Noooooo!!!!!!!

[paperhatrecords]

I'm on the verge of tears. No, I don't care if that admission effeminates me. I have looked all over the non-eBay web and have learned that all analog multi-tracks seem to have been discontinued, including mainstays like the TASCAM 414 and even the crappier cassette Portastudios. I haven't shopped in a few years, and now I feel like I've lost a close friend. I've had three 414s and two 424s, and was looking to get a new 414. If I have to, I'll do eBay and hope to find something new; I've had bad luck with used recording equipment in the past.

Why on earth did they stop making it? Surely there are enough analogophiles out there to sustain at least one or two brands of multi-tracks? I can't seem to find any articles or press releases about the discontinuation. I have zero interest in buying a digital four-track - I'd rather just use my computer - and I only bought analog four-tracks because I like the natural sound. The imperfections of analog are what make so many albums in the past classics. Notice how overproduced modern crap doesn't have any soul anymore. Nothing feels classic because everything is digital shite (not that digital is always bad, but we are stuck either having everything be auditorily perfect with good production and/or sounding horrible with bad production, where analog allowed for imperfections by filling the sound with a great amount of warmth/depth). I think, like the death of Polaroids, this is a tragedy.

Thanks for letting me rant...now, does anyone know of any new analog multitracks still being made that I maybe missed? Or is the art completely dead?

 

[famous beagle]

I think I read somewhere that Tascam is producing 34s (reel to reel) again or something like that, but they're over $5,000.

Unfortunately, it's all used for us analog-heads.

There are plenty of kids around now that have never even held a cassette (and never will), and it won't be long before the same thing will be said about CDs. (To CDs, though, I say good riddance! Although it sucks that society is going from the already crappy sound of CDs to the even crappier sound of mp3s!)

 

[famous beagle]

However, don't fret. You can get plenty of good-as-new stuff on Ebay/Craigslist, and you'll save money too! I scored a mint 414 for $60.

 

[cjacek]

Unfortunately, even the 34B's are now discontinued, made for a short run until a couple of years back.

Nothing worthy being produced currently, with the notable exception of the $5000 2 track machine from Otari.

Yeah, as famous beagle said that deals abound on the used market but do be careful and don't buy something unless you know exactly what you're buying. Above all else, buy local, where you can actually view and pickup the gear. Forget buying sight-unseen and shipping.

414 / 424 machines can still be had new on eBay / craigslist and some come in original packaging.

--

 

[frilyd]

I heartily agree with Paperhatrecords here. It's very hard to understand why nobody cares to make analogue multitrack gear anymore. For me personally though, I probably wouldn't afford to buy new gear anyway... I've always been on the secondhand market, and although I have had the pleasure of using several kinds of analogue multitracks, cassette or reel, I have never actually bought a new recorder.

So maybe it's all my fault they're not making them anymore. Sorry.

 

[analog aaron]

Keep the faith....

Everything comes back around. I believe that one day, years from now, if it takes that long, more and more people will be coming back around to the reels and cassettes. As time passes new musicians will want to find that "vintage" sound. Though I myself and many of us on here have already lived through the 70's,80's and 90's (when tape was just about the only way to record your own music at home) and known how great tape is.....Kids will start to think that it's "cool" again to use cassette and reel based recorders. But I think that's great. Cassette and Reel based recorders will be more desirable! Get it now while you can, and keep it up and running! It's kinda like an old muscle car. Think about how many people in the late sixties thought nothing of the production of the muscle cars from that era. At the time, a lot of folk thought it was "just another car". Nowadays, You can't even touch some of the more desirable muscle cars even as a fixer upper in the worst possible way for at least few grand if not more. And we're talkin' cars that need a complete restoration in every way. Except for us analogers of today, society is in a lull with most people thinking computer based recording is the wave of the future, but one day, high bias cassette tapes and reel tapes WILL be in production again, and much more readily available. Many, many people WILL revert back to these formats. Keep the faith!

 

[cjacek]

I completely agree with AA. It's a question of when rather than if .... and if the last several years or so is an indicator, then it makes it even more probable.