Tascam 32 - Reel to Reel sound clips?

[heavenorlasvegas]

Hi all!

Would anyone care to share some recordings they've done with this machine? I've read mixed reviews about the unit but would love to hear some examples for myself. Hear it's ok if used as a mixdown machine.

Thanks as always.

Roger

[Wonks]

The end results will depend so much on the quality of what’s being fed into it that any recording on its own would be fairly meaningless.

E.g. If you judged a vintage U47 by me singing into it, you’d think it was a really crap mic.

You’d really need two otherwise identical mixdowns, one digital, one to tape so you could compare the differences.

[James Perrett]

If you are considering a budget mixdown machine then I'd strongly recommend looking at a Revox A77 or B77. Tape handling is great and a well serviced and aligned one will give you a good solid sound. Plenty of people know how to service them too.

They were widely used in studios - as a mixdown machine in smaller studios and as a secondary 2 track machine in bigger studios so you have almost certainly heard recordings made on one.

As with all tape machines, condition is important - particularly the condition of the heads.

[sonics]

It wouldn't be my first choice, let's say that. Any masters I have will have been transferred to a digital format long ago. The recordings would tell you more about my engineering and production choices at the time than about the qualities of the tape machine. I always preferred to use other machines, like Otari and Revox, if available.

There are also Tascam-flavoured plugins to enjoy, if you want.

[MarkOne]

Or, get a plug-in. No alignment, no expensive tape, and it doesn’t take up a big chunk of studio space

[Arpangel]

I owned a 32-2B for years, it was "OK" but I found the Revox B77 (I had two) were superior to me, in terms of sound and reliability, never had any issues with my B77’s, I did have constant issues with the 32, transport problems, stopping at certain points in the tape on playback, tape tension issues that couldn’t be put right, I sold it in the end, I just couldn’t be bothered with it.
The B77 just sounds "right" didn’t draw your attention to it, the 32 had a different sound.
But tape machines can vary so much, you can’t really judge on one example alone.

[Sam Spoons]

I've owned a Tascam 3440S, a Tascam 48 and a Revox A77. All bought used and pretty old. The 3440 and A77* were the mainstay of a VO studio we had for a few years, they all sounded great and none gave any trouble.

If it was me I'd go for another Revox as they are more 'professional', i.e. easily repairable and solid build, and parts are probably easier to find. But a good Tascam will get the job done too.**

* During it's life the A77 was converted from standard speed ¼ track to high speed ½ track which improved the (already 'hi') fidelity but probably reduced the 'mojo'

** Tape machine ownership is, these days, against rationality and common sense but sometimes you just want one... Which has set me thinking, maybe I should strap a tape plug in across my master bus as I found it easier to get good sounding mixes on my old all analogue rig

[jimjazzdad]

I have a Tascam 32 that I still use occasionally. I would opine that it is the equal of the Revox "A" & "B" machines. You really have to go to Studer, Otari, etc. to get performance above the 'prosumer' level decks; tape transport - both tension and wow & flutter - seems to be the big incremental improvement. I haven't got any all-analogue recordings made on my 32 to share... Not sure what would be proved by uploading a digital sample of an analogue tape master of a digital recording?

[Hugh Robjohns]

When new I think the Tascam 32 was a decent semi-pro machine, certainly rivalling the performance of the Revox B77.

However, it is much harder to find spares for it now than any of the Revox machines, and some parts are completely unobtainium.

There's some brief information on known common faults here:
https://reel-reel.com/tape-recorder/tascam-32/

[Arpangel]

When I took one of my B77’s apart, I was astounded at the low quality of some of the components, especially the pots and switches, they were black in one of my machines, really over heated.
They still sounded good though.

[tea for two]

... Which has set me thinking, maybe I should strap a tape plug in across my master bus as I found it easier to get good sounding mixes on my old all analogue rig

I might try that on some pseudo heavy Guitar style also on some pseudo Ambient I've done.
I tried Kramer Master Tape on one of my pseudo Orchestral Choral sounded terrible.

[Sam Spoons]

I suspect the problem I had when I first started working on digital gear was not allowing enough headroom though the yellow zone on the X32 meters does start at around -20dB