Problem with Tascam 424

[theknife]

I was looking for some help with a problem I am having with the Tascam portastudio424. I have recorded acoustic guitar(TRK 1) acoustic bass(TRK 2) and lead vocals on (TRK 3) with no problem...I have all the setting the same...this is what it looks like....
All the Trim is at the respected levels
All TRK inputs are set at mic/line
EQ at respected levels
effects at 0
TRK 1 pan L
TRK 2 pan R
TRK 3 pan L
TRK 4 pan R
when recording TRK4 levels for TRK 1-3 are at 0 TRK 4 is at level 7 and so is the master level slider.
Line 5-6 Trim 0
Line 7-8 Trim 0 and both of those are assigned L-R
TRK 1-3 is in safe mode and TRK 4 is set at RIGHT for recording
Meter is set to TRK
DBX is on
Tape speed is Norm
zero return is off
memory is off

So now tha I've laid out the setting for you. Here is my problem....I hit play to listen to the other three tracks....when it gets to the part for the background vocals i hit record and do the vocals then hit play to stop the recording. hit stop, rewind, do the same thing to over write what I've done but instead it just adds another layer to the track recorded. what am I doing wrong...the input is in track 4 coming from a PA.....that hasn't been a problem on TRK 1-3....what could be different with TRK 4.

[pitchfork]

hmm, not sure what you're describing. what do you mean by "another layer"? You redo the vocals and you just get more vocals: it doesn't erase the previous take? weird. Here are a couple of things to try:
1) try a different input. You can use any of the four inputs and assign it to any track.
2) try bouncing one of the other tracks to track four and see what happens then.

It sounds like the erase head does not work on track four, which means you would need an entire new erase head, or you just deal with not being able to erase on tr4. A good take on another track could be put there before anything else is, then just don't change it. You could also use it to your advantage in various ways!

BTW...the high speed mode will sound better...

good luck

[DALtune]

Do you need the TRK swithches to be at mic/line on 1-3 when you're not recording on them?

[pitchfork]

yeah, otherwise you will bounce them to the track(s) you assign (#4 in this case)

[lazyboy]

Have you tried switching the track 4 selector to direct mode with pan in the center? Theoretically, I don't see what difference this would make, but that's usually how I do it. Though this doesn't sound like it will solve the problem.

I've had some problems with track 4 farting out myself, but it always starts working again just before I go nuts, who knows? If the erase head is out of position, you should be able to tell by either a sort of erase bleed between tracks (like rerecording track 1 will cause sound deterioration on track2) or the erase function will get progressively worse from 1-4. That sounds like a job for a pro, just what you want to hear right?

There are ways of working around the problem, but, shit, don't we already have enough limitations with these things? Good luck! and let us know if it miraculously starts working. -lzb

[theknife]

thanx for the help...I have tried to set it to direct and the pan in the center...that doesn't help. The Ideas I had for correcting this problem is to take the three tracks I have and dumping them down to my computer as wav files and recording the 4 track on track one them dump it down and mix it all down on the PC....or just mix those three tracks I have to a tape....them move um back to track one and record the vocals on track two....that might lose some sound quality but it might work.