Mixing Reel to Reels (Fostex-R8 opinons)?

[Sean Sullivan]

I've been looking for a reel to reel machine, specifically a Tascam 388 because it has a built-in mixer, but the chances of finding one close to me (cincinnati) are slim. There is a Fostex-R8 for sale in Cleveland that looks promising, but since I've never used reel to reels, I have a few general questions:

How do you mix (panning/eq) to reel to reels? Does it all have to be done before putting it on the tape?

Is there any way I can sync my Digi 002R to the tape machine so I can record in Pro Tools but print to tape? Is that even worth it?

thanks for the help, any comments about the Fostex R8 from a quality standpoint will be great too!

[drumsound]

R8 is OK, nothing special. You'll need a mixer or you'll need to track and then print into the computer. If you scrafice a track for time code and get a syncronizer you can sync the r8 with the computer, you'll still need a mixer for the tracks on the R8.

[spectralgrey]

How do you mix (panning/eq) to reel to reels? Does it all have to be done before putting it on the tape?

You won't be mixing TO the tape machine, you'll be mixing FROM the tape machine. It's all done after tracking when you're mixing down to 2-track. I suppose you can EQ on the way in, but panning is done afterward since each of the tracks is mono.

[yellodoggmusic]

I've been looking for a reel to reel machine, specifically a Tascam 388 because it has a built-in mixer, but the chances of finding one close to me (cincinnati) are slim. There is a Fostex-R8 for sale in Cleveland that looks promising, but since I've never used reel to reels, I have a few general questions:

How do you mix (panning/eq) to reel to reels? Does it all have to be done before putting it on the tape?

Is there any way I can sync my Digi 002R to the tape machine so I can record in Pro Tools but print to tape? Is that even worth it?

thanks for the help, any comments about the Fostex R8 from a quality standpoint will be great too!

i picked up an R8 in Fishtown (south philly) a few weeks ago/at the same time as an old school allen & heath mixer.... and now i'm slowly learning to track and then mix down onto an "obsolete" korg d12 to burn cds of mixes after recording sessions... best of both worlds, obsolete late eighties with obsolete late nineties stuff!

i love it so far! for what it is, if you can find one for about a couple hundred bucks its worth it for your first reel to reel. it is so compact and heavy for its size ( you'll be kinda suprised) still it is pretty modern in terms of convenience. its late eighties so you kinda get the red LEDs and you can get an extension for its control pad(which allows it to double as a remote control, which i love because i'm tracking while engineering half the time.) if you can find an MTC-1, you can get it synced with MIDI time code and what not. (google it)... there are also fostex synchronizers that allow you to wire two R8s/or other fostex reel-to-reels together. (i am planning on it soon..) i can't tell you about parts yet, but that's the only thing i worry about now.

anyway to get a reel-to-reel to learn the ropes with, i love it( its definitely not as cool looking as older tascam units) and i like the idea of thinner 1/4 tape, its cheaper you don't feel like you're wasting money mucking about with it. plus reverse anything, tape loops, detuning (AWESOME if you can get it to sync with your pro-tools.. genuine flange!) etc. you can't learn the art of it without the real thing.

but just as important is having a nice analog mixer to go with it (it has eight RCA inputs/outputs) so you would want a mixer that can route and send things where they need to go, which the digi002 wouldn't automatically do with the R8.... i think so far i like the sound of the r8 because of the board has warm pres and old school british eq...

i spent the past year recording on that korg d12/ just 12 tracks of 16-bit/ or 6 tracks at 20-bit! but i learned to use it despite its limitations. (two xlrs, two 1/4 inputs no phantom power) which is pretty bare bones in 2007. with the reel to reel it is different in method but parallel in one sense. i'm slowly learning to figure out how to fit a full band on 8 tracks ... a good skill to learn. its definitely my bag.