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Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 12:33 pm
by voerking
JonnyAngle wrote:http://www.ebay.com/itm/TASCAM-DP-01-Digital-Multi-Track-Porta-Studio-Recorder-8-Track-With-Original-AC-/222248390994?hash=item33bf095152:g:t9gAAOSwAuZX1yT7
I have one of these and love it. Not tape, still digital, butstill awesome
i have a similar one (the DP-01FX) and i love it, too. i do worry that i'm on borrowed time & the hard drive will shit the bed on me someday, though. i have no clue how much more life it will have. i like it because i can use just like i would a tape deck.
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 12:44 pm
by spacelordmother
voerking wrote:JonnyAngle wrote:http://www.ebay.com/itm/TASCAM-DP-01-Digital-Multi-Track-Porta-Studio-Recorder-8-Track-With-Original-AC-/222248390994?hash=item33bf095152:g:t9gAAOSwAuZX1yT7
I have one of these and love it. Not tape, still digital, butstill awesome
i have a similar one (the DP-01FX) and i love it, too. i do worry that i'm on borrowed time & the hard drive will shit the bed on me someday, though. i have no clue how much more life it will have. i like it because i can use just like i would a tape deck.
A lot of those older machines can be upgraded with new drives or SD/CF card readers for continued (and expanded) enjoyment.

Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:37 pm
by coldbrightsunlight
Hmm looks like I would need the 8 track version for xlr inputs. Price still isn't toooo bad..
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:53 pm
by tremolo3
I love you even more (totally homo, okay no).
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:57 pm
by tremolo3
Invisible Man wrote:I can't get the goddamn IT guys to give me the admin password to download whatever I want. So I think that's out the window.
Load a live linux distro and set a new password.
Install Reaper.
Get a physical DAW controller.
Have fun.
Oh and you can download a tape simulator VST if you really want that quality or the varispeed thing.
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:24 pm
by Invisible Man
ramonovski wrote:Invisible Man wrote:I can't get the goddamn IT guys to give me the admin password to download whatever I want. So I think that's out the window.
Load a live linux distro and set a new password.
WTF is this I don't even
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:42 pm
by tremolo3
Invisible Man wrote:ramonovski wrote:Invisible Man wrote:I can't get the goddamn IT guys to give me the admin password to download whatever I want. So I think that's out the window.
Load a live linux distro and set a new password.
WTF is this I don't even
haha, I can walk you through if you decide to do it. Or there must be a youtube tutorial for that... it's 2016, so yeah.
It's basically loading an OS (a program) on a USB or a CD/DVD and do some copy and paste of files. Then some typing to set a new password and that's it.
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:51 pm
by spacelordmother
ramonovski wrote:
I love you even more (totally homo, okay no).
Oh Celer, Oh Dani.

Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:09 pm
by rustywire
Pro tip: avoid linux for a/v design or you're gonna have a bad time
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:41 pm
by tremolo3
rustywire wrote:Pro tip: avoid linux for a/v design or you're gonna have a bad time
Yeh, lack of stable drivers suck, GUIs suck, docs suck.
Dat realtime kernel tho.
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:57 pm
by rustywire
Yep. Lack of stable drivers & compatibility with ifaces is the single most frustrating weak link you can have with ITB audio solutions.
It's basically a headache factory

Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 6:45 pm
by Psyre
I'll be the contrarian here..... I love 4/8 track cassette recorders! The album I just finished was recorded on my Tascam 488 MkI (wish it was a MkII with the XLR inputs, but with these, it's always what you can find for cheap and condition is king). I'm like you, I really need faders and knobs. I also love having a tangible object with my music. My collections consists of the 488, and a Yamaha MT100 and MT3X (which now belongs to my fiance) I adore the little MT100, I found it in Ypsi MINT for $60. Something to consider though is the increasing High Bias tape prices. I was fortunate enough to work at a great Goodwill for a few months, they didn't sell tapes, so I got them for free. A couple great hauls came in, so I'm sitting on about 50 sealed and 200 used various High Bias tapes. Bulk erasers make the cheap used guys as good as new.
Something else to consider, if you can use these guys as instruments. Record chords onto them and swell/fade them in and out- instant ambiance. tune/detune/run out to effects. That's the main purpose of the MT100 since getting the 488.
I find I like the sound of the Yamaha's more than the Tascams I've used. I also think fewer people used the Yamaha's and they have less of a name behind them so they are cheaper to come by. I'd really like an MT8X
All that said, I still use Logic a lot. I always send the tracks into the DAW rather or not I finish them there or not. I mean, they are gonna have to be put up online anyway... Hitting a cassette hard will add a nice compression IMO- the same sounding compression as wider tape? of course not, but I like the saturation I am able to get that I just can't get with digital, for better or worse. I also really like creative use of track bleed. Hitting drums really hard into the cassette and then nulling out the track leaving random transients.
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:14 pm
by Invisible Man
So my cursory research while watching a cartoon about pirates tells me that I can step into Reaper, a tablet to run it, and a simple but powerful controller for around $200-250. Probably more flexible than my initial idea, and as easy to fire up quickly. Hm.
Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:37 pm
by hiorgos
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Re: Tape Recorders
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 8:02 pm
by kbit
The R16 has been on my radar for a little while now. Curious what you'd use the other 8 tracks for, overdubs?