TASCAM 34 play back trouble

L

Lims

New member
Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum, but i have been looking for tips for a moment now. I decided to ask cause i couldn't find the solution of my problem. so here is the big deal: my tascam 34 is monitoring the input source perfectly, everything is fine, the transport, the decks....
I have trouble erasing tapes, but i'm going for a bulk eraser so thats not really a problem.
Track one is playing back what i recorded on it, the sound is awesome.
the point is, when i play back recorded material on tracks 2,3,4, it sounds muffled and distant :
I'm recording hot ( up to +3 db on the vu metre ) then playing the recorded materiel ( switching to SYNC ) and the VU wont reach -10 db, and recorded sound plays back distorted and distant / low.
Since my tascam's outputs are feeding my soundcard ins, i've been trying to raise the gains, but my sound definitely got spoiled in the recording process. it lost a lot of definition, there's nothing to do.
What really disturbs me is that it happened lately. I managed to do good recordings before.
As i said, track 1 is recording perfectly ( to me ) and everytrack monitors perfectly the source. So i guess it's about the heads, but i really don't have a clue... so any advice would be REALLY welcome ( i have a project pending )
just let me know if you need any photo / or additional info that could help . Regards, Theo
 
How long have you owned the machine?

The first response from me would be clean the heads and the tape path meticulously.

The fact that it doesnt erase is troublesome. Some of the erase signal is applied at the record head during program recording. Without it you will get weak recordings and not very good sounding at that.
 
i bought it last year and it was in exellent shape ! ( 'ill upload some pictures of the rec head and more by tomorrow )
then i stacked it a few months and when i got back to it, i had a problem with the transport ; the pinch roller gum's shape had changed, it was damaged. I fixed it using an acrilic foam i use in construction.
but this playback problem doesnt seem related to that ; i guess its either a circuitry problem, or a head problem ( rec heads looks pristine though ) but i'm not sure and i need a solid diagnostic before i come to action . Thanks for your answer !
 
I wouldn't have thought acrylic foam was any good for repairing a pinch roller, you need the correct thing.

It would be interesting to see a picture of that repair.
 
Yeah. Can't imagine that to be any good.
better to have the pinch roller properly repaired.
 
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i actually screwed it on a drill, and while it was rotating, i used some plastic cardboard to smoothen the edges, to retreive a perfect circle, and fill the holes. that material is used for windows, and stuff. transport stopped drifting, it is not sticking the tape anymore so i guess it's fine until i found a solid replacement. ( pinch rollers go by 50+ on ebay, i think its a lot for a piece of rubber )

I also uploaded a picture of the recording head ; what immediately stroke me when i inspected it deeper are these black spots in the middle.
Now i realise they are clearly damaged. I don't know which head's track correspond to which channel of the tascam, i would bet my working channel is corresponding to that one track on the head which has no black mark... could i be right ?

last thing is, i'm going to make an audio, recording a sound to track1 and switching it to track2 during the recording, so you can hear the difference on the tape playback
 
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source thru by Limaaaah !! | Free Listening on SoundCloud

The tascam is monitoring the source, it is feeding the soundcart without any preamp between.
The first sample is going thru track1 of the tascam, then the second is going thru track2. the point here is to show the monitored sound is the same whatever the input it is going thru.

recorded tape by Limaaaah !! | Free Listening on SoundCloud

This is the same sound, after it was recorded, and played back. first on input1 as it is, then input 2 , wich is sensibly lower. Any idea what the problem might be here ? cheers !
 
An observation or two...

Your pinch roller alarms me greatly. God only knows what artifacts are leaching off it and contaminating your tape path. I would join in whole heatedly with the others here who have advised to have it professionally serviced or outright replaced.

The marks on the record head look like caked on tape oxide. It will need a far more thorough cleaning to remove those marks which could likely be contributing to your problems. If regular isopropyl alcohol doesn't work well enough, try using methanol in a well ventilated room as the fumes from that are dangerous and highly flammable. Same thing goes for the erase head which also may be contaminated with the same crud that's on the other heads but is harder to see because its the same color.

If you're using anything but new fresh recording tape I would also suggest educating yourself on the issue of stick shed syndrome which we have several threads here to help with that entire subject.



Cheers! :)
 
Tracks/channels are numbered 1 to 4 from the top.

From the photo, the black marks on the heads could be tape oxide. This needs to be cleaned away completely with head cleaning fluid.
 
i managed to remove the black marks on both the rec and the repro head ; the sound quality really improved !!!

Here is the second test : same sources, but now track2 has a much stronger and defined sound.
https://soundcloud.com/limster/test333
So i guess the heads are in good condition, it just had to be cleaned up... if this is the case, i'm reassured ... cause the tascam heads on ebay cost a lot !!!! i was impressed.

About the pinch roller, i smoothed it with acrilic, but then i wraped it with TEFLON band ( which doesn't stick and should not induce magnetism ) but i know thats not reliable ...
If i can save 300$ with the head, i'll be happy to buy a brand new pinch roller 50$ you know :D I just had to know what was really the trouble.... I'm going to try input 3 & 4 .... just to be sure the rec head is in good condition. Thanks so much for your advices !

Anyone knows which pinch rollers are compatible with tascam 34 ? cause the only one for sell right now is about 99$ ...
 
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