Recording - July 2020 - 30

REVIEW

TASCAM
SERIES 8p Dyna
A well-connected and affordable eight-channel
microphone preamp with built-in compression
BY ALEX HAWLEY

he TASCAM SERIES 8p Dyna is a comprehensive eight-channel
microphone preamplifier that features eight analog outputs via
TRS or DB-25, dual S/MUX optical outputs, phantom power, word
clock I/O, and simple analog compression on every channel. Its connectivity makes it an ideal candidate for growing studios that need to
integrate more preamps; it expands TASCAM SERIES 102i, 208i and
other S/MUX-compatible interfaces.

Overview

The TASCAM SERIES 8p Dyna is a 1U
rackmount design with a clean-looking
silver metal aesthetic. Across the front
panel are two rows of eight knobs that
control preamp gain and compression
for every channel. The gain settings are
marked with a shallow silver groove-a
bit tricky to see against the silver knobs.
The first two channels are DI-ready, with
front-panel combo jacks and toggle
switches that select instrument input,
mic/line options, and phantom power.
Channels 3-8 are accessed on the back
panel and can all be phantom powered
via front-panel switches. Rounding out
the front is an LED metering panel-it's
cleanly organized and displays a lot
of useful information: four-segment level meters (-42, -18, -6, and 0 dBFS),
30 RECORDING July 2020

compression indicators (dimly lit while
engaged; bright flashes when exceeding
threshold values), overload indicators
that light up 3dB prior to peaking, and
sample rate information. Word clock I/O
can be external, or set on the interface by
press-holding the sample clock button to
select formats up to 24/192.
Both ADAT ports can carry all eight outputs at 44.1 or 48 kHz , four outputs on
each port at 88.2 or 96 kHz (S/MUX2),
or four outputs across the two ports at
176.4 or 192 kHz (S/MUX4). The power
supply is a barrel connection with a wall
wart. This was a bit of a bummer for me,
and I'm sure I'm not alone; these pesky
wall warts steal adjacent spare outlets
from power strips and power conditioners with standard-width outlet spacing
(such as my Furman).

Preamps

The preamps in the SERIES 8p Dyna
are HDIA (High Definition Instrumentation Architecture), which TASCAM
touts as being its best design yet. They
have a transparent sound with ultra-low
noise. The specs confirm it all: EIN is
listed at -127dBu, 0.0007% THD, with
a dynamic range of 116dB and crosstalk of 119dB. The gain range is 52dB
for the mic preamps, instrument inputs,
and line inputs.
In terms of sound, I found the preamps to have a subtly bright and airy
character, with a slightly forward upper
midrange that sounds full of clarity and
detail. After recording a variety of instruments through them, I found ribbon
microphones to be an excellent pairing,
especially on acoustic guitar, vocals,
and grand piano. The detail of the upper midrange also felt right at home for
spoken word and shined in voiceover
sessions. It provides that polished, commercial sound without much effort. One
issue I ran into: the lack of an integrated
pad makes it a bit tricky for recording
high-SPL instruments, especially with

Recording - July 2020

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