Need advice on buying first multitrack..

[Cobra67]

I'm buying my first multitrack recorder. Our band has played in clubs over the years. We would record in our basement but we just plugged the ol' boombox in and centered it in the room and hit RECORD. But anywho, I'm getting ready to buy my first multitrack. I'm new to it but I do know that I'd prefer 4-simulatenous play. I was looking at the Tascam 414mk II. I think that the Porta 02 doesn't have what I'm looking for. OK I'm TOTALLY inexperienced with recording. Also how would I record my music from a Tascam 414 to a computer? Like with Cakewalk Home Studio 7 (I think that's the cheap one). If anyone could help me with this step-by-step ( I AM a beginner in every sense of the word), it would be appreciated. Thanks ahead of time to whoever replies.

[monty]

You want advice on buying your first multitrack? Get in your car and drive as fast and as far as you can away from anything related to recording. If you don't you will end up like all of us at this website. Prisoners caught in the web of hype and gear related deception, trying hopelessly to free ourselves and our families from this bottomless pit of tape and digital manure. Please, oh please, I beg you, don't make the same mistake we have all succumbed to. Life is good...Live it..Run fast, grasshoppah....

Seriously, check out the many informative articles and bits of info on the homepage.

[DaveO]

I've had a 414 for a little over a year and it's a great unit for the price. You can simultaneously record all 4 tracks, it records at double speed, has built-in dbx, 2 sends per channel, plus the MK II has 2 XLR inputs which mine (the original) doesn't. Do you have other gear to go with the 4-track, like mics, a mixer, preamps, mic stands, mixdown deck or CD writer, etc.? If not you'll need to think about those and more. Monty is right. This home studio thing is a bigger money pit than my house.

I recently bought a PC and am using that now, when I can pry my son off of it. To transfer from the 414 to the PC I just connected the line outs of the 414 to the line in of the PC. Voila, one stereo track or two mono tracks. I don't know anything about Cakewalk, but I use N-Track. It's a REALLY inexpensive package, but I think it's a great bang-for-buck buy.

One question. If you're eventually recording on the PC why not just eliminate the 4-track? You could spend that money on a good recording soundcard for the PC and record there. Do you need portability so you can record live shows or will you just use it in a studio environment?

[T.J.Hooker]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by monty:
[B]You want advice on buying your first multitrack? Get in your car and drive as fast and as far as you can away from anything related to recording. If you don't you will end up like all of us at this website. Prisoners caught in the web of hype and gear related deception, trying hopelessly to free ourselves and our families from this bottomless pit of tape and digital manure. Please, oh please, I beg you, don't make the same mistake we have all succumbed to. Life is good...Live it..Run fast, grasshoppah....

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DaveO:
Monty is right. This home studio thing is a bigger money pit than my house.


HEY! JUST 'CAUSE YOU GUYS ARE SENIORS DOESN"T MEAN YOU CAN GO SCARIN' EVERYBODY!
Even though it's all true! Play the lottery COBRA if you can afford it. you'll need it.

[C. Lewis]

Instead of the 414, I'd look at a 424MKII or III. There are enough gear junkies around who upgrade out of fear to leave quite a few of these machine around for $180-$250 used. IMHO it's a better machine, and the money you save can go into the more important parts of the signal chain: microphones.

[Hot Rocks]

I agree with C.Lewis, You can find a 424MKII on ebay for around 275.00 to 325.00. That would be a great deck for you guys. I had one and used it to tape gigs.Nice and simple,some mics,cords, and the 424MKII.You can get some surprisingly great sounding tapes from it.4 XLR ins,nice mixer,and as Monty pointed out,This recording thing is a sickness,People are always upgradeing and always schucking great gear at a fraction of what they paid for it.I would get it if I were you,You can sell it on ebay later

[T.J.Hooker]

When I was using my cassette Multitrack. I always had real good luck with TypeII High Biased tapes. Anything else was just noise & mud. Just some advice that worked good for me.
Goodluck Man! T.J.

[Cobra67]

OK, thanks to all who replied. I'm still mulling over getting into recording. Thanks again!