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duncansistinas
New member
hELLO I´D LIKE TO KNOW YOUR OPINION ABOUT 8 TRACKS CASSETTE RECORDERS. i´M GOING TO BUY A TASCAM 688 AND I NEED YOUR WISDOM. PLEASE TELL ME PROS AND CONS.
tHANK YOU.
tHANK YOU.
VOXVENDOR
New member
PROS:
-Cheap.
-Simple to use.
-Cheap Medium (Cassettes).
-Good "notepad" for Ideas
CONS:
-Ok , but not anywhere near great sound.
-Unreliable.
-Have to constantly clean heads.
-Not "Master quality"... (In other words... you would never want to commercially release something recorded on one of these.... whereas, an ADAT or DAW Recording can be a final product...
I would rather see you Spend your money on an entry level Pre....(Presonis or similar) a decent soundcard, and load in Pro Tools Free.... (Im saying this assuming you have a computer already.)
8 Digital Tracks and editing features and way better pre
For under $500
BG
-Cheap.
-Simple to use.
-Cheap Medium (Cassettes).
-Good "notepad" for Ideas
CONS:
-Ok , but not anywhere near great sound.
-Unreliable.
-Have to constantly clean heads.
-Not "Master quality"... (In other words... you would never want to commercially release something recorded on one of these.... whereas, an ADAT or DAW Recording can be a final product...
I would rather see you Spend your money on an entry level Pre....(Presonis or similar) a decent soundcard, and load in Pro Tools Free.... (Im saying this assuming you have a computer already.)
8 Digital Tracks and editing features and way better pre
For under $500
BG
Seanmorse79
New member
I agree with Bleeding Gums. I've used Tascam 488's many times, and I've never been able to produce anything that didn't sound like a cheesy demo. It's great for a quick & dirty recording, but 8 tracks on a cassette just doesn't give you enough magnetic bandwidth. You're using only half the width of a standard tape track (jacked up at a faster speed), so you're very limited on quality (and flexibility with the old 488 - I've never seen a 688).
The other thing is that if you're using good tapes, then they're not that cheap. You'll only get about 7 minutes on a good quality 60 minute tape. Computer recording and burning to cd's at $.62 each is cheaper.
The other thing is that if you're using good tapes, then they're not that cheap. You'll only get about 7 minutes on a good quality 60 minute tape. Computer recording and burning to cd's at $.62 each is cheaper.
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duncansistinas
New member
Thanks a lot guys.
I want to buy a portable multitrack to record demos and ideas mainly and a friend sell me a tascam 688 for 350$. But my mainly doubt is what you said , the narrow of the tape. Maybe is better a four track recorder...i don´t know.
Any suggestions for that price?
I want to buy a portable multitrack to record demos and ideas mainly and a friend sell me a tascam 688 for 350$. But my mainly doubt is what you said , the narrow of the tape. Maybe is better a four track recorder...i don´t know.
Any suggestions for that price?
VOXVENDOR
New member
Cheap Digital Multitrack
Check into one of them Minidisc Multitracks.... I had a Yamaha MD8, just for putting Ideas down when travelling... And it was damn near master quality.... I actually kept some of the stuff from it if it was really good Guitar or Keyboard Takes and transfered them to the "real" system.....I could never do that with my cassette multitrack recordings... And being digital, clean no tape hiss
They make a 4 track version (MD4?)
Check out Ebay.. Maybe find one used for $300-400
Only drawback is the expensive medium... onlay about 3-5 songs per disc and $35.00 per disc.....(last time I checked which was over 2 years ago) (But if it's just for Ideas and messing around... Just have one or two discs and keep erasing it after you mix the songs down......)
BG
Check into one of them Minidisc Multitracks.... I had a Yamaha MD8, just for putting Ideas down when travelling... And it was damn near master quality.... I actually kept some of the stuff from it if it was really good Guitar or Keyboard Takes and transfered them to the "real" system.....I could never do that with my cassette multitrack recordings... And being digital, clean no tape hiss
They make a 4 track version (MD4?)
Check out Ebay.. Maybe find one used for $300-400
Only drawback is the expensive medium... onlay about 3-5 songs per disc and $35.00 per disc.....(last time I checked which was over 2 years ago) (But if it's just for Ideas and messing around... Just have one or two discs and keep erasing it after you mix the songs down......)
BG
T
The Green Hornet
New member
Yo DuncanSistinas [Cousin of Zorro?]
Before you buy used, think it out. I have an MD8 plugged in and it is a good little box. I don't think the data discs for 8 track recording costs as much as mentioned in another post, but the Sony discs are not cheap either.
If you check the catalogs, you will note that the price on the MD8, NEW, has NOT dropped anywhere near some of the Roland Digital boxes. [I hear the Roland manuals are as bad as the Yamaha manuals too.]
So, the MD8, new, would run near 1k or slightly higher.
I just bought the Yamaha 2816 box which has the CD burner built in.
I'm in the process of getting acclimated to the box but what I've figured out so far is that it is just a PC built into a recorder with a smaller screen.
The point here is that I only paid a few hundred dollars more for this hi-tech box than the lesser tech MD8.
Whatever you buy, you definitely want at least 8 tracks. The 2816 has 16 tracks and that's probably more than I'll ever need for my purposes. But, a while back, a very talented buddy of mine, a real professional keyboard person, stopped in and needed to do a tune to send to his group -- I never saw eight tracks go so fast in my life. I sure learned a great deal from that experience.
Well, spend some money and keep the economy running.
Green Hornet
Before you buy used, think it out. I have an MD8 plugged in and it is a good little box. I don't think the data discs for 8 track recording costs as much as mentioned in another post, but the Sony discs are not cheap either.
If you check the catalogs, you will note that the price on the MD8, NEW, has NOT dropped anywhere near some of the Roland Digital boxes. [I hear the Roland manuals are as bad as the Yamaha manuals too.]
So, the MD8, new, would run near 1k or slightly higher.
I just bought the Yamaha 2816 box which has the CD burner built in.
I'm in the process of getting acclimated to the box but what I've figured out so far is that it is just a PC built into a recorder with a smaller screen.
The point here is that I only paid a few hundred dollars more for this hi-tech box than the lesser tech MD8.
Whatever you buy, you definitely want at least 8 tracks. The 2816 has 16 tracks and that's probably more than I'll ever need for my purposes. But, a while back, a very talented buddy of mine, a real professional keyboard person, stopped in and needed to do a tune to send to his group -- I never saw eight tracks go so fast in my life. I sure learned a great deal from that experience.
Well, spend some money and keep the economy running.
Green Hornet
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
You could pick up a used laptop.
PROS
large video screen
digital
could be a sampler, tracker, and editor
portability
more tracks
within your price range
expand your INS/OUTS through the USB port (http://www.midiman.net)
you could connect a CD burner through the USB
CONS
not the fastest hard drive speeds
limited INS/OUTs (unless you expand thru the USB port)
older laptops can be kinda noisy
if CD burner is not internal and you go through the USB, you'll be contained to 4X4X16
But all of those CONS are still better than going the cassette route.
peace...
spin
PROS
large video screen
digital
could be a sampler, tracker, and editor
portability
more tracks
within your price range
expand your INS/OUTS through the USB port (http://www.midiman.net)
you could connect a CD burner through the USB
CONS
not the fastest hard drive speeds
limited INS/OUTs (unless you expand thru the USB port)
older laptops can be kinda noisy
if CD burner is not internal and you go through the USB, you'll be contained to 4X4X16
But all of those CONS are still better than going the cassette route.
peace...
spin
O
old guy
New member
8 Track Cassette
For what you're looking to spend..why not go the Korg D8 route. I'm utilizing two (2) sync'd. After I bought my first unit, I found it sooooo friendly, as opposed to the VS stuff by Roland. Check out the Korg D8, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Good luck with your choice. http://sh-boom.freehomepage.com/index.html
For what you're looking to spend..why not go the Korg D8 route. I'm utilizing two (2) sync'd. After I bought my first unit, I found it sooooo friendly, as opposed to the VS stuff by Roland. Check out the Korg D8, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Good luck with your choice. http://sh-boom.freehomepage.com/index.html
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duncansistinas
New member
Green Hornet, i like your choice, the yamaha 2816.....but it´s about 2000$!!!, and this is too many money for me. I need a cheaper solution, about 500$.
Thanxs.
Thanxs.
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
You could try picking up one of the older used Roland VS machines.
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duncansistinas
New member
Yeah, i think it´s the best option. I would like to find a cheap 880ex. Do you think it´s good for distorted guitars?...i mean, i´d like to achieve a real dirty sound but without sounding too much bright. I´ve heard so many things about the "digital coldness" and i want to avoid it.I though that maybe the way to do it is with a good valve recording chanel, but this means more bucks...