FW-1884 How to bypass Preamp?

Hello,

I am letting a buddy use my Fw-1884 for a while since I don't use it anymore, and he wants to know if the tascams preamps can be bypassed? I always used my ADL600 going into the 1884, but never thought about bypassing the internal preamps. Is this possible?

Using the 1/4" line inputs will bypass the preamps if the unit has them.

The unit does have line ins, but according to the back of the unit, they are balanced line-ins. Would they still bypass the preamp? I always just turned the gain all the way down, but the output of my ADL600 was so hot that I couldn't turn the gain up on it because it would peak the input meter. Hope this will work for him. His motu pci system got fried and he is trying to finish a project this week.

Well, according to the tascam site, the line-ins are wired in parallel with the XLR ins. I guess this means they also go through the preamp. Any other suggestions?

David,
After reviewing the FW1884 schematic it looks like you can bypass the pre with the insert return. The the "tip" is the send and the "ring" is the return. Insert your 1/4" phone jack until you feel the first "click" at this point you will be connected to the "return". I would use a standard cable, not a "balanced" cable. You want to insure you get a good ground. Seems to me I used to do this with an EMU keyboard to mix additional synths internally.

Good luck,
Tom

David,
You'll have to build a patch cable. I've covered it here.
I've done a little experimenting, and it appears the pres are pretty transparent. The Line In attenuates the signal about 14db.
If your input signal is not too hot you can bring it in on the XLR input thus minimizing gain.
I've set up a Sonar project you can use to test your pres, there's a link from the page above.
Hope this helps.
Tom