Fostex 260 Multitracker 4 Track Drum Recording

[@Velociraptarus]

Hi, I'm going to get one of these Fostex things just to give a vintage color to my digital tracks but without using tape, I wanted to know if these recorders are capable of saturating the input signal (DAW), like mic preamps or saturators on the market today...Thanks

[@TwinCreekAudio]

The 260 only has 1/4" inputs but you can drive them and get some saturation. I used it with an external mixer and it worked great as a recorder. I think you need a mic pre unless you have Hi-Z mics with 1/4" connections. It's a very good sounding 4 track though.

[@Velociraptarus]

​@@TwinCreekAudio ok, understood, but maybe I explained myself badly: I intend to take my DAW tracks, therefore line signals and pass them into one of these recorders without using the tape and then return to the DAW, but I'm not sure if I will succeed ' to saturate the signal while always remaining with a line signal, you understand? I love the Fostex sound but I don't want to waste money unnecessarily...

[@TwinCreekAudio]

The 260 wil work fine that way. You can probably get some decent analog sound out of it by pushing higher levels into it. People really seem to like the older Mackies for this kind of thing too. The 1202,1604 analog 8 Bus etc. Those are pretty cheap used and are know for that saturation when driving the line inputs. The Fostex 450 8 channel mixer is also a good choice and does not have the tape machine part. It also has more EQ and phantom power if you ever need to use condenser mics. The 260 should have some of that sound too and I believe a lot of circuit are similar between the 260 and the 450 since they were released at the same time.

[@27clubband74]

how do you connect fostx with computer ?

[@TwinCreekAudio]

You need an audio interface that connects to the computer that has multiple outputs. Then you can send individual tracks from the DAW to the individual outputs and then connect those outputs to the channels on the mixer. In this video, I was just using the Fostex as the recorder so I only connected the main outputs to an audio interface for the final mix down. You could use the 260s built-in mixer to sum tracks the other way as well though.

[@brianhintze6440]

Cool videos. Nice to see skilled audio engineers using vintage gear.

[@TwinCreekAudio]

Thank you! My first multitrack was a Fostex X-30 4 track cassette studio. I love using vintage gear for recording due to the creativity it can inspire. I also love modern digital tools but I got my start with analog gear so it's something I'll always love.

[@Sonic-ge4yc]

Are you using normal tapes for this?

[@TwinCreekAudio]

It's a Type II or Chrome cassette. The 260 was designed for Type II so it worked well.

[@Sonic-ge4yc]

@@TwinCreekAudio thanks for the quick reply it sounds really good im thinking about getting exactly this one

[@TwinCreekAudio]

@@Sonic-ge4yc it's a very good sounding 4 track. It runs at high speed with Dolby C so it's really quiet.

[@analogstandard4524]

I used to do this with my drums (also bass) and blend in some of that lovely crunch and roundness, then my old cheap tape deck died...your video has reminded me that i need to find myself another one asap lol...

[@TwinCreekAudio]

The 260 is a good one to have. They can be found for good prices if you don't mind fixing the belt like I did with mine. They sound good and have that crunchy 4 track sound with slightly more fidelity due to the high speed cassette mechanism.

[@ChrisHardyWorld]

Nice! I recorded hundreds of songs on my 260 in the 90 s with real drums. I miss that Fostex.

[@TwinCreekAudio]

My first multitrack was a Fostex X-30 4 track. I've wanted another one for a long time. They sound cool and are a lot of fun!

[@ChrisHardyWorld]

@@TwinCreekAudio Mine was an X-15, lol. It was awful but it got the job done (barely).

[@TwinCreekAudio]

@@ChrisHardyWorld the X-30 was also kinda bad and was a standard speed cassette and definitely didn't sound as good as this 260. I'm restoring an R8 so looking forward to trying that one out soon too.

[@eancurtis9333]

Awesome

[@TwinCreekAudio]

Thank you!