The Tascam 388

Kuny · Post by **Kuny** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 7:41 pm

Does anyone know of a good tech in the New Orleans area that could work on a 388? I've done all I am capable of to get mine working and it's still got some issues.

wheyface · Post by **wheyface** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:07 pm

I just got my 388 up and running (needed a new capstan belt (BUT TRACK 6 STILL ISN'T WORKING I'LL DO SOME READING ABOUT THAT)) and I recorded a little ditty for a video project I'm working on as my first trial of the 388.

Needless to say I'm pretty excited!
https://soundcloud.com/ty-ueda-sound-jo ... -recording

I'm going to be doing some more reading and visiting of this page.
-Ty

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:20 pm

Sounds great

wheyface · Post by **wheyface** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 1:30 pm

So it is true that my channel 6 just isn't working. Here's my diagnostic skills thus far and maybe somebody will be able to push the ideas further.

Channel 6 is very very quiet, distorted and scratchy for some reason. If you were to record from that input straight into track 6, the signal goes in and gets recorded fine, just during play back it doesn't seem to come out right.

The reason I know that it's recording fine and it's just in playback is that if you were to turn the tape over and record on the reverse side, what was recorded on track 6 shows up just fine on track 3 (reversed obviously) and what you record on track 6 (in reverse) then plays on track 3 fine when you flip the tape over.

I'm going to go through, open the deck up in august and really go through clean all the internal of the mixer to see if that does anything, but I'm afraid that this may be more of a problem with a communication from the tape head to the mixer, rather than the mixer itself.

Has anybody had any experience with this?
Ty

Savage Acoustic · Post by **Savage Acoustic** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 5:52 am

Hello,

I recently purchased a 388 and am trying to organise my studio. I am concerned about the proximity to the desk of my Acoustic Energy AE22 monitors. They are not shielded and I only have room at present to keep them slightly above the top and minutely behind the console.

Is this going to cause an issue with the tape deck? I am keeping my tapes far away but am concerned about the reel to reel portion of the 388.

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers.
Stephen.

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 8:06 am

wheyface wrote:

So it is true that my channel 6 just isn't working. Here's my diagnostic skills thus far and maybe somebody will be able to push the ideas further.

Channel 6 is very very quiet, distorted and scratchy for some reason. If you were to record from that input straight into track 6, the signal goes in and gets recorded fine, just during play back it doesn't seem to come out right.

The reason I know that it's recording fine and it's just in playback is that if you were to turn the tape over and record on the reverse side, what was recorded on track 6 shows up just fine on track 3 (reversed obviously) and what you record on track 6 (in reverse) then plays on track 3 fine when you flip the tape over.

I'm going to go through, open the deck up in august and really go through clean all the internal of the mixer to see if that does anything, but I'm afraid that this may be more of a problem with a communication from the tape head to the mixer, rather than the mixer itself.

Has anybody had any experience with this?
Ty

My money would be on the ch 6 bus board (from tape to program bus, I think?)...probably the easiest way to troubleshoot would be to swap with a known working board (from a neighboring channel). Could be a loose connection, or may need rebuilt. My ch 8 on one of my 388s does the same thing...I've been too lazy to fix because I can route the signal out a different way or put the reel on a different machine and it's fine.

mostfamiliar · Post by **mostfamiliar** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 10:43 am

Do you guys use the tape outs or pgm outs to transfer tracks digitally? I've noticed the tracks are VERY hissy - I've started putting a denoiser on the tracks in PT. Is a lot of tape hiss a thing with these machines? I'm wondering if maybe mine is particularly bad.

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 1:40 pm

mostfamiliar wrote:Do you guys use the tape outs or pgm outs to transfer tracks digitally? I've noticed the tracks are VERY hissy - I've started putting a denoiser on the tracks in PT. Is a lot of tape hiss a thing with these machines? I'm wondering if maybe mine is particularly bad.

The tape outs will be the "cleanest" in theory but honestly I use the pgm outs for a little more control over the level coming off of it and don't find the hiss excessive? I do normally track with dbx to keep noise in check as well? I mean you'll hear the hiss if I solo out a track and its "silence", but usually in the context of what's actually playing you don't unless I am applying a lot of gain in the form of compression or whatever after the fact (which will of course boost noise). I also go in and strip silence so there isn't an unnecessary noise build up of tracks that aren't being used all the way throughout the song. I've never had so much noise with it that I felt I needed to use a denoiser plugin?any time I have used a denoiser (in other situations) I usually felt that it did more harm than good, but maybe I just don't own any good ones.

I often also boost a bit of top end going in when I record (to tape) so that upon playback/mixing I can cut a little top off and lose some of the noise without totally killing the definition.

For reference of what my complete mixes have sounded like noise-wise, here is a song that I tracked entirely on the 388 with dbx off, mixed in Pro Tools:

http://www.theblackdotsofdeath.com/tbdod541.html (click on Destroy Anything)?I did not master this one I'm not a super huge fan of everything the guy that did to this song?much bigger fan of the radio mix but that's not up anywhere.

And on this website every song was recorded to 388 with dbx on, mixed in Reason:

http://www.tapesuey.com

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:35 pm

Hi Bias 1 mil 1/4" tape from ATR coming?

Thread from 2012 starts discussing the fact that ATR is considering manufacture of 1 mil 1/4" Hi Bias tape if enough people are interested. Very last post says it is finally on it's way.
Hi bias promising higher recording levels without necessarily the need for dbx, greater dynamic range. 1 mil for optimized compatibility for the 388.
So, fwiw...

j.harv · Post by **j.harv** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 4:00 pm

shedshrine wrote:Hi Bias 1 mil 1/4" tape from ATR coming?

Thread from 2012 starts discussing the fact that ATR is considering manufacture of 1 mil 1/4" Hi Bias tape if enough people are interested. Very last post says it is finally on it's way.
Hi bias promising higher recording levels without necessarily the need for dbx, greater dynamic range. 1 mil for optimized compatibility for the 388.
So, fwiw...

Sweet! Would this mean I would have to re-calibrate my machine if I wanted to try this tape, switching from LPR35???

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 4:12 pm

That's a great question. Can the 388's cards be biased to work with it. Check out the first page of the linked thread. (scroll down to where the spinning reels are) and you can read Sweetbeats' musings on precisely that topic.

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 8:22 pm

Found the Tapeheads.net thread they were referencing. Looks like 10.5" reels of 1 mil tape comparable to RMG LPR35 (rather than a higher bias formula..) , so spooling for a 7" if that is what's offered.

http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=42600

ATR's announcement:

"Thank you for your continuing support of analog!!!! Yes, the rumor is
true!!! Within the next several months we will be releasing a 1 mil
tape, 3,600 reel comparable to the RMG LPR35, commonly used in the
audiophile community. We have listened to the desires of our customers
and we're working on this new tape.

Thank you for your input and being the ears of the analog community.

We appreciate your support!!!!!

Best Regards,

Bette
ATR Magnetics"

_________________________

In other news..this was cool.
Sound Comparison samples back to back:
Pro Tools: Otari MX-5050, Tascam 388 w/Dolby: Tascam 388 with Dolby off

mjt335 · Post by **mjt335** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 1:59 pm

What outputs do you guys use if you're mixing down to a stereo pair in to a DAW?

I've just started sending mixes out to my DAW (through a Focusrite Saffire 6 interface) and so far I've only used the stereo XLR outs... but they send an super hot signal. In order to get it to a reasonable level that doesn't clip I have to pull my master volume (red fader) way down around 1.5 or 2 on the fader.

Is this common? Should I be trying something else... RCA outs maybe?

My apologies if this is covered elsewhere. I just skimmed this whole thread this afternoon (and have read it more thoroughly in the past) and didn't see anything about this.

Thanks, all!

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:30 pm

Isn't there a +4/-10 switch on the back?

And the xlr ins on your interface...are they mic level? You want line level.

That said, I always run from the buss outs or the tape outs (individual tracks) and mix on the pooter.

mjt335 · Post by **mjt335** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:34 pm

kslight wrote:Isn't there a +4/-10 switch on the back?

Good question. I will check on that... that would be awesome if it was that simple!

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The Tascam 388

First Recordings!

Channel 6 Not Working

Proximity of Non Magnetically Shielded Monitors to Tascam388

Re: Channel 6 Not Working

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