TASCAM cassette or 16 bit digital?

J

Jerry Kahn

New member
OK, nobody on the Analog forum answered this, so I am trying again here. It probably sounds like apples and oranges, but bear with me (and if your a girl, "bare" with me...huh..).

Here it is: would anyone like to comment on the sound quality of a TASCAM 488 (casette deck) vs 16 bit digital audio-- recorded, say, with an old Audiomedia III card and an old Mac.

I am thinking of picking up a 488 to do some recording with until I can afford a new computer setup (24 bit) which might, at this rate, be a couple of months. My other option is to upgrade my hard disk situation on my old mac (it's full) and continue to use that for a while.

In either case it is a temporary fix-- but I am also curious of the benifits of NOT recording with a computer. There are a number of people who feel that because tape medium is LESS flexible, but FASTER TO SET UP AND USE, you can be more productive in certain ways, and possibly more creative -- of course that depends on a lot of factors.

Blah Blah.. anyway thanks for listening. Any feedback would be appreciated.

peace,
jk
 
I think it all depends on what you want to use it for.... with the cassette-based multi's, you're pretty much resigned to using them for scratchpad songwriting in that the tracks are not going to be usable in a production environment. With 16-bit digital at least you have a chance of using them in a more sophisticated recording environment later on - assuming they've been really well-recorded.

Bruce

[Edited by Blue Bear Sound on 02-04-2001 at 12:11]
 
No Kidding

Bear said it well...16 bit versus Analog cassette? There's no comparison. Steer way clear of the cassette, Please! If it were a Reel...then ok. Even still, your hard disk with audio media should be fine. However, like my father had always told me...your monitors are your most significant brethen. You can have all this great gear...Focus, Tascam, X20s, Steuder, Eventide, Einstein, but if you cut short on your listening environment tools, what's the point? If you're recording 16 bit with discount computer and software, save yourself the headache and invest a little into your monitors first... record to two track cassete if you have to...then get a decent sound card. Echo Gina for instance is very high quality but then to record at higher sampling rates, you will need a faster computer, second hard drive, etc. Apples to Oranges...YES. there's more to buying recording gear than just the initial cost. If you're a songwriter with guitar lix than get a solid state Berhinger 4 channel mixer and record to minidisk...or perhaps get a mini disk multi channel recorder. I don't use one; however, opting for either of your choices doesn't seem practical. Get the Casette= poor recording quality (Major) Get the old Apple with Audio Media=short term solution. Still may be costly. You will still need a second Hard-drive. Keep audio files seperate from O.S. Recording higher bit rates 24-32, you will need a Hard drive at least 7200 rpm.
 
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