Tascam 244 3rd and 4th Channel Not Working

F

Freddyk

New member
Hey guys,
Decided to grab a Tascam 244 recorder today in hopes to record some demos in my bedroom but ran across a couple problems. Tested everything with a sm57 through a transformer adapter and both channel 1 and 2 sound pristine/record well but channel 3 and 4 seem to not pick up much signal. When I record, you can barely hear it even on max gain and master volume. All the jumpers in the back are connected. Super new to this so I may be missing something very obvious. Is there something I am doing wrong?
 
First off, I'd make sure to thoroughly clean the heads. 90% rubbing alcohol and q tips are your friend. Clean them well. Then clean them again.
You'd be suprised at how just a little dirt can affect your levels.
 
RFR said:
First off, I'd make sure to thoroughly clean the heads. 90% rubbing alcohol and q tips are your friend. Clean them well. Then clean them again.
You'd be suprised at how just a little dirt can affect your levels.
Click to expand...

Yes, a bit of oxide can "short out" the recording flux. But, try a fully recorded standard stereo cassette. That will tell you if you have a record or replay fault.

Dave.
 
RFR said:
First off, I'd make sure to thoroughly clean the heads. 90% rubbing alcohol and q tips are your friend. Clean them well. Then clean them again.
You'd be suprised at how just a little dirt can affect your levels.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. Do dirty tape heads affect the inputs levels of channel 3/4? I'm not getting anything from the VU as well.
 
Do you mean you are not getting anything on the VU meters for channels 3 and 4 on playback? Dirty heads will certainly cause this.

Maybe worth flipping your recorded cassette over to play back the good recordings on C1 and C2 on the C3 and C4 playback amps. This will show if it is a playback error. You could also try recording on the flipped cassette on C3 and C4 to play these back on C1 and C2 playback amps after flipping back the cassette to normal.
 
Findlay said:
Do you mean you are not getting anything on the VU meters for channels 3 and 4 on playback? Dirty heads will certainly cause this.

Maybe worth flipping your recorded cassette over to play back the good recordings on C1 and C2 on the C3 and C4 playback amps. This will show if it is a playback error. You could also try recording on the flipped cassette on C3 and C4 to play these back on C1 and C2 playback amps after flipping back the cassette to normal.
Click to expand...
Hey Findlay, thanks for the response. And apologies in advance, completely new to this. There's no signals even when i'm checking levels on channel 3 and 4 even before playback. When I play it back, you can barely hear whatever's recorded on both channels. Very similar levels actually in both channels.

Thanks
 
Are you setting the 244 output to remix when playing back? As I remember the 244 only show input signals on VU meters 1 and 2, so your mic will only show up here when recording. The tape flip will show a lot of things - flip at the end of your recordings on C1 and C2 to play the back on C3 and C4 ( in reverse) and see what the VU meters show when set to remix.
 
Findlay said:
Are you setting the 244 output to remix when playing back? As I remember the 244 only show input signals on VU meters 1 and 2, so your mic will only show up here when recording. The tape flip will show a lot of things - flip at the end of your recordings on C1 and C2 to play the back on C3 and C4 ( in reverse) and see what the VU meters show when set to remix.
Click to expand...

How would i go about doing that? flipping the tape and playing from the beginning?
 
Also, could it be the type of tape im using that's causing this problem? I'm using a pretty cheap blank tape.
 
and that makes sense that 3/4 channels don't show input signals until playback. It might be the type of tape im using. A generic blank tape. Will that affect the playback and the 3/4 channel?
 
Play back the good recordings you have on channels 1 & 2 until they end, then flip the tape over and play back. If the channel 3 and 4 playback amps are working you will hear the good channel 1&2 recordings on channels 3&4 and see the VU meters moving. If they don't, your problem is in the C3 and C4 record chain. But also try another tape - preferably a good type II like TDK SA. Your blank tape may be a type 1 which can cause problems unless the 244 is specially set up for it. I've had complete signal loss on several channels before with bad tape and they have been ok with a fresh one.
 
Findlay said:
Play back the good recordings you have on channels 1 & 2 until they end, then flip the tape over and play back. If the channel 3 and 4 playback amps are working you will hear the good channel 1&2 recordings on channels 3&4 and see the VU meters moving. If they don't, your problem is in the C3 and C4 record chain. But also try another tape - preferably a good type II like TDK SA. Your blank tape may be a type 1 which can cause problems unless the 244 is specially set up for it. I've had complete signal loss on several channels before with bad tape and they have been ok with a fresh one.
Click to expand...
So if I simply flip the tap and playback the working recordings on 1/2, I should see the VU meter moving on 3/4? And yes it might very well be the type of tape I’m using
 
Last edited:
Yes, after flipping the tape over, if the play circuits on c3 and C4 are working you should hear the c1 and c2 recordings in reverse and see the meters move.
 
Have you degaussed it? It needs that every month or so.

Also, have you read the manuals and understand how to record properly? You have to turn the blue pan knobs to the track you want to record to, etc (several configurations will produces bad results, so you have to read the manual the first time). If you don't have the manual I think i have a can of it I can send you.
 
Nola said:
Have you degaussed it? It needs that every month or so.

Also, have you read the manuals and understand how to record properly? You have to turn the blue pan knobs to the track you want to record to, etc (several configurations will produces bad results, so you have to read the manual the first time). If you don't have the manual I think i have a can of it I can send you.
Click to expand...
Hey there, got the manual but i appreciate it! Yea, from what i understand, tracks 1,3 panned fully left and 2,4 panned fully right. I am thinking that theres no output from channel 3,4 because i'm using the wrong type of tape right now, which i'll have to order asap.

---------- Update ----------

how would i go about degaussing the 244?
 
Freddyk said:
how would i go about degaussing the 244?
Click to expand...

Basically just buy a degausser and carefully go over the mechanism. You can ruin the entire thing, so you have to be careful, but it's something you need to learn if you're dealing with tape.

Here man, watch this. The entire video gives basic maintenance, but around 6 minutes he touches on degaussing: YouTube
 
Findlay said:
Yes, after flipping the tape over, if the play circuits on c3 and C4 are working you should hear the c1 and c2 recordings in reverse and see the meters move.
Click to expand...

I honestly think/hope that it's the tape that im using that's causing this to happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top