Another Tascam 388 wonderer...

[Antler23]

You're good for the musical economy!

Ha! And not done yet - just booked Oz Fritz to master this mess of an album I'm making. Looking forward to spending that money!

I hope it turns out well!

Thanks! I've got a mastering engineer I've used for my last several albums whose work I've been perfectly happy with, but for the new album, I wanted to move in a new direction. I don't know how that might translate into the actual mastering, but everything I've read about Oz Fritz has convinced me he's the right guy for this record. It'll be an attended session - I haven't done an attended session in 15+ years, don't think. Just as this album has been all about the people on it, recording-wise, getting a bit of vibe from Oz fits the picture. A friend's band had him master a recent album and one of the most curious things they said was that he really tuned to the lyrics. That appeals to me greatly, even if lyrics and mastering have never seemed particularly connected in any previous experience I've had.

[Antler23]

Following up on my own post...
First off, Oz Fritz did a fab job with the mastering of my double album. I'd happily work with him again for mastering. Highly recommended.

I'm still squinting at the Tascam 388, but pretty certain it just doesn't make enough sense for me. I'm not going to stop using Logic as my main recording bag, and a step into analog will be a side-step, just to do something other. A way to make music with a different head attached. I've set up a Bandcamp account for oddball, one-off tracks and could see an analog rig suited for material like this.

Anyway, with that said, I've found a Fostex Model 80 for $600+. Some of the LEDs don't light up, but I don't know if this means from top to bottom or if certain segments are burnt out. Anybody know if an LED fix is a simple job? What else should I be asking about with the Model 80. I've zero experience with analog tape gear beyond my ancient 4-track.

I'm finding M-208 mixers for $350-500. For a modest analog rig, coupled with the Model 80, would a mixer like this sit right?

Thanks!

[markjazzbassist]

Following up on my own post...
First off, Oz Fritz did a fab job with the mastering of my double album. I'd happily work with him again for mastering. Highly recommended.

I'm still squinting at the Tascam 388, but pretty certain it just doesn't make enough sense for me. I'm not going to stop using Logic as my main recording bag, and a step into analog will be a side-step, just to do something other. A way to make music with a different head attached. I've set up a Bandcamp account for oddball, one-off tracks and could see an analog rig suited for material like this.

Anyway, with that said, I've found a Fostex Model 80 for $600+. Some of the LEDs don't light up, but I don't know if this means from top to bottom or if certain segments are burnt out. Anybody know if an LED fix is a simple job? What else should I be asking about with the Model 80. I've zero experience with analog tape gear beyond my ancient 4-track.

I'm finding M-208 mixers for $350-500. For a modest analog rig, coupled with the Model 80, would a mixer like this sit right?

Thanks!

the LED is a common issue, it's unfixable. i had tracks that certain lights were out, others where they would "stick" so to speak. i think they used an inferior LED product on those machines and it just hasn't stood the test of time. if you have a mixer to monitor from you can gauge the levels that way (also use your ears).

[Antler23]

I saw an article on reverb.com, something about "The Nostalgia of non-DAW Recording." My wish for a 388 or a a reel-to-reel or even a better-working 4-track is indeed part of the nostalgia zeitgeist, I suppose. Regardless of format, tape width or saturation levels, one way or other, I'm fried - like many of us, it seems - on screen-based life and am longing for ways to make music with ears and fingers first. I know I'm not looking for something to use instead of Logic, I just want something else I can use that gives me a break from the all-digital mind that's trapped in my tiny brain!

That said, I did a drum session this weekend in my small studio using the Tascam Model 12. It was great! We were recording a Soft Boys cover, so a pretty low-key, self-contained purpose to the session and no harm trying at at home for free. My drummer had a fab Rogers kit that sounded perfect as-is. I shoved some mics into place... an Oktava 219 on the kick, SM57 for snare and Rode NT-1A behind the drummer, just above his head. Honestly, zero fussing, just trying to get the sounds of the kit. Anyway, besides the "analog-esque" pleasure of the Tascam's layout, there was the fact of having to commit to a take. I mean, unlike tape, with the Tascam, there's an Undo function, but one still needs to keep the keeper. There was a workaround available in this case, as we'd only used 3 tracks for drums and two for my scratch vox and guitar and had enough free tracks to do a second drum take, but still, the feeling was, "no - let's get the good one and say it's the good one." And we did. An enjoyable session with just enough limitation and only a tiny screen to squint at. AND... the drums as recorded sound good. On my end, all I did was place mics in front of drums - Tom's performance and the sound of his kit did all the work.

Of course, once we'd finished up, I popped the SD card out, shoved it into Logic and re-did my vox and guitar, then sent the files to our bassist. So, best of all worlds. I'm no purist in any regard and my interest in going analog is more to do with working method/limitation/different head space than sonics.

[Calaverasgrande]

Before I got into DAWs I was this luddite anti digital knucklehead.
Blame it on potent northern California weed and the lack of critical thinking among the musicians I hung out with.
Anyway for a long time I rocked a Ramsa WR series mixer with a Tascam 80-8 1/2" open reel deck.
DBX noise reduction is truly awful. So I got good at only using it on some channels and just hitting the rest of the channels a little hard or fiddling with the cards to align them in a way that gave me less hiss at the expense of top end.
The switchable high and low filters on the Ramsa really helped control the tape hiss and give some punch to the low end.
Then tape started getting hard to find and expensive, and I heard some stuff done ITB that sounded really good so I hopped on the DAW train.
After mixing in the box for a couple decades I went back to analog mixers. I really just like using the DAW as a tape machine that doesn't wear out your tape. I got a cheap Soundtracs Solo MIDI 24. It had a cool midrange and bass, but there was a shrillness to the top end I couldn't get around. Ended up giving it away when I moved then buying an SSL X-Desk and Xpanda. These I really like for my workflow. Mixing with faders and knobs. A couple 500 series racks on inserts for EQ and dynamics. Similar inline design like the Ramsa I had in the 90s. HEADROOM

What really kills me about people working on tape these days is the way they just re-use tape over and over. Record, mixdown, then erase the tape on a bulk eraser and start over again. I think some people archive the multitrack to their hardrive, but I know a lot that dont.
Met a few people in Brooklyn that are just dumping their DAW projects to tape for mixdown as an effect. Lots of them love the 388 for that.
Though I think a lot of the 'mojo' they are getting is the cruddy Tascam mixer. That isn't the worst mixer they ever made, but it's far from their best.
I think the 388 is about the same quality of a good cassette multitrack. It's great for lofi recording. But for workflow I think a DAW with a transport control and soild analog mixer is a great combo. Most of all I really do not miss tape alginment, cleaning and maintenance.

[Antler23]

I don't have a strong desire for the sound of analog tape. I'm well-settled into the realm of recording digitally. My 388 quest is/was much more about getting away from the mouse-and-screen mode of working.

To this end, things are going in two directions at once. I've picked up a second Tascam Model 12. I have one in my current studio and use it mainly as a "mixer with benefits." The second Model 12 will live downstairs in the basement we're currently converting into a proper project/writing studio. The basement studio will be an easy place to do the grunty physical work - track drums, piano, electric guitars. Live tracking with a small band will be possible. I've used the Model 12 for drums before, and it's worked out well, in a basic way at least. Being able to pop out the SD card and shove fresh drum tracks into Logic serves me well. The Tascam will act as the "rental reel" I guess.

The basement is nearly finished, at least the first stage of construction. For now, it's mostly going to be a contained/dedicated space with a wall and a window, whereas before it was a laundry room with cats and a drum kit. The guy we're having do the work built Oz Fritz's mixing/mastering room and does wonderful work. He's got loads of jobs upcoming, but in a few months he'll return and the zero in on tweaking the actual acoustics of the space. My upstairs studio - my wife's former office - will still be for vocals, synths and mixing, but ideally I'll find myself increasingly locked away in the dungeon making proper noises for hours rather than for minutes between emails as I currently am...

[vernier]

388 looks neat .. bet they sound good.

[Mark]

Check out Brothers Nylon or The Bakery Studio on Youtube. A lot of their stuff was tracked on 388s

https://www.youtube.com/@BrothersNylon
https://www.youtube.com/@TheBakeryStudio

[Antler23]

Check out Brothers Nylon or The Bakery Studio on Youtube. A lot of their stuff was tracked on 388s

https://www.youtube.com/@BrothersNylon
https://www.youtube.com/@TheBakeryStudio

I'd seen the Bakery stuff before - that's what made me wanna get a 388! Really liked the Brothers Nylon as well. New to me.

My basement studio is well under way... for now, I'll use a Tascam Model 12 as my "tape" machine... I'm not so concerned with what medium I record to as much as just wanting to work within a set of limitations. The Tascam will leave me enough room to track drums (in mono w 3 mics or stereo w 4), while tracking bass, gtr, keys in the room same time. But yeah, watching the Bakery vid again pushes the "388 want" button all over again. Thankfully, budget is well blown, so I'm safe for now!

[trodden]

I recently saw a Tascam 246 PortaStudio listed locally for $900.

I LOL'd. Granted, it was supposedly in 100% working refurbished order.
People are really paying that much for limited format (cassette) tape width? They must be, since I see these machines priced as such.

I'll take protools 6 and a Digi 001 before that.

[kslight]

Heads up, anyone still wondering about owning a Tascam 388 of their very own, situations dictate that I could be persuaded to sell one or both of mine. Located in Kansas City.

[Mark]

I recently saw a Tascam 246 PortaStudio listed locally for $900.

I LOL'd. Granted, it was supposedly in 100% working refurbished order.
People are really paying that much for limited format (cassette) tape width? They must be, since I see these machines priced as such.

I'll take protools 6 and a Digi 001 before that.

In the meantime you can pick up the much newer 424 for half that. Well, at least you can in the UK.

[floid]

I recently saw a Tascam 246 PortaStudio listed locally for $900.

I LOL'd. Granted, it was supposedly in 100% working refurbished order.
People are really paying that much for limited format (cassette) tape width? They must be, since I see these machines priced as such.

I'll take protools 6 and a Digi 001 before that.

I know prices have changed on everything in the last few years, not to mention the premiums that inevitably become attached to these things as they age, become rarer, need service, etc.
But, in the mid aughts I paid something like
~$150 for a korg 8 track [edit: yamaha]
~$180 for a 238
~$250 for a 388
~$250 for a 246
Still have the korg and the 388. Wish I'd hung onto the other two, but it's reeeeealllly difficult to justify the ones I do still own at this point, given how often I use them.

[Mark]

Korg made an 8 track recorder?

[Mark]

I paid something like £200 in the same period for my 388.