What is a Teac 5 mixer worth?

  • Thread starter Thread starter WhinyLittleRunt
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WhinyLittleRunt

WhinyLittleRunt

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Any ideas? I see the prices fluctuate a lot, and I think I can definitely use this for my newly-acquired 38...
 
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I'd go with one of the later Tascam mixers (M-512, M-308, M-312B, maybe a M-30, etc). They are better products, sonically and feature-wise.
 
WhinyLittleRunt said:
Any ideas? I see the prices fluctuate a lot, and I think I can definitely use this for my newly-acquired 38...
Click to expand...

What's something "worth" is subjective. They go for peanuts on the used market vs what they sold for new, well over 1K I do believe. That's over 2K in todays money. Is your reference to the post I made about one being available, more or less local to you, for $25? https://homerecording.com/bbs/showpost.php?p=3448150&postcount=35
:confused: ...again, if you're good with repair or know someone who is, it's worth checking it out.
 
I feel like all of them are pretty hard to come by, especially the models you've mentioned...

Reason I ask is because I may be able to get one cheap... figured it was a compatible mixer to the 38...
 
WhinyLittleRunt said:
I feel like all of them are pretty hard to come by, especially the models you've mentioned...

Reason I ask is because I may be able to get one cheap... figured it was a compatible mixer to the 38...
Click to expand...

They're not *too* hard to come by. Keep a close eye on Craigslist and one will turn up soon.

You're right, though, it's a good fit for the 38. Any of the other mixers I mention will be just as good a fit and will provide a little more wiggle room for ambitious projects :)
 
IMO a Teac 5 should go for US$75-125 (as in that's what I paid for mine.) The 5 is a nice board, but getting a little long in the tooth. I'd be worried about some of the capacitors. I am on my second one. Bought it about 10 years ago for $100.

It is a nice fit for the 38, although only has one effect send. You could expand it easy enough with another sub mixer for effect returns.
 
I don't know how close this is to you... but this may be ideal if you could talk him down a bit on the price. Although that may be a pretty legit price it's really hard to tell seeing as how the fluctuate so often and if you wait long enough you can always come up on a steal

http://hartford.craigslist.org/msg/1856085394.html
 
DuddyGuy said:
I don't know how close this is to you... but this may be ideal if you could talk him down a bit on the price. Although that may be a pretty legit price it's really hard to tell seeing as how the fluctuate so often and if you wait long enough you can always come up on a steal

http://hartford.craigslist.org/msg/1856085394.html
Click to expand...

Yeah, that isn't far at all (CT is a small state) but I was working out something with someone who was selling a fully-functional Teac 5 for $75, so we'll see what happens. Thanks for the tip-off :)
 
Of course, now after all that back-and-fourth, I found an old topic about the Teac 5 where it was explained that a Yamaha MG 16/4 would work for the same purpose and be much better quality.... doh... My biggest concern was having 8 outs! I remember almost buying one of those at the time, too...
 
WhinyLittleRunt said:
Any ideas? I see the prices fluctuate a lot, and I think I can definitely use this for my newly-acquired 38...
Click to expand...

$200 or less. One would have to be perfect to fetch the full $200. Although the 5 has 8 inputs, it only has 4 channels of tape returns, making an outboard 8X2 line-level mixer almost a necessity. An M-30 or 35 would be better suited for use with an 8-track deck.
 
I looks like the M-30 only has 4 returns as well...? Unless I'm seeing it wrong...
 
i have the model 5 and use the line ins on the main channel strips as tape returns, there are 8 of them.

the 5 usually sells for about $100. i feel that the EQ is the most limiting feature on the board.
 
lonewhitefly said:
i have the model 5 and use the line ins on the main channel strips as tape returns, there are 8 of them.
Click to expand...

See, that's exactly what I thought you did with the tape returns. Good to know I was headed in the right direction. Now, is it possible to bypass the eq on the channels and just run directly to it from another preamp? Or is the fact that we now have the tape machine patched to the inputs going to defeat that possibility?

I'm not too concerned with the eq, as I'll more than likely bounce flat tracks to the mac for editing until I get comfortable with the recorder and eventually buy a half-track to mix down to :)

The guy I am potentially buying from has been asking me if there are ways he can test the board to make sure it really is fully functional before he gives it to me- he did mention there is no headphone jack... I told him to patch the control room outs to a tape input on a stereo mixer and see if each channel works... don't know if that's a good answer.
 
lonewhitefly said:
i have the model 5 and use the line ins on the main channel strips as tape returns, there are 8 of them...........
Click to expand...

The problem with that logic is not when mixing but when tracking. It's not possible to independently record and monitor all tracks without disturbing some to all your input settings when 4 dedicated machine returns is all you have. Admittedly, it's not a huge problem when recording a few track at a time but eventually it becomes a pain in the ass. BTW - the Model 1 was designed to address just that situation. Once installed, it became the tape monitor system while tracking and could also be used as a pre-fader aux mixer on remix.
 
DuddyGuy said:
I don't know how close this is to you... but this may be ideal if you could talk him down a bit on the price. Although that may be a pretty legit price it's really hard to tell seeing as how the fluctuate so often and if you wait long enough you can always come up on a steal

http://hartford.craigslist.org/msg/1856085394.html
Click to expand...


Dude, check it out... I totally just went and picked this unit up! The thing is near mint! i'm gonna have a fun weekend now (my belt came in for my 38 as well) heehee... :)
 
WhinyLittleRunt said:
Dude, check it out... I totally just went and picked this unit up! The thing is near mint! i'm gonna have a fun weekend now (my belt came in for my 38 as well) heehee... :)
Click to expand...

Sweet! 3 series boards are seriously good pieces of equipment... were you able to talk him down any? It's funny I just saw two of those local to me, one for 230, and one 250:eek:! Seems outrageous to me.
 
I gave him $175...

It's really in nice shape, I mean he took great care of it. I am about to sit down and make sure everything works, even though I'm confident it will.

Edit: ...and all the channels work perfectly. I will have to dig up a manual on this one since there's a lot to learn.
 
Last edited:
Sounds good, hope you enjoy... 175 for a pristine board sounds a-ok in my book.
 
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