Either/Or Console Question: Tascam M216 vs Mackie 1604 VLZ

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MajorEverettMiller
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Either/Or Console Question: Tascam M216 vs Mackie 1604 VLZ

Post by MajorEverettMiller » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:11 am

I found a Tascam M216 for $250 on Craigslist that appears to be in tip top shape. Currently, I have a Mackie 1604 VLZ. I've been using it for about 2 years and it's been okay. I was using the pre's and mixing in the box.

I've since bought some REAL preamps and was just planning on using the board for mixing OUT of the box. I'm wondering what kind of quality loss or gain I would experience with the Tascam. My only beef about that Tascam is that it does not have ANY direct outs as opposed to the Mackie which only has 8 (16 would be ideal).

Also, I'm figuring I could buy the M216 for $250 and sell the Mackie for $500...kind of another selling point...

Any opinions are appreciated as always.

Thanks!

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RodC
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Post by RodC » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:28 am

I have a Tascam M216. Its an OK board. There are no direct outs but you can use the inserts. The problems I have with it are:

Everthing is -10 db out, unbalanced, consumer level, I would prefer +4

No inserts on the busses

The XLR outputs in the back are not balanced either, dont let that fool you.

Does not seem to have the bass response of my other boards, I never could get Toms/drums to sound good through it.

None of these things are complete killers, just the issues I have.

One great thing is that every channel has a mic preamp, for the size of the board 16 mic inputs is pretty sweet.
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penelec
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Post by penelec » Fri Jul 14, 2006 6:08 pm

RodC wrote: Does not seem to have the bass response of my other boards, I never could get Toms/drums to sound good through it.
I have the 208, and have noticed the same thing as RodC. It's not so much a weak bass response ('cause the bass is there) as a coloring that affects most frequencies in a nice way, except <60 or so. The bottom end sounds thin. That said, the top end sounds great, and there is something Sonic Youth-y (DDN-era) about the pre-amps that I really appreciate. For $250 i'd buy it even just to have around.

FWIW, I love the VUs, and the lightbulbs seem to never need to be replaced.

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