Transferring 4 track cassette masters to DAW

[Jeff Hitman]

I need your help, guys. Let me explain what I'm trying to do.

I have a huge case of old 4 track cassette masters made using my Tascam 424mkII over the years and I want to import the individual tracks into my DAW for archiving and possibly messing around with re-mixing etc.

So in order to do this I tried the following:

Play each track on its own into my PC, recording each track as a wav. This was fine. I did it without any trouble going from the cassette 4 track to my PC.

Here's the trouble - when I imported each wav into a separate track in my DAW and tried to synch them up I realized I was fighting a losing battle.

I tried to line up each track from the beginning and realized that the cassette's zero point changed slightly each time I rewound the tape and hit the play and record buttons.

Also, even when I was able to find the first downbeat on each track and synch them up, it seems like they drift over time. I'm guessing it's the tape player's inconsistency.

So... anyone have any ideas?

 

[montage]

How many line-ins on your DAW?

Have you tried a combination of stereo files, like:

Track 1 + Track 2
Track 1 + Track 3
Track 1 + Track 4

This doesn't exactly resolve the problem, but might help in synching up the tracks by using track 1 as a guide track.

Possibly look into purchasing or renting an 8-track based unit, like a 488mkII or a 688 (both Tascams) and utilize having more line-outs.

 

[jcmastering]

Best to transfer all tracks at the same time. You"ll need an audio interface that allows you to record 4 tracks at a time.

 

[guinnessorig]

Jeff, did you ever get a solution to your problem? I have a shed load of old 4-track tapes I want to transfer to digital but can't figure out a way to overcome the sync problem. I don't have enough 'outs' on my old 4 track to transfer to my 24-track hard drive in one pass. The only option seems to be a compromise and bounce four tracks down to two, which isn't ideal. Hmmm.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Jeff, did you ever get a solution to your problem? I have a shed load of old 4-track tapes I want to transfer to digital but can't figure out a way to overcome the sync problem. I don't have enough 'outs' on my old 4 track to transfer to my 24-track hard drive in one pass. The only option seems to be a compromise and bounce four tracks down to two, which isn't ideal. Hmmm.

You'll need to find a Portastudio that has 4 "direct tape outs" so that you can transfer 4 separate tracks out to 4 independent A/D inputs.

Models like the TASCAM 244 and 246 had this feature and can usually be found on fleabay for 100 bucks or less, depending on the model and condition of the unit. Also, you'll need to make sure that the tape play speed and noise reduction is the same from your old 4 track cassette unit to the new one. The 244 and 246 units run at 3.75 IPS and use the dbx noise reduction system. If your old 4 tracker unit was a Fostex, then your tapes might not play properly as Fostex used Dolby B or C depending on the model.

Cheers!