Difference between 8-tracks

[notbillcosby]

I can’t find a good source to learn about the differences between various 8-Track 1/2” models. 80-8, 38, TSR8... are there more? What’s the difference?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The difference is in cost, age and how the tape is treated. The 80-8 is the oldest unit existing in the early 80's when I started working there. it is a crude transport but certainly can last a long time. It's weakness is the relays used in the cards and on the dbx cards. These relays can get intermittent and be a real pain to deal with. it design type is like that of the Otari decks.

The TSr-8 was a low cost version of the 38 that already existed but was at that time the entry level deck with three heads. The TSR8 is more like a Fostex machine but built a little better but has only two heads to save cost of production. This might be fine when you are buying the unit but they cost the Technician more time to calibrate and so then more cost for the customer.

The higher end 8 tracks were at the 48 and 58 models that had servo tension and tension arm rollers that the 38 did not have. The 38 had springs and aluminum cylinders that now freeze up and have little movement- again cheap is not better as it cost more to take these off and take apart and clean and use new silicon damping fluid in them. They are a pain to work on for that part. The 48 and 58 have had their problems too and they blamed it on damaged coils in the DIP relays but I am not sure all these coils could have been damaged as too many relays over the years have failed- in 8 channel machines there are often the need for 16 relays for the mute function and 8 for the record. The Mute relays are usually the problem. I put sockets in the boards so that if it is needed the relays can just be changed out but have had no failures so far.
Maybe the relay problem comes from the XLR connector with Phantom power on them that damage the contacts- this is always a possibility. Once a 48 or 58 is properly set up they handle tape very smoothly. They also have spool mode.
There were some models in the ATR or 60 series but we did not get to see those too much in Chicago. I was told there was a ATR60-8 that may have used 1" tape. I guess it is possible.

The TSR8 also uses those LED meters that are known for their failure and rather costly to have repaired at the micro sized level. As with everything parts that have problem are the first to go out of stock at the supplier.
I have worked on all these deck more than once with the exception of the ATR60-8.

 

[BRDTSagain]

I'll add that at the time I was a dealer for the new 80-8s (and 90-16 when I had to), the emerging problem over time with the 80-8s was due to the ac motors. Tape pack could affect speed response over the course of a few hours in session... especially when the machines became warm. Which meant pitch discrepencies if you were bouncing tracks between say, twin 80-8s in a freewheel manner and ended up overdubbing against bounces towards the end of a reel.... stuff could end up out of pitch against reference input.

This seemed to be solved once dc motors were brought in for the 8516 and B, which trickled down to the 8 track stuff as well.

80-8 tape lifters and path were really not that different from a 3340. In fact, the 90-16 wasn't much different from a 3340 path either, although the motors were getting better. Imo, tape paths, punch-in circuitry, tape handling, and speed reliability came to be in models after the series 70, 80-8, 90-16 days.

The 80-8 also had no pitch control until 78 or 79 when the little add-on pitch control boxes were released by Montebello. Those were easy enough to plug in to the back of the 80-8 port, but by then (78 or so) it was becoming obvious that the demand was moving towards multiple machines with tight sync protocols. Which the 80-8 would never be able to handle.

I personally bypassed the 38 models (I was working with synchronized jh24s by those years) but stuck with Teac/Tascam long after I exited the dealer biz.

The tsr8s (I owned several that I bought new), while 2-head, were extremely reliable for sync. Being able to synchronize 2 or 3 or four tsr8s with a set of mts100s or say, three ats500s... and being able to throw them in the backseat of your car, made for a very nice, portable, high-count multitrack system for location work in the dwindling final 5 years of production of these types of machines. I found that synchronizing any/all the post 1984 Tascam machines to daw work (beginning in 1995 for me) was also easy and reliable for transfers.

The meters on the tsr8s I owned were okay, but the msr24 (same general meter design) that I bought on a whim during Montebello's blow-out sale of them, did develop meter problems on a couple of channels. I never did pursue that issue as I sold that machine after having only put five or six hours on it after buying it new. I did feel that the meter failures were unusual for a machine I used so little.. but oh well.

I owned 3 85-16s/85-16bs, felt that the ms16 was a nice step up, and the later atr 16 one inch models, were not huge tech advances, but a nice new look nonetheless. I didn't work with the 48/58 series, but felt that primarily what was being added by then were xlr capability (earlier emerging on the ms16) to ease the continuing rap Montebello was getting regarding interfacing... and to somewhat compete with the Otari models... although the number of Tascam dealers opened dwarfed Otari's ability to do the same. So Teac was always crushing Otari numbers-wise. The various flavors of Otari 8trk machines were fine (I sold those too), but basically, the quarter and half inch technology everyone was using (spearheaded by Teac) was similar.

I'm probably repeating myself from other posts I've made over the years. I haven't been on the board for quite a while and can't even remember how I used to log in, so I registered anew.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Thank you for you input regarding these different machines. It is an interesting read. Working on these for repair might result in a slightly different perspective. The Otari decks I have worked on did work like the 80-8 but were the same old design as that. If Otari wanted to compete or do better than Tascam they would have to get rid of the tension arms and move up to rollers. You can't compete a MX5050-8 with a Tascam 58 as they are different types of animals.
The 48 and 58 were to compete with the Studer decks. Now I know they are slightly better but some of the repair of the Studer problem could be more of a headache than the Japanese product. Those German diagrams and several pages of turning in the book looked like they were selling more paper than trying to get the job done. Give me a large diagram as provided by Stereomanuals as reproductions of the Tascam SM and I can fix something a lot faster and do so even now.