Tascam Porastudio 414 (GREY)

A

AnalogDimitri

New member
I went by my local music shop and found a Tascam Portastudio 414 in grey. I didn't have the cash so I put it on hold, it's 130.
Is that a good price for one? I've never seen a grey one before.
Is it just as good as the 414 mkii?
Is there even a difference between the grey and blue one?

I'm just really curious about it. I have my Fostex R8 which I love working on so I'm really interested in this cassette 4 track business.
Also what kind of cassettes should I use?
 
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Tascam dipped the brush into a few colors on some their cassette Portastudios in the later years and also had blue and red models as well. There might even be some other colours too that I haven't seen yet! But beyond the colour, no actual mechanical or electrical differences. The price seems fair if its in proper working condition. If it needs new belts or idler cam drive rubber wheels replaced, then probably 50 is closer to the "market rates.

The 414 was a budget model to be sure as models such as the 424, 244 and 246 were the beefier/more respected units.

Those units used type II/cr02/high bias type cassettes...such as TDK SA, SAX or Maxell XLII, XLII-S.



Cheers! :)
 
The only difference (that I know of) between the 414 and the 414 mkii is that the mkii had two XLR inputs (but still no phantom power) and a Hi-z guitar input on the back.

Although the 414 was a bit skimpy on the EQ department (only high and low shelving), it was no slouch with two FX sends (with two stereo inputs for returns) and a separate 4x1 monitor mix. You have to work a little harder to get the sounds right going to tape (because you don't have much EQ possibly afterward), but it's definitely capable of some nice-sounding recordings.

Regarding the price, I was going to say that $130 sounded a bit high, even for one in perfect working order, but geez, a quick "sold items" search on eBay suggests that I'm wrong. I guess these things have experienced a spike in popularity over the past 5 years because lots of them are going for nearly $200. I remember buying a 424 mkiii (Tascam's top of the line 4 cassette track when they stopped production) about 5 years ago for around $120 in great condition. So it seems as though that price is pretty good after all. But yes, make sure it's fully functional and see if comes with any guarantee, like 30 days, etc. Some faults are hard to spot right away.

Good luck and have fun!
 
The workflow and decision making process of analog recording is a lot of fun. When we don't have as many options I find that we focus more on the artistic and creative aspects.
 
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