Tascam Cassette 4-track Appreciation Thread...Vote For Your Favorite!

[leddy]

My first 4-track was a Fostex X-15. I later had a Yamaha MT120. I made some nice recordings with that - that is a decent machine. More recently, I had a 424mkIII but I hardly used it. It seemed decent when I did - but not specacular.

I also picked up a really rough 244 because it was cheap and local. I almost got rid of it, but I found a local tech who is really good. He cleaned it up and put new rubber in. I finally got around to playing with it yesterday. Now I see what the love is for the 244/246. You can really add some nice, euphonic grit to the sound. I always liked cassette, but the small tape format did sound smaller than real life. The 244 sounds bigger to me, like it gets closer to the sound of an open reel deck than my other four tracks.

I would guess the electronics/power supply/etc. of the 244/246 are just more robust than the later generations of machines. I know the 244 seems to weigh more than all my other 4-tracks combined.

 

[j.harv]

Well I have a 244 thats in for repairs right now.Just found out that I bought this of the Ghost of FM(small world, eh Jeff).Have'nt used it yet but looking forward to.I also just picked up a mint 424MKII for $65 that came with a few blank tapes a cleaning kit and a demagnetizer in the shape of a cassette(are these demaggers any good?).So far im loving the 424.After using a Korg
D1600 for the past few years its nice to go back to analog,the simplicity and to work with less tracks.Think Im gonna record a whole album on this thing.Still,I cant wait to get my 244 back to screw around with.

 

[sweetbeats]

The cassette-shell demagnetizers are lame.

 

[jedblue]

See what you boys have gone and done to the 244 with all your comments on this thread?

This is going to be one happy 244 seller once this one's done.

244 eBay

 

[j.harv]

Wow!!! 35 bids and $325+!!!!

 

[A Reel Person]

244

It's a nice deck. The head design and dbx make it's recordings real quiet and clear. The mixer section is deceptively simple, but is a cut above many of the more modern Porta's. The 2-band sweepable EQ is (IMO) a better and more useful EQ than the 2-fixed + mid-sweepable EQ of many other later designs. The difference is more than cosmetic. You can hear it and know the functional utility when you use it. The Cue buss and Aux buss are both stereo. Acc-Snd/Rcv jacks on every channel that can patch efx inline during tracking and mixdown. 2 headphone jacks. Why did they do away with that feature? There's a lot there in a small package. The weight belies the build quality. They don't make em like that anymore.

 

[themaddog]

I dig the 464 because it's as large as the 424 but it's cheap because it's older. The only problem I've had with 4 track Tascam Portastudios is that I've never been able to use the DBX noise reduction because on the machines I've used it had drifted and sounded worse than no noise reduction. However, with the correct high bias cassette there is very little hiss, even on the 8 track cassette format.

-MD

 

[famous beagle]

Great thread Cory. I didn't vote in the poll yet because I can't pick one yet. But I loved seeing all the pictures lined up back to back like that.

I'm seriously thinking about starting a site called "The Four Track Brigade" that's dedicating to celebrating these machines and the music made on them.

 

[tryan225]

really liked my 414 when I had it. I always wanted a 424 though.

 

[futuredays]

The Porta One is the only one I have experience with and it was decent.

I've also used a Fostex 160, which was good:

And also a Yamaha M3TX, which I still have:

But I'm all digital now...and yet seeing the pictures in the first post still makes me drool even though I would probably never go back.

 

[famous beagle]

The Porta One is the only one I have experience with and it was decent.

I've also used a Fostex 160, which was good:

And also a Yamaha M3TX, which I still have:

But I'm all digital now...and yet seeing the pictures in the first post still makes me drool even though I would probably never go back.

That's interesting, because I just put together a digital system about a year ago to record stuff for my work (writing and editing instructional books for Hal Leonard), because I needed something that was fairly cheap, versatile, and easy to edit. And all the crap that went along with it (dealing with soundcard issues, software compatibility, upgrades, drivers, plugs, etc.) just about made me say screw it all together. It has been anything but easy (for me) putting together a digital system that works smoothly. In fact, I'm still not 100% there over a year later.

After all of that, recording on my 4-track is truly a breath of fresh air. I only use my digital system for recording work stuff. Any time I record something of mine, I use analog. I do occasionally use a plug-in for a keyboard sound and run that out of my computer into the 4-track if I need it.

 

[fergs1]

greetins from Oz, I've had a 424mkii since they came out and always loved the sonic quality. I never liked the interface which I always found confusing and difficult. I hear the 244 is the simplest to use? Like the above poster I never use noise reduction as I can alwyas hear it breathing, some of us might be more sensitve to it than others. cheers ferggggs

 

[Corvette]

424 mklll, of course.

 

[Victory Pete]

I started with a Vestax 6 track cassette machine in the early 90's. That exploded into a full blown obsession with Analog Recording. I was sidetracked temporarily with one of the very first Alesis ADATS, traded it in for a TSR-8 within a month, Man, am I glad I bailed on that thing. Well just a few years ago I bought a 424 MKIII right before they were discontinued. I recently set it up in my Computer room along with a TSR-8. I feel I have come full circle.

VP

 

[Illsidgus]

I voted for the 244, mainly because that is the only Tascam PortaStudio I have ever used or owned. I bought mine new in 1985 and still have it. About six months ago I had to change the belts and idler assembly tires, other than that I have not had any trouble with it. When I bought it it looked like what I thought a PortaStudio should look like and it still does. Long live the cassette 4 track.

 

[chuckduffy]

I had a 488 - never had a tascam 4 track. I did have this beast - and I've never met another person who had one...

 

[Dandelion1]

hey Heatmiser, i own both a 644 & 688 and you do get a "fatter" sound from the 644 simply cause the tape heads are wider. Although in saying that the 688 is an amazing machine. Mine just started playing up which is a huge bummer.
I voted for the 244 though as i just used one recently and the sound is fastastic!! you can really drive the 244 as it has amazing headroom and you can't beat looking at those beautiful VU meters in the red. Happy cassette recording!

 

[chuckduffy]

hey Heatmiser, i own both a 644 & 688 and you do get a "fatter" sound from the 644 simply cause the tape heads are wider. Although in saying that the 688 is an amazing machine. Mine just started playing up which is a huge bummer.
I voted for the 244 though as i just used one recently and the sound is fastastic!! you can really drive the 244 as it has amazing headroom and you can't beat looking at those beautiful VU meters in the red. Happy cassette recording!

Wow - i'm realizing that we woke up a 1000 year old thread.

 

[tascam4ever]

I voted for the 246. First reason being I own one and I love it's versatilty and it's true 6X4X2 mixer. It's built with better quality componets than the later models and I've owned a 424MKll and a 488 8-track and the fact that the 246 has really accurate VU meters and 2 PGM buss meters for monitoring. I never actually ever carried it around. It found it's home on my recording desk and never moved.
I love how challenging getting the most evenly balanced tracking accomplished with just 4 tracks becomes. It makes you plan your tracking. That can be a great tool in itself for later accomplishments of bigger format machines.

 

[shedshrine]

Not mine, but looks the business..

AudioTechnica AT-RMX6 in cassette four track thread

"I've owned a ton of cassette 4 track machines in my time, but none will ever touch the Audio Technica AT-RMX6. This machine has so many great features, 6x4 mix matrix, direct outs, phantom power, selectable peak/shelving eq's, Dolby b/c NR, 2x vari-speed, direct drive, solo function, 2 effect sends, and no less than SIX headphone outputs! It's basically a decent sounding full featured 6 channel mixer with an included 4 track cassette recorder. I still use mine in my live room as a headphone amp and as a rehearsal recorder. Any downsides you ask? Let's just say portability is not its strong point, as IT WEIGHS 50 POUNDS!"