Tascam msr and Mackie Lm 3204

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Dreadie

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Hello, Im just trying to set up an old school analog studio. My past recording experience is with Tascam Portostudios. Now I got hold of a Tascam 16 track 1/2 reel to reel and I need a mixer, something I dont know much about! I have a line on a Mackie LM 3204. Does anyone know if this is a good call? Thank you.
 
Disclaimer from the get go. I am biased.
:-)


I used to do a lot of recording on an msr 16. Loved the machine. I had it paired up with a a tascam m520 mixer.

Plenty of threads on this forum about the mixer started by Sweetbeats. He also did some excellent videos explaining it's hookup and use.

Long story short, was out of music for a while and when I got back in picked up an msr 16 and a tascam m 520.
Actually 2 520s
Dont know why i need both, but as you can tell I like them.
:-)
 
Thanks, I checked the 520s out. They are huge! lol. I'll take your spare :)
Seriously though, theres got to be a smaller mixer that will do the trick.
 
Haha. It's only 100 lbs. The deck is about 75. Yeah, its big when you have to move it, but set up, it's the perfect size.
:-)

Im sure others will chime in with ideas. I'll back out and give em room.
 
Is that Mackie a studio console or a live console. Take it from me, you really want a console that is designed for a recording studio.

Have you had a look for an old Tascam M2524 or M2600? these were a perfect match for the MSR, I used to have the MSR16 / M2524 set up and it was great, (until I upgraded to a M3700)

Alan.
 
Mackie LM3204 looks like a line mixer and it also looks like a re-badged Samson mixer... So you would need external preamps to plug your mics into. Looks like it only sums to 4 outputs so you would need to re-patch after recording 4 tracks and you can only record 4 tracks at once (unless it has direct outputs as well).

All in all, you could get a much better matching mixer to your MSR16 than this... which will assist your workflow, be a lot more flexible and save you lots of time.

Agree with everyone on the Tascam M-series mixer recommendations, these were made around the same time and obviously with the MSR16 in mind.

The Fostex 820 (and a few other models) would also be a good match also for the MSR16 and are probably a bit smaller and lighter than the equivalent Tascam mixer.
 
I guess one question is how much do you want to spend?
 
Thank you! I started to get overwhelmed looking at all the different mixers available so this is seriously valuable information!
I'll do my home work and check the Tascam M series and the Fostex out. Yes, how much do I want to spend is right. If I have to wait until a good deal comes round it sounds like it will be worth it. I'd like to have everything set up so I can just plug my guitar in and go, I don't want to be dicking around re-patching and lose the creative momentum. Good point about having a proper board too, I can see that being more comfortable.
 
Another thing to factor in is location. What part of the country are you in, assuming you're in the USA??

Shipping a mixer can be risky due to morons packing them. Also proper packing of a large heavy item can be cost prohibitive.

So that can leave you with the CL option and possible drive time involved.

As side note i could probably be convinced into parting with one of mine
A most excellent match for the msr16
:-)
 
Chilljam said:
Mackie LM3204 looks like a line mixer and it also looks like a re-badged Samson mixer...
Click to expand...

The LM32 is Mackie designed and it predates the manufacturing move to China. There are a couple of similar Samson mixers, but they're more likely inspired by the Mackie than the other way around.
 
Lol, you know I was going to ask you if you wanted to sell!
I'm on Vancouver island, where are you? I just drove over 1000 miles for the msr....
Know anyting about Mackies 1604 vlz3?
 
The reason for the extra channels is so you can route your effects to channels instead of aux returns.

If you use a non-inline board you'll need at least 32 channels (preferably 40, see above) so you can simultaneously record to and monitor from all 16 tracks of the MSR.
 
Okay thank you, I'm starting to understand all this now. Like I was saying at the top of this forum, this is a huge leap for me getting away from the portastudio type recording stuff. I'm excited about getting my studio up and running and getting over the learning curves though! I'm glad to have found this forum!
 
RFR said:
Nah! A 520 will do everything you need and more.
:-)
Click to expand...

That looks like it would get it done. I like the dual RCA connectors on the insert send. More channels would be nice but 20 is just enough to make it work.
 
One thing that's nice is the independent 16 channel monitor section. You can leave all your input channels set for tracking. On mixdown, flip the switch to tape and you still have 4 channels left for whatever you choose, plus you have other inputs available. Lots of options.
 
RFR said:
One thing that's nice is the independent 16 channel monitor section. You can leave all your input channels set for tracking. On mixdown, flip the switch to tape and you still have 4 channels left for whatever you choose, plus you have other inputs available. Lots of options.
Click to expand...

I regularly use an M-2600 MkII so the 520 looks pretty familiar.
 
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