Looking back

[TascMan]

Hi all..Just moved to Las Vegas (As of June 2nd, 2025) to live with my sister and our aging father. I remember spending so much time on this forum and always loved writing and helping others. Sad to see it wither away. I realize I am a bit late on that notion, it seems nobody has really written anything here for some time. This forum is a ghost town compared to its golden days of DM routing and driver forum fury. There were so many good guys here, all focused on our DMs. I've been involved with a great album in a studio in Lancaster PA for the last couple of years, all tracked and mixed by yours truly in the box on Reaper, (working with excellent musicians) working there every weekend. Countless other side work at the same studio, keeping my mixing chops up. There are a lot of digital boards out there, many with great new features and nice looking screens. Most are more live sound oriented, which makes sense, as 16 to 32 busses are just not needed in the studio. But I always felt that the DM series was a solid precursor, almost a grandfather, to what is out there today. It was a diamond ahead of its time, but has succumbed to the end of the transitional period from analog mixing workflows to the point and click era. I miss owning, talking about and even just looking at my glorious DM3200 (Beauty is in the eye of the beholder), last seen in 2015. My old studio computer used windows 7, had a core 2 duo (2Cores!!) CPU with a stunning 4 GB of PC133 ram, and a 1GB 7200RPM Hard drive that I was sure i could never fill up! I just built a new computer based on an ASRock Pro-A WIFI z890 MB, Core Ultra 7 265K (20 cores) CPU, 32GB of DDR5 ram running at 6400Mhz (3200DDR), a 2TB NvME main drive, a 1TB secondary drive on windows 11. Damn its fast! But enough about that. I guess i am just being and old fart reminiscing about a bygone era. It really was a shame that Tascam never filled the void of the aging DMs with something else. We talked about it here all the time. Just think of the customer base they lost. We all could be discussing the newest drivers or routing techniques on our new DM6200 Ultra uber XL plus MKIII super mega chromed out mixing boards with 5 Bazillion contrast/color touch screens. Oh well. Think I'll go find an old rotary phone and try to call someone. If anyone actually is around to read this, feel free to reply or comment or whatever they call it these days. I'd love to reach out. I haven't really met anyone yet in the Las Vegas community, so if you exist, let me know. My avatar is my old dog Charlie, who was just a pup when I took that picture of him on our boat many moons ago. My ex-wife took him, so i assume he's probably dead now. Oh well. Farewell Charlie.

 

[shredd]

I remember spending so much time on this forum and always loved writing and helping others. Sad to see it wither away. l I realize I am a bit late on that notion, it seems nobody has really written anything here for some time. This forum is a ghost town compared to its golden days of DM routing and driver forum fury.

I’ve been hanging around a few years - having returned after a long absence - but yeah, I kinda do remember much more activity/participation. I dunno if that has to do with Tascam’s changing product spectrum; peoples’ interest in it; or simply that the home-recording demographic is inundated with so much online ‘content’ that they spend as little time there as possible!

It really was a shame that Tascam never filled the void of the aging DMs with something else. We talked about it here all the time. Just think of the customer base they lost.

I’mma gonna haveta agree with this - to a point…fact is, there’s been TOOOONS of great Tascam gear (ranging from the home hobbyist to the hard-cores, like all you DM guys!). I myself made the transition from entry-level Fostex’s to the 2488’s, where I was for manymany years, until I went DP-32. But I think it’s safe to say that an enormous amount of the Tascam demographic has “gone DAW”…may gawd have mercy on their souls!!!

Oh well. Think I'll go find an old rotary phone and try to call someone.

That’s actually pretty funny, considering that a rotary phone (google it, you young ‘uns!) is pretty analogous to some of this really old Tascam tech.
But really - I can empathize, I think. I’m a relative geezer myself…and my studio habits, workflow, equipment, etc are pretty old-school, compared to “what people do” nowadays. I’ve never used A.I., AutoTune, or had MIDI play my instruments for me…I’ve never “snapped to grid”, quantisized a track, and can count the number of trax I've ever done whose outcome depended on plug-ins on ONE HAND.

If anyone actually is around to read this, feel free to reply or comment or whatever they call it these days. I'd love to reach out. I haven't really met anyone yet in the Las Vegas community, so if you exist, let me know. My avatar is my old dog Charlie, who was just a pup when I took that picture of him on our boat many moons ago. My ex-wife took him, so i assume he's probably dead now. Oh well. Farewell Charlie.

An ol’ pal ‘o mine (actually, my oldest friend in the world!) is retiring to Vegas…but he’s a dentist and a grampa, which pretty much encompasses his interests (other than traveling to exotic places, which he can do ‘cuz he’s a RICH retired dentist!).
I'm still marveling that a fellow that rich (could go anywhere) is living in Vegas. ON PURPOSE!!! (though I'mma pretty sure it has to do with those grandkids...).

And - as a devout dog-adorer (note MY avatar) - you have my condolences on losing Charlie - first to your ex, then presumably/eventually to the circle of life. My beloved pupp is also gone - nearly 10 years - and I still miss him every hour of every day of my life. He was worth more to me than any ten people I’ve ever known.

 

[TascMan]

Thank you for your reply. Enjoyed every word. Maybe your dentist friend will be the same one I'm going to next month. Wouldn't that be small worldish. Love your signature line as well. Big RUSH fan here.. I still love listening to 2112. Thanks again.

 

[shredd]

Like I always say: “there’s RUSH. Then there’s everybody else.” I’m an admittedly drooling fanboi (even at my age!). They’re in a class by themselves!

2112 is a great album…& if I had a nickel for every time I’ve listened to the title track, the MuskRat would be scrubbing my toilets.

 

[Peter Batah]

Good morning @TascMan @shredd I trust that life is treating you well. Funny that you should mention the inactivity on this great forum. I share your sentiments and have done so for several months but never dared say a word. Forgive me if this runs a liitle long

Cup of Joe in hand I religiously visit this site on a daily basis. Some habits are hard to break I'm afraid.

A short while back I penned a post where I eluded to the fact that sadly I may have to part with my beloved DM-4800. My wife and I have sold our single family dwelling and will be moving into a three bedroom condo.

I have been looking for ways to replace my Argosy Series 70 desk and DM with gear that would take up a lot less room. However, that is turning into quite the challenge. Not to mention how the recent Tariff insanity has made gear coming in from the US near impossible to afford.

Eg. I reached out to one of the bigger retailers here in Canada asking them to quote me on the Argosy Halo. I received a response this morning. Their reply and I quote:

Unfortunately, we can’t get any Argosy since the Canadian tarifs.

It looks like I will be holding on to my current setup for a little while longer.

@shredd My wife and I attended the Canadian Juno Awards in 1980 (yes another old fart here) We were invitied to the after party (I was signed to London Records at the time) where we took part in the celebration alongside the likes of Rush and many others. What a blast!

I wish you both a wonderful day. Health and Happiness always.

Peter

 

[shredd]

G'morning @Peter Batah ! Thanks for joining in the chitchat...regardless of the thin attendance nowadays, I still enjoy the forum - both for Tascam-specific postings, and also the camaraderie with fellow enthusiasts (even us ol' farts!). Maybe it's become habit-forming for me too...
Have even been following your re-lo/DM-downsize. FIrst impression was "whatta shame" - the DM's are amazing gear and obviously much-loved by studio hard-cores like yourself. But...I've also noted how fast/far technology has come, even in the last 10-15 years...and of course there's the massive tidal wave of the mewzyk industry favoring artists who produce on the cheap (which means puters/DAWs), since a music company would sooner endorse hyttlerr for a Nobel Peace Prize than pay even the world's best band for a few months of studio time. Sigh...

You also have my sympathy - nay, my humble shame - at what our new fuhrer's absurdist, dyk-swinging posturing and trade policies are doing to EVERYone - we Americans included.

And I can barely voice how dazzled I am that you were at the Juno's when RUSH got their long-awaited due at RRHF (trivial and meaningless as induction was/has become even more so since!). While (nearly) every rock-star meeting I've had was literally momentary...I'd give a kidney to meet any/all of those guys...especially NeilP, who I deemed one of the most interesting people in the entire mewzyk biz.
I did meet Donna Halper, who was interesting...and peripherally, had a good hang-out w/Kim Mitchell of Max Webster (a seriously underrated git'rist, BTW!!!) at a show I went to (they opened for RUSH for several tours, even collab'd on a great song w them).

Enjoy that morning Joe in beautiful La Métropole!

 

[Peter Batah]

@shredd A little Memoribilia. Obviously, my memory failed me (again) It was actually 1978. Ahh yes, those were the days. And guess who won "Group of the Year"?

Junos-1

Junos-2

 

[shredd]

guess who won "Group of the Year"?

EDIT:
It wasn’t your memory…the RRHF induction was WAY later, and is (as we all know) utter bool-squirt.
The Junos are a much bigger deal - basically Canada’s Grammy’s!!

PS: forgot to mention: when you noted you'd been on a label back in those days - I looked up to see what our dazzling internet would yield for @Peter Batah ...and was treated to a marvelous string of peppy, energetic, exciting jams! Despite having less than no interest in disco/EDM/"club music" (I could never afford the Xstacy) - I thought they were fun, very listenable, and extremely well put-together!

 

[Peter Batah]

@shredd Thank you for the kind words. I too was never a huge fan of the music of that era. Fortunately, there was so much else to listen to. When my stint with London records was up I signed a four year record deal with a company (Unidisc) who were focusing almost entirely on that genre of music. They made me a decent offer so I went with the flow. Heck I really had very little to lose at that period of my life. Living with my parents who were so incredibly supportive helped immensely.

And here we are. May have to dust off the bell bottom jeans and platform shoes. NOT !!!

 

[shredd]

I think I can relate…when I think about some of things I did, said, thought were important in those days…I sorta throw up in my mouth a little.

But yeah - good era for music (all the cheezy disco, talentless hair/glam-rock bands, and nauseating “soft-rock” notwithstanding)…I personally consider the mid-60’s to late-70’s to be the pinnacle of rock mewzyk. Bands whose creations will be amazing 100 years from now!

At least you had a good reason (record deal, a chance to get PAID to make music - & parents who didn’t dump on yr dreams & throw you out of the house)…whutz not to like? I’d have done it in a heartbeat!