Tascam MSR-24 (1990)

Name: Tascam MSR-24
Brand: Tascam

Tascam squeezed twenty-four tracks onto one-inch tape and cut the price of a professional multitrack roughly in half - the compromise was dbx noise reduction.

Overview

Tascam introduced the MSR-24 as a 1-inch, 24-track recorder priced at roughly half of most current 2-inch, 24-track machines. According to period coverage in EQ (July 1990, p.72), it was scheduled to be available in August 1990 at a suggested retail price of less than $15,000. That gave buyers 24 tracks for less money than many 16-channel decks cost.

The MSR-24 runs 1-inch tape on 10½-inch reels at either 7½ ips or 15 ips. The two-speed transport uses one phase-locked DC direct-drive capstan motor per EQ (July 1990, p.72). Tascam said it gives fast, accurate tape handling even with full reels. Transport control is reported to respond quickly when switching from fast-forward to play. A pitch control system (VSO) allows accurate adjustments over a 15% range.

The headline spec is the noise reduction. The MSR-24 ships with built-in professional dbx Type 1 noise reduction, and Tascam claimed an S/N of 108 dB, A-weighted, at 15 ips. EQ (July 1990, p.72) lab-tested the machine and reported 105 dB at 7.5 ips with dbx engaged. With dbx defeated, that dropped to 60 dB at 7.5 ips. So an MSR-24 with a dead dbx board is a much noisier machine.

Tascam also used digital control for the mechanical side of recording. Using 8-bit microprocessor technology, the company claimed that digital control of the record and erase bias envelopes of the record and erase heads would give noiseless and gapless punch-ins and punch-outs. The bias oscillator ramp-up rate is adjusted for optimum performance regardless of tape speed. A spot-erase function, reported to be noise-free, makes it possible to erase specific sections of previously recorded tracks. For external control, the MSR-24 can interface with standard SMPTE time-code-based synchronizers, which made it usable for post and lock-to-picture work as well as music tracking.

The 2-head recorder uses Tascam's proprietary large-core design heads, made from hard permalloy for superior wear characteristics and sound quality, especially at low frequencies. The tradeoff with 2-head designs is that you can't monitor off the repro head while recording the way a 3-head deck allows. Tascam went for head life and low-frequency performance at this price.

Period advertising shows where the MSR-24 sat. Dealers like Sam Ash ran it in their pro-audio spreads as the "MSR-24 1" 24-track breakthrough price recorder," grouped alongside the Tascam ATR-80 as "Japan's finest 2" 24-track." The MSR-24 was the affordable 24-track, and the ATR-80 was the flagship.

A Dolby S variant followed. Designated the MSR-24/S, it has five active noise reduction elements, providing a single staggered band of fixed and sliding band low-frequency noise reduction, with two elements handling high frequencies. Retail price for the MSR-24/S was $13,999. Studio Sound (September 1991, p.53) covered the MSR-24S as part of Tascam's push to pair the dbx-equipped MSR-24 with the company's M3500 console, describing the combination as using distributed in-line monitoring - effectively doubling input capacity during mixdown. Studio Sound (November 1992, p.65) later ran a full review of the Dolby S enhanced machine, with Sam Wise noting that its outboard power supply was large compared to the Fostex G24-S, which packed everything into a single housing. The MSR-24's power supply is a separate box, and it's not small.

Anyone hunting an MSR-24 today should know what they're getting into. The dbx Type 1 noise reduction is integral to the machine's performance, as the EQ lab numbers show. A unit with a faulty dbx board or misaligned bias oscillator will not come close to its rated performance. The 8-bit microprocessor control that governs punch-ins and bias envelopes is also a service concern. These are not simple machines, and the digital logic is now decades old. The direct-drive capstan motor and phase-locked transport are sturdy, but the large external power supply is one more part that can fail and one more thing to source. Parts availability is limited, and a buyer should budget for a technician who knows tape transports, not just a general electronics shop.

When it's working, the MSR-24 gives you 24 tracks of 1-inch analog at a price that undercut the 2-inch machines by half. It's not an ATR-80, and Tascam never pretended it was. It let a smaller studio take a 24-track session without renting time on someone else's 2-inch deck.