Comments on: The last great cassette multitrack, the Tascam 688

By: Robbie

Robbie — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:14:35 +0000

Nice article, great to see a lot of people still believe in the 688. I bought mine off of craiglist about 7 or 8 years ago, with an anvil case for $300. My question is besides the midiizer, is there any other way to sinc up my dr-770 and korg ms2000b? What about the Tascam MTS-30? Also is there a forum for 688 users? Thanks

By: Igor

Igor — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:30:35 +0000

If you already own one of these machines and need a mixer but can’t afford one, then fine, go ahead and use it as a mixer, but going out and buying one of these units just to use as a mixer is retarded. You’ll be infinitely better off buying a cheap new mixer made by Yamaha, Mackie, Soundcraft, Allen & Heath, Behringer, etc., than using an old cassette portastudio for that purpose.

By: greg

greg — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:10:42 +0000

I have a fuzzy memory of reading in either Recording or EQ magazine of some of the heavy hitters of rap using this machine and an SM57 for vocals on some of their hits. Wish I could be more specific. They probably appreciated compressed sonic quality of cassette tape. But I can tell you that at that time Prince used the rack mount version of this machine to record his concerts.

By: Dafydd

Dafydd — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:46:57 +0000

Where in the process are you having a problem?

By: Pierre

Pierre — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:58:28 +0000

Hi im trying to download your tascam 688 manual but wont work
any suggestions?? And thanks for posting that free manual i just bought one of these beast but need a manual lots to learn about i

Thanks Pierre

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:24:06 +0000

ps – any one know any other notable albums/tracks that were done on the 688?

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:23:28 +0000

Several tracks that ended up on Morphine albums were done at Mark Sandman’s Hi-N-Dry studio on a 688 with just a couple of mics.. Sound great.

By: The Baz

The Baz — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:37:58 +0000

Hey Thanks for the manual. I have a 688 and my son was just given one for free. He could really use a manual. I have just pulled mine out of mothballs for a on location demo. The 688 performed great except that I cannot rout anything to group 6 for some reason. It will play back through track 6 and channel 6 works fine when routed to any other group. Last time I used it it was fine. If I take a line out of group 6 direct out there is nothing, so the problem seems to be between the output of whatever channel is being used and the output of group 6. The vu meter works on playback but shows nothing from an input, dual or main.
Hope someone can help.

Baz

By: johnny.che.ole

johnny.che.ole — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:05:24 +0000

hello, i have a tascam 688 midistudio. i want to sync it up to my powerboox mac laptop computer. i use garageband mostly, can use logic. has this been tried before? what do i need to make this happen? thanks, johnny

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:29:49 +0000

Hey Jordan. If I recall, Dual mode is just a separate mixer to create a stereo mix…I think if you are talking about using the XLR or 1/4 inch jacks you need to select the correct input for a given channel and assign them (up to 8) to individual busses for recording to individual channels.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:01:50 +0000

Hey! Love the sound on my 688 but I’m unable to record individual tracks in DUAL mode… (that is, plugging synths / drum machines directly in with 1/4″ cables…) Anyone know how to do this?

By: Roy Elliott

Roy Elliott — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:29:04 +0000

I bought one of these new (around $3,500.00 US) in the late eighties and have never been disappointed in it. A few years ago I thought I might be better off to upgrade to a digital storage format, so it has been in storage since I purchased a Mac-Book Pro and started experimenting with Garage-Band about 4 years ago.
Just for giggles, I retrieved the 688 from storage a few days ago and it still works great. Once I used it again, I suddenly remembered why I fell in love with it 20 years ago. It has a rich, unmatched sound, that’s hard to get with any other recording equipment.

By: gymjay

gymjay — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:28:39 +0000

I bought mine in feb this year , cost just under £300 and with it i got original manual and original box! The mixer was mainly used to record drums, but the tape recorder was switched off by use of a modifide switched made and fitted right hand side under the ledge level with the cassette lid. So the heads and transport are like new. The channels sound great but got some static .The machine takes time to get used to cos the way its routes it self. Hey great beast!

By: Paul Michael

Paul Michael — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:03:34 +0000

Thankyou so much for your thoughtfulness & kindness.
That manual is a necessity!

May you be happy & well & inspired Paul

By: Dafydd

Dafydd — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:35:29 +0000

I can understand why people would want to use it as a mixer – Tascam isn’t making any new cassette 8-track tape heads anymore, so depending on the wear of the unit, the mixer may be the only salvageable part of it. Mind, a wise producer once told me that “rewind time is thinking time.”

By: Dafydd

Dafydd — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:31:52 +0000

The PDF is on the site – I had to zip it to save on bandwidth :-)

By: Ian Williams

Ian Williams — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:19:00 +0000

It’s depressing to me how many people have commented about just using it as a mixer… If one of you have a 688 that you strictly want to use as a mixer, I would happily trade you my Alesis Studio 32 board for it, or some other similar newer board if you’d prefer. I would love to have a 688 to record on!! ian at soundhole dot org…

By: tascam midistudio 688 user manual - Home Recording forums

tascam midistudio 688 user manual - Home Recording forums — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:24:32 +0000

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By: Alvin Inventor

Alvin Inventor — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 04:25:38 +0000

Hi!
Thanks a lot I’ve found this page….I really need a copy of Tascam 688 manual…your generosity is highly appreciated,please send me a copy..[ed email redacted]…thank you,thank you!

alvin:)

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:04:49 +0000

I saw one of these Tascam 688 MidiStudios at a Pawn Shop for $150. I just would like to use it to mic a big drum set with 8 mics and send it to a PA system. I assume this baby could handle that, right?

That sounds like a good deal.