These old vintage mixers have a sound to them. I have a Roland channel mixer PA 60 that I have run my drums through on quite a few occasions to drive them and get a sound that I want to achieve before sending everything through my Soundcraft mixer to go to individual channels into Logic. Real spring reverb, sends for a Roland Space Echo, a basic eq that really does drive the sound, it may not be for every mix but when it's needed it can produce a sound that may cost a lot more to acquire the hardware to sound better.
There was a slight difference but I wonder how it would sound pushing the mixer more into the red. A lot of the character that old equipment gives to sound is from the electronics being pushed hot. Also it would have to be per channel and mixing for balance cause some things would just distort too much. I just found out recently that even some vst plugins are designed in the same manner so those vintage emulation plugins have to also be pushed hot. Good to see you still around homie
There were a few versions of the Model 2 and 2a, which you can verify by looking at various photos online, and/or Ebay listings. The more modern 2a came out alongside its matching recorder, the Teac A-3440, which replaced the A-3340 in late 1978/early '79. The A-3440 and Model 2a were in the product line thru 1983, even being made after the Tascam 34 came along. Some serial number labels in the back have an extra two digit # which provided a manufacturing date code. I recommend that you look thru the operating manuals, especially for the MB-20, as it shows how the A-3440, 2A etc are all interconnected. The MB-20 is a very useful device to have. I prefer the version which has the meter bridge tilted upward, enclosed in a wood-style case, vs the other 2A which sits straight on top of a bracket (again- look and compare them on Ebay). I think its alot easier on the eye to have the meters to have them raised up, compared to other vintage mixers, such as the Tascam M-106 (came out in 1985) that has only two meters and are face down (or face-up, rather, 2D, not 3D) as it is on many modern day mixers as well, such as a Mackie Pro FX, for example. The yellowish glow of the meters look great, especially if you also have an A-3440, so that 8 meters are illuminated simultaneously. As I mentioned above, there were some 2A variations, but nothing drastic, mainly just the shape of the slider covers andthe color of the knobs. I recall when I was teen and my brother bought the system new back in '79 which he still has (A-3440, 2A/MB-20 and RX-9 noise reduction). Another useful accessory was the AX-20 mixdown panel. I eventually acquired the same gear in the 90's on the used market, so I have admired these units for a long time. Thus, I think someone's age will generally indicate how much they can either appreciate this vintage equipment or think its too outdated. Sure, the 2A has some limitations, no XLR connectors for example, but nothing thats a real dealbreaker. If you need more inputs, its easy to cascade two 2A's together. The main thing is its laid out very nicely- four buttons on each channel, 4 busses, whereas on a mixer like the Mackie ProFX 12 whiich I also have, there is not much provision for multitrack recording, its better suited for connecting up a bunch of equipment for live sound or band practice. The 2A was designed for a novice or intermediate home musician to be able to do multitrack analog recording with a minimum of fuss and complications. The 2A is a good model for someone to get acquainted with the basics of signal routing, and if someone outgrows it, its still a good steppingstone to other larger and more full featured mixers, such as my Tascam M-1516 (came out in 1992) which is better suited to 8 track machines, but I still miss the upward-tilted 2A VU meters which instead, the M1516 has flat 2D bargraph meters. If you might consider getting an A-3440, I think you could better achieve a nice retro analog sound quality, vs using just the 2A itself.
As someone with a bad habit of picking up random roadside, garage sale, or antique store vintage audio equipment, I approve of your impulse purchase hahaha that thing looks awesome. When you played the noise by itself it sounded super loud, but running the beat through it I feel like it added only a slight bit of that noise but gave the beat some nice warmth and brought the beat to life frankly. Nice beat and I like this style of video! Glad to see you back brother!
Haha I appreciate it bro! Sometimes you find good stuff, it's a risk but that's a part of the fun & thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the video!
The sample is so lofi, that it is simply impossible to add anything but distortion and/or noise with outboard gear, in this case the teac m2a.. I have not measured anything, but mine is very quiet, compared to other mixing desks that I owned before. But even if it was noisy, I paid just 30euro in a pawn shop. Of course these mixers are way too expensive on ebay, I admit.
It's also worth noting this peace isn't really a professional bit of kit. The giveaway is the RCA, the mic being on 1/4 and the jank linear faders. Analogue gear requires regular servicing so you also have to budget for that.
Great point! I think I read somewhere that Teac was designed for what they call "semi-pro" and Tascam was supposed to be their line of pro audio. Don't know how accurate that is
@@chrisgalactic so far it sounds great figuring out how to route all the stuff and set it up with my desk Trying to figure out what the BUSS IN are used
@@chrisgalactic Yes. I recorded my first record on one of those. It will always have a special place in my heart because of this. I don't need one but I would buy one when I have the cash spare.
Man, what a great video. Thanks a lot!
These old vintage mixers have a sound to them. I have a Roland channel mixer PA 60 that I have run my drums through on quite a few occasions to drive them and get a sound that I want to achieve before sending everything through my Soundcraft mixer to go to individual channels into Logic. Real spring reverb, sends for a Roland Space Echo, a basic eq that really does drive the sound, it may not be for every mix but when it's needed it can produce a sound that may cost a lot more to acquire the hardware to sound better.
There was a slight difference but I wonder how it would sound pushing the mixer more into the red. A lot of the character that old equipment gives to sound is from the electronics being pushed hot. Also it would have to be per channel and mixing for balance cause some things would just distort too much. I just found out recently that even some vst plugins are designed in the same manner so those vintage emulation plugins have to also be pushed hot. Good to see you still around homie
There were a few versions of the Model 2 and 2a, which you can verify by looking at various photos online, and/or Ebay listings. The more modern 2a came out alongside its matching recorder, the Teac A-3440, which replaced the A-3340 in late 1978/early '79. The A-3440 and Model 2a were in the product line thru 1983, even being made after the Tascam 34 came along. Some serial number labels in the back have an extra two digit # which provided a manufacturing date code. I recommend that you look thru the operating manuals, especially for the MB-20, as it shows how the A-3440, 2A etc are all interconnected.
The MB-20 is a very useful device to have. I prefer the version which has the meter bridge tilted upward, enclosed in a wood-style case, vs the other 2A which sits straight on top of a bracket (again- look and compare them on Ebay). I think its alot easier on the eye to have the meters to have them raised up, compared to other vintage mixers, such as the Tascam M-106 (came out in 1985) that has only two meters and are face down (or face-up, rather, 2D, not 3D) as it is on many modern day mixers as well, such as a Mackie Pro FX, for example. The yellowish glow of the meters look great, especially if you also have an A-3440, so that 8 meters are illuminated simultaneously. As I mentioned above, there were some 2A variations, but nothing drastic, mainly just the shape of the slider covers andthe color of the knobs.
I recall when I was teen and my brother bought the system new back in '79 which he still has (A-3440, 2A/MB-20 and RX-9 noise reduction). Another useful accessory was the AX-20 mixdown panel. I eventually acquired the same gear in the 90's on the used market, so I have admired these units for a long time.
Thus, I think someone's age will generally indicate how much they can either appreciate this vintage equipment or think its too outdated. Sure, the 2A has some limitations, no XLR connectors for example, but nothing thats a real dealbreaker. If you need more inputs, its easy to cascade two 2A's together. The main thing is its laid out very nicely- four buttons on each channel, 4 busses, whereas on a mixer like the Mackie ProFX 12 whiich I also have, there is not much provision for multitrack recording, its better suited for connecting up a bunch of equipment for live sound or band practice. The 2A was designed for a novice or intermediate home musician to be able to do multitrack analog recording with a minimum of fuss and complications.
The 2A is a good model for someone to get acquainted with the basics of signal routing, and if someone outgrows it, its still a good steppingstone to other larger and more full featured mixers, such as my Tascam M-1516 (came out in 1992) which is better suited to 8 track machines, but I still miss the upward-tilted 2A VU meters which instead, the M1516 has flat 2D bargraph meters.
If you might consider getting an A-3440, I think you could better achieve a nice retro analog sound quality, vs using just the 2A itself.
As someone with a bad habit of picking up random roadside, garage sale, or antique store vintage audio equipment, I approve of your impulse purchase hahaha that thing looks awesome. When you played the noise by itself it sounded super loud, but running the beat through it I feel like it added only a slight bit of that noise but gave the beat some nice warmth and brought the beat to life frankly. Nice beat and I like this style of video! Glad to see you back brother!
Haha I appreciate it bro! Sometimes you find good stuff, it's a risk but that's a part of the fun & thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the video!
The sample is so lofi, that it is simply impossible to add anything but distortion and/or noise with outboard gear, in this case the teac m2a.. I have not measured anything, but mine is very quiet, compared to other mixing desks that I owned before. But even if it was noisy, I paid just 30euro in a pawn shop. Of course these mixers are way too expensive on ebay, I admit.
It's also worth noting this peace isn't really a professional bit of kit. The giveaway is the RCA, the mic being on 1/4 and the jank linear faders.
Analogue gear requires regular servicing so you also have to budget for that.
Great point! I think I read somewhere that Teac was designed for what they call "semi-pro" and Tascam was supposed to be their line of pro audio. Don't know how accurate that is
@@chrisgalactic Yeah that's about right
I bought the one for $140 you showed in the video
DOPE! How are you liking it?
@@chrisgalactic so far it sounds great figuring out how to route all the stuff and set it up with my desk
Trying to figure out what the BUSS IN are used
@@aidansig1347 let me know if you figure it out. I'm curious to know
Vintage mixers are great. These Tascams were trash when they were new. Tascam made good tape decks but their mixers were noisy and harsh.
I agree, I want to pick up one of their Tape machines but they are pricey. Have you seen the Tascam 388 with the built-in tape machine?
@@chrisgalactic Yes. I recorded my first record on one of those. It will always have a special place in my heart because of this. I don't need one but I would buy one when I have the cash spare.