Equipment Review
Product Reviewed:
Tascam TRS-8
Made by: Tascam
Cost: free to me. yippee!
Submitted by JR#97 (Chad Badham)
Rating: 
Features:
8 track 1/2" recorder. On board DBX noise reduction. I don't have the exact specs on wow/flutter, etc. sorry. Frequency response, 40Hz-20KHz. S/N ratio, 108dB with DBX.
Technical Specifications:
N/A
What I liked:
The unit is pretty basic to operate. No menues, lcd view screens, or astro physics degree to operate. Very stable transport. TSR-8's are pretty common and therefore you can take your tape and do some stuff elsewhere if need be.
What I didn't:
Mine came if rca i/o's. No choice of speed other than cranking on the variable knob. I think it runs at 15 ips. Throwing down rough ideas at 3.75 or 7.5 ips would be nice and good way to maximize tape usage. There isn't a "shuttle" mode. Not to be confused with edit or job mode. Shuttle mode allows you to do a slower rewind or fast foreward. Slower speed helps keep the tape from "rising" on the reel and getting edge damage. Also keeps the head of the tape from whipping up a feric tornado when it runs off the reel.
User Tips:
the obvious. clean often. demag your heads and capstains etc. I track to mine and then dump to DAW for editing and mixing. Works great that way.
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