Tascam 424 mkII compatabilty

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studiodrum

New member
Is a tape recorded with any other porta studios, like the 414, Porta 1, Porta 3 Porta 05 mini studios... compatible with the Tascam 424 MkII. . . ?

What I mean is: can you record tracks on any other porta-studio model, and play back the tracks and record additional tracks on that same tape, with your 424MkII. . . or will you run into some kind of alignment problem or something?
 
studiodrum said:
can you record tracks on any other porta-studio model, and play back the tracks and record additional tracks on that same tape, with your 424MkII. . . or will you run into some kind of alignment problem or something?
Click to expand...

Tape speed and type is all that matters here. I have a 424 mkIII and a 464, and swap tapes all the time.
 
Hello!

When swapping cassettes between cassette decks, alignment issues always play a role, being that the tape is only 1/8" wide, there's very little margin for alignment errors. However, it's nothing that would stop me from swapping tapes between machines, if I really needed to do this. A drop in high frequency response, when swapping cassette between decks, might indicate a slight "azimuth" alignment problem. Nothing much of any harm or gravity will be the result, but probably a minor annoyance, at most.

The 424mkII has dual tape speeds: High/Normal, and DBX: On/Off,... to accommodate nearly every format of tape you'd likely cross, in your Portastudio adventures. Tape speed and dbx are the factors,... either High/Norm and On/Off. That's the extent of it, and nothing approaching rocket science.

Through the judicious use of the TAPE SPEED and DBX switches, the 424mkII is compatible with all the Porta's you mentioned, and many you didn't.

The 424mkIII and the 464 being 100% compatible is a good example. The Portastudio line was meant to be as fully compatible with each other, as possible, [forward & backward compatible], with only one or two exeptions.

Again, with use of the TAPE SPEED and DBX switches, the 424mkII has compatibility with other units covered.

I've even popped "normal" stereo cassettes from a "normal" cassette deck into the 424mkII for overdubs,... (NORMAL speed and DBX off).

Get it?
 
another thought, I'm just curious. . .

then would it be safe to say that the 424MkII, the best compatibility would be with another 424MkII?

Do you think that that you would probably have less alignment issues, if you were swapping tapes between another 424mkII, or maybe even a 414 mkII, . . .or do you think that would not make much of a difference?

Thanks .. .
 
studiodrum said:
then would it be safe to say that the 424MkII, the best compatibility would be with another 424MkII?

Do you think that that you would probably have less alignment issues, if you were swapping tapes between another 424mkII, or maybe even a 414 mkII, . . .or do you think that would not make much of a difference?

Thanks .. .
Click to expand...
The odds are the same for it being spot on or a tad off.

All tape based mechanical transports drift with age and use to varying degrees.

Cheers! :)
 
Drum,...

That's not to say that the "best" compatiblility, from unit-to-unit, would be another 424mkII. Each and every Tascam Portastudio and Ministudio was factory aligned with the same alignment specs, originally, before original boxing and retail purchase. Technically, they should all be functionally the same, and close enough to be compatible.

F/I, I've run tapes that were created on my relatively new, one-owner, 424mkII, and found it to be perfectly compatible with another low-use, one-owner, vintage-82, Tascam 244, that I recently acquired off Ebay. There's hardly a bigger spread of time and model numbers than that, and yet, they were fine in the way of tape interchangeability.

Not only that, but each factory aligned Portastudio is set to an alignment, and that is fixed with a spot of thread glue, known as "Loctite", which should keep the alignment fixed, over a great period of time,... and should withstand any normal use, short of outright abuse,... of the tape compartment and heads.

Just MO.
 
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