I'm trying to buy a new 4-Track

[snakedriver]

I am from the land of the lowly dollar, Canada, and am consequently at a disadvantage when it comes to buying a 4track. So I was wondering what the lower priced models are like. Do they all do the same job? The fostex and Tascam types seem to be the at the front of the pack, but are there others? I am doing pretty basic stuff, but would like t to sound semi-professional...


Help,

Snakedriver

[SN]

You forget about Yamaha.
they make good 4 track cassette units.

TASCAM 414 (new or used)

Fostex?? x-55 /xr-5 x-77 /xr-7

The TASCAM units seem better desighned than the Fostex ones. The Yamaha ones seem good. MT4 or something like that.

XLR inputs and sweepable mids will come in real handy. They will make a big difference in quality.
Two effect sends are also handy, esp if you have two separate effects boxes.

Separate Line Outs and Monitor Outs are nice but not nearly as essential as the above.

[Dom Franco]

My only advice is don't buy a used machine, unless you know for sure it has very low hours.... The heads will wear out, even when properly maintained. (Friction occurs when the tape drags across the heads, and dust acts like sandpaper!).
Buy a new unit and clean & demag the heads frequently. Cover the unit to keep dust from settling on it. Keep tapes in boxes and not out in the open.

High speed units will give you better sound quality, be patient and save a little while longer...mabye you could go digital?

Sincerely;

Dom Franco

[audioforgery]

Heck, you could do what I did - go to Ebay, find a Tascam MKII 4 track which is "in-the-box" new, and pick it up for around $300. Mine works great, it fun to use, and is just complicated enough goad you into learning the proper way to make multi-track recordings. If you buy the MKIII new, your looking at a minimum of $500.

[PPatrick]

I recently got a new Yamaha 4-track, a cassette-base MT-4x. I think it was from American Musical Supply (Mail order catalog, and they have a web site for ordering too). I paid something like $400. But I am very impressed with this machine. It blows aw3ay several Fostex models I have worked with, and it has a lot flexibility for mixing, sync'ing MIDI, and use of noise reduction. This model sounds better than my digital 8-track (A Fostex DMT-8vl) ---- OK, that's a subjective comment that's bound to be controversial, but I think good analog recording can't be beat. Seriously, the MT4X is a very above-average cassette 4-track.