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    Recalibrating Cassette Format Portastudios to use Type I Normal Bias Tapes

    I've just seen the Tascam 246 service manual and it find it interesting that it uses 35 microsecond equalisation at 3.75 ips and 70 microseconds at 1 and 7/8 ips. Both for type II tape. I'm pretty sure the 244 uses 70 microsecond eq. I'm still amazed how great my 244 sounds re-biased for type...
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    Not sure about pinch roller Tascam 244

    Thanks for the great advice - I've just replaced the roller and it is sounding fantastic again! Hard to credit that it could have such an effect. Got to make the most of that sparkling Type 1!
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    Not sure about pinch roller Tascam 244

    I've started to notice some wow and flutter with one of my Tascam 244 decks - the most recent one which I modified for Type 1. The frequency response is still outstanding, but I'm noticing w&f at the sort of level you get with a standard cassette deck, which spoils acoustic guitar recordings...
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    Backwards recording

    Thanks jp. I'm 99.9% sure he didn't have a second deck - is there anyway you can get a backwards effect just by twisting the tape? I can't work either how the tracks would play back on a 4-track stereo deck after a tape flip. Has anyone tried this?
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    Backwards recording

    I've been inspired to try backwards guitar recording again after talking with Level Anything. It is easy enough to set up (but difficult to get it to sound good!) using a portastudio - just flipping the cassette over - but I'm wondering how this was done in the old days with reel to reel. My...
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    Recalibrating Cassette Format Portastudios to use Type I Normal Bias Tapes

    Glad you do the same with some of your recordings! I don't think track width should have any effect on the high end (maybe someone could correct me on this?). Amazingly With the UR type 1 on the 244 I'm getting over 3db extra output compared to type II up to 16kHz so noise shouldn't be a...
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    Recalibrating Cassette Format Portastudios to use Type I Normal Bias Tapes

    Just to add that I've clocked up quite a bit of use now using a 244 with Type 1 (Maxell UR C90) and not had a single dropout. I wonder if anyone with Tascam cassette 8 tracks has thought of re-biasing? I guess in the USA Type II is easier to get hold of than here in the UK. But I've heard quite...
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    Punch In / Out times for MS-16

    Just wanted to say that I found this thread very interesting. I was thinking only a few days ago how one of the (many) great things about recording on tape is the ability to punch in and out. I've never found a satisfactory way of doing this when using a DAW. My digital pocketstudio has a...
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    Erase head question

    Thanks Sweetbeats. I'll try to measure up those values next time I open up. Not that it helps much, but I remember working on a late 70's JVC cassette deck a few months back and noting how rudimentary the pause control seemed - there didn't seem to be any electrical switching just a mechanical...
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    Erase head question

    Thanks guys. I'm still intrigued by how much power is used for erasing!
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    Erase head question

    Is the current to the erase head cut in pause mode in most decks? Otherwise there would surely be tape damage?
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    Erase head question

    Thanks jp. I'd never thought about erase heads getting "hot" before but maybe they do....
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    Erase head question

    I was a bit surprised a while ago looking at the erase head of my Tascam 244 - it seems the track layout is staggered and not in-line. I wondered why this is? I remember seeing that bias currents for some erase heads can be as high as 70 mA and working voltages as high as 20V or so. This would...
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    Recalibrating Cassette Format Portastudios to use Type I Normal Bias Tapes

    Thanks for the tip - I'll have to try that! It sounds like just the sound I've been after. I did find that the max speed extended the high freq response with type I a little - by about 2-3 dB beyond 16kHz, making it as good as the very best type II. Interestingly, no benefit using max speed...
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    Recalibrating Cassette Format Portastudios to use Type I Normal Bias Tapes

    A few more thoughts on using the 244 at high speed with the pitch control on max. I've been working this week on a song using a Type I cassette and max speed and been getting great results - terrific freq response and no dropouts. But a small problem has arisen, as alluded to maybe by...
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    Remixing of classic tracks

    Thanks for the interest and these great replies. I'm a bit torn too - I appreciate the original mix is almost sacrosanct - great to hear that some cds have been remixed from the originals - but I'm sure the final mix could be improved in lots of other re-releases by a bit of tweaking of the...
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    Remixing of classic tracks

    Forgive me again if this has been covered before but I'm still confused about CD re-issues claiming to me "remastered". With the possible exception of the latest Beatles release, none of them seem to be remixed from the original multitrack master tapes. Having got hold of some of the "multitrack...
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    Lost Tapes

    Sure - will let you know when it is released. There is going to be a double cd issue around Christmas of the first 2 albums (recorded on a Tandberg 3000x in the early 70s) with this song and others as extras, then a heavyweight vinyl LP in the new year with this song and a others from other old...
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    Lost Tapes

    Blimey JP - this is one of my favourite recordings of all time! I've just sent you a message about it. I love the new turn this thread is taking. Just wanted to add that just after I'd found the tape of that new song of my brother's I digitised it and sent it to a record producer who mailed...
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    Recalibrating Cassette Format Portastudios to use Type I Normal Bias Tapes

    Thanks Bobreel. Have you had a chance to use the Type IIs on a 244? It seems they are using Aurex tape - I wonder if anyone knows much about this? I'm interested in buying some to try for my type II biased 244s but so happy at the moment with the re-biased Type I machine that I'm going to stick...
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