Tascam 244 cassettes on a Fostek X28....will it play ok?

E

Evom

New member
I have found a Fostek X28 cassette multitrack in a Bangkok used shop. Wonder is this old Fostek any good, worth buying? It's condition is unknown but told working. Around $100.

I plan to take a cassette recorded on a Tascam 244 to see if it will play, although worried that the Tascam DBX recording might cause playback issues plus will the tape speed be the same?

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The 244 was a 2X speed-3 3/4 ips machine.the X-28H was also a 2x machine.Fostex mostly used Dolby,but I don't know about that specific model. DBX encoded tapes will sound thin played back without decoding.The main problem maybe be head track spacing,since the Fostex and Tascam used different heads,so the tracks may not line up and you would have a weak signal or crosstalk.The only was to tell if it's acceptable is to try it.
 
Yeah thanks. Worth a try I guess! Trying to get my old 244 working properly has been a challenge so willing to try anything haha
 
Update.

Bought the Fostek and mostly all good. Plays old Tascam 244 cassettes fine and doesn't seem to have crosstalk problems. Some Thai written on the case seems to suggest it's 25 years old, 1991.

Correct about the playback and seems a bit too much treble however has good bass response and should be manageable and hope I can post eq it to some extent. I plan to buy a Zoom R24 and digitise the 4 tracks. Don't think it's Dolby system adds any benefit and will turn it off on the Fostek.

Originally, we used a Tascam MTS-30 midi syncroniser and laid a control track on track 4. I don't have that unit anymore. Is there anything that may be able to read it if digitised in the Zoom? It would be great to use that track to sync in additional tracks in the R24 or Mac software.

Anyway, just an update to those who might benefit. Hope to hear anyone's comments too :)
 
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