@@wehappyfewmusic Wow, we're talkin' over 25yrs ago - I would guess we used the B deck. We're going to have to find another one because we still have the 6 track masters!! I upgraded to a 488 and have hundreds of cassettes I am going to be digitizing. Whew!
@@schance1666 Yeah that is a long time ago, I can barely remember what happened last week! 😂 That’s cool you progressed onto the 488, I love the mk2 version. Hope you can find some decks to get your music digitised.
@@wehappyfewmusic I've got both my original mk1 and picked up a mk2 for peanuts about 10yrs back. In addition to digitizing stuff, I am setting them up to record 8 tracks of analog at once, mainly for drums and bass gtr (and then dumping that into the DAW). They sound great overdriven, unlike digital!
@@schance1666 You bought your mk2 at the right time, they’re kinda expensive now. That’s a nice analog front end you’ve got there by the sound of things, can’t beat a bit of tape saturation! 👌
Your maths skills are much better than mine! 😅 Yes, the detail and quality of recording are really impressive. The Dolby noise reduction might be an important factor too?
Hello, I still have mine. Like yours, tape B does not work, they all seem to have this problem. I really find the reverb incredible on this unit. I keep my unit even if I do not use it any more by nostalgia I guess, really had fun with it! Thank-you for posting this video, good job and great souvenirs! Thanks again.
Hi, that’s great that you’ve still got yours and good to hear you enjoyed the video! Yes, I was really impressed with the reverbs on this machine too. Thanks 🙏
@@wehappyfewmusic I don't think we realised quite what a well thought out well engineered package they were at first. Tascam was market leader at the time and this was a brand no one had heard of.
Wow. Very awesome n unique track machine especially for its time. Definitely would have picked this over the old 4 track back in the day. That price was kind of insane though
A buddy of mine and I both use the Vestax MR-66 and it's been an incredible sounding and surprisingly reliable 6-tracker. I can't remember if they're compatible speed-wise
Nice, I’ve not used one but like the look of those units. I think the vestax can also run at 9.5cm per second, so wonder if the tapes are transferable between the sansui?
I also bought one in 1989 and have had it since then. I used it to record my band for an album. I did a lot of bouncing, I think 4 to 2 tracks first, then another 2 rhythm with the first bounce, then that left me with something like a total of 10 tracks but I may be forgetting. I think I did some bounce back with the second deck too, so like 6 to 2, then transfer the 2 back gives you 4 tracks for vocals and leads. It was a lot of work but considering 80’s compression aesthetics it was ok and the album is still pretty listenable. The last time I used it was probably when I got my DAW and wanted to transfer some of the original tracks to digital. IIRC the B deck still works. Overall it was way ahead of the 4 track Tascams out there and very usable, if you planned your tracking correctly.
I have mine still, from new, bought it when it came out - i remember wanting a good deck for ages, saw this and just couldn't resist. The 4 track was just too small and the 8 was way out of my price range at the time. Still works, and in great condition , but deck B - just gave up the ghost and is stuck with the heads out. Had so much fun, mixing and playing with it. The sound quality is great and so many options. I felt it mixed down really well and even bouncing down tracks on the one deck was pretty good. I think you could get at least 3 bounce downs before you started to notice a bit too much noise. So in the end, it kinda felt like a 12 track! - Great to watch your video and see this little piece has its place in the history books 🙂
Hi thanks for stopping by and that’s impressive that you’ve had yours since new! As you mentioned, those extra 2 tracks make it much more versatile than a regular 4 track portastudio. Glad to hear you enjoyed the video too! 🙌
I checked out the full song on Bandcamp and I wouldn’t have known or guessed it was a cassette multitrack (Sansui WS-16) I could not hear wow and flutter or tape hiss. Good music, this is not a demo but the master 👍 I couldn’t follow you on bandcamp because I don’t have an account😮 your band is unique. Good music!
Hey thanks so much for the positive comment, and for checking out the full song on Bandcamp! The noise reduction system on the Sansui does a good job of minimising the tape hiss, which is handy. 🙏👍 Ps which music streaming site’s do you usually use, or do you prefer physical media?
I've had this recorder too. very long ago. At the time it was great. Today i would get a Tascam. The stereo deck always failed on these recorders. After rewinding the heads stayed out. Really annoying. It seems it was a belt problem. But I could not take it appart and I had no parts source. I also think the reverb was very good on this machine.
Yeah those 2nd decks are a bit annoying. I only tried it once on this machine and it did the same thing, the heads wouldn’t retract very easily. Great fun to use otherwise.
There was a splendid looking one on Ebay this week, and I jumped on it thanks to your video, so here's hoping that one comes as described. Lots of doubt because of the lack of info on these, but once I noted the rear and saw all the routing possibilities (effect loops galore!) and the 6 individual tape outs (!), I had to have it (I've been using a PlayDifferently Model 1 as my analog summing mixer, which has no panning), so I was desperately looking for some unit that could glue my current old school industrial improv workflow (the less screens the better!) together, and make working the stereofield a little less of a hassle. Being 40, I do feel a bit giddy, going back to the (then perceived as annoying) cassette wrangling of my teenage years... :)
Hey that’s cool, I’m sure you’re going to love all the routing options and tapey sounds of this unit! I’m in a similar boat to you where I had a really basic 4 track as a kid so was pretty excited to play with all the ‘posh’ multitrack tape recorders as an adult! 🤩😅
Awesome!! I have one of these in very good condition!! Have never tested it fully because im worried about the belts and dont fancy a RUD situation!! This video is really nice, im happy that ive finally seen the machine used with a full band set up and for its intended purpose, kind of sad that I didnt do it myself, great demo!!
@@wehappyfewmusicI Have recently!! My Lad was asking how it all worked and I was trying to explain the concept of recording the separate channels and playing them back but I don't play any instruments and only have a limited soundcard, so finding your video today has really helped him to understand, I would love to use it as more than a mixer with reverb and i know both decks spin up!! But I don't want to risk it! I have had a couple of offers and a few people willing to change the belts but it's a project for the future, All the experts seem to be interested as a conversation piece because it's all so different!! Thanks again mate, This is the best video on the tube!! If I post any content I will be sure to link this video as an example
Great video, man. I had this unit a couple of years ago and really loved it, but my particular unit kept having little issues that added up to a less-than-fun experience. The fidelity was great and I miss the all-in-one package, but the MR6/MX12 combo seems to be a bit more robust in terms of longevity. Great stuff! P.S. it took my tech serious sweat and tears to get deck B working. Once it did, the sonic quality was vastly inferior to a standard cassette deck, for whatever it’s worth (and wayyyy worse than a VHS mixdown 📼)
Hey man, great to hear you like the video and reassuring to hear I’m not missing much with deck B being out of action. I’ve also found a MR6 now and agree that it’s probably the better option in many ways. It’s good to have the choice of picking your own mixer to suit your needs. 👍
swanky unit thanks for sharing !- that's a quite open snare sound for a guy using mallett and muffling on the snare drum. - is the drums over-dubbed? I also don't hear it in the bleed from the other solo performances.. so I guess I'm answering my own question
Hey thanks for watching and yeah it’s a nice bit of kit (was pleased to be able to borrow it). The drummer did some clever stuff with a midi trigger on the snare.
I had one between 89 and mid 90s It was great to begin with but after a few years I wasn't using it regularly and when I did a couple of the tracks began to fail to record I sold it in the end for a quarter of the price
That’s a pain, you’d hope to get longer than that with out any maintenance issues. Was your deck B still working when you sold it and did you use that feature much?
Great video. Tune sounded great. Picked one up myself from Goodwill a few years back, also with deck two not working. Was a matter of replacing rubber belt(s) to get it running (haven't used it, but wanted it to work). Bit of a fiddly job, but as I understand it, it's a common repair/maintenance with many old tape decks.
I find WS-X1 very counter-intuitive... Can you direct me how can I PAN L/R track at playback through headhonbes? I mean I have stero drum machine 1-2 channels, bass on 3rd and stereo synth 4-5 ch. - I record one by one selecting or de-selecting DIRECT buttons (there's no other way, right?), but when they all play back, they're all in mono. That's odd.
Hi I was only borrowing this unit so haven’t got it available to be able to check unfortunately. I seem to remember you can record the buss outs as well as direct mode though?
@@wehappyfewmusic yeah… its all good when you are recording a live take but doing trwck by track you csnt get any stereo image. it seems its just impossible. So when you play it back when everything is recorded, you can make it then
@@rainbowdeep9234 8-track cassettes are a stereo magnetic-tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. They are bigger than standard cassettes and you need a special 8 track machine.
@@wehappyfewmusic nope. This year I got it but I have wanted one since it was released, I still have the brocure from 30 years ago. I also have TOA MR-8T, Yamaha MD-8, Tascam 488 MKII
@@Novaheart1998 That’s amazing that you’ve managed to keep hold of the brochure all that time, and finally got one. What’s the TOA like, they seem to be pretty rare but look really solid. I also got a Yamaha MD-8 recently, keep meaning to check it out properly but love the mixer.
@@wehappyfewmusic the TOA I have works on Japan power so I have a power converter cause Im in Canada. it looks great and is well made but there is some bleed between tracks. Sound quality is good. I haven’t used the other ones much I have been too busy these past 3 years but I have music projects I want to do using them and a Roland MC500 MKII , no computers 🎉💃💩
I've always been intrigued to find out more about this machine. Thanks for the video! ✌️❤️
Thanks for checking it out man! It’s an interesting machine to use, and I was happy to have the chance to borrow it! 🙌
Did many, many recordings on this unit back in the day - loved it!
Cool, an original user! Did you do your mix downs to deck B or an external unit back then?
@@wehappyfewmusic Wow, we're talkin' over 25yrs ago - I would guess we used the B deck. We're going to have to find another one because we still have the 6 track masters!! I upgraded to a 488 and have hundreds of cassettes I am going to be digitizing. Whew!
@@schance1666 Yeah that is a long time ago, I can barely remember what happened last week! 😂 That’s cool you progressed onto the 488, I love the mk2 version. Hope you can find some decks to get your music digitised.
@@wehappyfewmusic I've got both my original mk1 and picked up a mk2 for peanuts about 10yrs back. In addition to digitizing stuff, I am setting them up to record 8 tracks of analog at once, mainly for drums and bass gtr (and then dumping that into the DAW). They sound great overdriven, unlike digital!
@@schance1666 You bought your mk2 at the right time, they’re kinda expensive now. That’s a nice analog front end you’ve got there by the sound of things, can’t beat a bit of tape saturation! 👌
Looks a very versatile and feature-rich machine. The on board fx there are tremendous on a machine like this.
Yes, the onboard effects are great bonus and a rare feature on a multitrack cassette recorder.
The fidelity is quite remarkable! Who'd have thought an extra .15875mm of tape per channel would have that much of an effect?
Your maths skills are much better than mine! 😅 Yes, the detail and quality of recording are really impressive. The Dolby noise reduction might be an important factor too?
Very nice demo. Its a beautiful machine and sounds great. Thank you for the music
Glad to hear you like our demo/music, much appreciated!
Hello, I still have mine. Like yours, tape B does not work, they all seem to have this problem. I really find the reverb incredible on this unit. I keep my unit even if I do not use it any more by nostalgia I guess, really had fun with it! Thank-you for posting this video, good job and great souvenirs! Thanks again.
Hi, that’s great that you’ve still got yours and good to hear you enjoyed the video! Yes, I was really impressed with the reverbs on this machine too. Thanks 🙏
Sold these when they came out working for Carlsbro , great machine and very good value. Thanks for the video
Oh that’s cool, were they popular when they came out?
@@wehappyfewmusic I don't think we realised quite what a well thought out well engineered package they were at first. Tascam was market leader at the time and this was a brand no one had heard of.
Wow. Very awesome n unique track machine especially for its time. Definitely would have picked this over the old 4 track back in the day. That price was kind of insane though
Yeah it’s a pretty cool machine but you’d of needed to be loaded in 1989 to afford one 💰😅
A buddy of mine and I both use the Vestax MR-66 and it's been an incredible sounding and surprisingly reliable 6-tracker. I can't remember if they're compatible speed-wise
Nice, I’ve not used one but like the look of those units. I think the vestax can also run at 9.5cm per second, so wonder if the tapes are transferable between the sansui?
I also bought one in 1989 and have had it since then. I used it to record my band for an album. I did a lot of bouncing, I think 4 to 2 tracks first, then another 2 rhythm with the first bounce, then that left me with something like a total of 10 tracks but I may be forgetting. I think I did some bounce back with the second deck too, so like 6 to 2, then transfer the 2 back gives you 4 tracks for vocals and leads. It was a lot of work but considering 80’s compression aesthetics it was ok and the album is still pretty listenable. The last time I used it was probably when I got my DAW and wanted to transfer some of the original tracks to digital. IIRC the B deck still works. Overall it was way ahead of the 4 track Tascams out there and very usable, if you planned your tracking correctly.
That’s cool your deck B still works, and you had a good approach to bouncing tracks by the sounds of things. 👍
I have mine still, from new, bought it when it came out - i remember wanting a good deck for ages, saw this and just couldn't resist. The 4 track was just too small and the 8 was way out of my price range at the time. Still works, and in great condition , but deck B - just gave up the ghost and is stuck with the heads out. Had so much fun, mixing and playing with it. The sound quality is great and so many options. I felt it mixed down really well and even bouncing down tracks on the one deck was pretty good. I think you could get at least 3 bounce downs before you started to notice a bit too much noise. So in the end, it kinda felt like a 12 track! - Great to watch your video and see this little piece has its place in the history books 🙂
Hi thanks for stopping by and that’s impressive that you’ve had yours since new! As you mentioned, those extra 2 tracks make it much more versatile than a regular 4 track portastudio. Glad to hear you enjoyed the video too! 🙌
Great song. Very fun vibe.
Glad you like it and thanks for the positive feedback! 👍🙂
Great demo. I saw one of these for sale on Craigslist for $475 but it was sold.
Thanks! I think you can probably pick one up for a bit less if you bide your time. 🤞🏻
I checked out the full song on Bandcamp and I wouldn’t have known or guessed it was a cassette multitrack (Sansui WS-16) I could not hear wow and flutter or tape hiss. Good music, this is not a demo but the master 👍 I couldn’t follow you on bandcamp because I don’t have an account😮 your band is unique. Good music!
Hey thanks so much for the positive comment, and for checking out the full song on Bandcamp! The noise reduction system on the Sansui does a good job of minimising the tape hiss, which is handy. 🙏👍
Ps which music streaming site’s do you usually use, or do you prefer physical media?
@@wehappyfewmusic I like to use Spotify.
I've had this recorder too. very long ago. At the time it was great. Today i would get a Tascam. The stereo deck always failed on these recorders. After rewinding the heads stayed out. Really annoying. It seems it was a belt problem. But I could not take it appart and I had no parts source. I also think the reverb was very good on this machine.
Yeah those 2nd decks are a bit annoying. I only tried it once on this machine and it did the same thing, the heads wouldn’t retract very easily. Great fun to use otherwise.
There was a splendid looking one on Ebay this week, and I jumped on it thanks to your video, so here's hoping that one comes as described. Lots of doubt because of the lack of info on these, but once I noted the rear and saw all the routing possibilities (effect loops galore!) and the 6 individual tape outs (!), I had to have it (I've been using a PlayDifferently Model 1 as my analog summing mixer, which has no panning), so I was desperately looking for some unit that could glue my current old school industrial improv workflow (the less screens the better!) together, and make working the stereofield a little less of a hassle.
Being 40, I do feel a bit giddy, going back to the (then perceived as annoying) cassette wrangling of my teenage years... :)
Hey that’s cool, I’m sure you’re going to love all the routing options and tapey sounds of this unit! I’m in a similar boat to you where I had a really basic 4 track as a kid so was pretty excited to play with all the ‘posh’ multitrack tape recorders as an adult! 🤩😅
@@wehappyfewmusic Ha, I joined a Facebook group, and it seems I've purchased the unit from the guy you loaned it from. Small world. :)
@@myc61 oh wow, a small world indeed, I think that’s my Facebook group too then! 🙌
Awesome!! I have one of these in very good condition!! Have never tested it fully because im worried about the belts and dont fancy a RUD situation!! This video is really nice, im happy that ive finally seen the machine used with a full band set up and for its intended purpose, kind of sad that I didnt do it myself, great demo!!
Thanks, you should get your machine out and give it a spin! 👍🙌
@@wehappyfewmusicI Have recently!! My Lad was asking how it all worked and I was trying to explain the concept of recording the separate channels and playing them back but I don't play any instruments and only have a limited soundcard, so finding your video today has really helped him to understand, I would love to use it as more than a mixer with reverb and i know both decks spin up!! But I don't want to risk it! I have had a couple of offers and a few people willing to change the belts but it's a project for the future, All the experts seem to be interested as a conversation piece because it's all so different!! Thanks again mate, This is the best video on the tube!! If I post any content I will be sure to link this video as an example
Hi Adrian, nice little machine.
Thanks Paul, it was a nice machine to work with/borrow.
Great video, man. I had this unit a couple of years ago and really loved it, but my particular unit kept having little issues that added up to a less-than-fun experience. The fidelity was great and I miss the all-in-one package, but the MR6/MX12 combo seems to be a bit more robust in terms of longevity. Great stuff!
P.S. it took my tech serious sweat and tears to get deck B working. Once it did, the sonic quality was vastly inferior to a standard cassette deck, for whatever it’s worth (and wayyyy worse than a VHS mixdown 📼)
Hey man, great to hear you like the video and reassuring to hear I’m not missing much with deck B being out of action. I’ve also found a MR6 now and agree that it’s probably the better option in many ways. It’s good to have the choice of picking your own mixer to suit your needs. 👍
swanky unit thanks for sharing !- that's a quite open snare sound for a guy using mallett and muffling on the snare drum. - is the drums over-dubbed? I also don't hear it in the bleed from the other solo performances.. so I guess I'm answering my own question
Hey thanks for watching and yeah it’s a nice bit of kit (was pleased to be able to borrow it). The drummer did some clever stuff with a midi trigger on the snare.
I had one between 89 and mid 90s
It was great to begin with but after a few years I wasn't using it regularly and when I did a couple of the tracks began to fail to record
I sold it in the end for a quarter of the price
That’s a pain, you’d hope to get longer than that with out any maintenance issues. Was your deck B still working when you sold it and did you use that feature much?
@wehappyfewmusic deck b was still working yes I didn't use it a huge amount probably mastered a full tape's worth over time
Interesting
Thanks for checking it out.
Great video! What external effects unit is that golden one by the way?
Many thanks, glad to hear you liked it! It’s a Echolette NG51 valve tape delay echo (borrowed from a friend).
Thought about diagnosing why deck two isn’t working?
Yeah needs looking into, the studio it came from has a great tech guy who I’m sure can get to the bottom of the issue.
Great video. Tune sounded great. Picked one up myself from Goodwill a few years back, also with deck two not working. Was a matter of replacing rubber belt(s) to get it running (haven't used it, but wanted it to work). Bit of a fiddly job, but as I understand it, it's a common repair/maintenance with many old tape decks.
Is there any other multitrack recorders like this with the two decks that you know of?
No, I think this one’s pretty unique from that point of view.
does it accept input from psr sq16
I’ve not used that keyboard, but you should be able to plug the audio outputs from the Yamaha PSR SQ16 into the line inputs of the Sansui.
@@wehappyfewmusic thank you
Wow where do you find the epic gear at lol
It’s a cool unit, but I borrowed this one from a recording studio in North London called Volume Unlimited. 😊
It was from the early nineties.
Thanks for clarifying 👍. I was just going by the SOS magazine review from the end of 1989.
I find WS-X1 very counter-intuitive... Can you direct me how can I PAN L/R track at playback through headhonbes? I mean I have stero drum machine 1-2 channels, bass on 3rd and stereo synth 4-5 ch. - I record one by one selecting or de-selecting DIRECT buttons (there's no other way, right?), but when they all play back, they're all in mono. That's odd.
Hi I was only borrowing this unit so haven’t got it available to be able to check unfortunately. I seem to remember you can record the buss outs as well as direct mode though?
@@wehappyfewmusic yeah… its all good when you are recording a live take but doing trwck by track you csnt get any stereo image. it seems its just impossible. So when you play it back when everything is recorded, you can make it then
does this use 8-track cassettes or a normal 4-track
Hi it just uses regular type II cassette tapes.
what's an 8tr cassette ?
@@rainbowdeep9234 8-track cassettes are a stereo magnetic-tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. They are bigger than standard cassettes and you need a special 8 track machine.
@@rainbowdeep9234 it has 8 tracks of magnetic strip, kinda of looks like a game cartridge, you got Google look it up
But they weren't cassettes , they were cartridges . HA HA @@wehappyfewmusic
I have one 🎉 its great.
Cool, they are nice machines! Have you had yours long?
@@wehappyfewmusic nope. This year I got it but I have wanted one since it was released, I still have the brocure from 30 years ago. I also have TOA MR-8T, Yamaha MD-8, Tascam 488 MKII
@@Novaheart1998 That’s amazing that you’ve managed to keep hold of the brochure all that time, and finally got one. What’s the TOA like, they seem to be pretty rare but look really solid. I also got a Yamaha MD-8 recently, keep meaning to check it out properly but love the mixer.
@@wehappyfewmusic the TOA I have works on Japan power so I have a power converter cause Im in Canada. it looks great and is well made but there is some bleed between tracks. Sound quality is good. I haven’t used the other ones much I have been too busy these past 3 years but I have music projects I want to do using them and a Roland MC500 MKII , no computers 🎉💃💩
@@Novaheart1998 interesting project, @espenkraft did a video on the Roland MC500 a couple of years ago. Would be nice combined with a tape machine. 👍