Tascam 1884 Explained?

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sethbrand_12
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2006/10/25 22:05:14 (permalink)

Tascam 1884 Explained?

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone who has experience with the tascam 1884 in sonar could explain a little how it works with the software. I have read that it works great and like a charm, but I am mainly interested in what all it can do. I plan on getting sonar 6 producer edition and the tascam 1884...and eventually down the road some better mic preamps. Here are some questions I would like answered about the tascam 1884:

Can i route audio and use outboard effects? How?
How do I control EQ, Pan, and other effects with the Tascam?
How do I bus things with the Tascam?
Can I do aux sends with the Tascam?

I am interested in using this as a full recording center piece, and would like to be able to record, edit, mix, etc. full bands and have as many options during mixing as possible. Any info?

Thanks,
Seth
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    OffAnAirplane
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    RE: Tascam 1884 Explained? 2006/10/25 23:39:16 (permalink)
    ORIGINAL: sethbrand_12

    Hey guys,

    I was wondering if anyone who has experience with the tascam 1884 in sonar could explain a little how it works with the software. I have read that it works great and like a charm, but I am mainly interested in what all it can do. I plan on getting sonar 6 producer edition and the tascam 1884...and eventually down the road some better mic preamps. Here are some questions I would like answered about the tascam 1884:

    Can i route audio and use outboard effects? How?
    How do I control EQ, Pan, and other effects with the Tascam?
    How do I bus things with the Tascam?
    Can I do aux sends with the Tascam?

    I am interested in using this as a full recording center piece, and would like to be able to record, edit, mix, etc. full bands and have as many options during mixing as possible. Any info?

    Thanks,
    Seth



    I used a FW-1884 with Sonar 5PE for a while. It worked fine, and the drivers were good.

    I can't answer all your questions, but I can answer at least one. The routing question.
    The FW-1884 has something called "mix mode" in which the faders cease to control Sonar's faders, and become sends for each channel. I'm not sure how many busses you can send to, but I know you can send each input to at least one stereo output for monitoring.

    I don't know how to control EQ and PAN, etc. with the FW-1884, but I know you can. Maybe someone with more knowledge about this can chime in.

    The Preamps in the FW-1884 are descent. They are about the quality level of a Mackie VLZ mixer, or a Presonus Firepod.

    As far as control surfaces go, I think the Mackie Universal is better. Mainly because of the LCD track labels. That was a big deal to me that the FW-1884 didn't have those. If you have to keep looking up at the screen, then what it the point in having a control surface? But of course, the Mackie is only a control surface, and not an interface. But that is a good thing, in my opinion. No sense in putting all your eggs in one basket. If that basket breaks, you're dead in the water.

    But I got rid of my FW-1884, because I found that I could use automation and envelopes and get the job done easier and faster.
    post edited by OffAnAirplane - 2006/10/25 23:57:09

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    Chris_T
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    RE: Tascam 1884 Explained? 2006/10/26 10:00:53 (permalink)
    It's still early days for me with Sonar & the 1884 but I've had a great experience with it. It runs rather rock solid, excellent integration with the program with dedicated statndard keys for Delete, cut, paste, undo etc, all of which have 3 modifier modes in total (normal, shift + control) making a total of 18 customisable keys (if you do away with the del, cut, copy etc funstions). Furthermore you can assign another 31 custom keys in total including the footswitch. The default assigned keys for the 1884 do a pretty fine job as they are. Transport and navigation is great with good flexibility with markers, looping, locating and general transport all from the control panel of the 1884.

    EQ can be controlled from the dedicated 4 band eq controls on the interface. My only gripe here is the lack of display of what your adjusting, but you *I think* you can feasibly adjust all bands by ear if you are used to the eq interface in Sonar and actions will be displayed on the eq graph but I'm not sure if you can view all adjusted knobs in Sonar at once. As for pan, 8 dedicated knobs per bank. I think the banks (accessible from the panel) are limited only by the the amount of tracks Sonar can handle is all.

    Controlling effects - not sure. I have it in my mind that this will be possible in MIDI control mode via ACT. Will know better in few days time. Search around here you'll find some info.

    1884 has 8 AUX sends controllable from the panel. External FX - Well each channel has In, Out and assignable sends Bus things with a choice of 8 analogue, 8 ADAt and 2 (or 4?) digital SPDIF, so it's definately possible. Bus things - What are they then?
    post edited by Chris_T - 2006/10/26 10:43:45
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