TASCAM 3200 buying advice MAC compatibility & interface

[PacificOceanBlue22]

Hi there,

I am new to the forum and an enthusiastic hobby musician with a little home studio. I want to replace my old Yamaha O2R with an TASCAM 3200. I have to say, that the Yamaha broke recently and I was in the process of learning the machine with some progress .

Anyway, I already did some room treatment basics, got myself some monitors and now I need a new digital mixer.

My computer is an older Mac Pro 6, Late 2013 1 8-Core 'Ivy Bridge' 3.0 GHz, that works like a charm. To connect the TASCAM with Logic and the Mac Pro, what kind of MAC OS works best? My DAW will be Logic Pro.

Or is it better to get a Mac Mini M1 and run everything with that set up? What will be better in regards to future drivers?

What kind of interface (ADAT?) is recommended for that scenario? Will a Motu 16A work? Or Ferrofish ADAT interface?


Thanks a lot & greetings
Chris

 

[PacificOceanBlue22]

P.S. I am also thinking about getting a MX 2424 to record on that machine. I don’t like to spend hours and hours before a DAW. I know that there is almost no way around a DAW, but just for the fun of it I like those older digital machines.

 

[mixerizer]

It's a really complicated question, and I bet u will get lots of different answers.

My approach w the DM-4800 has been to use it as a dedicated digital mixer, and it also can function as a MIDI control surface for a DAW like Logic. It's when you talk about whether u wanna be using the mixer's Firewire functionality that things get complicated. Modern Macs are harder and harder to make compatible with the Firewire card. So, I use a dedicated older Mac with built in firewire and an older OS as a dedicated mixer/DAW Mac (its primarily a recording and playback Mac). It also runs TCCompanion (TASCAM's DM mixer application), and DMoteControl, a ctrlr application made by Rockum here on the threads.

Whether you use the Firewire or not, you can definitely use a DM to mix the optical outputs and send signal to the optical inputs of MOTU interfaces, including the 16A you mentioned. With those, you can use the MOTU devices' mix environment as a submixer for the devices that may be plugged into it, you can use AVB (or Dante, with gear by other manufacturers) to move audio between those interfaces devices and devices, and you can use optical IO with the TASCAM internal ADAT ports, and any ADAT cards you might have. You can also convert optical or AES to and from the 3 built-in 8-channel TDIF ports, which is even more useful given the DM-3200 only has 2 expansion ports vs. the 4800's 4 ports.

 

[PacificOceanBlue22]

Thanks Micki!

I understand, what about the ADAT connection on the back? Is it possible expand ADAT and use it for audio transfer to an ADAT audio interface?

With one ADAT connection the channel transfer will be limited to 8 channels.

Or are AES cards available? That would open the possibility to connect the DM 3200/4800 even to a Lynx Aurora converter.

Thanks

 

[mixerizer]

Hey there, yes, I think you understand what I meant! The important thing to remember is that these mixers are vintage now, so finding one in great condition, and finding the cards you need, can be a challenge. But if you like that kind of thing, I have to say it is an excellent mixer, worth far more than the going price if it is kept in good condition.