tascam 424

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dragothic

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Please Help.
My Dad is using a Tascam 424 mk3 to record his vocals over backing tracks played in from a teac tape deck, for some reason he is getting very poor results, although I know a fair bit about computers I know nothing about 4 track recorders, I really need some help with the setting up of the equipment.
His set up is a Teac tape deck to play the backingtracks into track 1 and 2, his voice to track 3, and using TC electrics reverb rack unit.
Any help would be great
Thanks
 
Tape-to-tape dubbing like that WILL give you poor results as far as the backing tracks go, unfortunately there's not much you can do except sweeten the backing tracks with some EQ when you mix.

As for the vocals -- you don't mention anything about the mic being used, or any other aspect of the signal chain, so until you provide more details, it's impossible to make suggestions....
 
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Bear is right.Tape to tape is tough.Make sure to use noise reduction.Putting a sonic maximizer in between the tape deck and 4 track might help.Mixing down to cassette is going to add even more noise and loss of sound quality.Make sure to keep the levels up as much as possible when recording.
 
I sometimes still use a similar Tascam (414) along with my digital
system, and I obtain excellent results as long as I follow one basic rule: don't dub tracks. In other words, I don't bounce tracks, and I don't import from other tapes. Otherwise, I quickly hear mushiness and noise creeping in, much like Dad's results.

The Tascams, though, do capture a nice warm sound, especially for guitars, that I like to add to my digital recordings on occasion.

Best,
J.
 
Yep, bounces on 424 mk III’s are to be avoided at all costs!

One way to avoid bounces is to use Midi synchronization device (Like a JL Cooper PPS-2, I have one for sale if you are interested, email me: dr_s_richardson@yahoo.com). Then having connected track 4 to the synch box plug the other end into a midi compatible recording device (like a computer or stand alone DAW with the backing on it). It is then possible to synch the two devices so avoiding having to bounce the backing tracks onto the Tascam.

If you have to bounce using an old HiFi VHS recorder is a good idea as this has a much better dynamic range than audio tape. I’ve done this and it makes a difference !
 
Thanks

Thanks to all of you for your help, I have just realised that I have no idea what I'm doing, I dunno what bouncing tracks is.
As for Bear, he is using an electrovoice mic, it cost a few quid and the bloke in the shop reckons it's good. This is plugged straight into track 3, there are phono leads from the output on the rear of the teac straight into tracks 1 and 2, Effect send to the reverb unit and return to track 8, I have tracks 1 and 2 panned to the right when recording and track 3 panned to the left.
The buss is set to direct on all 3. Basicly I just press play on the teac and play and record on the tascam and let the old man croon away, sounds good when recording sounds s**t when played back, I hope this extra info is helpfull, Thanks again
 
Is it just the backing tracks he's unhappy with, or his vox too?
 
Keeping the heads on both machines cleaned and using good quality cassettes will make a big differance.
 
You wouldn't belive how clean the heads are, u keep eat a very small meal from them!!, he's unhappy with the overall sound, backing and vocals, he trys to explain it as " My voice sounds like it's coming from the back of the reverb unit rather than through the whole machine, and its not a whole rounded sound".
I don't really understand this but I can hear what he means, the sound just is thin and tinny, you can play with the eq's and get it a bit better but not good for the amount of money the setup cost.
 
SOunds like something is definitely wrong with either your signal chain, or the way you're monitoring.....

It sounds more like user-error than any specific gear problem.

Here's a refresh on how you should route the signals....

the L/R outputs of your backing tracks should be connected to the Line IN on channels 1 and 2 of the 424mkIII.

Connect your vocal mic to MIC IN on channel 3 of the 424... zero all effect sends and returns. You will have to use the mic pre TRIM control to bring th emic level up to a reasonable level. Set the channel fader to 0 and use the trim control to get a solid reading on the meters. The TRIM gets your levels into the ballpark, the channel lets you fine-tune it. Enable DBX noise reduction at the back of the unit. (You generally should leave this on all the time (except if you're recording a sync stripe) because cassette-based recorders are extremely noisy and virtually useless without noise reduction!)

Hope this helps!
 
1 more thing, should I be recording the whole lot inc reverb all at once or just record it clean and add reverb and eq after.
 
dragothic said:
What is sync stripe??
If you plan on allowing sequencer or computer to be controlled or synchronized to what's on tape (to add tracks or midi via a computer), you would need to record a "timing track" onto one of the tracks of the 424....
 
dragothic said:
1 more thing, should I be recording the whole lot inc reverb all at once or just record it clean and add reverb and eq after.
I would record everything dry and add any effects afterwards.
 
Thank you Bear, I'm gonna print this whole lot off and go to my dads and try again.
You've been more than helpful, I'll let you know what happens
 
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