Tascam MSR-24 new user - noisy? advice would be great...

[Piccoman2]

Hello,

I just picked one up for $800. I was wondering with respect to the DBX, do you always use it? My machine seems quite noisy with it off. I'm not sure though if it just noise I'm hearing. I hear a somewhat large amount of tape hiss and there is a low frequency hum (very quite but audible) when the DBX is off. With it on it takes away most of this. I was wondering if the format is just inherently very noisy and use of the DBX is almost mandatory. Mine came with the DBX I not the S which I hear is better.

I also seem to overloading the channels on the tape machine quite easily. For example, I'll have an AKG D112 on a kick drum coming into an Allen & Heath Mixwizard. I have the -30 dB pad on with the gain knob turned all the way down and its still a pretty hot signal going to the tape machine. I think there may be a cabling issue. I interface with an Allen and Heath Mixwizard board that has direct outs. I think part of my problem is that the guy who owned the machine before was trying to setup his patchbay system with the machine so that he could use the balanced outs of his patchbay with the RCA inputs of the MSR-24. I think I may have a wiring issue between my mixer and the tape machine. If this is this case then this could explain the noise I'm nearing on playback. I don't really trust these snakes he gave me with it. ?

Thanks,

Scott Picco
Bear Claw
scott@bearclawrock.com
www.bearclawrock.com
www.sickroomrecords.com

[eh91311]

The MSR-24 with the unbalanced RCA I/O runs at -10 level. MixWizards are +4 I/O, I think, as they have TRS line ins and direct outs. If you're running +4 into the MSR24 you will have an excessive amount of level. You need a mixer that will work at -10 levels, or a step-up interface for the MSR24 to convert the -10 I/O to balanced +4.

If the snakes that came with the unit are iffy, trash them.

You should have your MSR24 looked over by a tech, calibrated and checked out. It's expensive, but you will then have a machine that is working optimally.

[pulse_divider]

I have an MSR-24.
When I first got it, I did the "DBX sucks, no noise reduction!" thing, recorded without it and got really noisy recordings.
Now I use it all the time and it sounds fine to me. My tracks are dead quiet with the DBX switched on and I have zero complaints about the sound or reliability of this machine so far. I've been tracking with it for about 5 years now and all I've done maintenance-wise is clean and demagnetize the heads.
I have a couple of Tascam LA-40 4 channel "bump boxes" that I use to convert the balanced +4 outs from my outboard pres to run straight to tape without a patchbay. I'm not sure if it would sound any worse bussing signals through my mixer, but I find it pretty quick and intuitive to use this way and don't have any problems with signal levels.

[TapeOpAndy]

MixWizards are +4 I/O, I think, as they have TRS line ins and direct outs.

The MixWizard's impedance-balanced direct outs are referenced to 0 dBu. That's kind of in-between +4 dBu and -10 dBV levels. (It's 4 dB below +4 dBu and 7.8 dB above -10 dBV because there's 11.8 dB between the two.)

[Mark Alan Miller]

I've got an MSR-24s that I've used for years. Don't like it without NR - even tried to cal it specifically for use without NR - still too noisy.

Use the NR and have a good (great!) tech with a 'scope cal it for you specifically for your choice of tape formulation, with the use of dbx specifically in mind.

EDITed for clarity.

[eh91311]

eh91311 wrote:
MixWizards are +4 I/O, I think, as they have TRS line ins and direct outs.

TapeOpAndy wrote:
The MixWizard's impedance-balanced direct outs are referenced to 0 dBu. That's kind of in-between +4 dBu and -10 dBV levels. (It's 4 dB below +4 dBu and 7.8 dB above -10 dBV because there's 11.8 dB between the two.)

Thanks for the correction, Andy. In any case, I think that the MixWizard is not the best choice for use with a MSR-24, primarily because of the I/O level difference. Piccoman2 would be better off with another board.