New update!
I did a tracking session with the "new" (used) 424mkIII. It came out alright. Nothing stellar, given I've not done or produced anything since last August.
The Line-Outs seemed to not give a signal or connection until I wiggled the RCA connector pair just right. It seems I'll need to crack the covers and touch up the solder joints on that connector.
The head-load function for Play/Record functions still seems a bit intermittent. It seems after a long rewind, the mech will not fully "reset" the mechanical part, probably related to that sticky clutch on the innards/underside of the cassette mech. Toggling the RW/FF buttons a couple times always gets it to "reset" properly, then it will engage and drive normally. This is a bit annoying, but not a show stopper.
I wonder if it's an issue that could be addressed by placing a small drop of tech grade lube oil on the clutch, while keeping it well away from the belts, heads or tape? I've never had to lube the gears in a cassette, tho' it looks like I'll try that some time soon. Does that seem like a good idea to any other technically inclined person on this board?
*Thinking about it more, I'm not sure if any part of that gear is well away from the belt enough to be putting lube. Should a small plastic clutch just toggle normally, or do they have a tiny dab of lithium grease in there? I'll have to look in there very closely. I'm looking for a fix that's not a serious teardown of the cassette mech. In the meantime, I'll continue to use it and hope that it loosens up. This malfunction makes it nearly impossible for loop/repeat play. More on that, TBD.* Anyway, it's an annoyance & not a show stopper. A 3rd thing just occurred to me, maybe it's the belt slipping and not the clutch sticking? I think belt replacement is worthy of trying before spot lubing the clutch. Blech. Another teardown! I'll just fiddle with the buttons until this repair officially kicks off.
I've hacked recording of last night, tho' I'm not sure if it's too rough to post. I may retrack the guitar or slap drums on first. I did some experimenting trying to "master" directly to my DP02cf. Originally, I wanted to record directly to the Master track, but it seemed I had to record to the "multi" track section first. Once doing that, I ran several times "out of disk space" (card space) while mastering, so I had to "delete" the entire song a few times over to get it right. The card already had 3 fully produced demos and master tracks on it, but I managed to get one more.
I was stumped last night, but am thinking today,... I think the trick to mastering to the DP02cf (master-track) directly would be to "Set-In" and "Set-Out" points that are the length of the song in question, or a bit longer, even though these are just time markers and there's no data in the tracks. then just record directly thru the Input-A/B of the DP02cf in Mastering mode. I think this technique should work, so it'll be the first thing I'll try next time. Maybe soon.
The DP02cf issues are a bit of an aside, but I've noticed I can make a more dynamic "master" track on the DP02cf that's better than recording thru my crappy onboard soundcard.
The DP02cf used as mixdown machine here was purely an experimental effort last night.
Looks like the usd 424mkIII is less than perfect, but it is viable enough to call a success, given that I have a few touch-up maintenance concerns to address at some future time/TBD, maybe soon.
It was good just to get stuff out and record! Gonna work on my stuff and stay on a roll!
Thanx!
