Hey all my first post after getting lots of help as a visitor..here's my dilemma.
I have a Tascam DM-24 (pre-preamp upgrade) as a front end via ADAT lightpipe to and RME 9252 into Logic. I have pretty much been doing electronic/synth stuff in the real/virtual world and have been happy with results. I am now (being a drummer) starting to track live drums and other inst's and vocals. I am picking up a U5 and 737 for the bass and vocals, but as I have come to find out thru trial and error the
DM-24's preamps are not gonna do the job right out of the box (thus the reason for the preamp upgrade from Tascam (bastards!))
So my question is:
A) Doing the mod to the DM-24's preamps i'm told will improve the picture, has anyone had any experiance with them as far as drums and other instruments and what is your take on the quality of? (I understand the price range constraints at that level)
B) Would I better off in that budget range that I'm in by taking the DM-24 out of the picture and say using a MOTU or AI3 for A/D into my 9652, while putting a better preamp i.e. a TrueSystems Precision 8 in front of the A/D's? Or is it not really gaining much for the amount of hassle?
Before I box this thing up and take it to Tascam I just need some idea if its even worth the hassle for what I may (or may not) gain.
Thanks . .
Comments
The preamps on the DM-24 are fine. Certainly not after-market,
The preamps on the DM-24 are fine. Certainly not after-market, but not horrible, either... The problem with them is the way the gain works. When using them it seems like 50% of the gain is in the last 5% of the turn of the knob which means you go from no signal to clipping by bumping the darned thing.
--Ben
well the problem with the pre's is that the gains are of a linea
well the problem with the pre's is that the gains are of a linear type which is a pain in the ass to work with and obviously not the way things were supposed to be on this board otherwise it wouldn't require a fix, gonna cost me a $200 fix from tascam.
i have to be able to control things coming in properly before i can even get a "good" sound. just wondering if it was worth the hassle and my money can be better used.
I wouldn't bother. It's only an issue if you have to record som
I wouldn't bother. It's only an issue if you have to record something really quiet. Definately NOT a problem with drums. As I said before sort out the other stuff before you go spending cash for no reason. To many people would rather spend money than learn to use what they have properly.
In my opinion, for the buck, it isn't too bad... However, there
In my opinion, for the buck, it isn't too bad... However, there are a LOT of other boards on the market that are probably better. The Tascam DM-24 strikes me as a console that almost got it right, but not quite. Unfortunately, the things that aren't good are pretty bad...
--Ben
the pre upgrade from tascam cost 200 and will take over a month
the pre upgrade from tascam cost 200 and will take over a month without the dm24 try this instead buy an 8 channel mic pre for your drums im leaning toards the studio project 8 st8 i think its 600 400 more then the pre upgrade but with that all they do is change the gain pots not the quality of the pre just the control of the gain. connect the outs of the pre to the line inputs on the dm24. This will give you very nice pres for drums and a nice set of 8 faders going into the rme converter over all nice if you have to ride the board a lil to avoid clipping and great sound quality. and if you really want high end drum quality go with a presonous m80 i love that thing on drums around 1200 used or less very nice 8 channel pre for drums either way this is a nice option to keep the dm24 in the picture. i have a dm24 i love mine :)
Every board has its strengths and weaknesses. With sonics being
Every board has its strengths and weaknesses. With sonics being the pure comparison, I would say that both the DA-7 and the Spirit 328XD sound better and in some ways the 01V96 is a better board.
The DA-7 has great automation, but the downsides are- 1. you have to buy used and 2. no onboard effects (does have a digital Aux, though)
The Spirit is great, too- My problem with it is that the expandability is limited (comes with ADAT and TDIF if I remember correctly, but no easy way to do lots of channels of AES). It also lacks track delay which is something that I depend on for my mixes (and killed this board from contention for me). The interface isn't as deep as the Tascam, but I don't see that as always being a bad thing. The Tascam's interface is (IMO) one of the worst out there.
The Yamaha O1V96 is a pretty darned good bang for the buck, but I think the Tascam's analog front end probably sounds better. The 96K implementation is MUCH, MUCH better- you don't rely on 2 wire for it and you don't loose more than half of your functionality. The DM1000 is way better, but it is also quite a bit more expensive. The effects in the Yamaha are also generally better (IMO) than the tascam's...
--Ben
well at the price i picked up my DM24 i think i may be hard pres
well at the price i picked up my DM24 i think i may be hard pressed to gain anything on the A/D's or the front end in that price range, so i may just keep it and consider the M80's for a drum pre...What is the Studio Project 8? ST8? not familiar with it, but i have heard a few people comment on the M80 and said they love the results they get with drums going thru that..thanks for your opinions guys....
st8 is this thing http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-STU-SP8
st8 is this thing http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-STU-SP828.html ive heard good things about it so im picking one up i'll give you a review and some drum mixes when i get mine as im using the dm24 as well you should get a good idea of what it sounds like
We use a Tascam Dm24 and find the stock pre's great for drums.
We use a Tascam Dm24 and find the stock pre's great for drums. Just cause you don't get the sound you want straight away don't asume it's the gear. Alot of people do this. Great drums have more to do with the drummer, the drums, the room and the mics than the pre's. Don't spend money for no reason.