Tascam Model 16
A 16- or 24-input console built for the project studio that was tired of patching around its limitations.
Overview
The Model 16 was Tascam's answer to a specific problem. A small studio had moved up to 16-track tape but was still mixing through something that couldn't keep up. The console was meant to sit at the center of a serious project room, and Tascam pitched it directly against the 85-16 1-inch 16-track recorder. The two were advertised together as a system. Recording Engineer (December 1981, p.47) ran the pairing as a single package, the Model 16 console alongside the 85-16 with dbx.
The Model 16 was modular. The frame took either 16 or 24 input positions, and the input modules came in three configurations: 8×8 at $6,900, 16×8 at $10,500, and 24×8 at $12,900. A studio could buy in at the low end and expand later, or go straight to a 24-input desk if the work justified it. Tascam also offered a Model 16-S variant, an 8×8 configuration sold through Suntronics Multitrack Stores and bundled with an 80-8 8-track recorder at $10,500.
The feature set was big for the era. The console had 8 main program mixing busses with submaster faders and 8 main board outputs, plus 2 independent stereo mixing busses and 4 auxiliary mixing busses. Monitoring ran through 16 meters switchable to read either buss or an external source, and the board supported 16×2 channel or dual 8×2 channel monitor selection. Solo functions included Stereo Solo Inplace for input, monitor, and effects returns, along with Remix Solo Enable and Input PFL/Solo Select.
The channel strip is where the Model 16 did its work. Each input module had a 4-band 8-knob parametric equalizer of the sweep type, and the EQ could be bypassed when a cleaner signal path was wanted. Faders were 100 mm conductive plastic units, which gave smooth, positive control and long service life compared to cheaper carbon-track faders. Tascam's own advertising said the design had been updated from the earlier Model 15, adding a 4-band sweepable EQ, high slew rate chips, phantom supply, 16 switchable meters, mic phase reversal, stereo mixdown, master metering, and high and low pass filters.
The Model 15 had set the format, and the Model 16 refined it. The updates went after practical complaints from daily session work: phantom power for condenser mics, phase flip for multi-mic setups, and filters for taming rumble and hiss before they hit tape. The high slew rate chips were a spec-sheet way of saying the console wouldn't smear transients, which mattered when tracking drums or anything with fast attack.
The console found its way into working rooms quickly. A regional studio building a 16-track room around the Model 16 was exactly the market Tascam was targeting.
By 1984, the Model 16 was still moving through dealer channels. Studio Sound (March 1984, p.98) listed a Tascam 85-16B with Tascam M16 mixer as a complete studio package including 16 channels of DBX noise reduction. That suggests the console stayed a viable pairing for the 85-16 well after its introduction. The "M16" designation in that listing is almost certainly shorthand for the Model 16, since Tascam's own materials used both forms.
Collectors and studio owners today tend to regard the Model 16 as one of the more capable Tascam consoles of the transitional era between all-analog project studios and the digital wave that followed. The modular input architecture means surviving examples vary widely in configuration, so buyers should confirm which input modules are installed before committing. The 100 mm conductive plastic faders are a point in its favor for longevity. Any console of this age will still need attention, and scratchy pots, tired capacitors, and dirty edge connectors are the usual suspects.
Original pricing put the Model 16 firmly in the professional project studio bracket. $10,500 for a 16×8 configuration in early-1980s dollars was a real investment, and the 24×8 at $12,900 was more still. This wasn't a budget mixer dressed up with pro features. It was a pro console priced accordingly.
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