Help! Tascam 246 - Loud buzzing from headphones

Trovador98

Trovador98

New member
Hi all!

I've been lurking for a few weeks here and this is my first post. I'm Brian 39 from Los Angeles, biochemist and amateur musician for most of my life. I'm primarily a guitarist and have a somewhat ridiculous collection of about 15 lefty guitars.

So I had been doing some research as to the best 4 track cassette recorder to listen back to my old master tapes from my youth and maybe try recording to tape again. Based on my research I settled on the Tascam 246 and found a very clean looking machine on a Minneapolis craigslist page. Very nice fellow insured me that everything was working well...he recently put in new belts, tires, pinch roller...etc. It even came with a custom flight case. Well, last night I took delivery of it and I was amazed at how well it was packed.

Plugged it in and verified that it moves tape smoothly without issue. Popped in the headphones and was disturbed to hear very loud buzzing humming that made the tapes almost unlistenable! I tried both headphone jacks and a couple of different headphones. The noise is there even when the tape is not running. Noise goes away when I turn down the headphone monitor pot.

Please help! Any ideas, suggestions, recommendations??

Thank you
Brian
 
Maybe a dirty headphone jack???
You could try swabbing it out with some deoxit. Even though I have a feeling
that's not the problem, it's worth a try.
 
Dirty jacks I don't think explain this kind of buzz/hum. Sounds like radio house, 60 cycle or grounding issue. I'm starting to think it's from dirty power. I don't have a power conditioner but have a Furman guitar pedal board that I think filters power that I can try plugging it into to see if that helps.
 
Try a few different power outlets in your house to see if you get a change or improvement. If you do you're on the right track and should be able to find a solution. It could also be something the unit is in close proximity to.......such as a fluorescent lamp or the like.
 
Hi Mickster! I will certainly try when I get home. Your response made me realize that I just installed those powerline internet adaptors that use the electric cabling in the house as a direct internet link. Man...that makes a lot of sense that there'd be a lot of noise in the powerlines! I'll let you guys know what I learn.

Mickster said:
Try a few different power outlets in your house to see if you get a change or improvement. If you do you're on the right track and should be able to find a solution. It could also be something the unit is in close proximity to.......such as a fluorescent lamp or the like.
Click to expand...
 
Welcome, and bummer about your hum issue!

I think arcaxis has an excellent suggestion. Check if the hum is present in other outputs. I'll have a look at the block diagram as well. If the hum can be controlled by the monitor level control it is downstream from that. That helps to narrow where the problem is. If it was a problem with RF interference or dirty power the problem would be global to the unit, not just in the headphones.

You likely have a failed signal ground or other component in the headphone amp. Check if the hum is in any other outputs and if you can control the level of the hum with any of the controls.
 
Thanks Arcaxis and Sweetbeats for your suggestions. I got my hands on a Tascam 464 tonight which worked perfectly fine with my tapes while my 264 continued the heavy buzz with and without being plugged into my Furman pedal board. It seems that dirty power is not the issue.

Buzz is there regardless of tape running. The only pot that dials the noise down is the orange pot in the phone section. Noise is there with any of the phone section buttons are depressed (pgm, monitor, effect 1, effect 2). The various pots in the monitor section don't affect it.

Would you believe I don't even have a stereo system or amp to try out your suggestion. I do have powered monitor speakers someplace. Suppose I need RCA to speaker 1/4" jack for those. Guitar center mañana.

Good suggestions!!

PS - man I looked through the service manual link you sent and got a pretty intimidated by the prospect of opening this baby up and poking around. Do you guys know of any good techs in the LA area for this stuff?

B
 
Trovador98 said:
Thanks Arcaxis and Sweetbeats for your suggestions. I got my hands on a Tascam 464 tonight which worked perfectly fine with my tapes while my 264 continued the heavy buzz with and without being plugged into my Furman pedal board. It seems that dirty power is not the issue.

Buzz is there regardless of tape running. The only pot that dials the noise down is the orange pot in the phone section. Noise is there with any of the phone section buttons are depressed (pgm, monitor, effect 1, effect 2). The various pots in the monitor section don't affect it.

Would you believe I don't even have a stereo system or amp to try out your suggestion. I do have powered monitor speakers someplace. Suppose I need RCA to speaker 1/4" jack for those. Guitar center mañana.

Good suggestions!!

PS - man I looked through the service manual link you sent and got a pretty intimidated by the prospect of opening this baby up and poking around. Do you guys know of any good techs in the LA area for this stuff?

B
Click to expand...

Give teac/tascam a call. They're in Montebello, CA and could likely offer you a list of qualified shops in your area or do the repair themselves.

(323) 477-1331



Cheers! :)
 
The Ghost of FM...love your handle.

Great idea...didn't even consider the fact that Teac/Tascam was still doing service on this old stuff, nor did I realize they were local.

Found a fellow here in Culver City that is highly regarded on yelp (Ned from E Joseph Incorporated). Quick call left me feeling very confident that he can fix it. He also recommended that I check the monitor out section just to make sure the buzz is only in the phones section.

Here are a few pictures from last night.
Tascam%20264%20and%20464_zps40cee8mb.jpg

Tascam%20264%20Furman_zpsrnm6edhg.jpg
 
The Ghost of FM...love your handle.

Great idea...didn't even consider the fact that Teac/Tascam was still doing service on this old stuff, nor did I realize they were local.

Found a fellow here in Culver City that is highly regarded on yelp (Ned from E Joseph Incorporated). Quick call left me feeling very confident that he can fix it. He also recommended that I check the monitor out section just to make sure the buzz is only in the phones section.

Here are a few pictures from last night.
Tascam%20264%20and%20464_zps40cee8mb.jpg

Tascam%20264%20Furman_zpsrnm6edhg.jpg
 
Ok guys - good news!
Monitor out and program out sections are clean and sound great through my monitors. That hideous buzz is isolated to the headphone section. I'm taking it Monday to a repair guy who asked me to do this same test. Any guesses as to what it might be? Could it have occurred during shipping or did the previous owner have the same problem. Guy no longer replies to my emails which makes me think so.
 
Yes. Step 1 is to put an oscilloscope on the power rail arcaxis mentions and look for AC components. If the rail is clean then I suspect it is a failed signal ground or there is a failed component in amp section that is shorted.

Power rail first. Then if that checks out then you take the scope and start at the headphone jack...dial in that nasty hum so you can see it on the display and keep moving upstream in the signal path until you don't see the hum anymore. The point at which you don't see the hum anymore on the scope is your failure point.

If it is a power supply problem I'm actually thinking it's not the filter cap C024...the power shouldn't be that dirty coming out of the bridge rectifier. I'd be looking at the bridge if the rail is dirty, but would also replace that filter cap if the bridge is bad...its 30+ years old now.
 
This stuff is a bit over my head excellent information none-the-less. I dropped the unit off at an electronics repair shop that looks like it's straight out of the 1950's and left your comments with the fellow in case he finds it helpful. Stay tuned!
B
 
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The seller of the Tascam 246 finally got back to me saying that everything was working perfectly a week before he packed it up and sent. He said he put $300 insurance on the shipment with fedex. How does it work if it costs me $65 to fix a problem that occurred during shipment? Is there any recourse?

I was thinking about how you guys suspect a dried out capacitor. Could that occur from shipping in freezing conditions?
 
Ok so we have some resolution here. My tech said that there was a "floating ground" in the headphone section. He doesn't see how that could happen during shipment, but doesn't want to rule it out. I'm not sure exactly what that means...loose wire or weak connection? Cost me a total of $120 :( There was $300 insurance placed on the Fedex shipment...wonder if I can recover any of that.

The guy also gave it a good once-over...cleaned and lubed the faders and pots. Said the belts and pinch roller was fine. Seller told me those were recently replaced.

Anyhow...thanks so much for the feedback. I'll probably be picking it up tomorrow and will tested it out.

Sorry to hear about Ghost of FM as he seemed cool and had good suggestions. Hope he makes it back...Spirit of AM?

Glad to have found this place!
Brian
 
Trovador98 said:
Ok so we have some resolution here. My tech said that there was a "floating ground" in the headphone section. He doesn't see how that could happen during shipment, but doesn't want to rule it out. I'm not sure exactly what that means...loose wire or weak connection? Cost me a total of $120 :( There was $300 insurance placed on the Fedex shipment...wonder if I can recover any of that.

The guy also gave it a good once-over...cleaned and lubed the faders and pots. Said the belts and pinch roller was fine. Seller told me those were recently replaced.

Anyhow...thanks so much for the feedback. I'll probably be picking it up tomorrow and will tested it out.

Sorry to hear about Ghost of FM as he seemed cool and had good suggestions. Hope he makes it back...Spirit of AM?

Glad to have found this place!
Brian
Click to expand...

Enjoy your 246. I have one also. Very nice machine.
 
Trovador98 said:
Cool - Do you have any tracks online that you've recorded with it?

Here's me on youtube into my little Zoom Q3 recorder that has a built in camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jNwLBlMiP0
Click to expand...

None yet. I just have snippets of song ideas on the 246. I have been spending a lot of time with my 388.
I will sooner or later start some 4 track recordings and post them.

Now for your song...WOW! really nice playing and that resonator sounds really sweet. Im pretty sure that would sound really nice recorded on your 246. Once you get used to the machine and find all the sweet spots with the levels, im pretty sure the resonator will come off the tape nicely.
 
j.harv said:
None yet. I just have snippets of song ideas on the 246. I have been spending a lot of time with my 388.
I will sooner or later start some 4 track recordings and post them.
Click to expand...

As a teenager I had a Porta 07 and I have no idea where it disappeared to. I recently found dozens of master tapes at my parent's house which put me on the search of a good 4 track to hear them again. Some investigation pointed me to a 246 and I found one on the Minneapolis craigslist in a flight case and the guy was willing to ship to Los Angeles. Coincidentally I picked up a very clean 388 a few months ago and have only done some testing on it as I'm trying to set up my garage to function as a decent studio space. A friend of mine made me some sweet black walnut side panels for it. Interesting that the 246 looks just like the little brother of the 388. I'll maybe start a new thread on it and post some pictures.

This morning I picked up the 246 from the repair guy and both headphone jacks now deliver pristine sound! Pots and faders are all cleaned and super smooth. It looks pretty minty and I'm excited to put it to good use!

Now for your song...WOW! really nice playing and that resonator sounds really sweet. Im pretty sure that would sound really nice recorded on your 246. Once you get used to the machine and find all the sweet spots with the levels, im pretty sure the resonator will come off the tape nicely.
Click to expand...

Thanks dude, appreciate it! :thumbs up:
Admittedly I'm much more of a guitar geek that a recording geek. That is a National Resophonic "El Trovador" model...hence my username. I have something like 13 guitars with a few ukes, 2 charangos from Argentina and a cheapo Ibanez bass. Being a lefty player, I have a strong compulsion to buy something unique and cool out of fear that I'll never find another one. My treasure is an 81 Les Paul Custom in the Silverburst finish...likely the only lefty ever made from the original 78-83 run. It's heavy (~13lbs) but man I love it.

Silverburst_front.jpg
 
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