Tascam m50 pres

[mingus2112]

Does anyone have a Tascam m50? I've got one that I got from lichthaus-media about a year or so ago. Love the mixer, but I don't get a lot of use out of it. I'd like to use the pres more (the first 8 channels have BurBrown opamps).

I've been looking into having an 8 channel box built that hops up the RCA -10 out to +4 balanced to go out to my converter, but then I noticed that there are actually two outputs on the board that do this already! You "jumper" any -10 output to these -10 inputs and then the signal gets routed through a transformer and out of two balanced XLR outputs! Seems too good to be true. I understand that these were put there in case you wanted to run cable into another room (balanced can run longer) but does this make sense to run to my interface? It WOULD be nice, though, to have that "box" i was talking about to run all 8 direct outs to a patchbay or something. Those XLRs also have a switch to be +4 or +8db. I'm assuming the +8 would be WAY too hot!

I've also read that most gear is unbalanced inside and then stepped up to a balanced signal in the output stage. What's the truth/logic behind this? I'm just trying to get the least noise out of these pres (which is why I want to step them up to +4) and still have their warm sound.

-James

[mingus2112]

wow. . .nobody?

[LeedyGuy]

not just nobody...but REALLY nobody...

[Eric Rottmayer]

i almost bought an m50 when i was using my 8-track but i picked up a
2516 (i think?) that was a bit newer and had some simple automation
and scene info that was useful at the time. my good friend had a m520
that we used alot and those pres always sounded great.

i guess i don't really have anything else...

good luck?

e

[mingus2112]

thanks. . .at least i have 2 channels of usable pres. . .anyone have experience with building a 8 channel box for stepping up from unbalanced RCA to balanced TRS?

-James

[T-rex]

I have the M520, it has 8 jumpers to go from rca to XLR level outputs. If you only need two channels I would use what you have and see what it sounds like. Or build one channel and compare it to the M50 jumpers before you build all the channels. I am gong to rca inputs on delta soundcards so I haven't even tried the xlr jumpers on mine.

[mingus2112]

I have the M520, it has 8 jumpers to go from rca to XLR level outputs. If you only need two channels I would use what you have and see what it sounds like. Or build one channel and compare it to the M50 jumpers before you build all the channels. I am gong to rca inputs on delta soundcards so I haven't even tried the xlr jumpers on mine.

good call. . .i think for now the 2 XLRs should be quite fine. I have other pres and plan on getting others still.

Thanks!
-James

[A-Barr]

I've also read that most gear is unbalanced inside and then stepped up to a balanced signal in the output stage. What's the truth/logic behind this? I'm just trying to get the least noise out of these pres (which is why I want to step them up to +4) and still have their warm sound.

Well yes, just about every balanced pre out there gets unbalanced by the input tranny (or op-amp in transformerless pres) and then re-balanced by the output tranny (or not). So the signal is unbalanced in the amp stage. Having a balanced input is pretty critical because you're amplifying that mic signal so much that any noise that's there will also get amped way up. But on the output this seems much less critical. You're not amplifying anything, so you're not going to boost the noise. An output transformer will balance the signal, so it'll eliminate any noise picked up on the cable betweeen the ouptut of the pre and the D/A, but this usually isn't much, especially if you're using short cables. The output tranny also (I *think*) steps up the volume a little so the signal to noise ratio's a little better. As to the warmth and preserving the character, well, an output transformer will add "warmth," at least if it's a high quality transformer, but it'll mask a little bit of the original character, it's another thing the signal has to pass through. BUT if you can replace the output coupling cap in your preamp with a transformer, it could actually mask the sound a bit less. Anyway, I wouldn't sweat it too much, I've experimented with balancing unbalanced outs and decided it wasn't really worth it. If you really want, you can go to the Jensen site and they have schematics for this sort of stuff.
Good luck!