The Tascam Model 12, and my first real digital test drive

[T. Bailey]

So, last night was my first real chance to take my new Tascam Model 12 for a paid spin, cutting some guitar tracks for a friend. Accurately punching in/out with the footswitch was seamless, and the MARK feature is great! BTW the Preamps are really nice, and the VAMP feature would be amazing if weren't just limited to playback/loops, and if there was a way to use it while in recording mode. I spent 20+ years dealing with tape based recording (and randomly sloppy punches) but I officially retired in 1996, shortly before Digital became "the coin of the realm" (so to speak). Digital is new to me, and pretty easy to get used to. I can still remember my friends in Nashville adapting to those early Sony digital consoles and systems like the PCM-3324, and of course eventually integrating software like ProTools and/or Mackie. Now, of course, there are literally dozens of choices for a Home DAW based Studio, and the currently available digital hardware has improved drastically. Seems like a much-less harsh edge than I remember back then, either that or I just can't tell the difference between analog & digital like I used to. Of course, quality vintage outboard gear is still worth it's weight in gold, even over digital software mimicking that same vintage outboard gear.

Pics from my previous home studio (circa 1988-1993):



My new mini home studio in 2024:

 

[Max Relic]

@T. Bailey thanks for sharing your experience here, really appreciate it. And yes, the VAMP could have been better though I fear the developers hit a hardware limit there.

 

[shredd]

Despite being old enough to remember when there was no such thing as "recorded music"...I never recorded in the "tape-based" realm. My dad (hyoooog music lover!) was the tape enthusiast, when I was a kidlet...our family music system consisted of a suh-weet 1/4" R-2-R and a collection of tapes numbering in the THOUSANDS, ranging from Bach to the Beatles, and pretty much everything in between.

Though I'd been interested in music and played in bands from my teens (which was back around the Industrial Revolution), by the time I took an interest in recording, basic digital units for the mass-market were emerging (I started with a Fostex MR-8 - VERY solid little units!), and progressed from there.

Personally, I'm thankful to have enjoyed the digital realm, and been spared the mechanical difficulties of tape, though the sound is wonderful.

Modern digital MTR's do tend to be sort of complicated, with considerable learning curves...BUT also offer capabilities well beyond what the ol' tape PortaStudio era units do...

 

[T. Bailey]

Actually I thought tape-based sessions back then were a lot of fun. Plus, you had plenty of little breaks in-between tracks (with random equipment issues and splicing tape) to get to know some really "interesting" people, you might have NEVER have met elsewhere.

Fast forward decades to 2005, when I started a business that produced and sold high quality videos online. One of the audio capture formats I landed on (after a brief nightmare trying Mini-Discs) was an MR-8 like yours (which I purchased at Guitar Center) even though I only needed 2 channels. As I recall, it was relatively portable, affordable and dependable. Camcorder audio was generally pretty horrible back then (at least on the Cameras in my price range) So when we did location shoots, I used that MR-8 and a couple of really nice Russian microphones. I carefully synced my Fostex audio later in post. Eventually, we moved on to DSLR cameras synced to portable Tascam recorders using those same Russian Microphones. So in my case, I never actually used my MR-8 for the purposes of Multi-Track recording. That reminds me, whatever happened to Fostex?

Note: I did my first Studio Session in 1978 with Smitty Price, at the Sound House near Hollywood. I remember there was a Tommy's Burgers across the back alley (maybe 100 ft away) that was open until midnight. During breaks you could run out the back door and grab a Chili Cheessburger, or a Chili Tamale, and be back in 10 minutes. Below was the Sound House in 1990 (RIP Jeff & Mike):

On a side note, talking about TAPE studios. I remember when Barbara Streisand was cutting Evergreen, it was the first time i'd ever seen (or heard of) 2 x 24 track decks being synced together. It was very cool technology at the time! Of course, now you have unlimited tracks with a DAW.

Anyway, between 1978-1996 I did my share of session work in Southern California, almost all of it on 1" or 2" tape. I retired from sessions in 1996, just about the time the Alesis ADAT 8 track (modular "digital" tape units) became popular. My final home studio was a TEAC 1" 16 track in 1993. (until I bought this Model 12 in December of 2023) Also, I remember those Fostex 16 track decks used 1/2" tape! (I imagine the cross-talk on those narrow heads, could be a real issue)