hi
recently , by the fault of COMPUTERS sp-member , i reopened up my yamaha mt120 4tracks tape recorder. i discover an interesting function on it, the sync function. until now i didn't knew anything about it. now i know that with a midi to fsk converter (fsk is most commonly used to synchronize a tape recorder with MIDI devices,such as a sequencer or drum machine) you can synchronise the recorder with midi machines.
some examples of fsk converters:
M-Audio SmartSync
Tascam mt-30
Yamaha MSS1
Yamaha ymc10
maybe is a question better placed to the "other gear" section, but
have you use or heard of one of these machine?


peace

ps
one negative point: if you use this method you will lose 1 track (used to record fsk messages)...

that sounds pretty dope. sounds a lot better than a fidgety digital 8 track thats for sure (shift button this shift button that). if i could have it start with my pattern sequencer i wouldnt mind having one of those

two corrections.
the Yamaha MSS1 doesn't trasmits fsk messages, but smpte messages, so it isn't good in this case.
FSK means Frequency Shift Keying.

hurling, this is not against you , it's my phucking english, i just only wanted to precise those things about fsk...
and the mss1 isn't an fsk converter.
peace

Wow, that sounds awesome. Too bad mine can't do that, though...

hey, don't know if you know that, but this topic it's caused by you!

anyway, are you sure you can't do that? what tascam you got? i don't remember anymore...
if it's marked sync in the tape outs (rear panel), you're ok.

Ah what the heck maybe it works, but I don't use MIDI anyways
Recording can be a bitch with cassettes, but I like the sound much better than just recording into audacity.

i agree for audacity (and softwares in general). the true thing is that if we want a real warm cool good sound into a pc we have to spend something like 700€ for a f****ng professonal motu interface...

but if you want to try midi with your sp-404... ...this is possible!

i just want a tape recorder for sending one shots through it to get the tape saturation then back into my sp. that would be dope.

yes it's cool!
when i'm writing, a friend of mine have borrowed me his tascam portastudio 464 k7...i made a confrontation with this and my yamaha and they sound different. the tascam is clean, the yamaha is dirty as hell...but for some one shot it's cool and dirt. rough.
if i found some fsk to midi converter (around 15€), i want to try this synchronisation.

i finally bought one of those, for only 15€.
http://www.midi-classics.com/p1029.htm
i will tell you...

shit!
it works! it works!
it's like having a big midi-out (the cassette recorder) that drive the other machines. until now i recorded the midi-out of the zoom mrs-4 digital recorder, just to have the fsk signal into the yamaha mt120 k7, and after i rewind the tape and connect the midi out of the Midiman smartsync to the midi-in of the sp-303 and....magic! it starts with the yamaha mt120!
i'm happy. now my tape recorder have a new life...
peace

ps
Little Info: Midiman was the original name of the today famous M-audio...

i read in the manual of your tascam that you have the possibility of this sync thing. if you have a machine with midi-out, an audio interface too, you could do that.
good luck!