Well this weekend I'm buying a tascam 424mkii off of craigslist. And Im just wondering what kind of tapes everyone uses. And if it matters if it's type I or ii as long as it's a high bias tape.

Also where do you get your tapes??

Btw, I bought a brand new sp 303 off of craigslist for $150 with a 128mb card. It feels good to be back. And get ready to be flooded with music. Peace!

Sweet! I

Yo, I use a 414 MKII Portastudio.
You can use both cassettes type 1 and type 2
It's best to use 90-tapes.
I like to use TDKs.

pretty much any tape would do. Just remember it only records on one side and you cant play in a regular deck afterwards ( sounds all slow ). One good thing to do is record over original tapes not the blank ones, you get alittle better sound.

I get my blanks at goodwill/salvation army usually. For some reason they always have 1 or 2, and occasionally more for $.50. if you want your choice of brand/length: http://www.tape.com/pg_blank_audio_cassettes_new.html
type I or II is up to the device really... not sure about the tascam's.

from wiki
Notches on top of the cassette shell indicate the type of tape within. Type I cassettes only have write-protect notches, Type II have an additional pair next to the write protection ones, and Type IV (metal) have a third set in the middle of the cassette shell. These allow cassette decks to automatically detect the tape type and select the proper bias and equalization. Virtually all recent hi-fi systems (with cassette decks) lack this feature; only a small niche of cassette decks (hi-fi separates) have the tape type selector. Playback of Type II and IV tapes on such a player will produce exaggerated treble, but it may not be noticeable because typically such devices have amplifiers that lack extended high frequency output. Recording on these units, however, results in very low sound reproduction and sometimes distortion and hiss is heard. Also, these cheaper units cannot erase high bias or metal bias tapes. Attempting to do so will result in "print-through."

if you going to be giving the tapes out probably stick with type I, as it will sound best to most people
good luck

edit: i didn't read computers answer does type IV work??

Don't forget to clean the heads every once in awhile !

Type I will leave behind more-they are a cheaper tape quality
Type II less so-
TypeIV really have metal in them-I &II are fine for the four track
Either way you should clean them everyonce in awhile-it will help the heads last longer

I also find piles of them at the salvation army or goodwill for .50 or so....

when i record into my fostex 160 4 track and then play it back out of any of the outputs i get a really overpowering high end hiss, is this cause of the tape i'm using, its just your regular cheap cassette for everyday recording, a type I maxell UR, i'm looking to find a place that sells tapes although i'm about to go check the thirft shop after reading this thread, but does anybody have any other ideas of why i would get this hiss?? its more than just tape hiss, its so overpowering that it kinda ruins the whole mix,

not sure.hard to say what's up. start with the easy stuff;

Is your dolby button engaged, so dolby is on?
It should always be on. Maybe it's not working. Can you hear a difference when you play a tape and turn it off and on?

are your levels OK ? You can push the meters unlike digital.

That thing runs at high speeds right? It should be about 20 something minutes for a 90 minute tape-if you get more time than that you might want to check out the motor.

clean the heads, make sure dolby is on and try again.

yeah i don't fuck with the dolby NR, it sounds like shit, i've had it on when i record something and i hear no difference, it has an effect when i play recorded tracks back though and i turn it on and off, it makes everything way to muffled and muddy's up the low end, i guess i could fuck with EQ before i go in but i'm just sayin fuck it to the Dolby NR, so i have been pushing the levels pretty heavy and it definitely made a difference though, fills up alot more head room, i guess it really is just me learning how to use my 4 track properly, but i'm sure using some high biased tapes would help a little, it says in the manual to only use certain kinds of tapes which i'm not using, it says to use a high biased type II and i have a normal type I, i'm gonna keep recording stuff out and learning how to get the best sound possible, i use cubase afterwards for EQ and some compression, and i usually cut off heavy above around 10k with EQ and also compress around there too and turn the gain all the way down which helps alot

+1 on the dolby NR, that sucks donkey ass.

I still got my 414 mkII but I don't use it anymore because the tracks bleed too much. But that pitch wheel is the shit though. I used to high pitch and low my vocals, made it seem like there was more than one person on the track.

i got a pitch wheel on mine too, and its the illest shit ever