tascam 414 interference

[Slopeydope]

Hi,

This is my first time, so be gentle. I recently bought a tascam 414 mk2 (second hand off the notoriously reliable ebay) and was at first incredibly impressed by the results compared to my old portastudio 02. However, I'm getting a lot of intereference on my recordings. This seems to be linked to the graphic equalizer, since the distortion only occurs when the levels peak, but I was also wondering whether it might be linked to magnetism of the tape heads? I have no idea how to diagnose exactly what's causing it, suffice to say that I've now spent hours recording and re-recording, lowering the levels until they're all but inaudible, but the equalizer still has a hissy fit on the highest treble parts and blows the whole recording. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Gareth

 

[famous beagle]

What exactly do you mean by "interference?" Do you mean the hissy high bit?

Have you cleaned and demagnetized the heads?

It's not a scratchy pot is it?

Is it happening on all 4 channels of EQ? Is it only happening when you implement the high EQ?

(Just FYI, it's technically not a graphic EQ. A graphic EQ has vertical sliders so you can see a "graphic" of your EQ curve.)

 

[Slopeydope]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. The interference occurs on the high eq parts. I've tried to solve this by turning down the input levels etc, and I've managed to get a couple of recordings that initially playback cleanly. However, when I return to the recordings at a later stage, it seems like the high eq has been boosted, because where before the levels were peaking at around the 0 mark, they're now heading right up into the red and causing a lot of crackling. The problem seems to be exacerbated when I playback through a stereo, so I don't know if that's something to do with it.

I am looking at buying a tape head de-magnetizer, because I suspected that, since I bought the 4 track second hand, its probably never been done before, certainly, the tape heads were filthy and took quite a lot of cleaning up. I'm really hoping that it is something as simple as magnetism, because if it isn't, I really am at a loss.

I'm showing my ignorance here, but could you explain what you mean by the pot?

 

[famous beagle]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. The interference occurs on the high eq parts. I've tried to solve this by turning down the input levels etc, and I've managed to get a couple of recordings that initially playback cleanly. However, when I return to the recordings at a later stage, it seems like the high eq has been boosted, because where before the levels were peaking at around the 0 mark, they're now heading right up into the red and causing a lot of crackling. The problem seems to be exacerbated when I playback through a stereo, so I don't know if that's something to do with it.

I am looking at buying a tape head de-magnetizer, because I suspected that, since I bought the 4 track second hand, its probably never been done before, certainly, the tape heads were filthy and took quite a lot of cleaning up. I'm really hoping that it is something as simple as magnetism, because if it isn't, I really am at a loss.

I'm showing my ignorance here, but could you explain what you mean by the pot?

Hi,

"Pot" is short for "potentiometer," which is an electrical term for a variable resistor. In practical everday terms, though, it usually means a knob of some kind. In this case, I was referring to your EQ knobs.

Do they make a crackly or scratchy noise when you turn them? If so, try getting some De-Oxit, and spraying them with it (take the plastic knob off and spray the base of the metal shaft). http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

You can find De-oxit at Guitar Center, Radio Shack, and sometimes Home Depot.

If it's not that and it's not the heads, then I'm afraid it's probably something otherwise internal and would be beyond my scope of knowledge. However, there are some very knowledgable folks in the Analog Only forum that are happy to help out people.

 

[Slopeydope]

Hey,

Actually, a couple of the knobs are a bit scratchy and it's the kind of thing I wouldn't have even thought of checking. I'm off down the shops now to see if I can get hold of any of that stuff. Fingers crossed!

Thanks a lot, Beagle,

Gareth