Tascam M-3500
Steve and Susan Burks
to buy it at a very good price. Any opinions on this board?
Thanks
Steve
Media Voice Productions BV / Edo Peters
Go for it, you won't regret it. Check the state of the subgroup faders
though...
What's a very good price, by the way? And how old is it?
Regards,
Edo Peters
Media Voice Productions
Purmerend, Netherlands
analo...@my-deja.com
"Steve and Susan Burks" <swb...@gte.net> wrote:
> A local recording studio is selling a Tascam M-3500. I may have the
chance
> to buy it at a very good price. Any opinions on this board?
>
> Thanks
>
> Steve
I used one (32 x 8) at a studio in the early to mid 90's quite a bit.
The general consensus on these is that they are good, not great, and
have some noise and grounding issues.
Now on a $2500 console, maybe one can deal with that, but the studio I
worked at paid about $8000 for the 32 x 8 with the stand, full meter
bridge, cabling, etc.
Maybe we were naive then (well we were kind of a bunch of dumbasses),
but we expected better noise performance for $8k.
Here are some observations:
1. Try to get the 32 channel version (this will become clear in a bit)
2. there are only four F/X returns (mono, but pannable), this means you
can return two F/X units. The console should have really had more
returns, since it can run six F/X sends at once at mixdown. My little
Tascam M1516 from the same era actually has more (six) F/X returns.
Chances are you'll wind up using some channels for returns - hence the
recommendation for the 32 channel version
3. Aux sends are kind of funny, this is definitely a console set up for
tracking bands, or for mixing. You can get four PRE sends (e.g. for
headphone cues) and 2 POST sends (for F/X) or SIX POST sends (all F/X).
Unlike the Mackie's and their kind, you can't do a two pre/four post
send kind of setup.
4. Full width Meter bridge is cool, but can only track the inputs, not
the tape returns (it is not switchable). Well actually if you flip the
inputs down the the main channel path you get the readings, but I like
it a lot better when the bridge itself is globally switchable. That way
you don't have to turn around and look at the deck as much to make sure
you're getting good levels. It is also a SERIOUS pain in the ass too
install (many tiny wires, many tiny connections).
Hopefully the one you're looking at has the full width bridge, as I
doubt they are still available new anymore.
5. Subgroups are MAJOR LAMEO....
You would have thought that Tascam would have gotten out of this habit
by then, but there is no direct way to assign the subgroups to the L/R
bus.
The idea is that you have a button on the last 8 inline monitors that
says "group". You have to press this button, then use the small monitor
fader and pan knobs to setup your assigns and pans for the subgroups.
This uses up 8 of your inline monitors, leaving only 16 tape monitors on
a 24 channel console.
Remember #1, where I mentioned get the 32 channel if possible?
If you're trying to do 24 track work with a 24 channel version, you have
to give up 8 tape monitors just for the groups if you want to be able to
monitor the groups themselves.
This situation isn't the end of the world, but it isn't the greatest
either.
6. Lots of jacks, channels, etc. to be an unbalanced console. We had
some noise issues with the console, there was some RFI close by (a guy
with a big HAM radio setup), but no show stoppers.
It was more like, "man we paid all that money and this thing is not that
much cleaner than a cheap board (well that's because for all the stuff
it has, it is/was a cheap board)
There is a balancing kit, but I don't know if it's still available any
more, nor how well it works.
I would check the dejanews archives, there's a lot of M3500 comments,
most of them pretty negative.
To be fair, I think a lot of those comments were (rightfully so) coming
from the $2500 mic preamp types of people, if you're just looking at a
project studio type of situation, it's a real nice console.
One thing about the M3500 is that they have undergone some serious
depreciation, I see them all the time in the $2,000 - $3,000 range, even
32 channel ones with the meter bridge.
The studio I worked at made out big time, as they TRADED theirs for
$3500 about 6 months ago, just before they really dropped in value.
I was offered the console for $3500 but declined. $2500 I would have
bought, maybe even $3,000, but not $3500.
7. Oh yeah, one last thing about the M3500
Especially the 32 channel version with the full meter bridge -
Looks REALLY COOL and impressive, your friends will be quite impressed
(unless they own $2500 mic preamps)
Maybe I'm being cheesy here, but if you have to sit behind a console a
lot, there's no sense in it being an ugly one - it might as well look
cool...
Analogeezer
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Ted Spencer
too tired right now to write it. Check back later.
Ted Spencer, NYC
"I'm a lot more like I used to be than I am" - James Taylor
purpl...@my-deja.com
"Steve and Susan Burks" <swb...@gte.net> wrote:
> A local recording studio is selling a Tascam M-3500. I may have the
chance
> to buy it at a very good price. Any opinions on this board?
>
> Thanks
>
> Steve
>
Hey steve & susan,
I used to own one of these.
Yep, this console does look cool...
The EQ is weak. You will be purchasing outboard EQ very soon.
Most of them are -10 i/o's (keep yer cables short).
There is an outboard upgrade to +4 (perhaps that's included?)
Grounding issues! Oh yes! I could'nt get rid of hum/buzz,
It would appear and dissapear mysteriously.
A "hot-roded" one sounds cool...Can't wait to read about that one!
I kinda miss mine (sniffle) but my S/C "Ghost" makes up for it
every day...
P.Jerry
Modheadxx
A local recording studio is selling a Tascam M-3500. I may have the chance
to buy it at a very good price. Any opinions on this board? >>
I used to have one, and I rate them quite highly. A few quibles though! Not
enough Aux sends and returns. Earthing can be a problem, but it's a very nice
board for the price.
Ciao
David
Davemc
Changed all the op amps etc.
Got better s/n ratio.
I record to hard disk so I was really only
going direct out and using the pre-amps.
All the mixing was done on the DAW
Sold it brought some valve hybrid pres
and a little 1604 mackie for some more pres and foldback.
Looking at adding channel strips and such.
So I can have a choice of different Pre amps.
I have to disagree with the EQ is bad from someone else
I found it better than a 8buss Mackie EQ.
Have to be really careful with the grounding
The S/N ratio is not up there even after it was hot rodded to a Mackie.
So you had to be careful about levels.
I found the desk warmer than the new little Mackie.
And God it looks impressive.
Thats one thing with DAWS not having a big mixer is a visual drawback.
Will get a HUI soon though.
Does it have the full meter bridge.
The meters are pre-fader which is a bit of a pain.
If it has the balance kit it will be those DB25 plugs.
And those faders have a great feel to them.
Not plastic.
As you can see I miss mine. Sold it to someone I know so it has a good home/
Just did not have the space and the 32/64 console was a waste.
Bye Dave
Modheadxx <modh...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000330062453...@ng-bh1.aol.com...
Lorin David Schultz
Strongly disagree. This is one of the things I really _like_ about the
M3500, and part of the reason I chose it over a Mackie 24-8 back when I
bought one.
Apparently personal preference plays a part here.
Lorin
Ted Spencer
Strongly agree (with Lorin). The stock M3500 eq is quite sweet and musical. The
Mackie 8 Buss eq is quite...um...well it sucks really bad.
Regarding my hotrodded M3500 I mentioned a few days ago here's the deal:
shortly after buying it in 1990 I modified the small faders to be switchable as
aux sends. The stock board only allows the small faders to be returns to the
stereo buss. So I rewired the 3/4 switches (below aux 2) to select small fader
out to either aux 3/4 or to stereo buss. Auxes 1/2 (originally switchable to
3/4) became permanently 1/2 and no longer switchable to 3/4. I wired the
channel fader to the inp/pre buttons on the small fader so that when they're
both up (you have to gently press both buttons to do this since they're
self-cancelling) they see post channel fader output. Press pre and they see pre
channel fader output (nice for cue mix). Switch the 3/4 button (now 3/st buss)
to return small fader to either aux 3/4 or stereo buss (for use as returns to
mixdown as the stock board does). This vastly improves the flexibility of the
board
More recently I sent all the modules including the master module to Audio
Upgrades for a total re-chipping and recapping. Jim Williams has a great
redesign of this board that results in amazingly cleaner sound, using higher
quality chips than those found in current Neve/SSLs etc.. In fact it's now just
about the cleanest console I've ever used (and I've used most all of them).
Unbelievably low distortion overall and in the eq section as well. He also
shifts the center frequency of the hi and lo shelving eqs to 12K and 80hz which
helps a lot, and raises the top frequency of the upper mid from 11K to 20K. New
mic pres also are way better. This mod is not cheap however, costing over $4k
for the whole board. It might seem crazy to invest this much in a board that is
still probably only worth a few thousand in resale but compared to replacing it
with a Trident 80 series for $30K or so and all the install hassles (I had zero
downtime with the AU upgrade as I did it 4-8 modules at a time) it was a viable
choice and I'm very happy with the results. The only remaining issue is the
tendency of the stereo buss to be somewhat noisy (mainly in the hum and buzz
area - not so much hiss) especially with analog multitrack (I have an Otari
MX80). It's better with MDMs, and considerably better after the upgrade but
could still be quieter. I understand that the power supply has something to do
with it. I'm wondering if anyone has a design solution for this.
Joe Egan
>>
>>Strongly disagree. This is one of the things I really _like_ about the
>>M3500, and part of the reason I chose it over a Mackie 24-8 back when I
>>bought one.
>>
>>Apparently personal preference plays a part here.
>>
>>Lorin
>
>Strongly agree (with Lorin). The stock M3500 eq is quite sweet and musical.
Here's another "personal preference" anecdote. I had an M3500 (32X8) for three
years and never really liked it. It wasn't terrible, but I found it to be
somewhat noisy, difficult to work on (modular in groups of 8 and chips not
socketed), and the small faders weren't at all smooth. It was the first and
only *major* purchase I ever made without listening first. I eventually
replaced it with a Mackie which I was much more satisfied with. Granted, the
Mackie is nearly impossible to work on, but in the five years I had mine I
never had a single problem with it. The M3500, OTOH, had its share of minor
problems requiring crawling under the hood. I much preferred the sound of the
Mackie and while I think the Mackie and Tascam EQ are both pretty bad, I found
the Mackie's to be generally more usable.
Joe Egan
Eclipse Recording
Hinesburg, VT