Otari mx5050 8 track- the 'sound' of analog?

[twonky]

Hey-

I have posted this question a couple of other places but have not gotten an answer.

I realize it is kinda subjective, but I am going to ask anyway. Hopefully some one who uses both digital and analog will chime in.

I have been recording digitally for about 6 years now. I record w/ a program called samplitude, and I love it dearly. I even kinda like mixing in the box, I have gotten used to it and I think, pretty good at it.

I have an opportunity to purchase an Otari mx5050 1/2 inch 8 track from a friend for pretty cheap.

Now, I know that drums/bass can sound especially good when recorded to tape just as I know that they can sound really good when you take the time to really get them right when recording to hard drive. But tape does have that 'something' thats great for rock drums.

I guess my question is: w/ a smaller format tape machine, am I really going to notice that sound, that drums on tape sound?

I know it seems like a rather obvious answer "well, if you record them to tape thats what you'll be hearing." But is it anywhere near the ballpark of say 1" 8 track?

My plan is to dump them to the computer for mixing and editing.

thanks for any info

twonky

[skinnyemo77]

Hey man. I know exactly what you're talking about. I recently acquired a 2 track tape machine, and my goal is basically to use it as an effect. Have my bass player and drummer track to it in stereo, and then send the tape output to my digital machine. That way my rhythm section gets the "tape treatment" and the rest of my recordings I can dork with in digital format.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

I guess my question is: w/ a smaller format tape machine, am I really going to notice that sound, that drums on tape sound?

yes. without doubt.

does it sound like a studer? course not. it still sounds pretty damn good to me though.

i've mixed a couple project where everything was tracked to digital. and i'm getting the mix together and listening to the drums and thinking "well now those don't sound too bad at all." but then i'd experiment and run all the drum tracks out to the 5050 (monitoring in repro so i can hear what's happening on tape as i adjust the levels) then back into the computer. way better. they just sound more like drums to me coming off tape. i don't generally hit the tape STUPID hard, but i hit it, and there's some compression happening, and certainly some of the transients are getting soaked up....i dunno, it just sounds good to me, and the sounds work better in context with the whole mix. obviously it'd be better to record the drums to tape first and then transfer so you avoid unneccessary DA/AD conversions, but i'm just giving an example where it was really obvious to me what the tape did....

[Red Rockets Glare]

This might not be an exact comparison, but I LOVE the sound of drums and bass on my Tascam 1/2 inch 8 track. I have a few reels of GP9 that I've been using for all the rock projects I record for the drums and bass and then dump to PT. The tape hasn't started shedding or sounding shitty yet, and I'm on my fifth or sixth band with some of the reels.
Go for it!