I am having problems making copies from my tascam four track

[shingnissue]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and would really appreciate any help or guidance someone can offer.

I own a tascam portastudio 424 and have used it quite a bit for the last few years. I have never made direct tape copies since it uses the type 2 bias tape. typically I make cds (using the phones output) and sometimes dub cd to cassette. this is very tiring after a while, especially when you know there has to be a better way. a couple of days ago I had another four track in my possession and this four track uses regular type 1 cassette tape. I ran the phones out into this new four track and made a tape out of it, recording on both sides (it is a split recording with a friend). I then took the finished tape and put it into a telex 1 to 3 duplicator (an older one). when it finished (seems that it it fully functional and my friend has made tapes on it.) the copy tapes had nothing but a little bit of extra hiss on them. I took my master cassette and listened to it on a regular stereo and it played perfectly on both sides. my questions are: do you have experience making tapes and have suggestions? should i use a certain type of tape when copying songs from a tape used in a four track? why are tape duplicators still expensive?! : ) thanks!

 

[DigitalSmigital]

The tape outs will give you a clean signal recordable on any device. Why use the the phone Jack? Follow the manufacturer's directions.

I find it wonderful that people are still using the 424mkII

 

[shingnissue]

it is my favorite recording device! I like it much more than other four tracks I've used. it is very noisy and over time has begun to decide which speed to playback. it is never drastic with the speed changes and anything I record on it sounds just slightly warbled. all qualities I welcome! It is actually not an mk ii but the first one (gray colored). there are a couple of reasons why I usually use the phones out. the biggest reason is I like the sound much more than when mixdown and bounce on the four track itself (makes the tracks very muddy when I do it this way). the phones cues are very nice for mixing each track and I rarely need more than four tracks. If I was to send everything out from the tape outs I would be unable to control the level of each track, right?

a recordable signal was actually not the problem. the problem I believe lies with the tape duplicator. I was uncertain if it was proper to duplicate a tape straight out of the four track or if I would have to record it to a tape deck first. sorry for confusing you and I appreciate the advice. someday I should probably start actually bouncing the tracks to one track