Advice on 1/4" 4 track machines!

H

hammerofhathor

New member
I've been recording on an old Teac 3340s 4 track machine, it has been nice, I like the old preamps on these TEacs.

I HATE not being able to monitor all the channels with one headphone jack, this has a setup where you can only monitor 1-3 or 2-4, a real pain when you want to go direct.

So I'm wondering, what would be a " step up" machine for me? I don't know much about the other 1/4" 4 tracks out there, I see ALOT of the 3340s, and some Tascam models.

I can say that I also have a Tascam 32 2-track deck and the pre's on this machine are very sterile compared to the older Teac pre's. I don't always go direct but its nice to have that option.

Any advice? I've got tax returns coming and it would be nice to invest in a good 4 track, I'm finishing up a project with the 3340 and I'd rather move on......

thanks!

mark in Portland
 
As far as I'm aware of, a Tascam 34 is probably going to be your best bet. I'm not sure what Fostex had in the way of 1/4" 4 tracks, but I would imagine parts for Fostex are a pain to come by.
 
What about a TEAC 3440? It's still 1/4" 4 track It looks similar to the 3340 but It's a more revised model with better sync functions and better sound. Although I think the 3340 sounds great. :)
 
also, imnsho, you can't step up from 3340S, you only can step away from it ;)
 
How about a simple 4x1 mixer, wired with two TRS input jacks and the output wired to both T and R of TRS output jack?. You could just run two TRS cables from the headphone outs in, set levels and monitor by (mono or stereo) headphones in mono.

The PAiA Craig Anderton kit (CA-17, IIRC) could be built up in that way pretty easily.

Cheers,

Otto
 
ofajen said:
How about a simple 4x1 mixer, wired with two TRS input jacks and the output wired to both T and R of TRS output jack?. You could just run two TRS cables from the headphone outs in, set levels and monitor by (mono or stereo) headphones in mono.
Click to expand...

Sorry, that wouldn't work with mono headphones, as they would tie the output to ground.

Cheers,

Otto
 
If you're not too fussy about the sound while monitoring, you could even do a passive 4x1 mixer with just a 100 ohm resistor on each input, if you don't mind adjusting the tape output controls a bit to get the levels tolerable. A box, three TRS jacks (two in, one out), four 100 ohm resistors and some hook up wire.

Cheers,

Otto
 
Headphones, teacs!

OH, the headphone situation!

I do have a mixer, a fine old Soundcraft 200.

It is in the shop being repaired.

Its really nice to monitor straight from the machine!

I even bought a Teac model 2 mixer off Ebay thinking it would be a good temporary solution until I got the Soundcraft back and guess what.......no headphone jack on the mixer! How annoying!

Do ya'll think the Teac 3340 and 4340 decks sound better than the Tascam 4 track decks? I mean the Tascams have some nice features like zero return but that isn't that hand of a feature if you factor in the not so nice sounding preamps.....

mark
 
ofajen said:
If you're not too fussy about the sound while monitoring, you could even do a passive 4x1 mixer with just a 100 ohm resistor on each input, if you don't mind adjusting the tape output controls a bit to get the levels tolerable. A box, three TRS jacks (two in, one out), four 100 ohm resistors and some hook up wire.

Cheers,

Otto
Click to expand...

I have one of these machines. I think I'll follow my own advice and build one these.

Cheers,

Otto
 
ofajen said:
If you're not too fussy about the sound while monitoring, you could even do a passive 4x1 mixer with just a 100 ohm resistor on each input, if you don't mind adjusting the tape output controls a bit to get the levels tolerable. A box, three TRS jacks (two in, one out), four 100 ohm resistors and some hook up wire.
Click to expand...

I built this up last night and it works fine. I had to scrounge a bit to find three 3-conductor 1/4" jacks. I even happened upon a bunch of unused 82 ohm resistors. I wouldn't want to mix this way, but it's fine for monitoring when you put tracks down.

Cheers,

Otto
 
Are you a dit your self type?

hammerofhathor said:
I've been recording on an old Teac 3340s 4 track machine, it has been nice, I like the old preamps on these TEacs.

I HATE not being able to monitor all the channels with one headphone jack, this has a setup where you can only monitor 1-3 or 2-4, a real pain when you want to go direct.

So I'm wondering, what would be a " step up" machine for me? I don't know much about the other 1/4" 4 tracks out there, I see ALOT of the 3340s, and some Tascam models.

I can say that I also have a Tascam 32 2-track deck and the pre's on this machine are very sterile compared to the older Teac pre's. I don't always go direct but its nice to have that option.

Any advice? I've got tax returns coming and it would be nice to invest in a good 4 track, I'm finishing up a project with the 3340 and I'd rather move on......

thanks!

mark in Portland
Click to expand...

If so, Check out some books by Craig Anderton. Great basic stuff. When I first started I bought his "Home Recording For Musicians" book. It has good info on analog recording basics plus instructions and parts lists for building a 6 in X 4 out mixer with eq, effects sends and returns a 6 ch. que bus. I was a little apprehensive to try it but once I got in to it it went right along. being my first project i just took my time. I was delighted,not only with thhe accomplishment but with the doors it opened for me with my 3340-s. oh, youll need outboard effects or a spring reverb unit. Hope this helps!
 
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