Odd sound quality problem

[Dr.D]

I recorded two songs this week. Both were rough takes of drums, bass and guitar just to make it easier for my band mates to get a feel for the tunes. The second session was basically a continuation of the first - no real changes in the recording setup. I used the TASCAM 424.

Now the odd thing was the difference in sound quality between the two. The first was full and fat with plenty of presence (just the way I like it). The second one was 'tinty', way to bright and seemed a bit week for overall level - though the buss meters were not noticably different between the two. This was true for all the instruments so I know it was not an individual mic or amp problem.

The only thing I know was different were the tapes - though they were the same brand (Maxcell UDXL2). Anybody experienced wide variation in individual tape quality? Did I just get a lemon? Both tapes had been used before (once) for scratch tracks so these were both tape overs. But I did not take the time to erase the tape for the second day - just taped right over the old material. This has not been a problem before but maybe I just got lucky. Could this have been the problem? Any other suggestions? Hope my TASCAM isn't going south on me. It is starting to get some age on it.

Thanks, Dr.D

[SilentSound]

Yeah, gotta love those analog dropouts!! Well, try recording with the suspicious tape again. Check that all settings during playback are congruent. Use deduction. It is hard to say without being hands on. Clean the heads. Does it have DOLBY? Were the same recording methods used both times? Let me know, i used to be a 4-tracker

[Dr.D]

heh...yah I hear ya on the A vs D thing. I've done a fair bit of 8 track digital and studio digital recording. The fidelity is unbeatable. But I still prefer the 4 track for scratch tracks, new song starts and live rehersal recordings. The tape dupes are just so easy and cheap to make and distribute. Besides, not everyone in the band can handle digital at home right now. :P

Anyway, did a rehersal recording last night and it sounded fine. I was mostly fishing for opinions on the tape itself being a sourse of variation in sound quality. Sometimes you just get some wierd shit with analogue.

Dr.D

[Don]

I have a Tascam 424 also and I have experienced some of the same problems. Some recordings sound great and full and some sound cheap even though I use the same settings and the same kind of tape. Cleaning my tape heads may have helped some, but it was hard to tell. However my last three sessions have been really good, so maybe it helped. I have another idea that may sound kind of weird, but when I first started recording I would leave my "tape out" wires plugged in while I recorded my individual tracks. Now I leave them unplugged until I get ready to mix down and it seems to help, but it might just be a coincidence, who knows.

[This message has been edited by Don (edited 07-25-1999).]

[SN]

It may be the 424's pre-amps

When I listen to my guitar through the headphone outs on my multi-effects pedal, it always sounds very good.

When I plug the line out of my effects pedal to an input on the 424mkIII and listen with headphones through that, the sound quality ranges from good, to discouragingly tinny. I don't know what the difference comes from.

The above was about listening to the signals without recording them.

[Dr.D]

SN:

Now that you mention it, I have noticed the same sort of thing with line level signals. I almost always mic amps/drums/PA/whatever, and rarely use a line out signal direct to the 424. When it happened, I blew it off as my inexperience with EQing direct line inputs or just a shitty line signal to begin with.

Since I got a drum machine, I have been experimenting with direct line in recording much more. Sounds like line level recording may be a bit more helter-skelter than miked cabinets, at least on the 424.

Dr.D