tapedeck wrote:RootsRenegade wrote:I take the time to "arrange my tracks" while the MPC is looping (with the 688's record function buttons alight so the mixer affects the 8 inputs and i can monitor the GRP/TRK 1-8 meters, adjusting the levels and tape compression levels on individual tracks) instead of rewinding my tape, playing it, re-rewinding it, re-playing it while adjusting the mixer.
that's what i thought you were doing - unless you have the tape signal routed to the group outs, and the tape is running, you are actually bypassing the tape altogether.
if the tape is running, and the TAPE (not the channel) is routed to the group outs, then you will get the tape effect - after a short delay (physical location of the playback head is after the record head...distance = delay).
so if you are really just monitoring the mix with the record buttons enabled, you are not getting any 'tape' effect at all.
to do that, you record to tape first, then go back (rewind) and do a mixdown.
if you are somehow monitoring the actual tape output while the tape is actually running, that's cool though. how do you cope with the delay?
What i do is let the MPC play while i "arrange" each track individually on the 688's mixer. When i am done with the arrangements (EQ, levels, etc), i play the MPC one last time but this time, i record it to tape (and yes, before you ask me again, the mixer DOES affect the signal coming in from the MPC WHILE recording to tape).
Once it is recorded to tape, i track it out (from tape) to DAW (my soon to be made tests will tell me if i go group or tape outs but for the moment, i believe i will have to go tape outs to keep my 8 individual channels separated one from each other once in DAW), on 8 different channels, so each track is individually recorded to DAW.
What delay ? I track out tape's 8 channels through the group/tape outs, that's all.
Man, it is not that complicated. I was just asking how to record the mixer's panning on tape...
also i might have been incorrect - maybe the 8 outs on a 2500 are balanced - apparently the site says one thing but the service manual says another.
Correct, the 8 outs on the MPC2500
are balanced. It is written black on white in the manual's specifications section (page 117).
still for this application, i dont think it's going to make any difference what cable you use.
I said that i want to keep the signal balanced for as far as posible in my setup chain (
cable from interface to 688, knowing that coming back to interface, the 688's outs are unbalanced), to minimise the possiblities of picking up noise in the cables run.
I didn't ask if it was going to make a difference, i asked if someone could confirm if the 688's Line B input (1/4 phone jack x 10) are/are not balanced.
From the 688's service manual specifications section:
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Mixer sectionLine B input (1/4 phone jack x 10)Input Impedance........20k ohms
Nominal Input Level........ -10 dBV (0.3 V)
Maximum Input Level....... +12 dBV (4.0 V)
Can someone please confirm if those Line B 1/4 phone jack inputs are balanced or unbalanced? I want to plug my audio interface's balanced/unbalanced outputs to those 688's line ins so i need to confirm what cables i have to buy.
Unbalanced or stock balanced connections on the 688 ? 
