TASCAM 234 plays at normal speed (?!)

I

IronWine

Member
hola
My tascam 234 i got on ebay finally arrived today.

Im a bit confused about it after testing it..iv'e got a few tapes i have recorded on my akai mg614 (on double speed). And as far as i know the 234 runs on double speed only.. it seems that the tascam plays it on regular speed :confused: .some cassette albums ive got it plays fine..which is clearly not suppose to.

The same exact tapes ive recorded, were tested a few weeks ago on a friend's 234..and it played just fine.

i can say from my humble experience that it looks like a good, refurbished to some degree unit (after seeing 4 different tascam 234 units and not buying them because of poor condition) and the speed issue, as far as i can say, is not due worn parts (worn belts, anyway). also it runs smoothly at accurate normal speed.

what makes me come to the conclusion that this dude i got it from on Ebay, or a previous owner, deliberatley 'moded' this unit to run at normal speed.

the question is wether re-changing the speed to it's original 3-3/4 rate, requires any 'critical' work or change of parts, or is it comes down to some internal pots?


cheers
 
It depends on whether or not the machine was recalibrated with the mod as far as what needs to be tweaked. I believe the speed change is accomplished via a solder link on the capstan servo board or maybe on the little pitch control knob PCB. Have you contacted the Seller?
 
sweetbeats said:
It depends on whether or not the machine was recalibrated with the mod as far as what needs to be tweaked. I believe the speed change is accomplished via a solder link on the capstan servo board or maybe on the little pitch control knob PCB. Have you contacted the Seller?
Click to expand...

well, mistery solved, i got the 234L model. zero info on that sub-model tho

do you think a mod to run it at double speed is possible?
worth the hassle?

cheers
 

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Wow...interesting. If I get a chance I'll see if I can identify anything from the bits I still have left from my parts 234, or from the technical documents.

I never knew there was a 234L.

Interesting!
 
from a german blog:

"This is the low-speed version of the 234 syncaset. It has been designed to meet the need in various fields for equipment having extended tape playing time. The only difference between this model and the 234 syncaset is that the 234L's basic tape speed is 4.8 cm/sec. (1-7/8 ips), while the 234 operates at the standard speed of 9.5 cm/sec. (3-3/4 ips). All other functions and controls are identical to that of the 234 syncaset.

I've checked the specifications and there are just a few (expected) differences in signal to noise ratio and overall frequency response. Of course the 234 scores higher marks there. I would have dreaded expected that the equalization would be different but both models operate at fixed 3180 µS + 70 µS"

tubegeek.de - Tascam 234L syncaset
 
I think the differences in circuitry to control the tape speed will be on the pitch control knob PCB. I only have a schematic for the high speed version of the 234. In order for me to help you will need to remove your pitch control knob and it's little PCB and take good pictures of both sides of the PCB...unless anybody knows the definitive answers to this?

I suspect to find a difference in (a) resistor values(s), and or a resistor's placement in the circuit on the pitch control PCB, but I need to see what's in your 234L in order to compare to the standard 234 pitch control PCB schematic.
 
Hello there! I know this is a super old thread, but I wonder: was it actually possible to change the speed?

(I just bought a 234L myself and had sort of the the same situation where I wasn't told it was the 'L' version, and I actually have a bunch of 4-track tapes that were recorded at the higher speed.)

I hope someone can tell me! Also: would there be significant quality loss if I digitize those high speed recorded tapes using the 234L and then speed them back up digitally?
 
Changing the speed isn’t a simple matter…you have to identify what component or components set the speed. But it’s more than that…I don’t have any tech docs for the rare low-speed model…the trick is that when there are speed changes there are also EQ curve changes, so it’s not usually just a matter of finding what components control the transport speed, it’s making EQ tweaks. And since a lot of cassette multitrack machines don’t have adjustable record or playback EQ trimmers it would come down to changing component values to compensate. If you reproduce tapes recorded at 3 3/4ips with dbx and engaged I’m not sure, but you might also have tracking errors if you reproduce at 1 7/8ips. When you halve the speed the response curve shifts down an octave. That’s not a huge deal typically on most open-reel machines operating at a faster transport speed with better HF response, but on a cassette-based machine with its more limited HF response, you’re probably going to hear that when you reproduce at half the speed…like it might not be so apparent when listening at 1 7/8ips, but when you dump that to the DAW and double speed back up it might be apparent. And then there’s the potential dbx tracking errors.

The easiest thing to do is *try it*. There’s no harm it just running a test and trying it, and it might sound just fine.
 
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