ron@brl-vgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (04/03/84)
I'm not familiar with these four-track cassette decks but one of the features you get with real to real (in addition to editing) is a much improved signal-to-noise ratio (which in practical use means more dynamic range). A cassette is 1/8" tape (a typical stereo cassette then uses no more than 1/32" per track because of space between the tracks) and moves at 1-7/8 ips. Typical hobby reel-to-reel is 7 ips and four tracks per 1/4" tape (approx 1/16") per track. Every time you double the amount of tape moving under the head you are going to pick up 3dB of signal-to- noise ratio. Thus switching from 1/32 to 1/16 gets you 3dB. Going from 1-7/8 to 7 ips gets you 6dB more, giving you 9dB. Typical FM radio production is done with about 1/8" per track and at 15 ips giving you 15dB better s-n than cassettes.
saf@floyd.UUCP (04/04/84)
While it is true that "unadorned" reel to reel has better S/N than cassette, currently ALL cassette units intended for serious use include some sort of noise reduction. As an example, the TASCAM 34 reel to reel is good for about 68db (rel +13 vu) while the TASCAM 244 cassette claims about 92db using dbx (note that this figure is for the tape section only; the internal mixing electronics don't come close to 92db - thus much of the advantage is actually lost). Of course adding a dbx to the reel to reel will cause it to outperform the cassette - but dbx is included in the price of the cassette while it is an add-on for the reel to reel. Don't get me wrong - I dislike cassettes for home studio type work. I had one and it was nothing but grief both from a flexibility and implementation standpoint. Also, I perceived inaccuracies in the handling of dynamics with the dbx. (TASCAM in fact warns about this and advises the user to keep levels at around -7vu rather than 0vu to "help" the dbx since 0vu is the dbx pivot point.) So, personally, I prefer the vanilla reel to reel. It's S/N is plenty given you don't want to overdub too many times on one track. There are good reasons for not doing that anyway - like inability to correct early mixdown imbalances. And balance always seems to change later in the mix! Steve Falco
peters@cubsvax.UUCP (04/05/84)
I saw the follow-up comparing reel-to-reel (note spelling!) to
multitrack cassette, and just about everything in it is true.
(I missed the original article.)
I have a Foxtex Multitracker, a 4-channel cassette machine
with integral mixer, and have used it quite a bit for both
live and "studio-style" (meaning overdubs, ping-ponging, etc.)
work. The cassette runs at twice normal cassette speed, so you
do pick up some S/N, and Dolby C helps a lot. After 2 ping-pongs
thing begin to sound lousy.
Teak was the first on the market with this kind of device; Fostex
followed soon after, and now I see Yamaha has one. There are
various grades and options (including cassette speed). From what I've
seen, the latest model Teac has some very nice features, including
parametric eq on the mixer.
Sound quality is better than on a normal cassette deck; one can cut
reasonable demos and do very nice live recording (although a total
of 22.5 min of program material on a C-90 is a limitation here...
this is the main reason someone might go to the 1 7/8 speed, which
would give 45 min). I have been very pleased.
Naturally, you get what you pay for. The whole deal comes to about
$1000, and you get quite a bit of flexibility, including the ability
to use the 4x4 mixing board alone. Although there's no question that
virtually any reel-to-reel multitrack deck would give better sound,
you have to consider that that's a much larger investment, especially
since you also have to buy a board. Also, the portability is a virtue. What
some people do is dub down a partial studio mix onto a multitrack
cassette deck, leaving one or two channels open -- eg, mixing the
rhythm section + dummy vocal down to two tracks -- then using the other
tracks to experiment with leads and fills in preparation for a return
to the studio.
Furthermore, if you're not sure a home studio is really your thing,
one of these jobs is an inexpensive way to find out (it's all relative,
of course!). Even if you later get fancier equipment, you'll probably
still end up doing lots of things with your multitrack cassette deck,
since it's so easy to set up. (It's been compared to a "musical notepad.")
One more comment. What you'll need in addition to mics, cables and
so on are a reverb unit and four channels worth of single-ended compression.
You'll probably need these for a reel-to-reel-based operation as well.
Reverb is kind of the minimal effect you'll need; analog or digital delay
would be nice, too. Compression is more of a necessity for the cassette-
based operation than for the reel-to-reel, because low S/N means small
dynamic range -- you'll want to compress the program material, in effect
losing a bit of "realism" in return for S/N. (I have reverb, but not
compression; I couln't live without reverb, but have been living without
compression -- if you call that living!)
{philabs,cmcl2!rocky2}!cubsvax!peters Peter S. Shenkin
Dept of Biol. Sci.; Columbia Univ.; New York, N. Y. 10027; 212-280-5517