Diamomdteeth,

I take it your a little novice with all this audio stuff, I read your other thread on this topic. Now you post another thread, would have been better to keep going in the same thread but oh well.

Curious, did you feel some heat from the other thread? I'm sure nobody meant anything bad, but when a poster does not 1st search for answers or knows the "basics" to ask a question the right way it can lead to...

Well I've learned to search 1st, then ask, to save all parties time. And if I do not understand the answer because of terms I search for definition. 8)

I just mention above, cause in my opinion many posts of newbies get heated answers. AND don't forget to read your manual, that's my pet peave. :evil:

So,

The DBX 163 has only 2 rca jacks. 1 right and one left

You need to ask the right questions, in your other thread you stated:

The 163 only has 2 RCA jacks, 1 in and 1 out

Hmmm BTW your 163 is mono, your going to need adapters if you don't already have them to use it. :roll:

Do I plug them in to the effect return and the effect send?

That would almost be a pointless idea. :shock:

When I do this, what will I be able to do with it??

Nothing worth thinking about.

Will I be able to adjust compression on all 8 tracks using the the effects loop volume control???

NO :x

There are two basic ways to run an effect:

1. With a compressor you want to insert it into the signal path, this is your case with the DBX 163 compressor. Other "effects" that typically get inserted to signal path would be EQ and limiters.
To acheive this you would plug the comp into the insert jack, of a channel and it should affect that channel only. To do this to the entire mix you would run from recorders out's, to the comp and then to a 2 track (22-2)

2. With something like reverb you want to run it through the effects loop in and outs so that you can mix (a level of) the effect into to main mix. Delay's are other things you can run this way.

Some effects can be run either way, but almost never a compressor. Chorus and other modulation effects could be run either way but typically would not be inserted on the signal path of the entire mix.

Hopefully that help you a bit, if you desire more knowledge please do a search and study. 8-)

In your case if you want to comp individual tracks your going to have to bounce them... that is route the indivivdual track through the comp and re-record the signal back into the tascam one at a time. That is if you do only have one comp...for this reason I own 10 compressors (5 stereo comps). which I use live. I use Pro Tools software for recording and insert as many software comps onto individual tracks as my heart desires to squash signals to bits or whatever.

If you want to try and compress the whole mix you can not do it stereo with a mono comp, obvious I know... but with a stereo comp you can have either two mono comps OR you can link the two together to have a stereo pair. You could run mono into the comp and then use a Y jack to atleast get the singnal onto the L and R of the device you mixing to.

Have fun, if you try to comp each channel via bounce keep track of what your doing (it'll get confusing mix wise) and if you can hear the amount of compression you've put on something you've put to much. :wink:

Marc

THANKS (I think??) I put this topic onthe pro audio forum also because I wasn't sure which forum to post it on>

Your welcome.

Did any of that make sence to you?

Also be aware when compressing a "mix of tracks" (especially if the individual tracks are not compressed or limited) then when a peak happens on one track, it will bring the level down of all mixed tracks equally. Somethings may be come unaudible.

Also wondering if you know what a compressor does and how it works. There are many stickies on this forum explaining.

Marc :twisted:

Yes I understood everything. I guess I could have made this question much easier if I just asked if this DBX 163 could be used at all with the Tascam 388. It seems like it is sort of useless. I don't think I'm going to use compression at all on the mixdown.

It seems like it is sort of useless

Well that's not true:

You could comp each track the way in, recording one track at a time.

You can comp entire mix... just be careful and audition before final mix down, use a light setting on the comp to be safe... you may have to plan on manual turning up and down faders to help to mix... ie mix the song.

With already recorded material you could settle for just a comp on the most dynamic track. A good choice would be the bass or the singer with the worst mic technique.

You can also get the all tracks by bouncing them, that is if you have atleast one track to bounce too.

Bouncing is a good thing just kinda old fasion.

The Beatles recorded LOTS of material with a 4 track, and got 10 good tracks at mix time by only bouncing each track once> record 1st 3 tracks, bounce the 3 and record and mix a new part to track 4 > THEN record 2, bounce and record new part to track 3 > record 1 part on track 1, bounce and record to track 2 with a new part. Record on track one again. That's 4+3+2+1= 10, limited at mix down to 4 mono mixed tracks... a lot of planning was done and I'm sure a screw up meant a lot of back tracking....

But bouncing is good, just a little time consuming and you can't undo it at a certain point.

Marc :twisted: