got two questions about portastudio 414

[iwannabedrake]

hi!!

so i bought a tascam portastudio 414 while i was drunk and need some help now lol.

i've tried to use it with some type2 cassettes that a friend of mine gave to me, the music on them sounded highpitched and i couldn't figure out what to do.

so, what type of cassettes should i buy? i've been looking at Maxell UR-90, do they work?

and, is it possible to erase the music on a tape with the portastudio to record something new over?

regards <3

 

[Mack Caster]

Tape Type. The Portastudio 414 MKII is internally adjusted for HIGH BIAS Type II tape. This means that for best results, you should only use tapes of this type. TDK SA, Maxell XL-II or equivalent formulations are recommended. We strongly suggest that you selectone good quality brand and use it exclusively.

You can find the manual here. I recommend you download it and read it a few times to get all the features down as you have a great piece of hardware. Save the brewskies till after the session, than go wild! Have fun.

 

[Mack Caster]

i've tried to use it with some type2 cassettes that a friend of mine gave to me, the music on them sounded highpitched and i couldn't figure out what to do.

From your manual.

DEGAUSSING (DEMAGNETIZING)
A little stray magnetism can become quite a big
nuisance in tape recording. It only takes a small
amount (0.2 Gauss) to cause trouble on the record
head. Playing 10 cassettes will put about that much
charge on the heads. A little more than that (0.7
Gauss) will start to erase high frequency signals on
previously recorded tapes. You can see that it's worth
taking the trouble to degauss regularly.
A clean and properly demagnetized tape recorder
will maintain its performance without any other
attention for quite a while. It won't ruin previously
recorded material, nor will getting it back to original
specifications be difficult.

 

[A Reel Person]

414

The Tascam 414 is a double speed recorder. Any "standard" cassette recordings (commercial cassettes or tapes recorded on a normal stereo cassette deck) will play back twice as fast as normal on the 414.

The correct test would be to start with a blank cassette, record something on the 414, then play it back. Track pitch and speed should be normal.

UR-90 is a Type 1, normal bias cassette, and is not the correct type for the 414. Try Maxell XLII's, TDK SA's, plus some others I can't remember off hand. There are NAC high bias cassettes on Amazon. (USA)

Do an internet search. There is still some high bias cassette media available out there, somewhere.