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That's "High Bias 2014", a copyrighted track.

Cannot just post that hiss to the internets.

You caught me!

This thread is maybe old, but yo... HAIL TAPE. I've always been a 4-track dude, I like the sound and manual aspect of it. It has its limitations but don't think it's a lo-fi option, if you have properly hot levels the hiss will be minimal. Although the slight noise and natural compression is part of the appeal, of course. Normal tapes work ok, but type II/chrome is the best. I try to snag up sweet NOS cassettes whenever I can, bought some off ebay recently, though chrome tapes can be a bit expensive unless you buy them in bulk.

The first 4-track I got was in back in 1995, a brand new Fostex X-55, a pretty large machine which worked great until a small part inside the tape mechanism broke and I don't know how to fix it. Then I got a used Tascam 424, which was also great and a bit easier to use, but that broke when I tripped over a cable that was attached to it and it fell to the floor... so always unplug yr cables, esp. if you tend to not be sober! Now I have a Marantz PMD-740, which is a huge beast with VU meters and all, but I haven't used it that much yet. I totally recommend getting a portastudio if you're into recording, it sounds awesome and is a nice change from fucking around with a computer.

Yea, I'd stick with the highest end later Portastudio you can get your hands on - 414mk whatever, 424, 488 if you can swing it.

By that point the pres were as good as they got and noise was as minimal as the format would go. Wasn't ever hi-fi and I don't miss it (I use a DAW like a tape machine, even still record a few seconds of leader to make sure there's takeup even though it doesn't apply on digital...), but I never had great luck with the Fostex units even when they were new.

For us old dudes, they were the Ibanez Soundtank versus Boss of the era when there wasn't boutique anything. Nobody picked the former unless it was $20 uses.

rustywire wrote:Normal, Type II crO2, Metal tapes will all work.
Be sure you look into the maintenance/cleaning process for your heads and rollers, some tape types and manufacturers are *dirtier* than others and will require the heads be cleaned more frequently.
Normal bias tapes have a sound. Type II, chrome, metal tapes all have a sound.
Avoid using tapes longer than 90min (the tape itself is manufactured thinner in order to fit on the reels, which is more prone to mishaps)
In a 4track they will yield 45min recording time, you only get 1 side due to all 4 tracks being used at once so don't flip it and think you gain another 45min!

You are showing your age... (as well as mine!)

22m recording time on any 4 track worth a spit (double speed)!

Heh. I never stopped buying, playing, recording to & using cassettes once I began, as an 80s kid. I'm happy they've made their way back into the collective music consciousness, whether it's for their sound, the novelty...or tangibility.
10 years ago I was seen with a walkman & got joked on real bad by various hipstery music kids, even though it was a mix I made of vinyl-only dancehall/dub that was never mastered for digital formats. People kept trying to convince me "this would sound better on cd" and "I can fit 1000 songs in my pocket with this here iPod" and so on. I quickly stopped wasting my breath trying to provide perspective and....facts.
Well here we are, 3/4 through 2015 and my Walkman and mixes I made in the 90s still work (and sound great to me)...meanwhile how many of those gen 1 iPods are still usable? How many of those 1000 songs had to be repurchased? And how many of those hipstery music kid naysayers are now riding the current cassette trend? Makes me laugh

If you look closely, you can see his beats are kept on a cassette player running out to an amp.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM7g2SdqPjE[/youtube]

I miss when those tascam 4 tracks were selling for like $20 all the time. Like right around 2008/2009 I wanted to buy one. I always saw them going for no more than $50 on ebay.

I'll get one one day, but honestly I'm getting more and more interested in reel-to-reel recording. It's so expensive though

The handheld cassette recorder I use for samples goes for like $100+ on Amazon now (was looking for a backup the other day). Insane to me.

So my buddy and I split the cost of a tascam 424 mkI about a year ago to record our jams. I was enjoying getting the hang of the whole analog recording process, but when I tried bouncing tracks, the quality just plummeted. I'd imagine it was mostly due to the fact that I was mixing on some shitty cassette deck that I picked up from goodwill on the cheap.

Anyway, I was thinking of trying to snag a tascam porta 02 or 03 for myself to use in my apartment at school. I like how small they are. Anyone have any experience with these and how do they compare to the 400 series (specifically a 424 if possible)? I'm obviously not expecting that it's some magic miracle device. Just something to lay down little doodads and practice tape recording/mixing.

Which brings me to the next piece of equipment. What are some relatively decent and cost effective mixing decks?

The Porta 02/03 aren't as quiet noise floor wise, have vastly inferior mixers, etc. I'd go with one of the tiny current Tascam digital ones if space is the issue.

And as far as mixing/output, on any of the 4 track stuff, you're stuck with what's left inside so not sure about your question.

What kind of zany impedance and sync issues does a person need to do know about transferring betwixt DAW <--> cassette?

In what respects?

Impedance is a non-issue. It's a line-level signal out of the 4 track or just about any non-powered mixer.

Sync, are we talking about doing a mixdown direct to daw or are you trying to dump each track individually?

The latter will be functionally impossible (no sync available), the former no issue at all.

Sorry, should have been more specific.

Cool, thanks for the impedance tip. I get turned around sometimes with impedance and consumer/pro line level specs (the two units I'm working with are both consumer line level so that should be fine).

I was thinking of dumping each track one by one into a DAW interface. Impossible because of the cassette speed drift and/or wow/flutter? Guess I'll have to do stereo mixdown if that's the case.

It's funny, I spent my formative recording years with a cassette 4 track, but when I moved to DAW I figured I'd never have to use the 4 track again. Couldn't have guessed I'd eventually work on a project that wants the two formats to mingle.