I remember seeing the Amstrad
in Comet years ago in the UK always wondered if they where any good
I think the 246 is best for it's 6-channel, 4-buss, 2-band sweepable EQ, vintage button/switch/large VU meter configuration. With very few serious shortcomings, it is the fullest package feature-wise. It also has excellent fidelity on tape & is pin-drop quiet.Voted 246 for having the best fader-feel in its mixer section...but the 464 is right there.
Most of the larger units are winners I'd be interested in owning/using.
Ahhh the Porta 05…I have only one experience with the Porta 05, and while I wouldn’t ever buy one for myself (mainly because for cassette multitrack I have a 244), the Porta 05 sits in a special spot for me. Over a quarter century ago I enjoyed a number of spontaneous jam sessions in the basement with guitarist and bassist friends of mine at the bassist’s house…amazing musicians. It was all improvised, instrumental, grunge/surf/jazz and other flavors, and shortly after we started jamming the first time we grabbed whatever was in the room to record the session, which was a Porta 05, some used normal bias cassettes, and a single Unidyne 57 hanging from the ceiling by the mic cable on a nail. It wasn’t a big basement…like big bedroom sized, low ceiling, egg cartons and moving blankets on the walls. But all the sessions have this particular ratty ambiance to them that the room didn’t even have. And I can hear some kind of ducking compression or something…it’s weird. But I love these tapes, and I’m pretty sure the kind of ratty greasy sound, but still with a decent amount of fidelity to it, has something to do with, in part, the Porta 05. It’s like there is some kind of reverb. But there was none. Anyway, I remember for sure it was a Porta 05 because they have a distinctive appearance. Here’s a sample of one of the sessions:I voted for the porta 05. I learned on a 414mkii and replaced it with a 424mkiii and these days most of my cassette recording is on a Yamaha mt8x (fantastic machine and I don’t even use the built in mixer) and a fostex M80 and an Otari 4 track. Somewhere around the time I bought the 424 I found the 05 in box with manual mostly mint for sale from a fundraiser auction. MAN it sure isn’t as high fidelity as the 424 but I LOVE it’s preamps and how well it took virtually all signals on those first two channels. Bass direct in on it is a lofi dream. Sketchy DI guitar works. And it handles line level signals well. Great for drums or samples in beatmaking. It’s just REALLY grimey but with good technique you can still get as decent of a 1 7/8 mix off of it as any other mini studio I think. Lots of guys love the porta one and two which appears to be a better deck with more features and tape outs which I’d agree I’d appreciate, still I have always loved just stepping away from the mackie mixer and my other machines and monitors and just putting on headphones and working out stuff on that little machine. It takes me back to when I was a 13 year old kid learning on my 414. I don’t abuse it because I love it. Apparently they made a high speed porta 05 as well and some months back I saw a bunch of basically B stock ones for sale. I should grab more! It’s as bare and raw as it gets excluding 2 fader designs like fostex x15 or the smaller porta 03. It isn’t quiet it isn’t always clear sounding but it is really funky and mushy and colorful in a beautiful way I think only the 144 with its low speed and Dolby B might also be but I haven’t been able to try one. Anyways thanks for listening to my love letter to this grimey deck.
Just listened to a little bit, but it sounded as good as any of those bootleg Grateful Dead concert tapes floating around in the 70sAhhh the Porta 05…I have only one experience with the Porta 05, and while I wouldn’t ever buy one for myself (mainly because for cassette multitrack I have a 244), the Porta 05 sits in a special spot for me. Over a quarter century ago I enjoyed a number of spontaneous jam sessions in the basement with guitarist and bassist friends of mine at the bassist’s house…amazing musicians. It was all improvised, instrumental, grunge/surf/jazz and other flavors, and shortly after we started jamming the first time we grabbed whatever was in the room to record the session, which was a Porta 05, some used normal bias cassettes, and a single Unidyne 57 hanging from the ceiling by the mic cable on a nail. It wasn’t a big basement…like big bedroom sized, low ceiling, egg cartons and moving blankets on the walls. But all the sessions have this particular ratty ambiance to them that the room didn’t even have. And I can hear some kind of ducking compression or something…it’s weird. But I love these tapes, and I’m pretty sure the kind of ratty greasy sound, but still with a decent amount of fidelity to it, has something to do with, in part, the Porta 05. It’s like there is some kind of reverb. But there was none. Anyway, I remember for sure it was a Porta 05 because they have a distinctive appearance. Here’s a sample of one of the sessions: