Going Mobile Project
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bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
I ordered some parts from them once JP and it didn't work out very well.....
Alright, I took a little bit apart again this morning and answered my own questions.
1. I think the cam is fine and
2. Yes there are idler tires.
It looks like the motor can be removed with these two screws and the idler tires will come free.... pretty easy huh???? Don't worry, I'm not disillusioned..... nothing is easy in Bradland.....
ahhhhh well..... I've got to button it up till tonight.... My wife and I have a date with Wyatt Earp in Tombstone.....
Alright, I took a little bit apart again this morning and answered my own questions.
1. I think the cam is fine and
2. Yes there are idler tires.
It looks like the motor can be removed with these two screws and the idler tires will come free.... pretty easy huh???? Don't worry, I'm not disillusioned..... nothing is easy in Bradland.....
ahhhhh well..... I've got to button it up till tonight.... My wife and I have a date with Wyatt Earp in Tombstone.....
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
ahhhhh...... I found the problem....Well.....one of em.......
The wheel was just stuck to the knurled pulley.... well, I the wheels are the same size as the 244 (not the same thing though). I had a couple of washers sent from Dynamic Technology for the 244, but were way too big. I used an old idler wheel, chucked it up in the drill with the oversized washer, and put em on a piece of sandpaper. Put it back together, and the transport worked well.....well almost......
When I took the tape out, this is what I found....
The pinch roller has some tape on it.....
Soooooo...... I'm thinking a soft pinch roller right? Well, the pinch roller is hard as a rock and as round as Orsen Well's chef!!! The tape is relatively new from and I recorded on it recently.... Right now I'm thinking (maybe just hoping.....), that the pinch roller had some sticky tape on it.
I hear a bunch of different things, what do y'all recommend to clean a pinch roller ??
The wheel was just stuck to the knurled pulley.... well, I the wheels are the same size as the 244 (not the same thing though). I had a couple of washers sent from Dynamic Technology for the 244, but were way too big. I used an old idler wheel, chucked it up in the drill with the oversized washer, and put em on a piece of sandpaper. Put it back together, and the transport worked well.....well almost......
When I took the tape out, this is what I found....
The pinch roller has some tape on it.....
Soooooo...... I'm thinking a soft pinch roller right? Well, the pinch roller is hard as a rock and as round as Orsen Well's chef!!! The tape is relatively new from and I recorded on it recently.... Right now I'm thinking (maybe just hoping.....), that the pinch roller had some sticky tape on it.
I hear a bunch of different things, what do y'all recommend to clean a pinch roller ??
famous beagle
Well-known member
Oh yeah ... that roller looks in terrible shape.
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
I tried an Emory board on it.... I figured what did I have to lose...... The bad news is I emailed Terry and he's going on vacation. It'll be a month until the roller can get done.... so I'm going to shelve the project for a while, and hopefully not take apart the 244 again to get to it's pinch roller...... it's awful tempting......
famous beagle
Well-known member
Don't you need the roller in the 244 when you sell it? (Aren't you planning on selling it after you get the 234 rig up and running?)
If so, if I were you, I would just set the 234 aside until you can get the roller back from Terry and in the meantime record with the 244 (or 424, or whatever recorder is fully functional). That's just me, though.
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
Yeah.... the 244 is still down.... I'm working through that in my mind right now...... and my mind is a very dangerous place to be.....
I just finished up a collaboration song that I'm pretty proud of, and working on another on the 424..... too many numbers..... the wife just rolls her eyes at me......
I just finished up a collaboration song that I'm pretty proud of, and working on another on the 424..... too many numbers..... the wife just rolls her eyes at me......
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
You all will have to excuse my ignorance on this one. I've only used a Portastudio and am looking at how to hook up a mixing board to the tape player. Here's what I have:
Right now, I'm using a Portastudio 424 as the track tape player (eventually, I hope it's the 234).
I think I understand that I will bring the line outs from the tape player into channels 5-8 so I can still use the eq. Recording to the tape player, is where I'm having the problems.
The board only the stereo outputs and the aux sends. Would it be best to come out of these as line ins to the tape player?
Right now, I'm using a Portastudio 424 as the track tape player (eventually, I hope it's the 234).
I think I understand that I will bring the line outs from the tape player into channels 5-8 so I can still use the eq. Recording to the tape player, is where I'm having the problems.
The board only the stereo outputs and the aux sends. Would it be best to come out of these as line ins to the tape player?
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
Here's the new version of the studio as we speak....
The big advantages.....
1. I stay away from my wife's clothes closet
2. I can mix two instruments when I'm doing these 4-track collaborations. Before, I'd have to space a mic between my guitar and my voice since I could only use one track. Now I can get dedicate an input to each and get the levels right before.
3. Same with effects. I couldn't separate the voice from the instrument.... if I added delay, I'd have to do it for both.
4. I can put a cutting board over the sink for the mic stand, (I'll probably do this to free up room on the mixer)
The big advantages.....
1. I stay away from my wife's clothes closet
2. I can mix two instruments when I'm doing these 4-track collaborations. Before, I'd have to space a mic between my guitar and my voice since I could only use one track. Now I can get dedicate an input to each and get the levels right before.
3. Same with effects. I couldn't separate the voice from the instrument.... if I added delay, I'd have to do it for both.
4. I can put a cutting board over the sink for the mic stand, (I'll probably do this to free up room on the mixer)
famous beagle
Well-known member
I'm afraid I don't understand what you're trying to do here. The 424 has its own built-in mixer, so you don't need to use an external one with it (unless you're wanting to, say ... submix a whole bunch of mics or something).
You will need one for the 234, but I don't understand what you're wanting to with the mixer with regards to the 424. I guess I'm missing something?
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
I was just kind of trying to get a feel of what I need to do when the Tascam 234 gets rolling. The Mixing board only has a right and left stereo out. It also has two aux sends (which in my mind would be the other two tracks sent to the tape player). If I do this, I won't have the effects chain available right?
Also, I was playing with some sub mixing last night. Very useful when you only have one track of the tape to record on (like when I do those 4-track collaborations).
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famous beagle
Well-known member
Ohhh ok ... gotcha. I thought you were talking about using the mixer with the 424. I didn't realize you talking about the 234.
Hmmm ... that's a good question, because there aren't any program busses on that mixer ... it just has the main buss plus the auxiliary busses. I'm trying to figure out how you won't get a feedback loop.
You could do this:
When tracking:
1. Run the track outs of the 234 (tracks 1-4) into the 5/6 and 7/8 inputs on the mixer for playback. This will give you basic monitoring control while tracking
2. Plug your instrument or mic into channel 1, 2, 3, or 4.
3. For recording on tracks 1 and 2: Run from Aux send 1 and 2 to the track 1 and 2 inputs on the 234, respectively.
4. For recording on tracks 3 and 4: Repatch and run from Aux send 1 and 2 to the track 3 and 4 inputs on the 234, respectively.
When mixing down:
1. Run the track outputs of the 234 into Channels 1-4 on the mixer.
2. Run Aux send 1 to the input of your FX processor.
3. Run the stereo outputs of your FX processor to inputs 5/6 of your mixer. This will allow you to EQ the effect.
4. If you have a second FX processor, you can do the same with Aux send 2 and inputs 7/8.
If you want to use your compressor while tracking, use the insert jack on the mixer channel (1, 2, 3, or 4) you're using to record. You'll need an insert cable like this one:
Hosa Insert Cable (Stereo 1/4" TRS to Two Mono 1/4" TS), 3.28 Foot, 1 Meter, STP201
(Make sure it's long enough to reach where your compressor will be)
If you want to compress one instrument during mix down, you can do the same thing on the mixer channel 1-4 (which would be track playback at that point).
In order to compress a group of instruments (or the whole mix), you'd need a second compressor (or one stereo compressor), otherwise the end result would be mono. However, you can always compress while you track (as long as you're recording one track at a time).
But, you know ... those DBX 163x compressors are so affordable, and that one HALF rack model is going to be so lonely sitting next to that empty half rack space.
<insert wicked laugh>
Anyway, someone else may have a better way to hook it up, but that's what's coming to me off the top of my head.
Hmmm ... that's a good question, because there aren't any program busses on that mixer ... it just has the main buss plus the auxiliary busses. I'm trying to figure out how you won't get a feedback loop.
You could do this:
When tracking:
1. Run the track outs of the 234 (tracks 1-4) into the 5/6 and 7/8 inputs on the mixer for playback. This will give you basic monitoring control while tracking
2. Plug your instrument or mic into channel 1, 2, 3, or 4.
3. For recording on tracks 1 and 2: Run from Aux send 1 and 2 to the track 1 and 2 inputs on the 234, respectively.
4. For recording on tracks 3 and 4: Repatch and run from Aux send 1 and 2 to the track 3 and 4 inputs on the 234, respectively.
When mixing down:
1. Run the track outputs of the 234 into Channels 1-4 on the mixer.
2. Run Aux send 1 to the input of your FX processor.
3. Run the stereo outputs of your FX processor to inputs 5/6 of your mixer. This will allow you to EQ the effect.
4. If you have a second FX processor, you can do the same with Aux send 2 and inputs 7/8.
If you want to use your compressor while tracking, use the insert jack on the mixer channel (1, 2, 3, or 4) you're using to record. You'll need an insert cable like this one:
Hosa Insert Cable (Stereo 1/4" TRS to Two Mono 1/4" TS), 3.28 Foot, 1 Meter, STP201
(Make sure it's long enough to reach where your compressor will be)
If you want to compress one instrument during mix down, you can do the same thing on the mixer channel 1-4 (which would be track playback at that point).
In order to compress a group of instruments (or the whole mix), you'd need a second compressor (or one stereo compressor), otherwise the end result would be mono. However, you can always compress while you track (as long as you're recording one track at a time).
But, you know ... those DBX 163x compressors are so affordable, and that one HALF rack model is going to be so lonely sitting next to that empty half rack space.
<insert wicked laugh>
Anyway, someone else may have a better way to hook it up, but that's what's coming to me off the top of my head.
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
......one of my ideas is to take one of the aux sends and use a splitter. Send one side to one of the line ins on the 234, and send the other to the effects chain that I can control through the mixer.
I'm probably using all the wrong terms here, so bear with me.....
I'm probably using all the wrong terms here, so bear with me.....
famous beagle
Well-known member
No problem. Like I said, someone else, may think of a better way to do it.
Most recording mixers will have some sub-busses in addition to the main mix and aux mixes. A 16x4x2 mixer, for example, would have 16 channels, 4 sub outs, and a stereo main out. This way, you can plug a mic into CH 1, assign it to the Sub 1 output (but not the main mix) which feeds into track 1 of your recorder. (And Subs 2-4 could also be plugged into tracks 2-4 of your recorder.) Then the playback from your recorder tracks could come in at CHs 5-8 on the mixer. (Again, this would be for tracking; when mixing down, you'd want to bring the tracks from your recorder into channels 1-4 so you'd have full control over the panning.)
But since this mixer doesn't have any sub buss outs, I had to use the Aux send.
So ... one more thing I forgot to add in my post above... When recording, after setting a good level in the mixer with the trim on channel 1, 2, 3, or 4, you would turn up that channel's Aux send knob in order to control the level going to your recorder.
bachelorb
Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
I was playing a little bit with this yesterday..... One of the things I don't understand is I tried using a balanced TRS cable in channels 1-4 and got a muffled sound unless I pulled it out some. When I use a TS cable, I can put it in normally and the signal comes through just fine.
Why aren't the "balanced" cables working in the "balanced" inputs?
Why aren't the "balanced" cables working in the "balanced" inputs?
famous beagle
Well-known member
jpmorris
Tape Wolf
Where was the signal coming from? Are you sure it was balanced?
AFAIK, balanced signals work by inverting one channel and then summing them so that any noise (which won't be inverted) gets cancelled out.
A lot of stuff can detect whether the signal is balanced or not, but that might be limited to figuring out of it's a TS jack instead of TRS (i.e. are tip and ring shorted?). If the detection goes wrong, it could easily end up cancelling out your signal, which could give you some quite strange results, especially if they're out of phase enough just to partially cancel out.
Just a guess.