Tascam 246

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sackbutcharlie

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Thanks for all the great help from everyone on the BBS!

Just today I was working out of town in Albany, NY and found a used Tascam 246 that works. It was very cheap! I had to get it. My wife will be delighted. :-)

This should give me something good to learn on.

Thanks again for the great advice.

P.S. Any other 246 users out there?
 
Well, there is A Reel Person.


But he's gone to a better place :)
 
I used to own the 244 Portastudio.

It was considered one generation older with only 4 mixer channels instead of 6 on the 246.

I should be able to help you through most technical/operational questions.

Congrats on the score!

Cheers! :)
 
I still have mine that I bought new in the mid-80s. It was my only multi-track recorder for many years, until I snagged a TSR-8. Before that I had the 244, and before that the original TEAC 144.

The 246 is considered by many to be the best 4-track cassette unit ever made, so congrats! It may interest you to know that Tascam's published specs are conservative. Independent lab tests by Modern Recording & Music in 1986 showed better frequency response, S/N, and wow & flutter than what is listed in the manual.

Right out of the box, the 246 works best with TDK SA tapes, and I think that's what Tascam used for factory settings. But since your machine may have been setup for a different tape over the years you should have it checked and setup to the tape you prefer.

I recently replace the capstan drive belt and pinch roller on mine, as these deteriorate with time, whether it's used or not.

Now it runs like the day I bought it. I don't use it much anymore, but I can't see parting with it. I'll probably pass it down to my children along with my great grandpa's shotgun. :D
 
Thanks. It is good to know the 246 is highly regarded. I really did not know much about it. The heads look like they have either been replaced or hardly used. It works fine and seems to have been used lightly. And it was very very cheap.

If these are from the mid 80s, that is fine. That is just about the time I got out of the music business to get a "real job". So I am just picking up where I left off!

Thanks!
 
i lucked into a "time capsule" MINT 246 fairly recently. i've owned several Fostex and Tascam cassette multitracks and the 246 is in a league OF IT'S OWN (both sonically and functionally). it is one of the most impressive pieces i've ever purchased and i plan to use it EXCLUSIVELY for several acoustic projects (that i have "stewing") very soon. rest assured that the 246 is THE BEST of "it's type". cheers.
 
I'm liking this better all the time!

Any ideas where I can find a manual?

Also..
This may be a dumb question. The only recording I did on my own quite a while ago, we had an open reel and a mixer with effects built in. How do you handle effects with a PortaStudio? I see there are lines in/out, presumably for an effects box. Are there effects boxes made for recording, or do you use the same boxes you would for guitars?

For recording acoustic instruments striving for a live sound, do you see much need for anything beyond reverb?
 
The 246's effect send/receive loop is specked for -10db, line level signals from a stand-alone effects processor or a dedicated reverb unit.

I would avoid using a stomp box pedal effect for this job as they are geared to work with guitars which have a different impedance and level then standard line level. As well, many of those boxes are not as clean electrically compared to a decent reverberator like Yamaha or Lexicon.

Many late model reverbs have other effects built in anyway so the choice may already be made for you as to whether to buy a reverb only or multi-effects unit.

As for manuals, TEAC and TASCAM's parts department should still have these in stock and sell them for around 30 bucks.

Cheers! :)
 
Thanks,

I don't have much of the other gear, but I do have an old Yamaha keyboard and some headphones. I already managed to lay down 4 tracks and listen with my headphones! Next question, monitors. I take it I will need an amplifier. Correct?
 
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The traditional route for monitoring is to have a separate amp and speakers that are of sufficient quality to judge mixes on.

Depending on room size, how loud you intend to monitor things at and your budget, you can choose between smaller bookshelf type speakers and an appropriate amp to power them to larger midfield, (medium sized) and main, (large sized) speakers.

There are a whole host of powered monitors on the market too which come in different sizes and power strengths.

At the lowest end of the market, there are computer speakers which are powered and sometimes come with a sub-woofer and they can range in price from 30 bucks and up.

I my self, use a pair of JBL 4310 studio monitors which are a full sized, full ranged, 3 way speaker system. I power them with a Rotel 65wpc receiver amp and I have a Yamaha 120 watt, dual 8" powered sub-woofer to reproduce frequencies below 40hz.

I decided to make a decent investment in my monitoring system so that I could work with something I can trust and that translates well to other people's stereo systems when they hear my recordings.

You wallet will be the ultimate judge of how good a monitoring system you end up with.

Cheers! :)
 
Thanks,

Yeah, I guess it make good sense to try to approximate something that the audience will be using.
 
I have a stereo reciever with an array of 8 speakers,...

[4] 15"/4-way speakers, [2] 12"/3-way speakers with bass reflex port, and [2] 10"/3-way speakers, all KLH. Relatively speaking,... heh, pun,... my speaker system is HUGE, and it sounds damned good.

I have a low wattage Hitachi reciever, 35W/ch. I use a BSR EQ-3000, 10-Band Stereo Graphic EQ w/Spectrum Analyzer, to help tame those problem frequencies of room resonance. I set my room EQ on the monitor system for as flat as possible response, as measured by the spectrum analyzer's mic feedback loop, which improves the overall sound, quite a bit.

I'll listen to regular comercial music, mix and monitor my own stuff at a moderate & comfortable level, but I'll REALLY turn it up once in a while, for a rush.

With all those large speakers, and the EQ, my monitor system's still just a regular ol' hifi stereo system. CD changer, turntable & cassette hooked to it, as well as VCR and any home recording gear I wish to monitor a the time.
 
WAIT! Did someone say...

Tascam 246?

WTG, dude! You scored!

I have this little beauty, here! [... and more!]
 

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Cool!

Everyone seems to be very fond of the 246. I am pretty excited. I contacted Tascam and they have photocopied manuals for $9.99 plus shipping.

All I have right now are headphones for playback, but I am using it already (I could not wait). There is a little buzz in the headphones when I power on (even when the tape is not running), but I think the 1/4" headphone jacks are a little worn as the plug does not seat very well. I doubt replacing these will be very costly (It should be an easy job for a pro to do I would think).

I am going to grab a cassette deck from the family stereo to do a mixdown to make sure there is no noise on the mixdown output. I can live with some buzz on the headphones (it is not as loud as the perpetual buzz I hear all the time from years of sitting in front of those damned trumpet players anyway). So long as the end product is clean.

I think I may be better off shopping around for a used high-quality tape deck, amp, and monitors. I am guessing I will get more bang for the buck that way.

Everything else seems to work great!
 
capstan & pinch (good producer name)

Beck said:
...I recently replace the capstan drive belt and pinch roller on mine, as these deteriorate with time, whether it's used or not.
Click to expand...

:D hi, just got here, and already I've got a question.

i just bought a tascam/TEAC portastudio 144, and it works fine - love those nice, big VU-meters. however, it makes a squeky noise when using it with a tape (to test it, i let it run without tape: no noise)

i'm not sure what a "capstan" drive belt or a "pinch roller" is, but could it be i could benefit from replacing them, too? where would i get them? probably online, since i'm in the netherlands, which isn't well known for its specialized stores, sadly :(
 
That noise is due to a coupler which transfers rotation from the motor to the right tape spool. It works by friction, but after long years of sitting unused both parts have decided to stick together. Now there is a different part of the transmission line spinning wheels and making that noise. Dis- and reassembling that mechanism is tricky due to lots of fine parts in 3D and exactly aligned.
 
snitch said:
:D hi, just got here, and already I've got a question.

i just bought a tascam/TEAC portastudio 144, and it works fine - love those nice, big VU-meters. however, it makes a squeky noise when using it with a tape (to test it, i let it run without tape: no noise)

i'm not sure what a "capstan" drive belt or a "pinch roller" is, but could it be i could benefit from replacing them, too? where would i get them? probably online, since i'm in the netherlands, which isn't well known for its specialized stores, sadly :(
Click to expand...

The capstan is the thin rotating metal shaft with the rubber wheel (pinch-roller) resting against it, next to the play/record heads. The tape is pulled between them. The TEAC 144 has a flywheel capstan driven by a rubber belt inside the chassis. The 144 was fist made in 1979, so by all means replace that rubber.

That kind of noise can be a slipping dried-out belt or other rubber as already mentioned by Uli. It could also be the tape dragging past a very dirty tape path. You are using new CrO2 tape, no longer than 60-minute length, right?

Contact Tascam for the belt and pinch-roller.

audio-support@teac.de

:cool:
 
thanks!!

and yeah, i've bought some shiny new cro2 60-minute tapes.
 
Tascam 246 Recording

I've just bought a Tascam 246 - worked fine the first day (once I found out what all the darn knobs and switches did!) Now the tape drive refuses to function. It starts but the tape doesn't move forward in either play or record and after a few seconds switches itself off. Have I done something stupid (not unusual) or does the kit need some surgery. :confused:
 
My friend,...

It sounds like your 246 has lost the "capstan drive" belt.

It's a simple, flat rubber belt, that I'd bet dollars to donuts that it has slipped off the motor and flywheel pulley. It's fairly common, for a deck of this age, and it's nothing you "did", other than to wake it up out of what was probably a many-year period of being unused.

If you're half way mechanically inclined, you may remove the bottom panel of the 246, and have a look. You'll likely see that the belt is inside, flopping around loosely in the cassette mechanism compartment.

It's a relatively simple DIY repair, and the belt should not cost more than a few dollars, at most. Uh,... pounds. Sorry, but I've not had the pleasure of replacing the belt on the 246, so I can't verify the size for you, but you may remove it, and measure the belt for TOTAL length, and then just source a belt that's 1/2"-3/4" shorter than the old belt. By definition, the old belt is stretched out beyond it's useful life span, and you'll need to source a new belt that's just a bit shorter, but otherwise relatively the same dimensions.

Don't worry, it's not complicated, and it's nothing you "did", in the way of abuse, or anything. I'm sure it's disappointing, but it goes along with having a recorder that's nearly 20 years old. Good luck!
 
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