4 track recording deck?

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The 424mkII may need to be demagnetized.

To erase a tape you put a track in record mode and turn off all inputs.

:spank::eek:;)
 
A Reel Person said:
The 424mkII may need to be demagnetized.

To erase a tape you put a track in record mode and turn off all inputs.

:spank::eek:;)
Click to expand...

Thanks. Am looking for a head demagnetiser then :)

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Just picked up one of those cassette-shaped ones - fingers & toes crossed! :listeningmusic:
 
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A Reel Person said:
The 424mkII may need to be demagnetized.
Click to expand...

Okay, could only find one demagnetiser, a cassette 'Track Mate' head cleaner with 'field dischage chip'. I also picked up some BASF Chrome Extra II tapes. I recorded a mic at normal speed on the 1 track although I routed the mic through an analogue mixer to get optimal levels on the Tascam. Sounded OK for volume on the Sony

The result was good, there was some 'hiss' but not that bad. The Dolby was on, I turned it off & could truly hear hiss. Not perfect (yet :D) but good enough so far.

Way to go though. I always record vocal in mono for a digital mix - the vocal came out centre on the Tascam playback but left on the Sony deck. I guess if I'd mixed down on the Tascam the vocal would be left, right or centre - wherever I wanted it?

Can you multi-track at normal speed?

So far pretty good - I had no idea cassette technology got this good. I stopped using cassettes in 1980, you never saw anything like this Tascam on the high street back in those days :-o

;)

Ric
 
"Finer points"...

If you use a front end mixer to get optimal levels to the Tascam, that's entirely up to you, but the Tascam should be able to dial up optimal levels from it's normal inputs without an external mixer.

You may multitrack at "Normal" (low) speed, but the only advantage you get is increased run time, while simultaneously diminishing the top frequency response. It's a trade off and okay, but best fidelity is achieved at the High speed.

You may also track on the Tascam to the tape at "normal" speed and pop the tape into an external standard stereo cassette deck, with considerations, but it's not the best way to leverage the Portastudio technology. With Normal speed and Dbx "Off" you may record to the Tascam in standard stereo format, but it won't be the best use of the format or yeld the best results. It's doable and everything bears out a little experimentation until you figure out exactly what you want.

I think you may be missing a finer point of the Portastudio. In general, it's not intended for you to record tracks on a Portastudio and just *pop* the tape into a normal stereo playback deck, (Sony or other). It's expected to get hiss at that level of playback, because the Tascam records with dbx and the Sony decodes with Dolby, which is a total mismatch that won't address the hiss issue properly. You cannot make a valid judgment of sound quality under these conditions. Regarding hiss, pan or anything in between, all bets are off. What you heard in your experimentation is normal, under the circumstances.

What's intended is that you track to 4-tracks on the Tascam, and once your tracks are filled you play back on the Tascam while mixing to stereo on the built-in mixer, applying EQ, Effects, etc., at this stage. Once the mix is manifested on the Tascam, plug the Tascam's Line Outs in stereo to the inputs of your external (Sony or other) recorder and dub your mix in it's entirety from the Tascam to another tape at a normal speed, track format & NR for standard stereo playback in a standard consumer deck, car deck, boom box, etc. The Tascam is meant to record and playback with dbx NR "On" at all times, (most optimally at High speed) and as such will reduce hiss capably as well as boost overall dynamic range,... i.e., it will just sound better & you'll be closer to getting optimal results from the Portastudio format with forethought and proper use.

However, in one way or another these points are covered in the User's Manual.

:spank::eek:;)
 
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Addendum:...

If you want to record in standard stereo format on the Tascam, use Normal speed, dbx "Off", and record to Tracks 1/2 in a stereo pair, while routing all inputs to the Master Stereo Buss in L/R format. Record those tracks to the end of the tape, then flip the tape over and record the other direction on Tracks 1/2 in a stereo pair. The tape you end up with will be playable on a standard stereo deck, car deck, boom box, etc.

A full 4-track multitrack tape will not play back properly on a standard stereo deck. Tracks 1/2 will be the L/R channels, hard panned, and Tracks 3/4 will play backward when you flip the tape over on the standard stereo deck.

You may also utilize EQ & Effects while inputting the source sounds and recording it to the tape tracks on the Tascam, not exclusively while in the playback or mixdown phase.

:spank::eek:;)

---------- Update ----------

You will need a demagnetizing wand or tool, as I've heard those cassette-shell type of demags are dubious at best and worthless at worst.

:spank::eek:;)
 
A Reel Person said:
...dub your mix in it's entirety from the Tascam to another tape at a normal speed
Click to expand...

Thanks, you mean the mix at high speed to the Sony at normal speed? Boy-o-boy, I'm going to have to come up with (at least) 4 tracks for each song to do this baby justice! :D

---------- Update ----------

A Reel Person said:
You will need a demagnetizing wand or tool, as I've heard those cassette-shell type of demags are dubious at best and worthless at worst.
Click to expand...

Guess it's over to the Bay for a wand?
 
Thanks :)

Okay, thanks -

Cleaned the heads anyway - & have a 'wand' coming over the pond - have several new Type II C60s to play with too. So far so good :)

Have laid down one track - fast speed - acoustic guitar rhythm, Track 1, left pan.

Track 1 reset to 'safe' now.

What's next please? Track 2. It will be a vocal track.

............................................................

What about 'send' (effects)?

Do I loop a reverb stomp box into the aux sockets?

Will that add reverb to the on-board mixer?

Quite like to add some reverb ;)

Ric
 
...

You could use the same or different input channel, panned Center or Right (for track 2), and enable track 2 to record,... & record the 2nd track of accompaniment while listening to Track 1 on the Tape Cue into the Monitor. Record track 3 & 4 similarly (Pan left for 3, right for 4), while listening to the previous tracks thru the Tape Cue section of the monitor.

Technically, tracks 1 & 3 record from the Left side of the stereo buss, and 2 & 4 record from the right, so you can pan hard left or right in practice as you record the subsequent tracks, or alt. leave the pan control in the center position. You can get away with center pan of inputs-to-tracks if you're recording a single track at a time, but for recording multiple tracks simultaneously from the built-in mixer, you will most likely want to differentiate L & R panning for the inputs. When recording the track in Direct Mode, the L/R pan control has no effect on the recorded track.

In Buss Mode, whatever's panned to L or R goes to the L or R tracks, respectively, but in Direct Mode, whatever is in the Numbered Input goes to the similarly Numbered Track, respectively.

You may use a stomp box in an effects loop from/to the 424mkII mixer, as long as you are judicious with levels & not causing any distortion in the loop. A stomp box level is guitar level & not running the exact level of the -10dbV line level used by the mixer, but most of the time you can compensate with the knob settings to get a satisfactory result.

:spank::eek:;)
 
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Thanks Dave,

Yes, went over the manual again last night, I now see what the left / right pan thing is all about ... & strictly speaking according to what you have written, this is only to help the user during a simultaneous multi-track session, and doesn't necessarily help when recording one-track-at-a-time. So I can layer my individual tracks using mid pan and it won't affect the project?

Need to make sure I have the cue thing sorted before I layer track 2.

Can I record four audios to the four tracks then add reverb (or whatever effect) afterwards please? That way I can evaluate the clean tracks before I enhance them.

Exported my track to a digital mix software by connecting left and right (white & red) RCA plugs to the Monitor Out with a stereo jack 1/4" plug on the other end, to a computer interface. That worked really well. I didn't use the (black) sockets at the back of the Tascam because they are not left/right ... they seem to relate to the individual tracks ... ?

Should have used the L/R Line Outs of course, next to the L/R Monitor Outs, so I wouldn't have used those black sockets at the back after all.

What about the DBX? The manual shows it in the 'off' position. I should have thought it would be switched on though?

Thanks again,

Ric
 
...

If you pan a channel either hard L or hard R, that side of the buss gets about 2dB more signal than when pan is set to center, but otherwise it's the same signal to both L & R sides of the buss.

If you're recording a single track at a time, you may leave the input channel panned center as opposed to panning L/R for each track. Functionally it's the same, and it may help alleviate some confusion or little mistakes while tracking.

If you record a stereo pair of tracks simultaneously, then pan would be a more critical factor.

If you record 3 or 4 tracks simultaneously, you may want to switch to Direct Mode recording as opposed to Buss mode, which has it's own use method and caveats, but Pan is not a factor.

The Tape Cue section, while switched in, is a 4x1 mono feed from each tape track to the monitor, that bypasses and is separate from the L/R (Main) Stereo Buss. It's used to listen back to previous tape tracks while overdubbing new tracks, while it keeps the previously recorded tracks separate from live input sound sources, which is what you want.

You may record your tracks dry and add effects afterward thru the effects send/receive loops while mixing down.

For onboard mixing, you'd use the L/R Stereo Line Outputs. The numbered RCA output jacks are for the individual tape tracks, (Tape Out).

Dbx is the noise reduction system & it's meant to be "On" during recording as well as playback. Some people turn off the dbx because they claim it puts an excessive damper on the sound, but they will get more hiss in the turnaround. Dbx is meant to be as transparent as possible, and although nothing's perfect I think any large amount of dampening of the sound dbx causes may be related to a calibration problem. Dbx is generally very effective in reducing tape hiss & boosting overall dynamic range while remaining fairly transparent.
 
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Look for something from Tascam, Fostex or Yamaha. If it is from almost ay other manufaturer, it's just a standard cassette deck.
 
Vocals: vocals on the Tascam are giving me a bit of a hard time. Having to get right up to the popper which still causes booms & clicks here and there. Am using a dynamic mic, wondering if a condenser would improve things please?

Thanks to all.
 
...

Maybe try raising the gain moderately higher with the Trim control & back up to about 12-14" or so from the mic, then sing with a bit more vocal projection. This will help minimize plosives and somewhat smooth out the sound you get with very close proximity. *(proximity effect)

:spank::eek:;)
 
A Reel Person said:
Maybe try raising the gain moderately higher with the Trim control & back up to about 12-14" or so from the mic, then sing with a bit more vocal projection. This will help minimize plosives and somewhat smooth out the sound you get with very close proximity. *(proximity effect)
Click to expand...

Thanks. It's early days yet & I am making mistakes. Had been feeding the mic into the 1/4" jacks (adapter), it's now going into the xlr sockets. Upping the Trim I am now standing back from the mic, better result :)

The manual says you can use any xlr socket for any track but I don't find that works, I match the socket to the track number.

The dynamic mic clearly seems to pick up acoustic guitar very well. Even with the trim up the vocals are only so-so, I need to pull the acoustic track right back to get the vocals out front in the mix.

Also notice that unless you pan the tracks L / R you get 'bleed' from one track to another. This really phased me yesterday when I was trying to isolate tracks. I find now that if I Left the acoustic and Right the vocals I get two entirely separate tracks which I can then mix afterwards.

If I have both vocal and guitar track at 7 the vocals are swamped - and they are both recorded on the same mic with the Trim slightly up for the vocals. Am also having to pan Track 1 - the acoustic - 1/2 to the left in the mix, or the vocals start to thin out again.

The metering doesn't seem to accurately reflect the recorded sound - the meter says I am basically clipping along but the playback is quite medium volume. Am slightly worried about mixing the final result out, how can I ensure an optimal volume at the other end - on the cassette I will be exporting to?

Will be using a Type I cassette in the Sony cos that's the type this deck takes.
 
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