The Best Ever Tascam 4-Track

[kq300325]

HI

This has probably been asked many times. but what does everyine rate as the best tascam 4-track cassette unit ever?

[Cratinus]

the Tascam 246 comes to mind first. it has a VERY flexible (and wonderful sounding) mixer and is solidly built (beautiful meters as well!). i've owned a few cassette 4-tracks and the 246 is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than anything i've ever used (both sonically and in versatility of use). good stuff. the rack mount 4-track scores high marks as well (is it the 234??). it does require an external mixer, however.

[cjacek]

All in one portastudio concept:

First: TASCAM 246; Second: TASCAM 244.

A worthy mention is the TASCAM 234. It doesn't include a thorough mixer like the 246/244 but its recorder section is everybit as good. Pair up the 234 with an m-30 or above and you'll have the best cassette 4 tracker around.

~Daniel

[ssscientist]

You guys can have your 244's and 246's --- I'll stick with the 644.

It had DBX noise reduction, a very good sounding EQ section and midi sync. What more could you ask for in a cassette four track? I wore mine OUT!

[Strryder]

My vote has to go for the 234 as well, when used with something like an M-208 mixer and some 1/2 way decent rackmount comps and multi-effects it just might be the most "Pro" of all the cassette based 4 track decks.

I wish TASCAM still made 'em...

wow, serious deja-vu going on in this thread!

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by Strryder

My vote has to go for the 234 as well, when used with something like an M-208 mixer and some 1/2 way decent rackmount comps and multi-effects it just might be the most "Pro" of all the cassette based 4 track decks.

I wish TASCAM still made 'em...

wow, serious deja-vu going on in this thread!

The Ultimate cassette "portastudio": TASCAM 234 + TASCAM M-30 + Lexicon LXP-1 + dbx 118/119 + EV RE15 and SM57 mics.

~Daniel

[arjoll]

Originally Posted by ssscientist

You guys can have your 244's and 246's --- I'll stick with the 644.

If anyone's looking for one of these, there's one here that has been listed four times on trademe.co.nz.

The highest bid in one auction was NZ$260 (around US$185) and it hasn't sold yet. Note that times on this site as NZ time, which is 13 hours ahead of GMT until 0200 GMT 20/3/05 when we're back to 12 hours ahead. The end of another crappy summer....

Cya
Andrew

[thane1200]

Here's mine ! Not the best, but it's what started this whole recording thing.

[melonman]

my portastudio 424 gets the job done just fine, and i really dig the effects send it has really easy to work with. oh and it sounds fucking killer on mixdown. really good tascam if money is tight i thimk it's $299.00 new but ebay will probably have some older ones. if you don't like the new ones i know the newer ones got some type of digital upgrade or something(ewwww!!! the d word.) good luck from melonman. ANALOG TILL DEATH!!!!!!!!

[ssscientist]

Originally Posted by arjoll

there's one here that has been listed four times on trademe.co.nz.

Is the point that no one in NZ has the sense that God gave a goat?

[A Reel Person]

Originally Posted by ssscientist

You guys can have your 244's and 246's --- I'll stick with the 644.

It had DBX noise reduction, a very good sounding EQ section and midi sync. What more could you ask for in a cassette four track? I wore mine OUT!

Okay!... But, the 244/246 also have dbx and v-good sounding EQ! They're hard to wear out!

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

Okay!... But, the 244/246 also have dbx and v-good sounding EQ! They're hard to wear out!

Amen to that Brotha Dave!

~Daniel

[philboyd studge]

I've gotta go with the 144. It really changed things for me and a lot of others 25 years ago.

[DigitalSmigital]

sounds as good as my 424 mk III, with a few fine options in the mixer that the 424 doesn't have, plus insert plugs on ch 1 and 2.

The best has gotta be the one you have and use!

[noelyoung]

If you find a Tascam 424, don't miss it!

[DelPhenda]

Hi, I'm new here...but...many years ago I had a 244 and am about to buy a used 424 MK II. Does anyone know how these machines compare with one another?
Del

[ksounds]

Originally Posted by DelPhenda

Hi, I'm new here...but...many years ago I had a 244 and am about to buy a used 424 MK II. Does anyone know how these machines compare with one another?
Del

I used to have the 246 (comparable to the 244) and have the 424 mkII. The 424 mkII is, imho, a fine machine that is a little more feature laden than the 244. Soundwise, the 246 and 424 mkII are very close in fidelity, so much so that I can't hear a difference. They both sound AWESOME! The 424 mkII has an extra fx send, and also has a monitor option for tracking with fx w/o committing to tape (great for tracking vocals). I think you'll be very happy with the 424 mkII. Just keep those heads clean.

[DelPhenda]

KSounds

Thank you. That feels good to know. I'm going to be using it with my PC set up. As far as you know are there any other members with a similar setup?

Del

[ksounds]

I think there are a few guys floating around here who use portastudios as front ends to their DAWs, if that's what you mean. Personally, I mix down my cassette recordings to my computer and bump the levels up a little.

[DelPhenda]

Hi,

I bought a 488 MKII on Ebay for a song. It looks great and appears to function very well...except for one major problem: Track 1 does not produce any decent recording. All I get from Track 1, in the headphones upon playback, is a very crackly nasty version of my recording; totally unusable. The rest of the Tracks appear to function normally.

I am very satisfied with the Ebay seller as he was very clear that it was "sold as is" and was very open to communications via email. It was also a mere $180 including mail! It is still a brilliant piece of equipment but rather than an 8 Track, it is currently a 7 Track. Does anyone have a clue what might be wrong? Is this a common problem? Does anyone know of any Tascam repair techies in the Boston Massachusetts area?

Thanks a bunch...this homerecording.com has already been extremely useful to me. I hope that, one day, I will be able to reciprocate.

Del Phenda

[MCI2424]

The Best Ever Tascam 4-Track?


The 40-4 was the best TASCAM 4 track. I had one and it lasted all of 8 weeks until I got my 80-8. But, it was a great 8 weeks (back in 1979)

[famous beagle]

Originally Posted by MCI2424

The Best Ever Tascam 4-Track?


The 40-4 was the best TASCAM 4 track. I had one and it lasted all of 8 weeks until I got my 80-8. But, it was a great 8 weeks (back in 1979)

The OP was asking about cassette 4-tracks. The 40-4 is a R2R isn't it?

[MCI2424]

Originally Posted by famous beagle

The OP was asking about cassette 4-tracks. The 40-4 is a R2R isn't it?

Yup, but all 4 track cassette decks sound pretty thin, at least the ones I have heard.

[pehjott]

tried cleaning? my 1st track also sounded muddy and strange last week...after cleaning it's perfect asgain

Originally Posted by DelPhenda

Hi,

I bought a 488 MKII on Ebay for a song. It looks great and appears to function very well...except for one major problem: Track 1 does not produce any decent recording. All I get from Track 1, in the headphones upon playback, is a very crackly nasty version of my recording; totally unusable. The rest of the Tracks appear to function normally.

I am very satisfied with the Ebay seller as he was very clear that it was "sold as is" and was very open to communications via email. It was also a mere $180 including mail! It is still a brilliant piece of equipment but rather than an 8 Track, it is currently a 7 Track. Does anyone have a clue what might be wrong? Is this a common problem? Does anyone know of any Tascam repair techies in the Boston Massachusetts area?

Thanks a bunch...this homerecording.com has already been extremely useful to me. I hope that, one day, I will be able to reciprocate.

Del Phenda

[DelPhenda]

Thank you for responding Pehjot,

I have cleaned the heads many times and inspected them as well. They appear to be perfectly clean and free of scratches, dents, wear and misalignments.

Since posting my question, I have spoken with an excellent Tascam engineer (at Aztech Electronics, Inc., Watertown, Massachusetts), who talked me through the obvious possible problems, as mentioned above.

I have now left the machine in his workshop. He says that if the problem is with the heads then the machine is not worth fixing, as the heads cost several hundred dollars to replace.

Do you or anyone know where I can get "refurbished" heads? Just in case. It might be good if we could find refurbished parts anyway, for anyone's problematic machines.

Del