Category Archives: Tascam M3700

Choosing a New Digital Front End

Gear Choices, Rack Gear, Reverb, Studio Design, Studio Workflow, Tascam M3700

From the very early days of my fascination with audio recording, I’ve been drawn to the Protools DAW software. I’ve used lots of other applications and am always checking out new releases of other software but it’s Protools that I like the best. It’s interface makes sense to me and it works the way I like to work. I have on occasion coveted a feature or two from competing software but it’s just never been enough to make me want to leave. The biggest draw back it’s always had was that I was locked into a very small selection of choices for the audio interface.

For many years Avid (Formerly Digidesign) made a small number of interfaces that were supported. The interfaces are the gateway between the analog world and the digital one. You plug your signal into the interface and it converts it to digital 1s and 0s that Protools would capture. As a drummer I always picked the interface they offered the highest amount of simultaneous inputs and outputs and went on my merry way. I started out with a Digi 001 which I used for many years and then upgraded to a Digi 002 when the need arose.

Recently though Avid has begun allowing many more third party interfaces to be able to talk to Protools. This happened with the release of Protools 9. Protools 9 comprised a huge multitude of changes and updates but that small part of their announcement opened up a world of interface options to me.

As I was in the process of re-thinking what I wanted my studio to be it really allowed me to broaden what I thought feasible. Starting in Protools 9, I will be able to record 32 simultaneously tracks and I could play back up to 96, which is a huge change having been only able to record 16 before and playback a total of 32.

The first real hurdle though is, what interface or interfaces do I turn to? My current setup with my Digi 002 Rack is working fine but is not ideal. The interface can easily handle a total of 18 inputs and outputs but to do that I would need a series of extra converts and cables. Additionally, many of those inputs unavoidably have gain stages which I do not need or want.

What I want is a large number of inputs and outputs that I can use to feed my Tascam M3700. The M3700 already has all of the Mic Pres I’ll need and even if I don’t want to use them, I don’t want to be bound by using the ones on the digital interface either. It’s options and flexibility that I’m in search of and to get that, my interface needs to be a vanilla as possible.

Unfortunately for me, the market is saturated with dozens of interfaces featuring Mic Pres and digital I/O that will only complicate my setup. Very few people make interfaces that are as simple as just offering jacks for audio in and audio out plus an interfacing cable to the computer. The few that do offer that minimal functionality are usually the most expensive, if that makes any sense.

The only option I’ve found so far that meets my needs is the Echo AudioFire 12. It is a simple firewire interface with 12 inputs, 12 outputs, Midi I/O and digital sync via word clock. The face of the unit features a power button and metering for the Audio I/O. This unit looks great and gets good reviews both generally and in concert with Protools. Add to the mix that the unit is $600 here in the US and it’s likely the interface I will choose. The only demerit it earns, if you can call it that, is that it’s not easy to end up with the 32 inputs and outputs that would ideally compliment my M3700’s 32 channels. I at first considered buying three units and just not using the final 4 ins and outs on one unit but I have since decided that buying two units and wiring only the first 24 channels of my console will be ideal.

Many of the more famous mix engineers actually take the massive sessions they receive, that often have well more than 100 tracks, and whittle them down to between 16 and 40 tracks for mixing on their SSL or Neve desks. I’m not likely to ever work on a session that has anywhere near that number of tracks so I don’t expect I’d have any trouble getting things down to 24 tracks and, as is often the case in art, putting up logical limitations often enhances the final product. I can still use Protools to manage and play back a nearly limitless number of tracks but likewise, I can use it to sub-mix logical groups into one or two faders on the console. I don’t need to lay my hands on 30 tracks of backing vocals, I can process and sub-mix the backing vocals down to a stereo pair and then have just two faders on the console. Even if I need to do a lot of work on those backing vocals, I can use us the Protools automation system to make that happen and still get the benefits of working on a console.

Working with only 24 channels of digital I/O on the board also opens up the final 8 channels for other uses. During mix down I can always be sure to have channels available to use for reverb and delay returns with EQs inline. I can use a couple of those channels for monitoring the playback from the 2 track recorder or to have a couple of keyboards or sound modules wired up for easy access. Perhaps more importantly, it means that even if channel on the console fails I don’t have to stop everything and get it fixed. I can just move that audio to another free spare channel. Not a bad thing to have on a 20+ year old console.

I’ll keep an eye on the market as I wait for the right time to buy the interfaces but so far, I think the Echo AudioFire 12 represent a very solid option for people looking for a simple, not too expensive audio interface.

Robert

Tascam M3700 Refurbishment – Getting to Know You

Gear Restoration, Tascam M3700

As I wrote about in The Gear Keeps Arriving!, I bought a Tascam M3700 32 channel automated mixing desk. I came across the desk via a craigslist ad where the seller listed it as not working, for $200. Since I already have a Tascam M3500 I was planning to buy the M3700 for use as a donor. The M3700 has the full meter bridge, which my M3500 lacks, and the boards are so nearly identical I could use the broken board to keep the M3500 working for longer. Considering I had just spent $200 on 8 spare channels for my M3500, $200 for a whole second console is a darn good deal.

The M3700, like the M3500, is a large mixing desk that connects to a 3U rack mounted power supply. The owner explained that the power supply (PSU) was continually blowing a specific fuse, Fuse 2. When I arrived to buy the console he went into some detail about his testing process. He said that he had some success running the console with channels 22 and 32 unplugged, he then added that even with them unplugged the fuse still popped but after a longer delay. He also said that a friend of his who was a Tascam tech person advised him to swap the 5A fuse with a 7A fuse.

Let me start by saying that upping a fuse to a higher rating is a universally bad idea and I do not recommend it for any reason. A fuse serves one purpose: To protect the electronics that follow it in the circuit. The designers have chosen the proper rating for the fuse to be above what the circuit will draw but below the amount of current that will hurt the circuit. Changing the value of the fuse puts all down stream components in danger. Don’t do it! The tech friend said that popping a fuse was common on units with the larger meter bridge since it draws more power then the standard short bridge. That may or may not be true but the fuse that was popping did not feed power to the meter bridge. The fuse that does feed the bridge doesn’t appear to have ever popped and the extended meter bridge is a Tascam manufactured option, not something from a third party.

With the issues the seller was describing I was of the opinion that the problem with the board was in the PSU. The seller, based on the information from the Tascam tech friend, believe the issue was somewhere in the console itself. Either way, I need the board only as spares so I handed over my $200 and went on my merry way. Disappointingly, the fuse in question powers the audio path of the console so while I could see the board was in reasonably good cosmetic shape I really had no way to know if it was in any way capable of passing audio which did make it a bit of a gamble.

Putting the obvious functional issues aside though, the board was actually quite a find. I’ve already mentioned that the console has the full meter bridge, not too common in the US, but it also had the seemingly impossible to find balancing kit and an add-on to the onboard automation system. So far as I can tell, this board is completely maxed out. No other options that I know of were available for purchase. I wasn’t aware of these add ons until I arrived to take a look at the board and I will admit I got pretty excited!

Additionally, the seller told me that the owner before him had the first 16 channels of the board upgraded with new opamps and also did a full refurbishment. The opamps are a somewhat common upgrade on these boards for people to perform these days. An opamp is a tiny IC that does, basically, the volume gain within each channel. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to improve/change the sound of the board and the previous owner upgraded all five opamps per channel. Since the board was open they also went through and cleaned all the gunk and crap that tends to accumulate after 20 years of life.

Once I got the console home it was time to try my hand at getting it up and running again. I was now starting to really hope it would be a simple fix since the board had so many extras. With my M3500 already in good working condition it did give me a good base to start testing with. More posts to follow!

Robert

Find the Right Reverb…

Rack Gear, Reverb, Studio Design, Studio Workflow, Tascam M3700

One of the things I love in big studios is the amazing reverb units they have. When you get into the big leagues they are all running high end units like Lexicon’s 480s and 960s, or more recently, the units coming out of Bricasti. Without question these units are chosen for their sound quality; The sounds they produce are amazing. That level of sound quality comes at a price though. Back when Lexicon was selling it’s 960L reverb unit you could expect to pay around $20k for the privilege of owning one. TC Electronics makes a unit called ‘System 6000’ which was informally called ‘The Poor Man’s 960’ but it’s selling price was, and still is, $14k! I can’t imagine spending that kind of money on my whole studio build out though, so I have to look a little farther down market for a reverb to fit my needs.

In addition to ultimate sound quality, the ultra high-end reverbs tend to share another feature that is very rare in the lower end reverbs: They can all be run via a remote. The flagship reverbs from Lexicon and TC Electronics are run exclusively via remote and Bricasti makes two version of their reverb, one with front panel controls and one with out.

The granularity of the settings offered in these high end units makes a dedicated remote a must. So many parameters can be changed and edited that doing so via a small screen on a unit mounted in a gear rack would make it nearly impossible, not to mention uncomfortable, to get the setting you want perfect. Who wants to spend 10 or 15 minutes hunched over or on their knees trying to tweak a setting or audition sounds? The greater issue to my mind though is that you find yourself making important mix decisions well away from you usual mix position. You’re listening for subtle changes in the sounds coming from you speakers, while across the room and with your back turned. Surely a better solution must be out there.

Finding a reverb unit that could be used via a remote while also being affordable has proved to be a difficult task. Obviously, one option is to use a reverb plugin within your computer. You could then use the reverb and tweak settings via your mouse and keyboard. This will be a great options for many people and many of the reverb plugins sound wonderful. For me though, while I will use some computer based reverbs, having a couple reverb units in the rack is really the best way to accomplish certain tasks. With the Tascam M3700 and tape machines I have it’s quite possible that I will have a mix to do without the need for a computer and even if I do use the computer for a project the easiest and least complicated way to add reverb to a singer’s headphone mix is to use an outboard unit. Considering I’ll be building my studio around the Tascam M3700, having at least a few rack mounted reverbs is a must.

The search then for a unit that I could both afford and use via a remote was on! I started my search by looking up the names of the classic high end units from the late 70s and 80s that I’ve always lusted after on places like Ebay.com. Before Lexicon made the 480L, they made the 300L and their very first truly flagship unit, the 224. Even the 224 though, a unit released in 1978 is selling for upwards of $2000, which is more than I am willing to spend, especially on computer based gear in excess of 30 years old. Klark-Teknik’s DN-780, which was released around the same time, is down to ~$1200 but again, it’s too old for me to be investing in it.

In today’s market, if you’re looking for a solid unit built in the current century with a great reputation, the only option I see is Kurzweil’s KSP-8. Couple it with the RSP-8 remote and you’re good to go. It was discontinued a few years back but pops up on Ebay from time to time and sells for something around $1500. It’s new enough to be worth the investment but for me, still too much money. I’ll own one someday, but today isn’t that day.

Right now,  I need a unit around $100, which is an unbelievably small amount of money for this kind of gear. I thought I was going to have to just bite the bullet and get something without a remote, at least for now, but instead I stumbled across a piece of gear that will suit me perfectly.

Lexicon, in the early 1990s released a line of gear to bridge the gap between the entry level reverbs and the high end gear with the prefix of ‘LXP’. They released three units, the LXP-1, basically a reverb, the LXP-5, basically a delay, and the LXP-15, which featured good algorithms for both reverbs and delays. The LXP-1 and LXP-5 are 1/2 rack units that could be setup side by side and the LXP-15 is a 1U item. What makes them interesting though is the another piece of gear called the Lexicon MRC. This unit, which is essentially a MIDI remote controller, has MIDI inputs and is programed to interface with the reverbs. Initially it was able to send commands to the LXP-1, LXP-5 and PCM-70 but with a firmware upgrade they added two way communication to the LXP-15.

Basically, you can setup the MRC to control up to 16 LXP-1, LXP-5 or PCM-70 reverb units with one way communication, from the MRC to the reverb. This would allow you to make changes and tweak settings from the remote but if you then changed a setting directly on the reverb unit the remote would be out of sync. With the firmware upgrade they removed the ability to interface with the PCM-70, left the one way communication with the LXP-1 and LXP-5 and added two way communication for the LXP-15. Since the MRC has only two sets of MIDI ports though you are able to control only 2 LXP-15s.

Since the LXP-15 was released at a time really predating the pervasive internet we are used to now, it’s pretty tough to find solid reviews of the unit. A few reviews are out there for the LXP-15 II but that unit is not compatible  with the MRC. A few anecdotal reviews can be found on some audio forums though and tend to be favorable. Favorable enough for me to start looking around for some bargains at least.

A quick search on Ebay will turn up dozens of the LXP-15 units as well as the MRC controllers. I was able to pickup an MRC for less than $25 shipped and I’ve bought one LXP-15 so far for less then $70 shipped. Assuming it sounds good and interfaces well with the MRC, I’ll add a second unit when another good deal comes around. Most of the LXP-15s I’ve seen on Ebay have an ending price of closer to $150 but for the patient they can be had for less.

I’ll post about the sound and interfacing when I’m able to get things working.

The Gear Keeps Arriving!

Gear Restoration, Tascam M3500, Tascam M3700

As I’ve been discussing, I’ve been giving a lot of though to how I want my new studio setup. Part of that discussion brings in the aspect of getting a few new pieces of gear to help with my changed workflow. The problem I keep running into though is that a lot of gear I’m looking for can’t be bought new and tends to be pretty rare.

For instance, I want to do a better job integrating my digital recording equipment with my analog gear. It’s not a common thing to do these days. Most people either sold off their analog gear and replaced it with digital or bought the equipment needed to make them play nice together years ago. I don’t know of anyone still making gear that will allow you to press one play button and have you tape machine and your computer start rolling.

Thanks to ebay though, finding those items is made a lot simpler. Specifically, Ebay has a feature where you can save searches. You do a search and then tell Ebay to save that search from near the top of the results window. Ebay will then perform that search for you every day and email you when new items show up that fit your criteria. It’s been incredible helpful.

Yesterday I was able to find a guy selling the ‘Timeline Micro Lynx’ which allows you to sync several devices, computers, tape machines, ect. and with the remote start them and keep then in sync. This will be wonderful as I will no longer need to cover my studio in remotes for every piece of gear I have.

It looks like I’m going to need to craft a few cables to make the right connections for my specific tape machines but it will be well worth the effort and a task I won’t have to perform more than once per machine.

In addition to that I found a localish guy selling a mixing board that is a variation of the M3500 I’ve become so fond of. The board is called the M3700 and it has an automation system built in but is having some problems. Since the two boards are so similar and the M3700 was being sold for so cheap I’ve committed to buying it and I’m picking it up this week.

The plan is to see what I can do with the M3700 in terms of repair and if it’s not fixable, or not worth fixing, it will be used for spare parts on my M3500. If it is fixable I will use the M3500 as spare parts for the M3700. The two board are nearly identical. They are both 32 channel boards and the M3700 comes with the full meter bridge, which my M3500 lacks. For what I’m paying for the M3700 if all I can use is the meter bridge, it will be well worth it.

If I’m able to make some repairs to the board, which the owner says is blowing fuses, it will be a great little cross-grade to what I have now. The only difference between the M3500 and M3700 is the automation system which I’ve heard is quite easy to use. Thankfully, I’ve got the Timeline Micro Lynx on the way which will go a long way in helping me keep the board in sync with the rest of the studio.

Robert

Progress is Progress

DBX900, Tascam M3700

I’ve been really enjoying the Tascam M-3500 console I mentioned in my previous post. Currently, it’s sitting on a kitchen table in a back room of my house and I’m enjoying it so much it may never leave! Who knew having a console in the house would be so much fun! I’ve been slowly moving through each channel, exercising  the pots and faders and making sure each button works. It’s been painstaking, but a lot of fun. So far I’m on channels 15 and 16. I test them in stereo pairs while listening to music and so far so good.

I have found a lot of scratchy pots and buttons but functionally things are working perfectly with the exception of a few LEDs. Without exception I have so far been able to ‘exercise’ the button or knob by just pressing it over and over or twisting around fully a few times and the problem goes away. It’s going to be a great board to have in the studio!

In addition to adding that console to my list of gear I’ve been looking to bolster my limited array of outboard gear. I have a few budget minded but solid pieces at the moment that I’m still happy with but I’d like a few more options. To that end I’ve been keeping an eye out for respected but  out of production or older models of gear people are selling.

I’ve found a cool rackmount mixer, the Tascam M-1b, that has a unique pass through function I’ve not seen in a mixer before that will make it very valuable as a studio problem solver. I’ve also been pulling together a number of modules for DBX’s long retired ‘900 Series’ rack unit. It holds 9 modules that do various things, like EQs, compressors, De-essers, noise reduction, ect.

My searches on the internet seem to indicate that the module ‘to have’ in this unit is the 902, the De-Esser (A De-Esser does exactly what it sounds like it does, it helps to tame those sibilant ‘s’ sounds). Those modules tend to be a little bit pricy, pushing up towards $200/each, and I may in time choose to pick one up. My focus, however, is on the 903 module, the compressor.

I should admit at this point that compressors are my weakness in terms of audio gear. To people on the periphery in the audio world they have gotten a bit of a black eye of late. I often hear from musicians that they don’t want to use compression on their songs because they’ve heard that they sound bad and hurt the music. It’s a bit of specious angle angle to take but one I fully understand. A quick Google search on the ‘Loudness Wars’ will explain the issue. Proper compression, however, is a wonderful thing and really adds a lot. Maybe I’ll do a post on good compression at some point…

DBX as a company has long been known for their compressors. They are most famous for a line of compressors called the 160. They have been making that compressor in some variation since the mid 1970s and you can still buy a 160A today for around $430 or used for about $100 less. What makes their compressors unique is a feature they call ‘Over Easy’ which is their trademarked name for basically modifying certain compressor settings as the amount of compression increases to make it more transparent sounding.

When they released the 900 series rack they created the 903 module which is very similar to the 160 stand alone unit that was in production at the time. Some changes were sure to have been made if only to accommodate the quite different form factor of the 900 series and nothing else. Reviews for the 903 though remain good even today and its reported to have at least the same sonic signature as the 160.

With this knowledge in hand I have been scouring the web for 903s and have been surprisingly successful. Ebay alone seems to always have a few on offer and with a final auction price right around $150, it’s a stunning deal. It’s a 50% savings on a used 160 and, should you fill all 9 slots of a 900 series rack with them, quite an efficient way to fill the racks. In addition to the single channel, or mono, 903, DBX also made a module called the 907 which paired to a 903 to make a stereo compressor. I was lucky enough to find one and an 905 EQ module for a great deal and I can’t wait to test them out!

Construction hasn’t yet begun on the new space and will likely be put off until the spring. These things cost money. Perhaps I’ll try and curb my gear spending a bit to hurry that along but, to be honest, I don’t know know what I want the design to look like yet. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to integrate the M3500, tape machines and digital gear into my studio and I’m not yet sure I’ve found my final floor plan. More measurements need to be made, more input considered. When I’ve picked a layout though, I’ll be sure to make a post about it here.

Robert