Ok, I'm the oddball, I prefer the 388 to the 788.
I'm a vintage reel/analog fanatic, and I'm just plain spoiled by the 388, which embodies all of Tascam's superior engineering concepts, now vintage engineering concepts.
The 388 is a nice, full featured recording console/reel recorder, all in one, and the 788 is a high techy digital tinker toy. In comparison to the 388, the 788 is puny and underpowered. Anyway, that's MHO.
Tascam 388's may still be found in good condition, used, for low dollar amounts, ~$500, on most days.
I will agree about Tascambbs, and the censorship thing, which really makes no sense, other than following the whims of the present moderators.
Tascambbs used to be a lot better, but now it's gotten lamer, as time has gone on, since the original censorship issue came up.
F/I, the Tascambbs is supposed to be for the 'clinical' answers to 'technical' questions, and they're clamping down on practically everything else, which really makes it very boring.
I used to post there a lot, as 'long time user', and occasionally I still do, but I stopped posting there a lot, because I'd work on technical memos, posts, for maybe hours, and have lots of precise details in them, then, poof, they're gone the next day.
-Not only that, but certain non-Tascam-employee [volunteer] moderators will delete your posts, if you disagree with him factually, even if you're right and the moderator's wrong, poof, your post gets deleted.
I, for one, am sick of Tascambbs. They need guys like us around there, just to liven things up a bit, but they suck, they're stupid, and people like [you &] me are not wanted.
-"No personal crap on Tascambbs, there are plenty of other websites for blatant self promotion of your own music"- so goes the Tascambbs RULES. No references to your websites or to Ebay. No references to prices of gear, used or otherwise. [No contradicting the moderator, even if you're right].
Therefore, promotional posts about my free 4-cd set, THE DAVEMANIA COLLECTION, [which is still currently available], is not wanted on Tascambbs, even though it's doing really fine here on HRcom, and would be good material to post on Tascambbs, whether they realize it or not.
Fact is, Tascambbs just burned me out, by deleting a lot of my technical posts, some of which I worked on at length, and by deleting almost every post I made that 'embellished' over the technicalities in any way, or that directly contradicted the moderator.
I'll still post at Tascambbs occasionally, but fact is, that without me posting brilliant and hilarious stuff over there, that board's gotten just plain boring.
When Tascam posted "THE RULES" memo, it basically said, "Dave, you and your posts aren't welcome here", and the deleting of my posts just put the icing on the cake.
The creative Tascam users are what makes the Tascambbs vital and interesting, but they've just strangled the entire bbs, with those ridiculous "RULES", which are enforced unevenly, at best.
I mean, how many times can you answer the question, "how do I hook my Portastudio to my 'puter"? Tascam- you suck. Your Tascam technology of today is schlocky, as compared to the engineering of 15 years ago, and your Tascambbs sucks.
You heard it here first.
/DA