Tascam MX-2424

I'm a beta tester for Timeline Vista, the company that developed the MX for Tascam. I plan to purchase this unit when the testing is complete because I am very impressed with it's performance overall.

This hardware has got a V-8 under the hood! I tried doing home recording using soundcards and building my own DAW using over the counter software but even with lots of memory and a reasonably fast system I ran into problems with dropouts and freezes that were too huch hassle. With the MX-2424, I can do a ton of editing on a 24 track, 24-bit 44100 or 48000 Hz project and it never gives me a hiccup or long delays. I could record at 96000 Hz sample rates too if I wanted to but for me that's overkill. The analog to digital converters are very high quality and give great sound.
The latest feature, a new GUI called MX-View, hasn't been released to the public yet because it's in the beta test phase, but I can tell you in all honesty, it's incredible! You can run the MX remotely with meters and do your tracking then do editing super fast. You can record many virtual tracks and quickly compile the best takes from each track to a new virtual track. You can render all your clips when done editing to make it easy to import into other music software at a specific time or if you use Logic Audio you'll soon be able to spot audio directly utilizing the Open-TL standard. If you don't have a digital mixer the MX-View software lets you do volume automation and you can mix down to two tracks to burn to a CD on the SPDIF output. I may take my tracks back into an audio program on my PC to add effects later but I can get a ton of work done using this new GUI and the MX-2424.

Before they had the MX-View GUI they had a product called ViewNet which didn't have all that many features and was slower so I wasn't using the MX as I am now. It would be nice if it could work with IDE drives instead of SCSI because the SCSI drives cost more but I guess it probably wouldn't be able to perform as well as it does with the SCSI.

This thing is rock solid! The buttons have a good feel and with the thousands of times I have pushed them I have never had an error where the button didn't work right. As I said before the sound quality is excellent and the synchronization and clock are so good you'll want to use the MX as your clock source. The unit will lock to just about anything and apart from the music industry this product is also heavily used in film-making and audio dubbing. Multiple units can chase one another to enable real-time recording of many instruments such as recording a full symphony.

The MX-2424 competes with a couple of other products some for less money and some for more but it is purchased by professionals over the other units available because of it's quality and reliability. When previous owners get their hands on the new GUI, MX-View they just aren't going to believe all the extra features that have been added and how well it works. If you want to work quickly and feel confident in your recording hardware to keep up with you to get the work done without problems, then you have to evaluate the MX-2424 for yourself. You won't regret it!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

24 in / out sanalogique symmetrical 6 Sub-d25. 2 XLR in / out AES, 2 x SPDIF in / out RCA, 24 in / out on 3 of 25 Sub-AES or TDIF (or ADAT tos-link). Word Clock in / out / thru BNC, SMPTE Time Code in / out TRS. Midi in / out / thru.Vidéo Sync in / out BNC, remote in / out RS422 Sub-D9.
100base Tx Ethernet (fast exchange with the PC if you have a "fast-thernet" card or a switch 100base Tx, and Wide SCSI.
Never found more complete.
Also has a frequency converter.

UTILIZATION

There are several manuals, hardware and 2 for 2 for software.Plutôt well made, the English versions anyway.
MX-view is outdated, I transferred into Sonar when I use.
Also controllable by Sony P2 standard (synchronizes well with broadcast video recorders), RS422 from a Tascam or Yamaha or some RC2424 digital console.

SOUNDS

Difficult for me to make a difference with a Lynx Aurora. In general, I do not revert to analog, the D / A converters are used for monitoring me.

OVERALL OPINION

I used two for 6 years. One AES, TDIF the other. With its ergonomic recorder and the remote control allows all functions of the most useful editions, this device allows you to record and edit screen without, so to do with his ears and not with the eyes.
Sound engineers know what I mean.
Defects: it is too noisy (as much as a large tower PC) despite the replacement of the fan and the integration of HDD in a box called "silent" which tends to overheat, resulting in mandatory break every 2 hours recording.
The time code display is too small.

Mine is analog and AES / EBU

It has 24 tracks in 44.1/48 kHz and half 88.2 / 96 kHz.
I have a drawer Kingston with 73 hard drives and 36GB SCSI. The 73 GB disks are the best I've had for this magneto because they are the quietest.

Can synchronize video and word clock ref with a LTC or MTC. It is comprehensive and convenient. It can also convert LTC to MTC.

UTILIZATION

The setup is good and makes sense

The manual ... I do not know

I never published it. As I recorded the classic, it does not make rere or editing during capture. Once home, I take the tray that contains the direct drive and hop in the Pyramix.

SOUNDS

The converters are very good. It is possible to change the line inputs for greater transparency (both on mine) but it is necessary then to have preamps with no offset.

No filter or effect within

OVERALL OPINION

I used 12 years.
It is a tractor and it sounds good

I think the editing software on Mac or PC to forget. The network port MX is a 10BT and it crawls serious. In addition when transferring files to / from the computer and the MX, there are many who, at the time their media is clueless ...

on the other hand, it suffers from some design flaws that make this model tends to break down after a few hundred hours of use.
We can fix it if it is a little technician and make a really nice and reliable machine.

Connections: following cards ADAT / TDIF / Analog / AES
Sampling: 44.1K/48K/96K (12pistes) 16/24bit
Stokage: SCSI Hard drive formatting MAC or PC (or both) Pro-tools compatible
Synchros: SMPTE / MTC / word
24 full tracks

UTILIZATION

Flexible configuration Authorized compatibilitbr all /> The functions are simple and very effective if PC or Mac interface with the MX reread Net View
upgrades are free and the bone also updates easy.
The latest operating system even allows the direct export and import stations.

SOUNDS

As for converters, I go and then released in digital light pipe.
No internal effects but for the 124 db dynamic adcoiffe!
Great product if-net View latest version, and hard drive in addition to eight gigabytes home a bit short, remote adat brc works with. Backup to DVD RAM or station via
100MPS includes ethernet.

OVERALL OPINION

12 months of operation of small galleries on the first pass of the OS but it has arranged a TASCAM. The edition is trs cool efficiency of a formidable virtual tracks copy paste, fade, loop, mute and volume. Finally no more rewinding!