tascam 244

  • Thread starter Thread starter brettf
  • Start date Start date
B

brettf

New member
Whats the most you would pay for a good condition 244, recently serviced?
 
$100 to $125 for a minty one.

Many of them sell for $50 or less when they need a belt and cam drive change.

Cheers! :)
 
So sad...30lbs of pure portable analog goodness for a penance, but I agree with you, Ghost. I say $150~$200 for a VGC to minty 246.
 
The Ghost of FM said:
$100 to $125 for a minty one.

Many of them sell for $50 or less when they need a belt and cam drive change.

Cheers! :)
Click to expand...

I have one (along with original instruction manual) that needs work to be functional, that I'd love to sell, but it would probably cost more to ship than it's worth. Can't bear to just throw it out, though.
What to do?
Anyone in the LA area looking for a fixer-upper? :o
 
whyseye said:
I have one (along with original instruction manual) that needs work to be functional, that I'd love to sell, but it would probably cost more to ship than it's worth. Can't bear to just throw it out, though.
What to do?
Anyone in the LA area looking for a fixer-upper? :o
Click to expand...

I have one of those. I spent $50 for a beat up one. I put $100 or so into it and it worked like new for a few days. Then the NR started getting wonky and $150 later I'm back to square one.
 
Just in case anybody's wondering, I'm a HUGE fan of the word "wonky".
 
leddy said:
I have one of those. I spent $50 for a beat up one. I put $100 or so into it and it worked like new for a few days. Then the NR started getting wonky and $150 later I'm back to square one.
Click to expand...

dbx type II behaves quite a bit differently then type I does so you really have to be careful of your recording levels and watch out of percussive low end content as it can create the false triggering artifacts in the bottom end where the dbx stops processing below 100 HZ and you end up with the breathing/pumping distortions. If you try to keep the average VU meter readings between -7 and -3 VU, when recording, you'll reduce those issues by a good degree. A proper calibration wouldn't hurt either as almost no one ever does that as an end user. If calibrated back to factory spec for levels and bias, you'd also find that the dbx become far less of a problem.

Cheers! :)
 
The Ghost of FM said:
dbx type II behaves quite a bit differently then type I does so you really have to be careful of your recording levels and watch out of percussive low end content as it can create the false triggering artifacts in the bottom end where the dbx stops processing below 100 HZ and you end up with the breathing/pumping distortions. If you try to keep the average VU meter readings between -7 and -3 VU, when recording, you'll reduce those issues by a good degree. A proper calibration wouldn't hurt either as almost no one ever does that as an end user. If calibrated back to factory spec for levels and bias, you'd also find that the dbx become far less of a problem.

Cheers! :)
Click to expand...

This is great info, thank you.

I was recording music with double bass, so there was plenty of energy down near 40hz. It is a pumping problem. Is there a link to info about calibrating?

I'll mess around and see what I can come up with. Thanks again.
 
wwwwwowwww...that's...wonkiful.

Calibrating dbx noise reduction systems is not for the faint of heart. Do a search for DX-4D on this forum. evm1024 put up a thread on calibrating those units and, though they are type I, I'm pretty sure there would be significant similarities in the procedure with type II. You'd need to get the service manual for the 244 and even at that I'm not sure it would cover that procedure...wait...
 
Calibrating the dbx is all well and good to do once it has been established that normal and recommended recording levels and practices are not yielding issue free sound. Otherwise, I was not recommending for anyone here to mess with that stuff! First you have to record at the right levels and have a basic internal level and bias calibration done first. Messing with internal dbx calibration controls while bypassing the other steps is a recipe for disaster.

Cheers! :)
 
ended up getting a 414 instead! The guy wanted 350 for his 244
37284_401817128260_517113260_4387708_5477514_n.jpg
 
Heheh... :)

BTW, I think the 414 is really neat...So compact but really big on features, 4-track simultaneous record, onboard dbx n/r, flexible monitoring and cue mixing all in a notepad format, really.

Enjoy!
 
The Ghost of FM said:
dbx type II behaves quite a bit differently then type I does so you really have to be careful of your recording levels and watch out of percussive low end content as it can create the false triggering artifacts in the bottom end where the dbx stops processing below 100 HZ and you end up with the breathing/pumping distortions. If you try to keep the average VU meter readings between -7 and -3 VU, when recording, you'll reduce those issues by a good degree. A proper calibration wouldn't hurt either as almost no one ever does that as an end user. If calibrated back to factory spec for levels and bias, you'd also find that the dbx become far less of a problem.

Cheers! :)
Click to expand...

Ghost -

Thanks for the help, it seems to be working. Perhaps it could use to be calibrated. When I back off below 0 a few db it sounds great. I guess I don't have to be afraid of that with the DBX. I'm used to trying to maximize the levels with my open reel decks (with no NR).

I doubt I'll use the 244 now that I have the Nagra, so I'll use it a bit to make sure it works then probably sell it. I just wanted to have a portable tape machine.
 
leddy said:
Ghost -

Thanks for the help, it seems to be working. Perhaps it could use to be calibrated. When I back off below 0 a few db it sounds great. I guess I don't have to be afraid of that with the DBX. I'm used to trying to maximize the levels with my open reel decks (with no NR).

I doubt I'll use the 244 now that I have the Nagra, so I'll use it a bit to make sure it works then probably sell it. I just wanted to have a portable tape machine.
Click to expand...

Cool! :)

Glad to hear the tips helped to address the issue and best of luck selling it, if that's what you decide to do with it.

Cheers! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top