Bought a Portastudio 424 but need advice

V

vexunes

New member
Hi!

I recently bought a Tascam Portastudio 424 because it was pretty cheap and wanted to start doing some analog recording. I don't really have a clue on what equipment I need. The plan is to record some acoustic and electric guitar and also keyboard.

I already started to read on the guides presented in the Newbies section.

Just wanted to ask if you have any hints, ideas, guides or articles on how I start quickly recording with my Portastudio 424 and what equipment do I actually need? I am a total newb but would really like to start playing around with home recording, but don't know where to start regarding analog stuff.

Cheers and thanks for any help
 
There's tons of info out there about portastudio use and how to take care of em, so read up and make some music!

I'll give you a couple tips for what I think you might want to do to start recording w/ guitar and keyboard (and vocals?).

The 424 only has 1/4" inputs, which will work for recording your keyboard, but for mics yr going to need a Hi-Z XLR > 1/4" adapter. Speaking of mics, the most obvious choice would be the Shure SM57. It's a dynamic mic, and will work great for loud electric guitar, vocals, and acoustics.

As you learn to record you may want to buy some outboard gear, like reverb, compressor, etc. That's in the future though and for now you just want to get a mic and start putting some noise on tape.

Make sure you take care of yr machine. These are 20+ years old equiptment and they need to be treated good. Buy some 91% isopropal alcohol and clean the recording and erase heads with a q-tip after every use. Use only Type II Chrome tapes. This is really important. Try to use tapes that are 90 min and under. The longer tapes are thin and will stretch, tear, and get eaten. The thicker tapes (30, 60, 90 min) not only sound better, but last longer.

Again, there's tons of knowledge on this site regarding 4-track recording and what will work for a different machine will probably work for you (sound wise) so look around. Don't be afraid to record hot, meaning you can slam the meter into the red sometimes and get some nice analog clipping and compression. Let us know how yr doing man. Have fun!
 
Level Anything said:
The 424 only has 1/4" inputs, which will work for recording your keyboard, but for mics yr going to need a Hi-Z XLR > 1/4" adapter. Speaking of mics, the most obvious choice would be the Shure SM57. It's a dynamic mic, and will work great for loud electric guitar, vocals, and acoustics.
Click to expand...

I guess I will get the mic and the adapter. Would this be such an adapter?
Shure A85F

Level Anything said:
Make sure you take care of yr machine. These are 20+ years old equiptment and they need to be treated good. Buy some 91% isopropal alcohol and clean the recording and erase heads with a q-tip after every use. Use only Type II Chrome tapes. This is really important. Try to use tapes that are 90 min and under. The longer tapes are thin and will stretch, tear, and get eaten. The thicker tapes (30, 60, 90 min) not only sound better, but last longer.
Click to expand...

OK, is there any particular reason to just use Type II Chrome tapes?
Yes I got to find some guide on cleaning it. I don't really understand what should and what shouldn't be cleaned ;) but I will find out.

Level Anything said:
Again, there's tons of knowledge on this site regarding 4-track recording and what will work for a different machine will probably work for you (sound wise) so look around. Don't be afraid to record hot, meaning you can slam the meter into the red sometimes and get some nice analog clipping and compression. Let us know how yr doing man. Have fun!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice mate :) I'm really excited to get started.
 
I guess I will get the mic and the adapter. Would this be such an adapter?
Shure A85F

Yeah, that's perfect. There's others out there too, but that one is good.

OK, is there any particular reason to just use Type II Chrome tapes?

All Tascam Portastudios were biased for type II cassettes, which is kind of a way of saying that the heads are set up to properly record to that kind of tape in order to get the best high frequencies etc. The shell of the a Type II fits better as well. Look for some Maxell XLII, TDK SA (these will have to be bought through eBay unfortunately), or look for the ones that Musicians Friend or some other online music site sells. I know you don't live in the US or I would recommend National Audio Company, who sell 10 packs of tapes for $18. It's worth a shot to contact them though and see if they'll maybe ship to you.

Yes I got to find some guide on cleaning it. I don't really understand what should and what shouldn't be cleaned ;) but I will find out.

Open the cover where you put the tape and you'll see two small "heads" that the tape in the cassette passes over. the one to yr left (usually black plastic looking) is the erase head, and the one to the right/middle is the record head. Those have to be gently cleaned w/ the q-tip alcohol (back and forth left to right gently) and the rubber wheel needs to be cleaned with lightly soapy water (never with the alcohol). The steel point that is sticking up right above the pinch roller wheel is the capstan. That actually pulls the tape along, so that needs to be kept clean w/ the alcohol too. As long as you use quality tapes, the cleaning won't need to be done every time (unless yr like me) but use yr judgement.


Thanks for the advice mate :) I'm really excited to get started.

No problem. I've been using these things since the late 90's and recently got back into it. I track to the 4-track, do some bouncing and stuff, get a cool sound and then sometimes overdub and edit in Pro Tools. It's really fun and conducive to creativity. You learn to rely on yr ears more than yr eyes. Rock on brother!
 
Hi again!

So I have all the stuff and everything works fine :D

I just have a few question which arose when looking through the manual:

What is the point of the LINE OUT L/R Outputs? From what I read, the last step after recording on the 4 tracks is to do the mixing. This is done by plugging a recording/mixing device. Isn't the Portastudio already mixing the tracks when writing on the tape, so isn't the Portastudio already a mixer or would be that another device which I would have to purchase (if yes could someone recommend me such a device/mixer)? Also could I plug in my PC through those outputs to do the mixing on the PC?

Sorry, I know these are noob questions, but you need to start somewhere right :)
 
The LINE OUT L/R jacks are the stereo output of the 424's mixer. This is where you can access the stereo sum of the inputs connected to the 424 mixer, or the stereo sum of the 424's tape tracks when mixing down your multitrack project.

As sort of an aside, mixing occurs throughout a multitrack project. There's two stages of mixing when you are multitrack recording. The first stage when you are recording your tracks *may* involve submixing; the second stage when you are mixing down to a stereo master from a multitrack always involves mixing.

The reason I say the first stage "may" involve mixing is because it depends on whether or not you are recording multiple sources onto one or more tracks. Maybe you have 4 mics on a drum set but are using the 424 mixer to submix those onto only track 1, or maybe only tracks 1&2...you are mixing during tracking. On the other hand you might have one room mic to capture the drum set and be recording that directly onto one track...no mixing happening there.

But once your multitrack project is tracked and it's time to mix that to a stereo master, you mix that from however many tracks down to two track L/R master, and as said above the L/R stereo sum of your tracks on the 424 is accessed via those LINE OUT jacks. I'm kind of rambling but I hope that helps.
 
Thank you. That makes a lot of sense now. So I could do the main mixing with the program on my PC after connecting the stereo output of the 424 to my PC. Are there also "analog mixers" where I could do the mixing without a PC? Again sorry for those beginner questions :p
 
The 424 is an analog mixer. That's how it mixes audio from 4 tape tracks to the stereo mix accessible at the LINE OUT jacks.

I'm trying to understand your question.

What I think you mean to say/ask is you are using an application on your PC to record the stereo mix, right? You suggest you could do the "main mix" on your PC...I think what you mean is you could use the PC as your master recorder...? You are using the 424 mixer to create your master mix, then that master mix has to be captured/recorded on something to have your master recording. You can use the PC, and of course there are scads of analog options for stereo master recordings...cassette decks, open reel tape decks etc. and there are lots of other digital options for master recording as well...DAT machines, CD recorders, solid state recorders, etc.

Hopefully I'm not confusing the issue.

If I'm understanding you correctly, the answer (with terminology corrections) is yes you can use the PC as your master recorder after using the 424 analog mixer to mix down your multitrack project, and yes there are analog devices you can use to record your master in addition to or in lieu of the PC.
 
Cool. Unfortunately, the 424 doesn't have 4 tape outs, which means it doesn't have 4 individual outputs for every track. If it did, you could hook each one up to an input on yr interface (assuming you have an interface w/ 4 inputs) and capture each track to a track in Pro Tools or Logic or whatever program you use. Then you would edit and mix "in the box".

The 424 only has the stereo out like Sweetbeats mentioned, so you aren't able to run each track into the computer. You can however, hook the stereo out up to the 2 inputs on yr interface and do a mix "live" into 2 tracks in yr DAW. To do this without an interface you can buy the Behringer UFO202, which you hook yr 4-tracks two RCA stereo outs into and it converts it to digital and connects to yr computer via USB. I did this for a while, back when I was using an old 424 and it sounded decent.

The best advice I can give it to keep yr recording relatively simple. Simple enough to where you can mix (do any panning, mutes, fader rides etc.) live while running it into the computer. Then you have a stereo mix with all the things you just did, and you can add to that if you want to. It's a great way to learn the art of mixing and will give you a leg up.

Glad yr keeping at it man!
 
The 424 does have individual track outputs, at least the Mk II and Mk III do...don't have my manuals in front of me.

I was only referring to the L-R outputs because that's what the OP was asking about.
 
The 424 MKII, and III have the 4 tape outs but unfortunately the 424 doesn't. I learned this the hard way back in 2011 when I bought what was supposed to be a MKII from eBay and ended up receiving the first 424 instead. I didn't pay enough attention, and honestly didn't really even know the different models like I do now so I realizes like a month after getting it that it wasn't the machine I thought it was (it was advertised as the MKII). Only negative feedback I've ever left in my life but he deserved it. He even had pictures of the MKII up on the auction page.
 
That's a terrible story. Shame on that eBayer. :spank:

I believe there is a way using the other outputs in conjunction with the L-R outs on the mkI 424 to output all 4 tracks at once. If there's a way to get all 8 out of the 488 at once (and there is) then there *must* be a way on the mkI 424!
 
Yeah, I've read that 488 thread on how to do that, somewhere in here at some point. I wonder if the OP has an interface with 4 inputs? Let us know if that's something you might want to do at some point because I'd like an excuse to learn how to do that myself.
 
sweetbeats said:
That's a terrible story. Shame on that eBayer. :spank:

I believe there is a way using the other outputs in conjunction with the L-R outs on the mkI 424 to output all 4 tracks at once. If there's a way to get all 8 out of the 488 at once (and there is) then there *must* be a way on the mkI 424!
Click to expand...

If you all could point me in the right direction on this, it would be appreciated. I love my 424 (mk1) so far.... It's going to do exactly what I want and fits perfect in this travel trailer. My idea now is to mix it down to the computer, and reuse my tapes (not a heck of a lot of storage here...), but having all the original tracks in a digital format would be a big plus...
 
Level Anything said:
Cool. Unfortunately, the 424 doesn't have 4 tape outs, which means it doesn't have 4 individual outputs for every track. If it did, you could hook each one up to an input on yr interface (assuming you have an interface w/ 4 inputs) and capture each track to a track in Pro Tools or Logic or whatever program you use. Then you would edit and mix "in the box".

The 424 only has the stereo out like Sweetbeats mentioned, so you aren't able to run each track into the computer. You can however, hook the stereo out up to the 2 inputs on yr interface and do a mix "live" into 2 tracks in yr DAW. To do this without an interface you can buy the Behringer UFO202, which you hook yr 4-tracks two RCA stereo outs into and it converts it to digital and connects to yr computer via USB. I did this for a while, back when I was using an old 424 and it sounded decent.

The best advice I can give it to keep yr recording relatively simple. Simple enough to where you can mix (do any panning, mutes, fader rides etc.) live while running it into the computer. Then you have a stereo mix with all the things you just did, and you can add to that if you want to. It's a great way to learn the art of mixing and will give you a leg up.

Glad yr keeping at it man!
Click to expand...

That makes sense. Yeah I want to keep it really simple first. Thanks mate! :)

Level Anything said:
Yeah, I've read that 488 thread on how to do that, somewhere in here at some point. I wonder if the OP has an interface with 4 inputs? Let us know if that's something you might want to do at some point because I'd like an excuse to learn how to do that myself.
Click to expand...

Hehe no I don't have one, so you can use me as an excuse :)
 
Shoot I don't have a copy of the mkI manual. Not sure I'll be able to advise on a 4-track simultaneous output workaround without the manual...
 
Wait...does the back of your 424 look like this?

image.jpeg

If so it looks to me like it does have dedicated outputs for each of the 4 tracks. The switch changes the 4 jacks from being L-R out, and Sync in/out to tape out 1-4. Just slide the switch toward the L-R out jacks.
 
sweetbeats said:
Wait...does the back of your 424 look like this?

View attachment 97508

If so it looks to me like it does have dedicated outputs for each of the 4 tracks. The switch changes the 4 jacks from being L-R out, and Sync in/out to tape out 1-4. Just slide the switch toward the L-R out jacks.
Click to expand...
It does....... I was paying more attention to the top than to the bottom....I'll give er a try......
 
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