Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[alanfc]

hello-

I'm going to be recording alot of guitars on our band's CD (fun amateur project), and was going to use my 20+ year old Fostex 4 track cassette job. Just tried it- its dead.

so if I get me another one of these multitrack cassette recorders like this, will I get my "to-Tape" sound?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4 1480&item=3740507294&rd=1

I don't have =alot= of experience with real tape vs. digital recording, but I've been doing it digital for awhile and thought I'd try tape just for fun again. I don't really know what I'm looking for as far as recorded tone for this CD, but I'd hate to pass up something easy like this , atleast to try.

what do you think?

this is just for the guitars... I'll transfer it into my recording software

[NelsonL]

Unless you want a really lo-fi guitar sound, then no-- that thing won't add any magic it will just trash up your sound. You'd be better off with a nice mic pre. Or if you're set on tape as a signal processor, get something better like an Otari 1/2" machine.

[Brett Mixter Rader]

In my experience cheap digital sounds much better than cheap analog (and I am a confirmed analog head)
maybe you could rent a decent 2 track to use as a huge plug-in?

[alanfc]

thanks guys

yeah I think I'm going to re-think this

perhaps save for a good used reel to reel.

1/2" or 1/4"

I may rent something indeed, to see if I can hear a significant difference

[hargerst]

If your recording software or soundcard has provisions for a mic input, a Shure SM-57 in front of your amp should be all you need to get a great sound.

[alanfc]

thanks Harvey, yes this is what I've been doing and I've been satisfied indeed.

but I always wonder 'what if'.

[John Ivan]

Hi all;

I really like the sound of tape but, Very narrow format analog wont get you what you want ,{i don't think}. I had a tascam 80-8 that I really liked. These are 1/2" machines that use DBX. I happen to like this sound on most things. These machines are still around and are quite cheap. Having said that, If you dial up a good tone and slap a 57 in front of it,as Harvey has mentioned, you should get a fine sound. I do love tape though.

Note; DBX and NR in general dose leave artifacts on the audio. It just so happens that I like that strange DBX sound. There is nothing pure about it however..

[floodstage]

I've still got my Tascam 38 which is similar to the 80-8.
It's a 1/2" 8 track reel to reel also.  I believe the 80-8 is a bit sturdier though.
I paid 4250 for the 38 & DBX in the early 80's.
It sounds a far cry better than a 4 track cassette porta studio.

Just checked e-bay, you can get them for about 200 now.  (w/o DBX)

Before you buy, check the price of blank tape.  They cost me 50 to 70 bucks each when I was using the reel to reel and that's for about 40 minutes recording time per reel.

[Bob Olhsson]

I think the 38 sounds quite a bit better than an 80-8 especially without the DBX.

[John Ivan]

Bob Olhsson wrote on Sun, 05 September 2004 11:04

I think the 38 sounds quite a bit better than an 80-8 especially without the DBX.

Yeah, I'll bet this is true. The 38 used a whole new quieter electronics set and was probably more stable. I did get my 80-8 sounding quite nice after a friend went over the cards though. It was old and he recapped and built the power supply and dialed it up for 456. A friend of mine had the 38 and with the DBX, they sounded very near the same. We could not get useful results out of either 1/2" 8 track machine at 15 ips without the NR.

[Scully]

Here is a link to some demos I did for a friends Gypsy Jazz trio on my 80-8 with no noise reduction.  http://www.ameranouche.com/wst_page2.html

[Scully]

The live bootleg was done by someone else

[John Ivan]

Sounds nice scully;
Was this at 15 ips? When I tried this years ago, Perhaps I didn't hit the tape hard enough OR the cards were miss-dialed. Just because they dialed em, dose not mean they did it right. The recordings sound real good.

[Scully]

Yes it was at 15ips. The 80-8 is factory calibrated for 250 tape but people put 456 on it without calibrating it for 456. Even calibrated for 456 level and pining the needles in the red with clean acoustic jazz guitars I still cant hear any noticable distortion and the hiss is almost gone, by the way the heads are so wasted on this machine you could slice cheese with the sharp edges,   Paul.

[John Ivan]

Interesting. I'm pretty sure that it was dialed for 456 and I didn't hit the tape hard enough.My dream now is to have a 2" 16 track running at 15 ips. This would be for my own stuff. I have experienced this sound first hand and just love it. I'm maybe 6 months away from being able to buy one.

How do you folks feel about the MCI machines? I understand the Ampex MM1200 machines are wonderful things also. I keep wondering if I could pick up a Tascam MS 16 or ATR 60 cheaper and get what I'm looking for. I've used these machines also and while they sounded nice, 2",it is not.

Think Think Think.

[standup]

Other folks are suggesting 8 track reel to reel--I suggest 4 track. Half inch, 15 inches per second. That will get you some good tape sound.

If you want lo-fi, get a cheap cassette deck, not a 4-track cassette.

Go to ebay, look at Tascam, Sony, MCI, Scully, TEAC see what's around. Should be cheap. Get a 3-head machine NOT 2 heads, and learn how to align it. 2-head machines are much harder to align.

And don't just record guitars with it--think about drums too.

I'm a cheapskate dude recording friends in my house. I did 4 track cassette in the 80s, reel to reel in the 90s,  and I'm using a computer in the 00s. I decided that cheap digital sounds better than cheap analog, and I wasan't doing the maintenance well enough (aligning a 1/2" 16 track 2 head machine is a pain in the ass) to keep it.  Besides, I can fix computer problems more easily than mechanical/electronic problems.

But if you have the commitment to go for the 1/2 inch 3-head four track thing, it will sound good--not like cheap analog.

[John Ivan]

Hi all:

I'm back from a road trip. I couldn't get to a computer.

Yeah, I have an Ampex 440-B 1/2" 4- Track that I LOVE. This machine is in fine shape and I have a spare deck that I want to convert to 1/2" 2-Track. These machines are a good deal and you can still find them around.