer sits too long inactive, its bound to cause deterioration- scratchy pots, etc... thus some use is better than no use at all, and all the signal routing scenarios is like a jigsaw puzzle to keep the brain exercised as well
