I've been trying to get some analog saturation on tape going in my production, but it seems I keep getting burned...

1st, I bought a 4 track (Fostex' first portable 8 track) from a pawn shop that appeared nice but when I got it home, it didn't work. The mechanism that pushes the heads to the tape is foobar'd. I kept it, but haven't done anything with it yet.

2nd, I inherited a VCR. Although it only had A/V inputs, it wasn't really a concern for me as I can post process output elsewhere if I need stereo or even just run L/R in separately. Either way, the damn thing had no remote and no way to switch over to inputs! I got a universal remote, but the damn thing doesn't have a registered key for menu or input switching. So it's basically just a player. Dammit!

3rd, I bought a VCR at a swap meet today. It seemed to work when I was at the place, 15$. I get back home after carrying it around all day (trains, busses, walking etc) and the mechanical shit in it failed (and something broke off and I can hear it rattling around inside). WTF!? Am I cursed to never use any tape ever?!

FUCK.

I've said it before. VCR's don't have the "tape saturation" or compression you want. They have a good frequency range and quality, but because of how they write to the tape, the effects aren't desirable.I believe the audio is recorded in vertical strips as opposed to horizontally like regular tape. They are actually great for getting high quality recordings, which might have been useful before digital recording became so easy. The only way you can get character is if you overdub on a shitty vhs tape by putting tape over the record protection holes and you may get some warping. If you are looking for the tape saturation that PSP warmer or similar would emulate, you need to record to reel to reel (15 ips) and record loudly. Take in mind, I have been down the same road and bought a brand new vcr after having no luck with old ones...only to be disappointed when it wasnt as cool as I thought.

4 track recorders can work well for a cheap saturation effect, but pay attention to the frequency range they can record at. The Tascam Porta-02 cuts off at 50Hz. The 424 Portastudio goes down to as low as 20 Hz.

I also found this article...probably not what you were looking for, but hey.
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2011/02/c ... d-adapter/