Tascam 388 - How to go from Digital to Analog Tape 

Super appreciate these vids, Matt. There just aint many resources out there for getting into tape recording. Thanks for sharing!

Cool! Highly anticipated albums.

Thank you for making all these videos about tape recording and your mixer.

If you love the sound of analogue tape, I recommend you get to experience either one inch or two inch reel to reel tape in a good studio environment. I did back in 1991 and through most of the 90s at a place in England (UK) called In-a-city-Studio. The owner and engineer/producer was Carl Stipetic, who had a big feature article in Sound On Sound Magazine in the June 2000 issue. To this day I have never experienced anything as awesome as that, and I have used or owned some serious bits of gear both modern and old top end stuff, but there is something about tape that just hits you in the feels; it has a soul and energy to it that digital does not do the same. I love digital too but more for the convenience. I've thought about getting my old Ampex reels digitised, although many tapes of that age suffer from the dreaded tape rot, where the oxide particles just fall off the tape backing strip making them unplayable. Hopefully I am lucky with mine!

Great! As always, Matthew!!!

I've got a Soundcraft SCM381 eight track tape machine. I haven't got round to using it but I feel inspired to do so now. My biggest fear is getting it at setup and cleaned perfect for recording there's quite a bit to it which is quite daunting but I must try it soon.

Hell yeah! If possible, would love to hear the end result/difference between a 388 and digital bounce

Any chance we could hear the digital bounce vs. the 388 bounce? If you could hook that up for us that would be sick!

Love you guys! Makes me want TASCAM real bad!

Hell yeah, you scared me with the "moving needles " during recording of the Doris master .Wow , not many people dare recording on a used tape for a new fresh masta. I like that, but than again I am also a lucky newbie owner or this legendary 388 so I know a little hiss or a little crosstalk is not neccesarily a bad thing on this . I intend to do a lot of dubbing thanks also to your enthousiasm for the great peace of machinery. thanks a lot for that.

Greettings from buenos aires, good job man, really happy to see somebody getting that analog flava back.. so we have a tascam m308 and multitrack tascan tsr8 .. this last need a new capstan belt and a good clean..but soon we are gonna get it on REC.. so keep it up with this tutorials.. they have big value since all around its digital.. Big up

Thanks Matthew for your program on Tascam 388. I love Dream Machine albums especially the Analog recordings. Analog is much more superior than Digital. Digital reminds me of the painting The Last Supper by Da Vinci

I sooo wish you were my neighbors.. this just looks and feels . fun. Very Interesting and what a great way to get sound the way you like it.. im extremely limited and merely a guitar player.. im still trying to figure out reaper because i think its the only daw i can afford.. have a tiny focusrite 2i4 but it works and sounds great ... love the video. Thankyou for sharing :)

You should also demagnetize the heads from time to time...

This is very good. I am getting my drums from EZ drummer and my bass in Logic. Then send those channels to Tascam as 3 channels,,,record my guitars ,synths etc on remaining tracks….Then send via stereo sends and perform my Tascam mix to logic ..Seems to work for me and I dont have to Ping pong and dont have noise issues……

Very good

this is awesome. thank you

Loving the channel ! , cant` help but feel you`d benefit from an audio patchbay in your studio , would save all the connecting / re-connecting just a thought , keep up the great work ! Steve U.K.

Would love a vid demystifying the L-R and panning functions. LOL.

How about the opposite - tape to digital? I assume you would use the tape out rca outputs?

Love these videos. I do have one question, if I want to my mics to go through the tascam (for its pres) then into my interface, am I using the 8 PMG outs on the Tascam into my 8 inputs of my interface? Or using TAPE or SEND? Thanks and hope to hear back from ya soon!

Hello Marhew and Doris, I relly enjoy watching your videos especially the ones on the 388. I am so happy to see other people using and liking this platform. I myself use the 388 and absolutely loving it. Was wondering if I can communicate with you guys and how. Keep the good work. Kind regards, Sage Benado Owner and president of Benado Effects, inc.

Damn I wish these were easily obtainable in the Netherlands, they're impossible to find here

You need a patchbay!

Great video! Do you advice to do that kind of process after mixing and before mastering? Also I saw another comment saying "only bass tracks", I wonder why only bass tracks and what bass tracks mean (only drums and bass?) Thank you for answering :))) I have a little tascam 244 and would be happy to take the best analog sound out of it but I'm a bit confused about how to do it, and when in the mix/master process.

🤘🤘

The phone goes into tascam or Interface ?

When I go from my laptop into a presonus Firebox and then into the 388 I get a digital white noise, if I go from the laptop headphones out into the 388 I don't get the digital noise but it feedsback very easily . Do you have any suggestions that could help me? Thank you.

have you ever mix things to vhs?

What do you do about the interface's outputs being balanced and the line ins on the 388 being balanced?

Hey Matthew. Weird quesiton but, did replace the bulbs on the meters yourself? On one video you casually mention that all the bulbs are working. I need to replace bulbs

When bouncing you computer tracks, are you using DBX?

do you recommend the tascam m308? is it quite different?

Do you ever add vinyl record distortion or tape distortion for that old sound?

Do y'all plan on ever releasing the third album on physical media? I would love to have it on cassette

just wondering, where do you buy your tape?

What tape do you use for the 388 and where do you get it?

Could I pay you to bounce a song through the tascam?

Do you know of a company that will do this?

Can you recommend a good affordable interface if I want to bounce all the tracks from the tascam to my computer in Logic Pro? And how would I get the tracks into logic with the mix I made on the tascam? Use the stereo outs?

Stereo pair of Distressors.

What interface do you guys use?

Sigh. Doris is a lucky girl, lol

NEVER record critical material like that to edge tracks!! Bass tracks ONLY!!! I’ll let you guess why.

hey man take that junk off the top of the 388 your breaking my heart

Going from digital to analog is dumb. The essence of the sound is already defined by being recorded digitally.