TASCAM FW-1884 modification


What happened to me and probably to you....
So, you bought the Tascam FW-1884 because of the great specs like the motorized faders, Firewire connectivity, balanced inputs and a lot of great features it has as a DAW....name it! You connect the DAW and start working with it, after many hours of struggling with the drivers and other stuff that doesn't seem to work well at once, you have it running. Then you decide to plug in a condenser microphone to do some quality recordings, You start with turning on 48+ phantom power first (it was late the night before, too much beer....or it's too early in the morning) and connect the mic......when fiddling knobs, clicking in the music production software windows and other actions you take, you notice there is no signal coming in. It looks like the preamp of the channel isn't working, to make sure you are doing everthing right you plug the mic in another channel and you find out you have signal (pfew, lucky you, this channel survived the connect-action with 48V still on.)

So you ended up with a dead channel, after a few months you have one or more dead channels, it's time to call the Technical Support department of Tascam to find out what can be wrong. After hours of waiting and talking to everyone inside the building you get a tech, he tells you that it's a known issue and also tells you that it can be fixed....but, at your expense. There is no more warranty and despite the fact it's a known issue, you are left in the cold....

Well, that happened to me also. I had three dead inputs after one year, but Machinator (a tech who knows what he is talking about) said he could fix it and was also able to build in a simple protection (what Tascam actually had to do.) Besides that Machinator found out that the original NJM4580 aren't really the finest choice as a opamp, he started to design a little PCB that fits directly in the place where the NJM4580 resided and put a OPA2228-p on the PCB together with some other components to make it all working (check the pictures.) My Tascam FW-1884 is working fine now again, plus the preamps sound a lot better, more clearance and openness and less hiss.

What people say about the mod:

I really got nowhere with the Tascam support desk (Except high blood pressure) so I figure to give it a go and buy you kits,...

I just place the new PCB's in my 1884, indeed a firm "dismantling" job but very well doable!

So, I soldered the new PCB's into the unit, put the stuff back together and switch it on,.....WOW!!!! This IS a HUGE improvement!!!!! With the
OPA2111's the sound is miles better!!!!! Voices are more dynamic, less sharp, very clean and neutral.

I really would recommend this to everyone with a 1884 even if the inputs are still alive!

Many thanks developing this good piece of kit, just awesome !!

Cheers,

Charles

Hi Rob,

I installed the new opamp with the caps and = My FW-1884 is back to
life!!!! I amazing the noise reduction and the quality of the opamps.
Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! The machine is running again with the 8
mics and line inputs!

You are the master of the mods!! Another thing and what to add to my
experience is that I refered the issue to a Technician in Puerto Rico
and he can't do a modification to improve the sound and to protect the
opamps. The first time I had the problem, he only change the damage
opamp. Go ahead..... Thanks again for your help!

Thank for your help!!! Any questions regarding this matter I will call
you. I am a satisfied customer.

Rolando

Just installed the kits,Whoooow!!! Now THATS we call an IMPROVEMENT!! I
really don't get it why Tascam did install the original piece of junk!
Now, as you asked, I did the test with first the NE5532, very good,
excellent! Then I installed the OPA2602, BRILLIANT :-) Even more better.
The OPA gives better voices, nice and clean without any form of
sharpness or crispy sounds! We also recorded a violin, something that
never worked out very well with the Tascam but now, it sounds super!
Many thanks for this solution you developed for us. Mr Tascam should
give you a award for this :-)

With the very best regards,

Preston

Rob,
I just want to say thanks for an excellent product!
I had the product installed and the fw-18884 is better then when I first
bought it. Tascam should hire you or give some credit for solving this
issue because if have had the same faulty chip installed 2x under
warranty, and it still did not work correctly.
I was going to give up the piece for something new but thanks to you I
functioning better than before.

Thanks again,
Aubrey Thompson

Hi Rob,

As you may have noticed I·m not the type of guy that trusts an internet
related contact easily. Unfortunately the last year has been filled with
mainly promises from suppliers that they did not keep. Or they did not come
up with the right solution (Tascam) and if they did then not in time
(delivery over 3 months seems to be normal these days). Not with you. Not
only did you help to address the problem but you also gave me excellent
service, support and the advice I needed and that all that within days. For
me personally you made a big difference since I now do have an excellent
sounding Tascam. When I am recording my grand piano, vocalists or saxophones
in productions, the recordings sound very much better then before.

How nice to be able to work with a machine that functions properly and does
not destroy my creativite moments any longer. How good to have communicated
with a man that fully understands the hassle of creative persons once they
get into technical stuff. Thanks a lot!

With the very best regards,

Matthijs A. Hillenius