VU's and things

H

hawgpen

New member
howdy... don't mean to throw out an elementary question but any help is appreciated. I am straight analog using a tascam m512 and going to 1/2 tape. Levels on the board seem hot as well as on the tape when reading the vu's but when play back comes through I can get good sound except I have to boost the tape ins to get the volume I want and I get alot of background noise. Also I notice that the play back levels on the tape are significantly lower than my pre record setup. I've tried a few things and find myself stuck. I realize I may need DBX but it's not an option at the moment. I can live with some tape noise but I think my results should be much better than this. Can anyone tell me A) what else to try and B) if i should be reading the VU's differently? I always thought keep everything as close to 0db as possible and obviously watch for peaks. By the way, I've browsed this site for a few days and not found specific discussion on this. If I've missed it, letting me know where to look will be help enough. Thanks!
 
Sounds like it's time for a thorough head cleaning.

Once the heads are spotlessly clean, then retest. If the problem persists, it may be time for a calibration. ;)
 
This is my fear. We are in a rural area and I don't even know where to begin. I've read a good deal of the manual, which is greatly beyond my technical understanding and wonder if I'm not better off looking for a newer or recently serviced reel 2 reel. I appreciate your reply and I will further look for a way to get it serviced.

by the way, I'm referring to calibration... I have diligently cleaned the heads and do everytime before recording or mixing.

thanks!
 
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Not too much to add, but two things I can think of. First, the older Tascam boards I have tried are noisy...just early hissy circuitry and op amps. Add that up with X channels of tape hiss and you are going to get a noisy mix unfortunately. If you can get a DBX or other type of NR on your 1/2 tape machine that may cut it down considerably. Other thing to check is your operating levels of the two devices...if one is at +4 and the other -10 then that might also cause some problems with matching the signal levels. The manuals will tell you what the operating levels are. Hope this helps.
 
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