I want a tape machine in my studio....16 track?? Ideas??

I can no longer stand the sound of digital in my home studio. I need tape. No matter how many vintage and modern tube pieces I add to the equation, this stuff just sounds cold as ice to my ears and digital does NOT do bass and drums properly. I've been working in this studio (http://www.tinytelephone.com/html/photos.html) in San Francisco doing some production and vocals on a project and those guys have got a Studer 2" 24 track and last night I demoed a new song of mine at home and it sounds horrible. In a sense, this Studer machine has ruined my gear for me. I want a small 16 track machine that is reliable, solid, easy to maintain, and decent sounding. I was looking on ebay at some Otari or Tascam stuff, but I'm in the dark. I'm afraid that I'm going to end up with something that is a nightmare to operate. What should I do?

 

Me Too!!

See if you can find an Ampex MM1200 2 inch 16 track. It is the best sounding 16 track machine ever, period. It eats Studers for lunch! It was available in a 24 track and a 16. This machine is amazing! It is the perfect pair to the Ampex ATR-102 two track machine. Actually, the multitrack pair to the Ampex ATR-102 is the ATR-124, which also has a CAPSTANLESS TRANSPORT, however it is a bit more difficult to maintain, and you would have to purchase a 16 track headblock for it.

Give Mike Spitz at ATR Services a call, and tell him Joe Nino-Hernes sent you. He will be able to assist you in finding a machine, and once you get one, he will be able to fix it!! Mike is at the AES Convention right now, and should be back in the office sometime later next week. He has helped me so much with getting my ATR up and running! He is really a great person!

(717) 852-7700
http://www.atrservice.com/

Once you hear (and use) the Ampex, you will never want to use a Studer ever again. That is the point that I am at. Whenever I have to use a Studer, I feel like I am using a toy!


I would stay away from the "prosumer" decks like the Tascam stuff. It is good, for its purpose, but it was not designed to be used on a regular basis like the Ampex pro stuff. However, I have used the Tascam MS-16 1 inch 16 track recorder, and it sounds pretty nice, however due to the smaller track width, there are some issues with hiss. However, I would rather have a little tape hiss than the harshness of digital! I had a Tascam, and I am sure you have heard the recordings I have made with it, but once I started using it on a regular basis, I ran the thing into the ground.

If you have not heard the recordings, go to my website www.srctape.com, click on services and scroll to the bottom.

I must update my website, because I am currently freelancing out of one of Chicagos larger studios that is equipped with vintage Ampex, Neve, API, Neumann etc. The studio owner heard some of my work, and was very impressed and insisted that I come work in his studio any time I would like. If anyone here is interested in having their project mixed or mastered in a top notch facility by moi, please contact me for rates!

Analog rules, there is simply nothing like it! Rock on bro!!!

 

Prix,

As a home studio guy, I would recommend heading over to the forums at http://www.tapeop.com as well as the Tascam Analog forums (not working at this moment, but located at http://www.tascam.com/Forums.html ). Also, the Gearslutz forum at http://www.gearslutz.com/board/index.php3

These people know their stuff.

I got a lot of help from both of these places when I picked up my 2-track machine.

Be ready for heavy maintenance!

 

WOW!! the Tascam Forums are back!!!!!

 

That's exactly what I didn't want to hear. Oh well....I guess there is no free lunch.

 

Another idea is to record to your digital recorder, as you're doing now, and then bounce each track to an analog 2 track machine (cheaper than a 16 track), re-recording the signal off of tape from the repro head back onto your digital recorder (on a different track of course). This way you'll have the editing capabilities of digital and the tape compression, distortion and head bump of analog. I know it's not ideal but it's another option.

I've been mixing to an Ampex ATR 102 1" machine and 24/96 digital the last few days, I'll post some clips later, but the differences aren't as big as you'd expect. I seriously think cheaper analog machines give you more of the expected "analog" sound.

 

What kind of budget are we talking?

If you can scrape up the money, I would go for a 2-inch 16-track machine...that's how you get that TONE. (One-inch 8-track is great too, if you are comfortable bouncing tracks, or just transferring parts over to your digital system.)

With a smaller-format machine, you may find it more difficult to get the sound you want. One-inch 16 can be useful, but may require an outboard noise reduction system to reach its full potential.

hth,

 

$1000 or so.

 

I'm thinking Tascam MS-16. That's what the folks over at Tape Op are recommending. Opinions?

 

Good advice. A friend of mine had the MS-16 and sold it for a 1" Tascam machine. After working with it for a bit, he realized that the MS-16 was actually a better machine, despite the tape width.

 

For a prosumer deck, it is very good. It is built well, and it sounds good!