expirementing w/ my tascam 388 analoge tape deck & wavel

[SeniorFedup]

Greetings yet again folks
So i just purchased a reel for my 388 tape deck and also have a tascam fw-1804 as my interface what runs to my nuendo setup. I was curious to know how can i use my tascam 388 to optimize the sound of my recordings by either tracking it in the tascam or tracking it to my nuendo first.
i under stand their are diferent techniques on how to approach this.
i also know thier are some experienced engineers out there who in the past or currently still use analoge tape to record .
is their any certain or beneficial set of procedures or guidelines that will help me get the best sound ever? So far what i have done to this point is simply track my guitars and drums to the quarter inch . and do a little mixing on that and from thier i plan to run a sonic maximizer before sending it to either wave lab or nuendo for some final mixes.
Some input or suggestions on wheather this is good way to use my reel 2 reel or is thier an even better process ?
-Fedup

 

[Kev]

IF the unit has both a sync head and a repro head then you can use it as an outboard effect.

Send the individual tracks to the deck and use the replay head to get that tape sound ... in real time.

The sound is now recorded back on to new tracks in you DAW.
Yes there will be a delay.
... and this will prove it is a replay head
... just push the tracks back to the original place.

You want the replay head so you get the sound that is coming OFF the tape and not what is going TO the tape as is from the sync head.

Doing this in real time will keep the effects of wow and flutter and the resultant sync/delay/phase issues as low as possible.

It also means that ALL the tracks recorded in one past can be moved back in time ... as a whole.


make sense ?

 

[SeniorFedup]

as a matter of fact i can understand it somewhat. ill read the manual sometime today. any other 388 users out there use this technique?

 

[SeniorFedup]

69th post

for ex. would tracking to tape give it more of an analog sound . or if you record to disk and Then dump it to tape. would this have the same effect,

by the wayi have a fever of a 100.3.
maybe that will give you sympathy for me and post a reply.

 

[Kev]

Re: 69th post

for ex. would tracking to tape give it more of an analog sound .

yes

or if you record to disk and Then dump it to tape. would this have the same effect,

not exactly the same
but for now
lets just say close to the same

an issue will be wow and flutter over the 3 minutes of a song
that's why a real time bouce/play-through will give you a recorded track as close as posible to the original.
Just delayed by the time it tacks to get from record head to repro-head at the given tape speed.

Flutter may still be there but wow should be better than normal.

 

[SeniorFedup]

bump

 

[Kev]

bump ?
is that a hint to me to keep going ?

which direction ?
and do you have a link to a good description of the T 388 ?

it is the REPRO head we need to confirm
and perhaps input and output levels so we know if the tascam fw-1804 interface can develop enough level to get the 388 into saturation