d8b Forum

It seems that most of the posts on here are for problems needing help with the d8b and hdr, well just in a bid to put the scales back in Ballance, The D8B and HDR are for me the best things i have purchased to help me get my songs down in a no fuss no frills way,
Ok, now it is starting to show its age in editable ways against pro tools cubase and even free downloadable recording software, and i have these but hate using them, i was so sick of them crashing, software, drivers, incompatable this, windows, lag, setting up, lack of inputs, sound cards, i hated it... so went to the d8b/hdr (i think what i am akin too is,,,, i still use tape, using a tascam MSR24 and a tascam MSR16 through a A&H 44 chan desk), the D8B and HDR is the closest i can get to that digitally, in that i cant change the tempos, no click, blablabla....it is as a digi wav tape recorder,
I love the sound of the D8B and HDR i can not get that sound out of my cubase which to me always sounds compressed ??
( is that just me?) so now just use cubase for midi stuff, drum editing, brass scores etc.
I have been using the pair of them ( d8b/hdr) for getting on 10 years now and am now using them to do my 11 piece funk bands new cd which is sounding great yesterday we did all the brass section parts to a track, they were on all day, not a problem and was a pleasure to use.
I also play in a wedding band, and for the demos i recorded at the practice room using the tascam MSR 16 then took the tape home and transfered it all to the hdr/d8b for editing and using the d8b plugins, from all accounts it all sounds great. and is getting me work,
all in all my d8b and hdr 24 get used every day and i am very happy with the results from the pair of them and have no plans to change them at all, i just hope they keep going i would be lost without them.

so why do you still use yours ???

I know one of these days I will have to change over to something from this decade but I won't go quietly into that goodnight. I just wanna record and mix. Seems like a lot of my friends that have moved onto PT, Logic, etc. spend a lot of time being an IT guy when it comes to updates for the their rigs. Ugh!

On a side note, I think the ridiculous track counts, that are possible with the modern DAW, are of no benefit to the betterment of music. I miss the days of tracking and making decisions as you go. The mind set that comes with the 7000 takes of a guitar track and 400 tambourine tracks, etc. just blows. I cut my teeth on an old Carvin console and the Tascam MS16 1 inch tape machine. That kind of rig forces creativity on the fly. So in essence, the d8b/HDR rig operates in that same sort of fashion for me. My rig has its' quirks but I love working on it and it sounds good and I get to keep all of my old whiz bang external boxes and tubes comps, etc. I will never loose those with an OS update or software change. There is nothing like getting a new MAC with the latest and greatest only to realize that half your plug ins are no longer working.

Crash wrote:I know one of these days I will have to change over to something from this decade but I won't go quietly into that goodnight. I just wanna record and mix. Seems like a lot of my friends that have moved onto PT, Logic, etc. spend a lot of time being an IT guy when it comes to updates for the their rigs. Ugh!

On a side note, I think the ridiculous track counts, that are possible with the modern DAW, are of no benefit to the betterment of music. I miss the days of tracking and making decisions as you go. The mind set that comes with the 7000 takes of a guitar track and 400 tambourine tracks, etc. just blows. I cut my teeth on an old Carvin console and the Tascam MS16 1 inch tape machine. That kind of rig forces creativity on the fly. So in essence, the d8b/HDR rig operates in that same sort of fashion for me. My rig has its' quirks but I love working on it and it sounds good and I get to keep all of my old whiz bang external boxes and tubes comps, etc. I will never loose those with an OS update or software change. There is nothing like getting a new MAC with the latest and greatest only to realize that half your plug ins are no longer working.

[Insert Orson Welles Clapping]

As an Older Dogg as well, couldn't have said it any better, Crash...

Respect, Brutha-Man!

\m/ ,,,

Peace

Beautifully put, Crash and oh so true.

Peter

There are still a few old dogs around...I'm one, still using d8b's & HDR's, no need to change as it's a great piece of kit....sod the new stuff, this is hands on, no need to click this and click that!

Phil

Although I'm a new guy to all things Mackie, I have had the D8B manual for years and years along with the stack of magazine articles that I poured over to digest as much knowledge of the system as I could untill the day arrived when I could actually afford to buy the kit for myself,

I now have the D8B plus an SDR ( and looking to get an HDR) which I am in the process of getting to grips with and it all feels very familiar to me as I was always a physical tape person using a mixture of Brennel, Fostex and Tascam tape machines and A&H mixers over time from back in the mid 70's, there seems to be an ideal crossover that's occurred for me as the D8B and SRD just feel intuitive, much more so than any PC based Cubase or Protools system I have tried, not that I'm against them as they are terrific but I have just spend WAY to much time in "Learning Curve" with the stuff that no music actually gets recorded.

So for me it works and "the sound" as you say,just fits, no matter how much it gets slagged off on gearsluts, I just like it........... It fits my ears.

Crash wrote:I know one of these days I will have to change over to something from this decade but I won't go quietly into that goodnight. I just wanna record and mix. Seems like a lot of my friends that have moved onto PT, Logic, etc. spend a lot of time being an IT guy when it comes to updates for the their rigs. Ugh!

On a side note, I think the ridiculous track counts, that are possible with the modern DAW, are of no benefit to the betterment of music. I miss the days of tracking and making decisions as you go. The mind set that comes with the 7000 takes of a guitar track and 400 tambourine tracks, etc. just blows. I cut my teeth on an old Carvin console and the Tascam MS16 1 inch tape machine. That kind of rig forces creativity on the fly. So in essence, the d8b/HDR rig operates in that same sort of fashion for me. My rig has its' quirks but I love working on it and it sounds good and I get to keep all of my old whiz bang external boxes and tubes comps, etc. I will never loose those with an OS update or software change. There is nothing like getting a new MAC with the latest and greatest only to realize that half your plug ins are no longer working.

" I just wanna record and mix. Seems like a lot of my friends that have moved onto PT, Logic, etc. spend a lot of time being an IT guy when it comes to updates for the their rigs. Ugh!"

you have hit the Nail on the head, For me the d8b and hdr are almost like the rawest real deal digital way of doing this with out getting bogged down with the latest plug in,
there is so much bulls$!) on the net at the moment.. the best pre amps in this or that desk, microphone snobs, "oh only a d8b well iv moved on to this blablabla", moved on ? great.. play me something you have done !.
for me it is in creating music and so many of my friends who have home studios dont use them at all for creating but to dabble,
ask them to play something they have done and i get... "well" followed by a naff excuse,
but they can tell me all about their new pre amp or plugin compleate with all the data.

When you went into a studio years ago you never questioned what pre amps were in their desk, most of the best music ever made was done on old analogue gear,
are we slowly but surly getting sucked in to the new is better because you pay them for it, ( the home studo consumer market is big big money) against just creating good tracks ?,

Hi All.
There is still nothing out there when you get down to it, that does what the D8B can do, jmho.


Have a blessed day in Christ,
Mike W.