On Tascam 414mkII, will mixing one track down to digital at a time add noise?

A

adrianhouse

New member
I.e. vs. mixing it on the tape deck, and then just mixing it down into one stereo or mono track. I'd like to be able to mix the song on audacity, adjust levels etc., but not if it's too noisy. Frustrating to keep having to re-mix it on the cassette deck and then mix it down each time I need to make an adjustment.

Thoughts much appreciated!
 
How many inputs does your audio interface have? If it has at least four, you can just use the tape out jacks on the 424 mkII and transfer them all at once.

Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure I understand what you're asking.

If you transfer the tracks from the 424 to the computer one at a time, you're going to have to align them in the computer and time stretch them a bit, because the 424 won't play back at exactly the same speed each time. It'll be very close, but even very close, over the course of a 3- or 4-minute song, will result in misalignment.

I'm not saying you can't do this (I've done before), but using the tape outs on the 424 mkii, if your interface has 4 inputs, is a much easier way.


But again, I'm not entirely sure I understand. What do you mean by "vs. mixing it on the tape deck, and then just mixing it down into one stereo or mono track." ? Why would you need to mix the song two times?
 
Hey, thanks for the reply. Interface only has one input. Yeah I didn't think about the timing issue. Dang.

The reason I want to do this is that I've mixed it once, but upon listening to some of the songs a month later realize it needs to be done again. And so I have to mix it on the tape deck, use the effects unit again, and then mix it down onto the computer. Vs. the easier option of just changing the levels on the computer if it's already separated into different tracks.
 
Yes, sending multiple tracks individually (one at a time) into your DAW, to be mixed later in the DAW, has the potential for increased noise vs. mixing the tracks on the Tascam first and then sending a single stereo mix to the DAW. Whatever potential line noise exists with each bounce to the DAW will be compounded. That being said, there are so many variables (and you can use software to isolate and remove noise) that you may decide having the ability to endlessly mix and adjust multiple tracks in the DAW outweighs the potential to have increased noise. If you go the mix-first route, you are stuck with it. And I don't know your exact set up - the interference might be minimal and you could end up with really clean passes anyway and it won't sound any worse than on tape. Lining things up will be a pain, so you are going to want to record a count-in or reference sound on all tracks first.
 
Got you, thanks. All this has convinced me that next time i do this i need another interface with more inputs, and i guess different software because i don't think Audacity can handle multiple signals at once, can it? Cheers.
 
Adrian, I just recently went through trying to time tracks on audacity.... It was not a pleasant experience. I finally gave up and put both the bass and drums together (I play neither).... Truly a frustrating day.....
 
hello, just an idea, but you need a few seconds before and after the take. You could record, lets say three or four clicks on ALL tracks, at the same time before and after, to use it as reference. Having the four tracks later on Audacity should be easy to align... like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEIbDl1Clhw

hope it helps...
 
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