Old tascam 4 track tapes to digital file ? please help!

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Jrmyers28

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I have a dozen or so old tapes from my college band days recorded on a tascam 4 track workstation (not sure of model #). The workstation no longer exists but the tapes still do, these obviously don't play in a regular tape player since the 4 track records at a faster speed, etc.

We only recorded 1 track (mic on the floor in the music room.. picking up all amped instruments, drums, etc) so i don't have multiple track issues to worry about. I simply want to get these into a digital sound file the easiest and cheapest possible way so that it can play back at normal speeds and I can cherish all the greatness I thought we were making back then once again.

I have seen tape -> mp3 via USB decks, these are inexpensive but not sure how to control the playback speed. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help would be most appreciative!!!

Thanks!
 
I'd never heard of a USB tape deck before, but if it's something like this:

Amazon.com: Ion Tape2PC USB Cassette Deck: Electronics

Then it doesn't look as though it would feature high speed. When you say you recorded at a faster speed, I'm assuming you mean double speed. That's what most mid-grade and up 4-tracks will do in addition to normal speed.

If that's the case, then I think your cheapest method would be to get a used 4-track deck that features high-speed. This could be any number of Tascam units like the 414 (any model: original, MK II, MK III), 424 (any model), 464, etc. The Porta 07 also used high-speed.

Some people are asking for some pretty silly prices on ebay right now, but if you check the completed listings, you'll see that many are selling for around $60-$80.

There are also some dual stereo decks that have high speed, but that may only be used for high-speed dubbing on that deck. The ability for a stereo tape deck to play back at high speed isn't a common thing and was normally only included in higher-end decks like the Tascam 133. However, these usually go for more than the 4-tracks when they're in good working condition.

You can probably find a better deal on Craigslist for the 4-tracks. I'm not sure why, but they seem to go cheaper on there than on ebay.
 
Regardless of whether the USB deck has high speed, it most likely only plays back regular 2-tracks-per-side cassettes and not single-sided 4-track tapes made in a portastudio. You will definitely need a similar Tascam porta for this.
 
diggy_dude said:
Regardless of whether the USB deck has high speed, it most likely only plays back regular 2-tracks-per-side cassettes and not single-sided 4-track tapes made in a portastudio. You will definitely need a similar Tascam porta for this.
Click to expand...

Actually, that's not the case here. The OP specifically stated that he only recorded on one track. So ... as long as that was track 1 or track 2, he would be able to play it back on a stereo deck that had high speed. If he recorded on track 3 or 4, however, he wouldn't, because then it would play backwards in a stereo deck.
 
If he's digitizing them anyway, he could try changing the sample rate afterwards.
 
jpmorris said:
If he's digitizing them anyway, he could try changing the sample rate afterwards.
Click to expand...

We're talking about a 100 percent ratio here, though. They were recorded at (I'm assuming) 3 3/4 ips, so if he plays it back on a standard deck, it will literally be half the speed it needs to be. I can't say for sure, because I've never actually tried it, but I can't imagine that digitally doubling the speed of something would yield the same results.
 
famous beagle said:
We're talking about a 100 percent ratio here, though. They were recorded at (I'm assuming) 3 3/4 ips, so if he plays it back on a standard deck, it will literally be half the speed it needs to be. I can't say for sure, because I've never actually tried it, but I can't imagine that digitally doubling the speed of something would yield the same results.
Click to expand...

It is very likely that the EQ curve will be wrong by doing it that way, yes...
 
I found a tape to MP3 via USB converter and currently am trying it out.. so far I am running into some software problems .. it came with a program called Audacity. It seems to work, but has tripped up when I record the whole tape into a file. it does have the ability to change the speed of the playback, so when I increased it by 100%, it seems to playback normal. The audio quality is not that great though and the program has shut down on me numerous times now. Thanks for the help, i will look on ebay or craigslist for some of the old tasacam units.

Thanks!
Rusty
 
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