Alright so I'm pretty much starting from scratch (again). Looking to keep it simple. I want a cassette four track but It's gotta have MIDI out. Optionally pitch control and eq would be great. Do any of the old school 4 tracks have this, any suggestions?

The Tascam DP02CF, and Fostex MR8 MKII are both really nice. If I can't find a cassette recorder that fits the bill I'll likely get one of these. Just rather have tape, and rather not spend as much as the digital shits cost.

hi
i don't know if a model like this exists.
i made a research sme month ago to see and try to understand how bands like depeche mode, human ligue or model500 (all electronic-the first 2-and techno-the third- bands) recorded their midi stuffs in the '80...
i didn't find any recorder with cassette wich had midi out...
but i have a thread that maybe can solve a part of this problem. it's about the midiman (the ancient name of m-audio) http://www.midi-classics.com/p1029.htm wich trasmit midi messages from an audio machine. you record a midi signal in the cassette recorder. other sync machines:Tascam mt-30, Yamaha ymc10...they all allows you to record FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) signal...
this is the thread, where i and other talked about this and the sync possibilities between midi/audio...
http://sp-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5253

good 4 tracks cheap cassettes recorders:

TASCAM PORTASTUDIO 424 MK III

tascam Portastudio 246

Fostex 280

Yamaha mt4x (i have this, not bad at all)

Yamaha mt120 (i have this one, a little noisy)

all this recorders allows you to SYNC audio with midi (see before), you record an FSK signal on track4 (this is the track to do that) and your done: the 4 tracks recorder became the Master of the other midi machines.

...there are other recorders, like 8 tracks, a little bit expensive than those...normally, tascam and fostex are good in this case...

ps
(ask also to COMPUTERS, he got a tascam cassette)

Thanks for the info Ella, very interesting work around. I wasn't sure if there were any midi equipped 4-tracks, now I know. I think I'll just get a cheap digital recorder and mixdown to a tapedeck. Would've been cool to do it all in one recorder but It's no big deal. Again thanks for pointing this out.

i own a cheap digital recorder, the zoom mrs-4, it has a midi out, batteries and cool faders...it saves in .wav formats (but 32hrz). no usb. very small. it is maybe the only little recorders with batteries to have midi out...when i say little it is like the sp-303 dimensions...

That Mrs4 looks great but the smartmedia kills it for me. The Tascam DP02cf is tempting. Simple interface and it uses CF cards which are pretty cheap. I dunno I'll keep looking, I'm in no hurry. Any suggestions are appreciated.

dp02 cf is a nice piece of kit, grabbed one about four days ago on craigslist for about 160 , and it uses the same cards as the 404 and 555, i actually got an extra card for my 404 through the deal, its incredibly easy to use, i recorded that live set i posted in the music forum first day i got it.

but i hear you on the natural tape compression, why not have the best of both worlds

just my two cents peace

I use the Tascam Portastudio 414 MK2
It's nice, and works with the 404's power adapter.

that dp02 cf is nice. might i ask how are you using it sleepsnumb. ive had mine for like 2 or 3 weeks and ive been recording everything on the fly, no quantization or nuffin but i sort of like quantizing and keeping things on beat, helps when you have to go edit. i was wondering if you did every thing on the sampler and transfered over or do you use it like a multitracker and go track for track.

personally i use much the midi out to record in sync track by track, but, after buying a multichannel mixer, now i use to record many machines at once to don't loose the "live" risk...then bounce some of them (tracks i mean) adding external fx or muting/unmuting tracks...
ps
...after the last Euclid sp-beatape proposistion, i returned to play/record not in sync, indeed....