Tascam Porta 07 Any Good?

[AfxTwn]

Hi everyone, I have seen a Porta 07 available for £50 (I am in the UK) and wondered if it's any good? I already have a M-06 mixer and thought I might pair it up with the 07. I also want something I can transfer my old cassette albums to my computer to make digital copies. There is another thread on here back in 2011 where someone had an issue with playback speed being too fast, is that a problem?

I just thought this might be a good alternative to getting a mico hi-fi for playing my old cassettes and would have the added benefit of being a Portastudio for when I fancy recording to tape.

Thanks for any help.

 

[A Reel Person]

Porta 07.....

It's okay, but it wasn't/isn't top of the line.

One of your main questions is about the speed. It's a double speed recorder, which gives higher fidelity, but it's not compatible with single speed recordings from another Porta or home stereo/commercial cassettes. This is why someone else might have posted about it playing "too fast". That's a feature, not a problem, but be aware of this compatiblility issue.

It has 4 mixer channels, fixed hi/low EQ, dbx NR, pitch control, zero-stop and LED meters. 2 of the input channels have mic preamps, and the other 2 are unamplified, straight line inputs,... all 4 inputs on 1/4" jacks. It records to cassette tape up to 2-tracks simultaneously, max.

You may take your old double-speed/dbx Portastudio 4-track tapes and mix them down to stereo (& output to the computer in stereo, if you wish), but it does not have 4 tape (track) out jacks. It will not output 4 discrete tracks simultaneously, if that was your intent, (a 4x4 dub to DAW/computer interface). Your outputs will always be mixed to stereo, to the outside world.

Sound quality should be acceptably good. If you want something that's relatively nice and can double as a home stereo deck, I might suggest a 424mkII or the 424mkIII. If you can find a 246, it's a real sweet setup. 464 would work. Probably some others I'm not mentioning, but you want one that records at High and Low speed/switchable and dbx On/Off (switchable).

Verify if your tapes are single or double speed & dbx,... & if they're single (normal) speed source tapes, you'd be alright with a Porta One, Porta Two and some others.

What 4-track did you record your legacy tapes on? It makes a difference. Fostex (DolbyB) tapes will not be 100% compatible with Tascam (dbx) tapes. If they have no NR at all, your choices change again. A Porta 02mkII is Normal speed & has no NR, but higher models mostly have dbx on/off switches, which is a handy feature.

Sorry for a long response to a simple question. All 4-trackers are not created the same. The more features you have, the more flexibility you'll get.

Please see this page for a long series of Porta 07 photos.
Pictures and images Tascam Porta 07 - Audiofanzine

 

[AfxTwn]

Thanks very much for all the detailed information. Now I know what the speed issues are then I think I need to look at something else as you suggested. I don't have any 4-track legacy tapes, just pre-recorded single-speed albums that I have bought in shops. My initial idea was to have a Portastudio instead of one of those small Walkman-style cassette-to-USB/MP3 players. Just so I can listen to my old tapes (not recorded by me, just albums bought a while ago) and then convert them to MP3's. As I also make music, I thought it would also have the added benefit of being able to make recordings direct to tape.

I think I will look for a 424 or 246 instead.

 

[A Reel Person]

Okay,...

Tascam 424mkii/mkIII, 246, 464 will get you there in style. Great units. Lots of features. Excellent sound & flexibility. Cost more money.

A Porta 02mkII might be a good choice,... single speed, no NR, small footprint, simple to operate, could double as a home deck & record 4 track tapes, 2-tracks simultaneously, for when the feeling strikes you, but it's more of a scratchpad machine (no NR or EQ) than a serious production machine. With that being said, it doesn't preclude you from making acceptably good sounding tapes. Porta 02mkII would be roughly the same price or less than the 07 you're looking at.

Decide up front if you want many features on a serious production machine, or a casual use scratch track machine. They break out in price, accordingly.

Good luck & maybe post back with what you decide to get.

 

[TheTJW]

Porta 05 to Porta 07

Hi, was doing a search and found this thread and basically I did some recording back in the 80's with a Porta 05, which I've since got rid of. I've seen some ads on ebay for Porta 07's, do you know if a recording on a Porta 05 will play back successfully on a Porta 07?

Thanks.

It's okay, but it wasn't/isn't top of the line.

One of your main questions is about the speed. It's a double speed recorder, which gives higher fidelity, but it's not compatible with single speed recordings from another Porta or home stereo/commercial cassettes. This is why someone else might have posted about it playing "too fast". That's a feature, not a problem, but be aware of this compatiblility issue.

It has 4 mixer channels, fixed hi/low EQ, dbx NR, pitch control, zero-stop and LED meters. 2 of the input channels have mic preamps, and the other 2 are unamplified, straight line inputs,... all 4 inputs on 1/4" jacks. It records to cassette tape up to 2-tracks simultaneously, max.

You may take your old double-speed/dbx Portastudio 4-track tapes and mix them down to stereo (& output to the computer in stereo, if you wish), but it does not have 4 tape (track) out jacks. It will not output 4 discrete tracks simultaneously, if that was your intent, (a 4x4 dub to DAW/computer interface). Your outputs will always be mixed to stereo, to the outside world.

Sound quality should be acceptably good. If you want something that's relatively nice and can double as a home stereo deck, I might suggest a 424mkII or the 424mkIII. If you can find a 246, it's a real sweet setup. 464 would work. Probably some others I'm not mentioning, but you want one that records at High and Low speed/switchable and dbx On/Off (switchable).

Verify if your tapes are single or double speed & dbx,... & if they're single (normal) speed source tapes, you'd be alright with a Porta One, Porta Two and some others.

What 4-track did you record your legacy tapes on? It makes a difference. Fostex (DolbyB) tapes will not be 100% compatible with Tascam (dbx) tapes. If they have no NR at all, your choices change again. A Porta 02mkII is Normal speed & has no NR, but higher models mostly have dbx on/off switches, which is a handy feature.

Sorry for a long response to a simple question. All 4-trackers are not created the same. The more features you have, the more flexibility you'll get.

Please see this page for a long series of Porta 07 photos.
Pictures and images Tascam Porta 07 - Audiofanzine