I love this thread already…I started messing around in mid 90s when ,4 tracks got affordable, didn’t even know what one was until someone told me I needed one. To this day I feel very lucky to have come of age during that time, when home recording gear was becoming available/accessible but still required a small investment. I feel like people who started out on tape really had to work for the sounds, however they used it. I’ve met some younger people trying to get started making music, they open up a laptop & literally have every synth, sequencer, sampler, drum machine, effect & mastering plug in on an infinite # of tracks with non destructive editing total recall etc etc and they look at me and say “what do I need?”
Um…limitations?
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Any recommendations for EU based tape duplication service?
Finally - picked up a 424mk3 and 10x BASF chrome II for a decent price locally. Looking forward to delving into the world of the 4-track.
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Yes, mate!
Long live the tape!!!
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anyone here have any experience with the Technics RS-BX646? Theres a serviced one available atm for around £200, just wondering if thats worth it, or if theres anything to look out for?
I have the RS-BX707, and it’s fantastic. I got it refurbed with a warranty, and the only thing wrong with it is that the cassette door sticks sometimes.
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Seems like a decent enough unit, so I would say that is likely fair price for it being freshly serviced. You could ask what work was actually done suppose? Like if it was just the belts I’m not sure if I would call it fully serviced and maybe would give you a touch of bartering room. The price seems fair enough for a good working 3 head deck though.
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cool! actually the same seller also has BX707 (refurbed with warranty) on sale for a bit more. As per @bwo 's advice, have asked for more details of what theyve actually done to constitute a refurb… thanks for your input : )
I paid € two hundred and something for mine. Just make sure you get a warranty. I know that some countries give a long warranty on used goods, which is a great bonus.
Glad my tape recorder is back in service 
Did some recording on a SA-X 46 today. Finally getting around to recording about an hour’s worth of dirty edits.
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I’ve been meaning to say I tried some Fox brand tapes, from Recording the Masters. They’re normal, but I found them to be excellent, as good as some chromes I think. Very happy with them.
https://www.recordingthemasters.com/store/audio-cassettes/fox-c60-type-1/
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Will be joining this thread more soon. Hopefully the machine I got on the auctions is in as good condition as I was led to believe. It’s Japan, so I’m guessing it is.
I may need to hit up @HisMostDarxxxellent for some tape loop advice. 
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This is definitely something I want to try.
One question for people more knowledgeable than me as I know very little about sync tracks. So I know that people have said that the Beatstep Pro can act as a CV-Midi converter, and I see it has clock in and can be set up as a slave.
Could I record the sync out of a Volca to a track on the four track to use as a sync track (as per the video), and then feed that signal into the Beat Step Pro (clock in?) in slave mode and have it pass that clock info through to sync my midi gear to the sync track on the Portastudio? Specifically, use the Beatstep Pro to covert the pulse clock signal to midi to sync my SP404 to the Portastudio.
A bit of a long shot, but I’ve had a Beatstep Pro sitting in my closet for ages, so it would be amazing if I could actually find a use for it here.
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I will be joining here more often too, I’ve setup my 424mk3 for the upcoming daily Jamuary jams.
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Bought a 2nd hand tape deck as I haven’t owned one in a while. Turns out it was the same as my Dads that I used to use. I knew it seemed familiar but couldn’t put my finger on it. Found this tape that I recorded on the same tape deck back in 96. I remember lying on the floor listening to Orbital @ leeds sound city and it blowing my mind… Still sounds amazing 25 years later.
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Good sounds!
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From the studio we use the Pioneer CT-737mk2 Cassette deck, used mainly for sampling lo-fi samples from all sorts of obscure sources, because nothing sounds lo-fi without some authentic caste flutter and warble.
Sitting on top, my own custom modded Sony walkman, pots soldered into the pcb at different points to provide tempo +/- and linear tuning of overdrive.
The great thing is pioneers hooked into the main mix board so can hit record on and capture on tape any sound from the main mix or playback.
The 80s is back.
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I want to learn how to do that, any info to share on the process?
Pinouts for this chip here
The rest is just about splicing in the amp and variable resistors once I traced the pin-outs across the board.
Tempo adjustment was done by splicing in a variable resistor on the motor circuit, PWM speed controller would probably be a better way to do it. I was experienementing with a few components on this one before committing but it worked so good I didn’t need to tear down my other players.
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These sounds you did had some great radio / lo-fi bandwidth tone running through it, bliss.
Bravo!
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