I want to start cassette recording, what should I get?

tweak · Post by **tweak** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:30 am

Hi, So me & my band want to start recording some demos, & we were thinking about getting an old cassette portastudio, I just have a few questions.

1. Which model portastudio should we get?

2. how many of and which type of microphones would you guys recommend?
We're using (4 piece drum kit, 2 guitars, a bass, 2 vocalists & some backing vocals, some miscellaneous percussion.)

3. I have a tascam mx-80 that I was able to pick up for around $30, & a tascam 133 that I got for around $10, should I keep them, & if not, what price should I be looking to sell them for?

4. How much money should we be looking to spend for this?

I hope this is not to broad of a question to ask,

Thanks,
Alec

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:37 am

http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-di ... te-302152/
The Tascam 424 MK series (i,ii and iii) are all plentiful and inexpensive. Just find one in good shape.

If you need 8 tracks there are eight track versions of those Tascam cassette multitracks (mk488),

They also made a stand alone 8 track cassette recorder, the Tascam 238, that will need to be paired with a mixer. Make sure the capstan motor is okay.
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... hlight=238

Use the search function and you'll find tons here and over on homerecording.com

standup · Post by **standup** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:31 am

Just found photos of the Tascam line mixer you've got, it's probably better than a built-in portastudio mixer. Keep it! Can you use the other Tascam deck for mixdown? It's a 3-track cassette, looks like. Weird.

With the Tascam mixer you can look for rackmount cassette 4-tracks made by Tascam, probably Fostex, maybe Yamaha, I think there was Vestax too. They don't have the built-in mixer, but you've got that covered. Well, maybe. Not sure how you'll monitor tape playback -- maybe run out of the headphone jack (carefullly, at low level) to some kind of monitors?

I recently picked up a PEAVEY 4-track cassette deck off ebay, and it has been a ton of fun. It's built in a metal enclosure, has a solid transport, runs at low and high speed, and sounds fine. My ancient 4-track cassettes were recorded with DBX noise reduction and this deck is Dolby B/C only. I haven't tried dubbing them to the computer yet, don't know how bad they'll sound without DBX for playback.

kbaudour · Post by **kbaudour** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:33 pm

The 424 mkIII is magic. I have used it for years and years and despite being all digital now, the 424 still comes out every now and then, especially when working with lo-fi bands that want "that" feel. It s great to take on trips.
On those though, the drive motor jams pretty often, so you can find a "broken" one for cheap then unstick the motor yourself.
No phantom power is a bit of a headache though.

Bro Shark · Post by **Bro Shark** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:05 pm

kbaudour wrote:No phantom power is a bit of a headache though.

That's what the infamous C1000S is for!

tweak · Post by **tweak** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 4:32 pm

Okay, So I've looked at the tascam 424, & it looks like the perfect unit for me, I was just wondering if for tracking drums on it would it be possible to mic the drums through my mx-80 & then into 2 track on the 424? Or would It be better to track the drums on the first 3 tracks of the 424 then bounce to track 4? I'm pretty clueless here. I also see that I can use the 133 for mixdown then. Also, what would be a good source for tape?

Thanks,

Alec

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 4:38 pm

Bro Shark wrote:
kbaudour wrote:No phantom power is a bit of a headache though.
That's what the infamous C1000S is for!

Indeed, battery powered condensor mics can be handy, as can tube mics with an external power supply.....just don't use that godforsaken lightsaber. Haha! CAD makes some decent affordable mics that are battery powered.

But....if you can afford an external preamp like an Art TubeMp (I like the Studio MP version personally), it may be more helpful so you don't have to rely on battery powered mics. Dynamic mics definately work and sound great with the portastudio, but they are gain hogs....so if you play anything quiet you'lll have a boat load of tape his to deal with. Oh well...that's par for the course, right...and you can experiment with the DBX to see if it helps. Expect to crank the gain to around 3/4 on most things anyway.....there isn't much headroom with these guys.

And yes.....the Tascam 424's are great.....I have one and still find it useful for lo-fi drums, fuzz guitars and fun backwards tape manipulation. Obviously you will be limited to for tracks, so submixing with the line mixer you have may be useful so you wont have to bounce as much. They are not the most durable units, and make sure to demagnatize and clean the heads as often as you can...but for the price they are fun. Now if you can just find some decent blank tapes....

j.harv · Post by **j.harv** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 4:40 pm

tweak wrote:Okay, So I've looked at the tascam 424, & it looks like the perfect unit for me, I was just wondering if for tracking drums on it would it be possible to mic the drums through my mx-80 & then into 2 track on the 424? Or would It be better to track the drums on the first 3 tracks of the 424 then bounce to track 4? I'm pretty clueless here. I also see that I can use the 133 for mixdown then. Also, what would be a good source for tape?

Thanks,

Alec

Im not sure,and I haven't tried it with my 424mkII,but I think you might be
able to plug say,3 mics into the 424 mic inputs and route them to 1 track.
But not sure if routing like that is possible.

cjogo · Post by **cjogo** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:08 pm

The VestaFIre made a rack 4 channel with 6 mic inputs and channel/pans/ gains for each ==== you can use a sync with the cassettes ( Loose a channel ) but, can connect to a 16 channel sequencer and have have 18 channels at mixdown ~!!

We used a 8 channel 238 for years ---sync'd to 2 Kurzweil keyboards ,,, which has a total of 16 channels directly out

Tascam 238 with sequencer .. that leaves you with 7 channels for just guitar /vocals to layer ~!http://soundcloud.com/cjogo/i-kiss-the-rain

Sansui made a 6 track http://i5.tinypic.com/625yjnr.jpg

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:56 am

+1 on the Portastudio series. I've got a Portastudio 464 that I really love. There's just really some magic there. I've always been in love with how drums come out on mine. I've got a band coming in this weekend that specifically asked about if we might be able to run some drum tracks to a cassette recorder. Luckily I'm perfectly set up for this!

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:09 am

If you can find an old Vestax/Vestafire, they made a _6_-track, rack-mounted deck that was pretty cool. VU meters, rotary nobs...

GJ

cjogo · Post by **cjogo** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 6:57 am

Gregg Juke wrote:If you can find an old Vestax/Vestafire, they made a _6_-track, rack-mounted deck that was pretty cool. VU meters, rotary nobs...

GJ

Built like a tank -- decent transports--- with a patch bay .........great stuff we tracked in the 80's > with that one ~!!

cjogo · Post by **cjogo** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 7:00 am

Bro Shark wrote:
kbaudour wrote:No phantom power is a bit of a headache though.
That's what the infamous C1000S is for!

Still use them ,,, and the Rode NT 3's

BrontoSoreAss · Post by **BrontoSoreAss** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 12:45 pm

I love my Tascam 688. It's been collecting a bit of dust since I've gotten my mobile laptop based rig rolling but it is a ton of fun and sounds pretty damn good. I haven't noticed him on the board lately (and I failed to find the relevant thread after a half-hearted search) but there was a guy on here awhile ago posting links to his 688 based studio - his stuff sounded awesome. When I have a bit of time I'll try to dig up the thread.

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:27 pm

BrontoSoreAss wrote:I love my Tascam 688. I haven't noticed him on the board lately but there was a guy on here awhile ago posting links to his 688 based studio - his stuff sounded awesome. When I have a bit of time I'll try to dig up the thread.

"Casa Cassette is owned by Hermann Blaupunkt and situated in Eindhoven (The Netherlands). I record to cassette tape on the Tascam 688. "
http://www.myspace.com/casacassette

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I want to start cassette recording, what should I get?

I want to start cassette recording, what should I get?

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