TASCAM Portastudio 424 mkiii playing backwards

wkthomas

New member
Hi all,

I just bought a Tascam Portastudio 424 mkiii in very good condition and recorded my band playing through a few songs to test it out.

My problem is that when I play back the tape, I can only hear the songs in reverse. It plays backwards out of Tracks 3/4, which I guess means it's playing the opposite side of the tape.

I would think that the solution is to use Tracks 1/2 since that should play the correct side of the tape, but those tracks are silent.

I haven't cleaned the machine yet, so that may be a contributing factor here. But can anyone tell me what the problem may be? This is my first time posting here, and while I didn't see any other threads addressing this topic, please redirect me to a relevant thread if one already exists.

Looking forward to talking with you all more in the future!
 
Have you noticed whether the cassette's take-up reel is collecting the tape as it plays? If not, the tape may be feeding out and folding back on itself. Possibly a bad or broken belt..?
 
The record process winds the tape in only one direction, it should not be technically possible to record while reversing the tape. Which means you MUST be playing the tape backwards and if you recorded to tracks 1/2 but only hear back on 3/4 it means that the tape has been flipped over, possibly by someone messing with you. The only other thing I could think of is if there was already something printed on the b side of your tape and you haven't recorded anything on the a side.
 
No. I think it's acting as it should.
Did you mix down to a regular deck?
I think you are playing the multi-track recording in a conventional cassette player?
In a normal tape deck the heads read half the tape. Left or right half. One side plays one way and the other plays the other way.
A multi-track tape recorder uses the entire width of the tape and the created tape can only be played in one direction and in a conventional cassette player you will only hear 2 tracks and maybe backwards.
The tape that you record onto in the Tascam is not meant to be played in standard cassette players.
For that you must mix down to a standard tape deck.
And you can't flip the tape over and record onto the "other side" in the Tascam machine. It will put track 4 on track 1 in reverse. Track 3 on track 2 in reverse etc...
Of course it's a cool way to do a backward guitar solo. Everybody catches on to that eventually.

Here's a manual. See page 23 about mix down.

http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/ELECTRONICS/AV/Porta424mkIII_manual.pdf
 
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You know I never thought that the OP might be playing back the tape on a regular player, just because I would know that it would play one side backward. Just goes to show what happens when we make assumptions from our position of "experience".:rolleyes:
 
You know I never thought that the OP might be playing back the tape on a regular player, just because I would know that it would play one side backward. Just goes to show what happens when we make assumptions from our position of "experience".:rolleyes:

I can't guarantee it but based on what he is describing I assume he's doing the recording and then taking the tape out and putting it into his cassette player without mixing down.
These things make me feel old.
Like when they went out on the street and showed people one of these and none could identify it.

200px-45rpmadapter.jpg
 
You know what they say; when the youngens start harassing you about bein old just hit 'em with your cane. In my case, I remember when those adapters arrived-we thought it was cheating to not have to remove the one that came with your turntable to play LPs. But I still bought one with every new single so I guess I was pretty lazy!
 
I can't guarantee it but based on what he is describing I assume he's doing the recording and then taking the tape out and putting it into his cassette player without mixing down.
These things make me feel old.
Like when they went out on the street and showed people one of these and none could identify it.

This is the big "S" on Superman's uniform. Right..?

Y8WYRJp.jpg
 
Thanks for all the responses! I'm not quite naive enough to play the tape I recorded on with a normal cassette deck. However, I think what I've been doing wrong is equally stupid... I haven't had time this week to get over to my practice space and see if I'm right, but I will report back on whether or not what I have in mind fixes the problem.
 
You know what they say; when the youngens start harassing you about bein old just hit 'em with your cane. In my case, I remember when those adapters arrived-we thought it was cheating to not have to remove the one that came with your turntable to play LPs. But I still bought one with every new single so I guess I was pretty lazy!

You can get away with a lot more when you get older that's for sure.
 
Many times it is hard to determine what he is dealing with without actually trying the deck out. Then again if it came from E bay anyone could have been in the unit and moved connectors around maybe. It is good to assume user error in many cases as if the person knew what we do then he would not have to post the question. I have worked on these decks and I have never come across a problem like this but I would advise him to do tests on a blank tape or a bulk erased tape before assuming the deck is not working right.
I did notice on some Porta Studio decks that the track one is not always at the top of the tape like it used to be with 244 and those. Anyway have we heard back from him?
 
Has anyone heard from the original poster?

I have the same unit and the same problem.

I haven’t used this unit in 20 years. I put in an old recording tape that I used in the machine and it played backwards. When I hit the fast forward, it rewinds. And vice versa.
 
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