tape recorder : very useful or not ?

[Kidpo]

Hey sp fam,

I'm looking on a tascam 424 portastudio for 70€. What do u think about it ? How do you use yours ?

Thanks for help.

[medearis]

I use my tapes to record my sweet ass beatz.
I also use my tapes to archive drum samples (and other misc. stuff).
Adds the hissy texture that is like candy bars to compressors.

You can also use it as a sort of "mixdown" for your SP. Sample/resample some drum patterns... record to tape... add next layer... next layer... you can infinitely bounce between your SP & tape deck. This can help you get around resample polyphony I guess.

Or you can use it to make an ex lover some dope mix tapes about how you're over her

[Kidpo]

Thanks ! It sounds great...I think I gonna buy this.

[rageone]

that`s a 424 mk2 if i`m not mistaken, wu`s 36 chambers was made on one of these

i have a yamaha, you can hook up 2 fx to it, layer drums - bass - some guitar - some vocal samples and 2 delay pedals and do some dubs

[Kidpo]

I buy this tascam 424 mkII. What do u think about it ?

[medearis]

I have the MKIII and it rocks. Just a simple, legit recorder.

[rageone]

put some stickers or markers on it

[Kidpo]

Medearis,

What kind of tape do u use for ? Normal tape or type II ?

[Kidpo]

Do u obtain that proper tape sound with it ? ´cause I read somewhere that this tape recorder sounds "too clean".

[OgGhoul]

I have an MKII, in the manual it says to use type II. You can find them on eBay for pretty cheap, I like Maxell XLII type II cassettes. As long as you're recording everything in the red you're gonna obtain tape saturation. This is my first and only tape recorder so I don't know what you mean by "proper tape sound," but I love the sound of mine. If your sampling from vinyl, record your sample to tape than to your sampler for some extra dirt, especially do this for drum breaks.

[Kidpo]

Thanks

[Kidpo]

Last question : Do u often clean and demagnitized it ?

[SebP]

You clean the heads once in a while. 90% rubbing alcohol and swabs. You don't need special shit for this. Also, cleaning the capstans(those metal pins) is a good thing and what i'll do once a year is open the thing and clean the belts. Also, be careful about demagnetizing. I spent a lot of time reading about it. Should I or not? The thing is, if you don't know how to use a demagnetizing wand, you can actually make the heads worse. I never demagnetize my tape deck heads anyways. It's not that important. What I do though is use a pencil eraser and pass it on the heads(erasing and playing) a couple times. Little d.i.y. tip that I read about somewhere.

[Kidpo]

Thanks a lot mate. I really appreciate.

[medearis]

The "proper" tape sound... depends on if you mean the sound like Led Zep or Black Sabbath or if you mean slightly rolled off highs + tape hiss.

If the latter, you're right on the money with your recorder.