TASCAM

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TASCAM
Type Subsidiary
Founded 1971
Headquarters

Tokyo, Japan

Montebello, California
United States
Parent TEAC Corporation

TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation, headquartered in Montebello, California. Tascam is credited as the inventor of the Portastudio, the first cassette-based multi-track home studio recorders. Tascam also introduced the first low-cost mass-produced multitrack recorders with Simul-Sync designed for recording musicians. Tascam also manufactured reel-to-reel tape machines and audio mixers for home recordists from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s.

Contents

History[1][edit]

The TASCAM 85 16B analog tape recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1-inch (2.54cm) tape.

Tascam started out as a research and development group to research how to use TEAC's recording technology in musician and recording studio products. The group was called TASC (TEAC Audio Systems Corp). The founders included Mr. K. Tani, one of the founders of TEAC-Japan and Dr. Abe, a senior TEAC-Japan engineer. In 1971 TASCAM (TASC AMerica Corp.) was founded to distribute TASC products in the U.S. It also conducted additional market research in the US for the Japanese parent company. The company's first headquarters was at 5440 McConnell Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90066. In 1974 it moved its headquarters to 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, California.

The TEAC 2340, a popular early home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape

Tascam's first products were TEAC brand multitrack recorders. In 1972 it introduced the first low-cost mass-produced multitrack recorders with Simul-Sync:

  • The A3340S 4-track recorder with 10.5" tape reels, 7½ and 15 ips speeds
  • The A2340S 4-track recorder with 7" tape reels, 3¾ and 7½ ips speeds

In 1973 they introduced the first Tascam branded products:

  • M-10 mixer
  • Series 70H-X MTR
  • Series 70H-8 MTR

On March 4, 1973 TEAC merged the Tascam Corporation into TEAC Corporation of America (TCA). TEAC-Japan retains the exclusive worldwide rights to the TASCAM brand name for their professional audio related products.

Products[edit]

Tascam US-428 Portastudio

Tascam distributed the MMR-8 and MMR-16 audio film dubbers which won an Emmy in 1995 for "Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development".[2] and an Emmy in 2000 during the "Prime Time Emmy Awards".[3] These multi-track hard disk recording systems were designed by TimeLine Vista of San Marcos, California under the product management leadership of Michael Newman.

The Tascam DR-60D received a Best of Show award at the 2013 NAB in Las Vegas, NV, by the Pro Sound Network. This unit is a linear PCM recorder that fits onto DSLRs for improved audio capture. This unit records up to 4 channels, screws directly onto DSLRs, has phantom power and records onto both SD and SDHC cards. The DR-60D has two XLR/TRS combo mic/line jacks.[4][5][6]

Tascam has introduced portable recording units such as the DR-40 and the DR-07mkII, which both feature AB and XY mic capabilities in a small unit. This is a significant advance in that the XY offers a tighter field and the AB offers wide audio field capabilities.

See also[edit]

  • GSIF, The proprietary protocol and API between the TASCAM GigaStudio software and a computer sound card.
  • DA-88, an Emmy-award winning MDM device

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060627215945/tascamforums.com/index.php?showtopic=707
  2. ^ Tascam History
  3. ^ Mix Magazine May 17, 2001
  4. ^ http://tascam.com/news/display/919/
  5. ^ http://www.prosoundnetwork.com/article/prosoundnetwork-nab-best-of-show-awards/16188
  6. ^ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/929347-REG/tascam_dr_60d_4_ch_track_linear_pcm.html

External links[edit]