four track question

[Nalencer]

Ummm, quite a few of them are dead??

Pink FLoyd in Particular was a very "State of the art" band. Its pretty inaccurate to compare these guys and a technology that didnt exist then.

To the original poster:

There are digital units like Boss and Fostex to be had for cheap. They work like 4track cassettes yet record digitally. They would be worth checking out.

I wasn't trying to make any of them seem less than state-of-the-art. All I'm saying is that all these guys created some of the best music of the 20th century, and analog was good enough for all of them to do it on. So the idea that some shitty metal band "wouldn't be caught dead using it" pissed me off more than little.

 

[casualtyfigure]

Suggestion

Since your going on a budget....(im in the same boat.)

I bought a Fostex X-14 used, for around $40.
A four track cassette. It lasted over a year.
It had surprisingly good quality recordings.
(as long as you watched how loud you were recording)
It was SO easy to use.
They have newer models out now.
$40 for over a years worth of recordings.
well worth the cash.

You could always export the recordings
Into the audio input on your PC.
Alot of people love the way that sounds.
(like me...lo-fi is much more interesting)
Especially with acoustic guitar.

Use a WAV editor to record and cut the wav's down
to their proper length.

Then you could burn cd's.
MP3 them, and start a myspace music page.


You could do almost anything you want with that set up.

You can buy new/newer 4 track...for about $99.

Im actually in the market for another analog cassette recorder.

good luck with your search.

 

[brendandwyer]

I'm a long-time musician, but just starting out in home recording. I'm looking to stay lo-fi, but want something I could make a playable demo on. I'd like to use a cassette-based recorder for budget purposes. What models do you recommend and what are the best aspects of them?

i started with a tascam 424 mksomething. It was great. It was a fantastic place to start.

I guess you could go digital and have all the bells and whistles, but aren't you starting out to try to get a good signal into a microphone, onto a medium so you can hear it back?

Keep it simple to start and add more complex gear when you find a use for it.

[edit- to be honest; i have a 32 track studio, some digital, some analog and i wish i still had the 424. It's a GREAT way to track ideas...plus flipping tapes over is COOL...]

 

[gummblefish]

I have a Fostex MR-8 which I have had for 3 years. Very easy to use and gives very respectable recordings.

They are a great unit, i really enjoyed having one. I now use mainly Cubase and plug ins and so forth but i recently got hold of a Fostex DMT8-vl which is a Hard disk recorder with an anologue board. You can only record 2 tracks at at time on this model but its great working with it. Its can be slightly confusing to operate at times because of the L/R recording system but all in all i love recording on stand alone units.