- Joined
- Oct 13, 2023
- Messages
- 24
- Karma
- 10
- Gear owned
- 424mkiii (kaput)
Eh up everyone -
I've owned my M12 for about two years now, iirc. I did have to replace one because the screen went dark (I am quite sure this was because I am quite heavy fingered - so please bear that in mind, and press buttons delicately - don't hammer on them like a mad person).
Since then I've recorded many songs - over a hundred, for sure. I come from a background in hardcore, and indie rock/pop, etc. 95% of what I record is either electric guitar-based, or acoustic guitar (mostly the former). With drums when I can get someone to play them for me.
My influences are myriad - but towards the top of the list are Guided by Voices, pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, Yo La Tengo, and others of that ilk. Also a chunk of krautrock esp. Neu!, Harmonia, and Can. Of more recent bands I like Beak>, Slowdive (since they returned), and The Smile, etc.
The M12 replaced my Tascam 424 mkiii (of which I owned about six over the years - god, they were fragile things...but they sounded great for my needs). The Model 12 is a great attempt to digitise the 424, and is very nearly as simple to use. All the problems with tape transport (e.g. recording at one speed, then playing back very slightly faster or slower, necessitating re-tuning etc.) are all obviously dispensed with.
The M12 is basically a god send. A great recorder. So fantastic for people like me, working on the kind of stuff I do. And probably for many others as well.
I do NOT involve a lap top at any stage, nor any DAW. Well, not in the way the developers of the M12 intended, at least. It all starts and ends with the M12 - except for when I mix down, which I do using a Sony RCD-W100 that I've owned since about 2002. This is a perfectly adequate way to create stereo masters. Once a stereo master mix down disc has been created, the tracks can be transferred to e.g. iTunes as AIFFs and then converted to WAVs using streamed converters. This is all more than fine for my needs, and very convenient.
I do not use ANY of the onboard effects of the M12 - any effects I use (and I certainly do use a lot on guitars at times) are tracked with. Full commitment required - not a problem at all. Ditto reverb / echo on vox. Just commit and get on with it, is my motto. Always has been since decades of 424 use. I also never bounce on the M12 - although I should probably get into this. A fairly typical mix of mine would be mono drums on track 1, bass on 2, a couple of guitars on 3 and 4, then 5 and 6 for vox and backing vox, and maybe some incidental sounds on track 7/8. This is all absolutely fine. I don't need nor want stereo drums. I do sometimes have them, but it's in no way necessary.
Tracks 7 and 8 should be individual, not a stereo pair. This is my one and only complaint. I can live with it, but yeah. It really is a shame that those are "proper" tracks.
So - summarily: a great recorder and mixer. The compressors are serviceable (esp. for vox), the EQ is okay, and the whole thing is blessed with that rarest of things in this day and age, namely ease of use. And that is my update in full.
I've owned my M12 for about two years now, iirc. I did have to replace one because the screen went dark (I am quite sure this was because I am quite heavy fingered - so please bear that in mind, and press buttons delicately - don't hammer on them like a mad person).
Since then I've recorded many songs - over a hundred, for sure. I come from a background in hardcore, and indie rock/pop, etc. 95% of what I record is either electric guitar-based, or acoustic guitar (mostly the former). With drums when I can get someone to play them for me.
My influences are myriad - but towards the top of the list are Guided by Voices, pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, Yo La Tengo, and others of that ilk. Also a chunk of krautrock esp. Neu!, Harmonia, and Can. Of more recent bands I like Beak>, Slowdive (since they returned), and The Smile, etc.
The M12 replaced my Tascam 424 mkiii (of which I owned about six over the years - god, they were fragile things...but they sounded great for my needs). The Model 12 is a great attempt to digitise the 424, and is very nearly as simple to use. All the problems with tape transport (e.g. recording at one speed, then playing back very slightly faster or slower, necessitating re-tuning etc.) are all obviously dispensed with.
The M12 is basically a god send. A great recorder. So fantastic for people like me, working on the kind of stuff I do. And probably for many others as well.
I do NOT involve a lap top at any stage, nor any DAW. Well, not in the way the developers of the M12 intended, at least. It all starts and ends with the M12 - except for when I mix down, which I do using a Sony RCD-W100 that I've owned since about 2002. This is a perfectly adequate way to create stereo masters. Once a stereo master mix down disc has been created, the tracks can be transferred to e.g. iTunes as AIFFs and then converted to WAVs using streamed converters. This is all more than fine for my needs, and very convenient.
I do not use ANY of the onboard effects of the M12 - any effects I use (and I certainly do use a lot on guitars at times) are tracked with. Full commitment required - not a problem at all. Ditto reverb / echo on vox. Just commit and get on with it, is my motto. Always has been since decades of 424 use. I also never bounce on the M12 - although I should probably get into this. A fairly typical mix of mine would be mono drums on track 1, bass on 2, a couple of guitars on 3 and 4, then 5 and 6 for vox and backing vox, and maybe some incidental sounds on track 7/8. This is all absolutely fine. I don't need nor want stereo drums. I do sometimes have them, but it's in no way necessary.
Tracks 7 and 8 should be individual, not a stereo pair. This is my one and only complaint. I can live with it, but yeah. It really is a shame that those are "proper" tracks.
So - summarily: a great recorder and mixer. The compressors are serviceable (esp. for vox), the EQ is okay, and the whole thing is blessed with that rarest of things in this day and age, namely ease of use. And that is my update in full.
