ON TE ST
Tascam Studio Bridge and outputs are presented on six 24-track Recorder & USB Audio Interface inputs Tascam-format DB25 D-Sub connectors on
Tascam break their Model range’s recording facilities out into a standalone device that you can hook up to any mixer. Tascam Studio Bridge £899 pros • Sounds great. • Easy to use. • Individual track record arming. • Manual and automatic punch in. • Record standalone or to a computer. • Built‑in digital mixing for headphone monitoring. • Useful tempo, click and MIDI sync facilities. • Outstanding value for money.
cons • Doesn’t support sample rates above 48kHz (but still sounds good).
summary In an age where vintage multitrackers are getting harder to repair and maintain, the Studio Bridge has the potential to free you from the tyranny of the computer screen and breathe new life into your analogue console — but also to augment your DAW with plentiful I/O and hardware control functions.
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January 2025 / www.soundonsound.com
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s I was dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s of last month’s Tascam Model 2400 review, in came the news that Tascam had exploited all of its recording and DAW-control features to create a standalone device called the Studio Bridge. Primarily, it’s for those with a console who want to benefit from the Model-series technology without having to choose a Model mixer, but there are plenty of other potential applications. The ‘Studio’ in the name isn’t just for show, by the way: as a multitracker, it boasts the sort of studio-friendly features that the live-oriented products of the last decade or so haven’t, making it more a modern take on my Alesis HD24 than like a Cymatic uTrack 24 or JoeCo BlackBox Recorder.
Overview The Studio Bridge is a multitrack digital recorder whose 24 analogue line
the rear. Alongside these are quarter-inch jacks for a click output and a (not included) tap-tempo footswitch. There are also five-pin DIN MIDI in and MIDI out sockets, a USB‑B socket for USB2 audio interfacing, and a 100-240 Volt mains IEC inlet with on/off rocker switch. The analogue I/O can be routed to/ fed from either an integrated SDXC card recorder or a USB-connected Mac, Windows, iOS or iPadOS device. As well as delivering most of the functions of my ageing HD24, the Studio Bridge also loosely resembles the Alesis BRC, a remote control unit intended for multiple sync’ed ADAT machines that could, with some setting up, perform a similar role for an HD24. I’ve included a picture of the two units so you can see what I mean: the Studio Bridge just a shade smaller, but it comes in a similar desktop format and there are physical record-arm buttons for every track, while a master section handles transport and other functions. Of course, things have moved on in the intervening years, so that’s pretty much where that comparison ends, and not least because the converters and recording are built