more pres vs. nice old board

[jeddypoo]

So right now I'm having a bit of a conflict with myself. I'm looking to either get more pres, or get an old Tascam or Ramsa board instead- as I love the sound of things going through those, and a nice desk feels a lot better to me than a stack of pres. So, any suggestions? I mean I can get a pretty big Ramsa board for like 400 bucks, whereas a halfway decent stereo pre would be at least that much. What do you all think? Keep in mind that I'm stoned out of my mind of Theraflu right now, so don't mess with my mind.

[curtiswyant]

Do you already have another mixer? A few nice pres and a small mixer are a good combo. If you don't have a mixer at all, get the board first.

[nlmd311]

I think the typical question that would come of this (don't mean to be an ass) is:
What are you planning on recording and how many tracks at a time are you looking to record?
I would say if you are just doing one to two tracks at a time, building that way then a nice pre or two would be the way to go to start. If you are looking for a minimum of 6+ tracks at once, then go with the board.
I agree with curtiswyant in regards to the small mixer and a few nice pres...
You could get alot done that way, and have a few "colors/characters" to choose from. If you know the sound of the Ramsa and that fits what you are looking to do, then go for that! The board might give you a little more versatility when it comes to mixing and or adding effects.
I would say it really depends on you and your situation and what you are looking to do.
What kind of mics are you working with?

-Darrill

[TheStevens]

if you love the sound of the boards, then get one of those!

[Red Rockets Glare]

If you're thinking of getting a board, I'd suggest a Soundtracs over a Tascam board anyday. They are in the same price range and the Soundtracs makes all of the Tascam boards I've worked on or around look like noisy toys.

Something like this, or the 16x8x16, like I have on my site
Soundtracs

[KennyLusk]

Ramsa boards do sound great. Not a bad direction to go in.

[matyas]

You know, I was actually planning on posting with pretty much the exact same question. Right now, I use my crappy unnamable board pretty much just for monitoring, but I'd really like to have a decent little mixer for preamps, EQ, outboard routing, real faders, etc. My biggest question, though, is whether any console in my pricerange is actually going to sound any better than what I can do in the box. (The mix buss in Samplitude, which I'm using for mixdown right now, actually sounds pretty good.) Then there's the whole issue with the reliability of older boards and even the problems of transporting them. I was all hip to try to find something like an older Allen & Heath or Soundcraft (I'm into the warm but clean sound), but right now an Octopre and a couple EHs sounds kind of enticing. (Although I still might just get a console. Ahh... Indecision....)

[stereopathetic_banjo]

hi- not to hi-jack this thread, but i'm going to be in the market for a 24-32 channel board in the next month or so (busy spending $ on wood right now...) and it kinda is coming down to either a tascam 3500 or 3700 board or a soundtracs topaz of some sort. i've never really read anything bad about the soundtracs, but i'm kinda in the dark about the tascams. anyone have any experience with the two? any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks!
-travis

[jeddypoo]

Yeah, I'm talking about tracking 6-12 tracks at once or so, to answer the question. I like the sound of the Ramsa boards a lot. Thanks for all the feedback, this is helpful!

[matyas]

Lots of people around here seem to like Ramsa consoles. They seem to go pretty cheaply, but I don't know much about them. Do they have a "sound", or are they fairly transparent?

[getreel]

I have had a Tascam M3500 for the last 3 years and it has sounded great and worked well every time I used it. I recently upgraded to the Topaz and I love it so far. It's newer and has a few more features like phase reverse and EQ on the tape return channels. I'm not sure yet which actually sounds better though. I like the Tascam EQ but it gets harsh if you twist it too far...the Tascam looks great to clients too.

[jeddypoo]

Lots of people around here seem to like Ramsa consoles. They seem to go pretty cheaply, but I don't know much about them. Do they have a "sound", or are they fairly transparent?

My friend and future business partner up in Massachusetts uses a large Ramsa board and I am consistently amazed with a the sounds he and I get out of it. A good measure of this to me is running a bass guitar through a channel, and the sound he gets out of that is very pleasing and "warm". I wouldn't say they're transparent, but the color they add is not overwhelming, either. I mean he does Pro Tools and I feel like his board is one of the reasons that his recordings sound very "tapish".

And Tascam just seems like a generally safe bet, but that's not really a great way to shop for these things, I suppose.

Basically, I do record bands, and will probably start doing so mobily, so I think small Ramsa with my existing crappy pres is probably a good way to go. I currently run less prioritized drum tracks (close-mic'd toms for example) through an Alesis 16-channel, and it lacks both headroom and clarity.

[audiogeek1]

I had a tascam M3500 for about 6 years and it served me really well. Sounded good and the faders feel really great. I miss it all the time. The pre amps were good and the eq did what it was supposed to do. As for portability goes this board was large and heavy. Not easy to move. I have never used a ramsa board but have heard good things about them.

The tascam stuff seems to just work. Not the ultimate but works.

Mike