Fostex 280

Hi about the fostex 280,Ive owned one for about 21 years now, and its still in great working order,it has a very nice warm sound, and has been very reliable for me, and still to this day, i also just got lucky and bought brand new fostex 380-s,which of course has Dolby s reduction very nice sound with this noise reduction, in fact the fostex 380-s is the only 4 track recorder with Dolby s no one other than reel to reel machine's had this.I wanted to make a comment about the other review ,that talks about this machine, i'm not sure who wrote about the fostex 280, but there's many error's about what they wrote,First off there's only 4 tracks,and was never 8 tracks not sure where all there info was coming from, it seems most of what they wrote is completely wrong about this machine sorry to say.You can find a few on eBay once in a while, and the 380-s, so if your interested ,there in my opinion a great machine.

The Fostex 280 is designed to record 8 tracks onto a standard cassette. It features a built in mixer with high and low EQ on each channel, XLR inputs on channels 1 and 2, and 1/4” inputs for the other inputs. It can record on up to 4 tracks simultaneously. The manual is very easy to follow, and although it is not as easy to use as a standard 4 track Fostex, like the Tascam 424, it is very easy to master after running through the operations a few times.

The 488 has a pitch wheel to change the speed/pitch, two computer controlled memory locations with auto-punch in, a return to zero locate button, two loops for effect and auxiliary, an option to record a SMPTE track on track 8, and dbx Type II noise reduction. For the best recordings, high quality Type II cassettes 60 minutes or shorter in length should be used.

This was my first 8 track recorder. It is a pretty solid machine for a cassette Fostex, and sonically is similar to the Tascam 488 mkII, but lacks some of the mkII's features. Some of the missing features that would be nice to have are additional XLR inputs, the ability to record on more than 4 tracks simultaneously, phantom power, and more EQ options. Most of these features made it into mkII and the higher-end 688. However, for a solo recordist with a small project studio the Tascam 488 (mkI) is a great machine, capable of producing some excellent demos, particularly if the user is able to bouncing tracks. I kept mine for about a year or two, eventually replacing it with a Tascam 388. On occasion I miss having the ability to to truck around such a small, easy to use 8 track recorder that is capable of producing decent analog recordings while being able to stay “hands-on” with EQ (not having to drag through the menus of a modern 8 track DAW), but I'm again to get along without it and have no plans to replace it. That being said, this is an excellent first machine, and I would personally recommend starting with an 8 track cassette Fostex over a 4 track Fostex as the difference in sound quality is negligible, if one is going to make the foray into cassette multitrack recording.

I use the Fostex 280 for over ten years and I am satisfied with trs. The report quality price of this device is great. The rducteur Noise (Dolby C) A model of its kind. This is my first multitrack digital and I am leaving with a new prt MODEL numrique brand (modern forces). Coupled to an MTC (sold as an option), he manages well with trs and it squenceurs rcupre blocking even when an audio track. It rcupre all of the same to the other three ping pong (not too much, because the breath increases each report). The editors are well, you can add effects collection outdoor, and monitors. Two headphone jack, a jack for pedals punch in and out, a processor to grate all this, a variable speed drive, external RCA outputs for each track without rcuprer qualisations ... etc.. .. In short, it's old high-end, but always appropriate for those who can not remain on the hardware used (for initial purchase, a not worth the blow today because the advance technological numriques!). Coupled with a PC to rcuprer recordings on CD, is the best! If c'tait again with ten years younger, I Rasht eyes closed.