Which Tascam Portastudio?

The Lounge Other Gear
#29

Cool. I just ordered some Type IIs. I’ll probably experiment with a Type I later though. I read somewhere that the thinner 90 minute tapes are more prone to jamming, not sure how true that is.

Another random question as I haven’t recorded to tape in nearly two decades. If I’m planning to mostly copy over tapes after I record my tracks to the computer, how long will a single tape likely last me. I’m just wondering how many blank tapes to buy.

Do you all have tons of blank tapes or only a handful? Do you archive multitrack cassettes for special stuff or just record over them and keep the digital files?

#30

you can get a lot of tracks on a single cassette so I kept them all. destroying you’re master tapes… so cliché. don’t do it!

I used to bounce to minidisc and ended up devoting serious effort into getting my music off them digitally. all my old tracks, when I could hardly play guitar and put almost no effort into drum programming… but I love them all. my setup then was guitar, boss multifx, dr660 (which I hated) and a Dr sample -> 414. I got shit done!

this thread is getting me so stoked to pull out the 414. I just got it back from my parents who sold their house. my vinyl was ruined by a flood but the 414 still works. even after I cleaned it with the wrong trype of wd40 (silicon lubricant).

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#31

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing today. I want to make an EP next year, so if it happens it would be good to keep everything archived. Thanks and I can’t wait to hear your stuff!

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#32

Hey man,

I’m still waiting on my machine, but I’d love to hear more about your typical workflow. Would you be willing to share some of the ways you have tended to work in the past? For instance, your typical process when using the mts-30 midi sync and when not using it.

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#33

i was just thinking instead of the mts-30 I could just have a count in and sync manually. Like Dee Dee Ramone.

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#34

Can’t remember who but another Jp based user on the forum was getting NOS tapes at a Hard Off.

Here we go… scroll down a bit for the HardOff

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#35

Awesome. Thanks for the heads up! I’ll have to hit up @HisMostDarxxxellent to see if that’s still the case. We are connected off of Elektronauts as well.

Those prices look much more reasonable than what I’ve paid for NOS Type II tapes on Amazon, but I’m honestly just glad they are still available.

I’ve got three NOS 60 minute tapes to get me going when the machine arrives and after I make sure it’s in good working order, I’ll check out Hardoff and keep my eye on Mercari. Seems like quite a few people selling off little stashes of tapes for a couple of thousand yen.

#37

I’ve got the Portastudio 244 and can’t say enough good things about it. The eq’s sound so nice and it really has become a huge part of my sound. The unit is very heavy and built to last.

I oftentimes record stuff from my computer to tape and really like how it saturates the sound when recording the material back to the computer and pushing the faders so that it goes into overdrive.

In my unit there is a slight difference between the 1&2 tracks that adds some imbalance to stereo sounds. It’s not drastic and I quite like it on pads etc. If I want more balanced results I record on tracks 2&3.

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#38

That’s a beautiful machine. Would love one of those.

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#39

I love my 424 MKI, although I don’t use it that often. It’s the only machine I regretted selling. So I bought it again. The pitch control in combination with the three tape speeds is what makes this unit so special for me. And of course it sounds really good when you turn up the input gain.

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#40

last night i was just like, sod it, i’m gonna stop pontificating and just setup my old 414. plugged in the rytm and a4. the sound was a bit warmer but what i noticed was the noise. maybe i need to clean my contacts. it’s been 25 years after all.

but aside from that not much difference than tracking into bitwig, except that i feel extra pressure to get my takes right because the tape quality degrades. so i’m thinking that the real benefit of a portastudio for me is the workflow, bouncing a track at a time. this way i can concentrate on focused manual tweaking and adding little details (i’m no dataline). this approach shifts a bit away from the elektron sequencer, for better and worse.

also my daughter came in, and said “Tascam. That doesn’t sound like a scam”. Made my day!

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#41

I’ve heard some great cassette recordings recently. Not just electronic stuff. Like this.

My 414 just arrived today. I need to try it out tomorrow. Really excited.

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#42

I :heart: Japan

My 414mkii came and it’s in nearly perfect condition. Even the adapter looks brand new. I took it through the paces today and no scratchy inputs or anything.

I’m really digging it. Bass going straight into it sounds great, gets a nice fuzz tone when you overdrive the inputs.

Fits perfectly on my shelf with my old reverb tank and 70s Vibrochamp. I had originally envisioned an echo unit there, but this is a better fit for me at the moment and I plan to make good use of it in 2022.

Having cassettes back in my life feels good.

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#43

I still can’t get over the staggering amt of money these portastudios are going for. Even worse is what people are paying for unopened type iv tapes…

#44

Wow it looks in great condition! I’ve been looking into 4 tracks for the last while and can’t decide on getting one.
Made a demo with a Tascam Porta 07 someone lent us years ago, and did such a bad job of recording and mixing it’s always bothered me (I was even more clueless then). It was so much fun though I’d like to give it another go…

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#45

Congrats on getting yours !
So happy that i still have mine from 1997, it’s still working and i’m going to use it with my DN and M:S.
This will be interesting.

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#46

Thanks very much. I’ve been on the look out for one in good working order for a while. This one wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t crazy expensive either (less than I’ve paid for pretty much all of my guitar pedals) and I wanted one that had been fully vetted. I’m not disappointed.

I really like the 244 and 424 as well, but I wanted something compact, and this is the one that crossed my path so I’ll take it as fate. I think it looks fantastic. I think it would sit nicely with the Elektrons and also think it will be a great partner for my incoming SP404mkii.

The plan is for the 414 and 404 combo to be my main rig next year, but I also want to record loads of other stuff: guitar, bass, percussion, flute, synths, drum machines, etc.

It’s probably a combination of a lot of things, like the stage of life I’m in, the pandemic, and not being able to get home for almost three years now, but right now I want music making to be as “playful” as possible. This has such a great nostalgic vibe that I find it so inspiring.

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#47

For anyone contemplating four-track cassette recorders, I highly recommend this guy’s videos to get a taste:

414

244

#48

Well i think you’ll have fun. I remember using a lot of the reverse recording trick and i will actualize it with the Elektrons !
Playing with recording speed is also good fun.
With these 4-tracks recorder, you’ll get a sound flavor and an experimentation playground.
So yeah…playful indeed.

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#49

….lightly touch the free hub on playback…WARBLE! :slight_smile:

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