importing to computer with portastudio 414 - new to analog recording, NEED HELP!

[exactolife]

first off, i just want to specify that i have a portastudio 414, NOT a portastudio 414mkII. my portastudio does not have XLR mic inputs or an HiZ guitar input.

i am new to the world of analog recording -- i'm 14 years old and i love to make my own music, and i used to make it on the computer with a computer microphone, but i've always felt like analog recording is more authentic than digital recording. i love my portastudio to death, but i have absolutely no idea how to import songs from my cassette to my DAW. i use Acoustica Mixcraft 3 as my DAW.
the portastudio 414 has jacks reading:
-SUB IN (L and R)
-SYNC OUT
-LINE OUT (L and R)
-MON OUT (L and R)
-EFFECT SEND 1
-EFFECT SEND 2/TAPE CUE OUT
-STEREO INPUTS (5-6 and 7-8)

my problems are:
1. i don't know what kind of cable goes into the jacks SUB IN/SYNC OUT/LINE OUT/MON OUT. i tried putting a 1/8"-jack sized cable into them and it didn't fit. i do know, however, that 1/4"-jack sized cables go into EFFECT SEND 1, EFFECT SEND 2/TAPE CUE OUT, and STEREO INPUTS. does anybody know what kind of cable goes into SUB IN/SYNC OUT/LINE OUT/MON OUT?
2. i don't know which input i would use to connect to my computer soundcard's line in. LINE OUT is obviously an option, but with the L and R options, does that mean i could connect my soundcard's line in to L, and it would only import tracks 1 and 3? and if i connected to R, would it only import tracks 2 and 4?

in short, i need to know how to import from my TASCAM portastudio 414 to my computer's DAW. i am completely lost here. please help!

 

[famous beagle]

Hey there,

I too have a 414, and I just recently transferred a mix to my computer.

The LINE OUT and MON OUT jacks use RCA cables, like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector

I'm not sure what you have for inputs on your computer, so I can't tell you exactly.

If you have one 1/8" stereo mini jack on your computer, you'll need to get a cable with an RCA L and R end and an 1/8" end, like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Recoton-ACW33...2112749-9625237?ie=UTF8&qid=1249693227&sr=8-2

Or you can use a standard RCA cable and use an RCA-to-1/8" adapter (female RCA, male 1/8"), like this:

http://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Mini-Pl...FF7K/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1249693550&sr=8-6

If you have 1/4" L and R jacks on your computer sound card (like a guitar cable fits), then you just need a standard RCA cable and two RCA-1/4" adapters (female RCA, male 1/4"), like this:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Reco...W3WQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249693387&sr=8-1

Either way, you'll be running an RCA cable from your 414's LINE OUT jacks to get into your computer. Depending on your computer's input, you may or may not need one of the above adapters.

Hope that clears it up! Have fun.

 

[dodgeaspen]

Hey there,

I too have a 414, and I just recently transferred a mix to my computer.

The LINE OUT and MON OUT jacks use RCA cables, like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector

I'm not sure what you have for inputs on your computer, so I can't tell you exactly.

If you have one 1/8" stereo mini jack on your computer, you'll need to get a cable with an RCA L and R end and an 1/8" end, like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Recoton-ACW33...2112749-9625237?ie=UTF8&qid=1249693227&sr=8-2

Or you can use a standard RCA cable and use an RCA-to-1/8" adapter (female RCA, male 1/8"), like this:

http://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Mini-Pl...FF7K/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1249693550&sr=8-6

If you have 1/4" L and R jacks on your computer sound card (like a guitar cable fits), then you just need a standard RCA cable and two RCA-1/4" adapters (female RCA, male 1/4"), like this:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Reco...W3WQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249693387&sr=8-1

Either way, you'll be running an RCA cable from your 414's LINE OUT jacks to get into your computer. Depending on your computer's input, you may or may not need one of the above adapters.

Hope that clears it up! Have fun.

Sounds about right.

 

[exactolife]

i've figured it out. i have a nice Y cable that i'm going to use to import my songs tonight!
thanks for all the help!