tape recorders?

[rak]

i just started thinking whats going on with tape recording.i like the smooth tape-effect and i was thinking on recording my beats on normal tape or VHS.i could try to find some old walkman or video recorder i already have an dthen try to record.anyways..

is anyone using portable tape-recorders or vhs devices to record beats??

i was having thoughts about the walkman,probably the small jack input makes the sound lose quality of the sound??
whats about vhs sound recording quality??

i'd like to discuss the whole tape thing share your knowledge people

[MattCoops]

I suggest getting a 4 track cassette recorder.
You won't be disappointed.

[rak]

i checked tascam and i think 414 would be a good (and probably cheap) tape recorder.but i'm not sure if it would be easy to find one here,even if i find a used one it will be expensive fo sure.
so till then,i can make use of a walkman or a VHS player i already have.at least i'll try.
any opinions on these??
what could be a price for a used tascam??
any opinions are welcome!

[medearis]

I have a TASCAM Porta 424 MKIII and an Akai CS-702D. The TASCAM portastudios are fucking legit for cassette recording, no doubt about it. The 414 MKII would be a dope little recorder, for beats it would be perfect.

I strongly suggest that you are patient with your purchase. Buying cassette recorders in 2014 can be risky depending on the seller. YOU ARE GOING TO GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. That said, the TASCAM 414 MKII's are generally always a good value.

[LO-]

yo I got the TASCAM mfp-01. At first I thought it sounded like a peice of junk, untill I discovered it behaves like a digital converter. learning alot of pre equalization and stuff. mainly because of its slow tape speed.(normal cassete speed) where the 414 is high speed and you can boost it too for finer resolution, or do over lay tracks at different pitches and then pitch it back. but not on the poor mfp-01. no features no options and sounds like junk unless you completly optimize the audio for every track to get a desired effect other than a low hissy recording that sounds like it was made with one of those ghetto blasters that dub tapes and record the radio with mic in, and sometimes line in,rca in and input gain. I bet someone could make straight up legit studio recordings on one of those old tape recorder boom boxes too, and make use of the eq, The 414mk2 handles saturation real good where on the mfp-01 portastudio, you have to simulate any saturation before recording. You can tinker with the playback and recording speed, bias and recording input bian with dials or potentiometers inside the recorders and most tape recorders. but i wouldnt mess with bias unless you really need to use different tapes, because its tuned in the factory to be optimum with low noise tapes.

[spwarlock]

Yeah I have the mk ii and its an awesome tape recorder I use it mostly when I want to pitch something down and don't feel like throwing something in the computer.It works perfectly if you want to actually slow the speed of a sample down like you can do with a 202.Its great for adding dirt to your tracks as well.If you get one make sure you get a high bias blank cassette for your recordings unless you want your shit to sound really grimy in which case record over a beat up old cassette.I think I paid like 80 bucks for it on eBay...

[MattCoops]

I make my beats on the fly, freestyled. Loop after loop. All on cassette.
Putting it all together in a cohesive arrangement is tough to put it all together when stuff is spread out over 2 or 3 tapes.
It's easier to arrange it all copy and paste style in computer program.
But I like to record to tape.

[hseiken]

I got a 424 MKIII and a WM-DC6. I love both. The 424 is cheaper, but huge. The DC6 has dolby C and is tiny...it's basically a home theater style cassette player that fits in your hand. It's pricey though. It's got legendary status. It's to portable cassette recorders what the SP12 is to samplers in terms of legendary status.

[ellaguru]

got yamaha mt4x and mt120, cool machines

[rak]

thanks for the response guys!
here's the question!
i found a used portastudio 414 (mk1) pretty cheap.
is it able to connect i.e. 2 turntables and a sampler through 3 different tracks in order to let it play through the recorder?making it kind of "mixer" for live situation.i think its able.has anyone tried that out??

[l i f]

http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/ELECTR ... manual.pdf

I can't answer your question specifically Rak, but I doubt it... turntables using rca's and portastudio ins using regular mic-jacks. But you may find a workaround.

[rak]

i checked the manual.says, as you already said, mk2 has mice/line inputs.thats means the big jack??i tried checking images of mk1 to see if thats the same but cant be totally sure.i guess it is..

just thinking of it,could i use a 2 rca to jack adapter to make it work maybe??
how could that affect the sound quality??

(i dont know but it feels kind of funny when i use adapters,and i use it pretty much )

[l i f]

I use adapters constantly (would like to get a setup that avoids this.. work-in-progress) but my issue is that extra cords, adapters etc tangle and always seem to need replacing (get bent/broken at the point the cord joins the plug).

Short story short, a pain in the ass.

I'm sure someone will tell you there's a loss of sound quality but I'm convinced it's negligible until you get a dodgy cable that only works if it's held 'just-so'.

That portastudio is a classic. If the price is right i say geddit. (I got the 224, which has the inputs on the back, not the front like the 414... smarter design on the 414 I think - I place my porta sideways so I can access the input jacks).

[MattCoops]

Adapters at Radio Shack.
Mickey Mouse rig anything

[l i f]

Adapters at Radio Shack.
Mickey Mouse rig anything

It's true