Tape Gear!

[petesasqwax]

I’m absolutely going to try this over the weekend!

[eesn]

Philips: “why would you ever want to do that?”

happy Friday, everyone

[ellips_s]

it seems that ellips_s has bypassed the erase head the same way

yep! although i found some of the previous recordings are still getting erased. i’m still super new to working with tape, but i’ve found recording at lower levels helps. maybe there’s another trick?

[papernoise]

@janglesoul very cool idea, thanks a lot for sharing! Will try this!

Btw. What are you all using to glue tape together when splicing / making loops?
I’m a bit worried about getting glue residue onto the heads…

[janglesoul]

That’s my experience too. The louder and more dense material I record the more gets erased. Maybe more sparse sound sources with more air/gaps - such as a plucked arpeggio would let more of earlier layers through?

[janglesoul]

Basic office material, regular scotch tape. I cut small strips and usually need tweezers. Not too worried about the glue, some alcohol should take care of that.

[papernoise]

I find that tape tends to come off with time. Maybe I need a different tape though.

[sno]

I see a lot of you use 4-track cassette recorders. I have been using mine, a fostex x-28h, quite extensively. lately I’ve notice I’m getting very low level recordings with it.
when recording to tape I’m seeing good levels, when playing back from tape, levels are really low.
anyone encounter similar situations with their machines? is this a problem that I can fix?

[janglesoul]

I’ve got no idea But I got great help from diyaudio-forum some years ago. Here’s the thread I created - lots of helpful people turned out:

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/255646-4-track-cassette-repair-sharp-troubleshooters-welcome.html

[gabu]

I am having the same exact issue with a Tascam 414 mk1. I dont have a secondary recorder to check if it is a playback or recording issue. Definitely curious to hear thoughts on this.

[eesn]

what do you plug it into?

-10 dBV is 14dB lower than pro level (mixer), right?
even quieter when compared to modular (+14 dBu)

[gabu]

Thanks for the diagram, that is helpful to visualize. When I play back, the levels on all four tracks cut and/or drop volume randomly, then come back intermittently. Even when a track is playing back, it is never to the recorded volume - but that makes sense from that schematic.
I usually plug direct in (like a guitar or field recorder) or plug in mixer outs to the tape recorder.

[eesn]

the “randomly” part is more of a red flag for me…

[dermo]

Hey, I use one of these too, if i remember correctly there’s some calibration trimmers on the underside, i used them to fix a left/right imbalance on my machine a while back!

[Cementimental]

8-track carts back in action.

[renegog]

fixin to make a movie AND the score on tape

[Shiftr]

How is that Tascam? There is a similar for sale near here.

[renegog]

its very basic, no EQ, 1 in at a time, but its perfect for me the lil door on mine is broken too you cant really see in the photo but it doesnt close so i got a good deal on it too - dont really plan on traveling with it much so doesnt bother me. not 100% sure these are worth it at the price they sometimes go for, but if its the right thing for you and you get it at a good price i find tape v fun

[Noisetrees]

Just bought a Tascam 424 mk III and im stoked to learn its ins and outs. I was lucky enough to score one with an original PSU as I understood they’re notoriously hard to come by.

This brings me to my question: has anyone bumped into exact third party versions of the PSU? Mine is US and I live in Finland, so I wouldn’t mind finding a switching 100-240 V one for international use.

Asking here before I give the task to a local electrician. Cheers!

[sno]

that’s interesting @dermo can you provide more info on where are they located? I think this might also be related to the recording head, does that make sense?

thanks @janglesoul I’ll check it out!

@gabu I’ll let you know if I find any info or get any results