#493

I had this problem with a Fostex X-26 4 track. I took it apart and cleaned the heads. The pinch roller was definitely the dirtiest part. I gave it a good clean and it hasn’t happened since.

1 Like
#494

Anyone have a pdf manual for the Tascam 488 mkII? Only one I’m finding online is a terrible, mostly illegible scan. Bonus points for service manual. :slight_smile:

#495

Found a decent ‘quick manual’

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/706280/Tascam-Portastudio-488-Mkii.html

1 Like
#496

Thanks that def helps. Still holding out for the whole thing though. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#497

I have a Porta Two that was doing the same thing. There wasn’t enough tension on the belt driving that roller. I bought a new set of belts from Vintage Electronics and it’s been working correctly since I installed them.

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#498

I just got a new deck (Sansui D-99CW) and found this website. I’ve been working with tape for over a decade and haven’t come across this yet! Wanted to share:

5 Likes
#499

As a follow up to my post about belts for my Marantz PMD 221:
I did order belts from turntableneedles.com and overall it was a good experience. I should note that the flat belt that goes to the main motor was not the correct width for my unit. The new belt is 3.8mm wide and my used belt was 2.8mm (it may have been wider when new). The main issue I had was that the wider new belt would not stay on the motor pulley as it was too wide to stay between the spool ends of the pulley.

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I checked to see if they had another belt that might fit and since they did not, I decided to try and trim the width to fit. I found a plastic cap from a spray paint can that was a suitable diameter and stretched the new belt over it and placing it on a table I lined up the belt with the very square edge of the cap. I then stretched the old belt over it new one and squared it up as well. I then trimmed the new belt using the old belt as a guide with a new razor blade in one continuous cut. (Fighting off the jitters as I realized what I was doing right in the middle of the cut.!!)
The new belt now fit perfectly and I finished by replacing the other two belts and closing the unit up. Everything works perfectly now.
I prepared myself by watching this very detailed video on replacing the belts on a PMD 430 which is very similar:
https://youtu.be/76nnbHsJLDI

1 Like
#500

does anyone have experience with plugin dbx or dolby (or other noise reduction) software? Honestly just curious about it more than need it, could be interesting to try to do some multi-tracking with multiple runs to my teac 4-track reel

I found this anaxwaves maker which has some for both, but no demos. The site has a lot of impressive documentation, they are not super expensive, and I’m pretty certain it’s not a scam and looks like a lot of hard work was put into it, but it does mention the vst is “experimental” and I’d much prefer that to standalone software. So it would involve purchasing without really knowing if it’ll work or not.

I also found out that u-he’s satin has an encoder/decoder built into it, which can be used with actually recorded tape signal…it’s quite a bit more in scope than what I’m looking for, though.

Any thing I’m not finding, or any thoughts on those tools?

#501

No dbx/dolby plugin experience (other than the dbx built into my tascam 424) - but i have gotten very good results from using izotope rx denoiser on tape recordings.

3 Likes
#502

good point, I have an acon digital denoiser plugin which is similar and I use it on a lot of stuff to good effect.

I’m curious about these flows where you “encode” and “decode” like dbx and dolby. it may be that the more FFT-based (I’m guessing) stuff of the modern plugins is far and away more effective though

#503

While the izotope denoiser is effective, it doesn’t add any character. It’s easy to “denoise” to the point of hurting fidelity IMO. The 424 DBX, on the other hand, does some very cool compression stuff and that can bring a lot of flavor.

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#504

yeah, conceptually these things are really interesting.

the anaxwaves site has a system diagram of dolby for example, it’s really cool to see all the components that come together to make things work.

It looks like they also offer a dbx-like compander emulation for use on digital stuff too, interesting stuff http://www.anaxwaves.com/DxLCompander/

#505

Service and user manuals available on this website:

He also provides a wealth of knowledge on repairing 4-track cassette recorders on his youtube channel

1 Like
#506

try Fabfilter Pro-MB in 4 or 5 expander bands. Dolby A did this, Dolby B is a sliding band compander. Dolby C is like two Dolby B in series. Dolby S is like A but for home equipment.

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You can fine tune it to taste. For instance have knee or exact amount of stereo link (i think each channel was an independent circuit originally). On a pristine recording you can insert ToneBoosters’ ReelBus before this to inject noise into the chain and hear how the “noise reduction” system works.

edit: the above is for replay. you’d need to compress and boost for recording.

3 Likes
#507

I had a similar problem on my used Tascam 464; for me, the head wouldn’t engage. Fixed it by cleaning (alcohol) and lubricating (silicone grease) the gears that engage/disengage the heads. The origins lube had gotten all stiff and tacky.

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#508

How cute is this Stellavox Fi-Cord 101S from the mid 1960s!
I think the Nagra SN wasn’t released until 1970 so maybe predates it…

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(it is up for auction in Japan, buy now = US$405, looks ok but would need recap & new belt)

11 Likes
#509

Adorable. It looks like something that would self-destruct in flames on the old 1960s Mission Impossible show.

3 Likes
#510

has anyone here ever attempted (successfully or otherwise) to add a half-speed switch to a tascam 414?

it would really add a whole additional layer of usefulness to the 414 for me, especially considering my handheld dictaphone no longer records and I would no longer need to compensate for the ~octave shift. the dictaphone has this really grungy character I like a lot but since everything drops about an octave, it doesn’t often see use with higher frequency/pitched content

i’m aware that the 424 has such a control on it, but i don’t currently have the finances or space to justify having two tape decks, especially one significantly larger than the 414

1 Like
#511

Just scored this one. A Sony TCS-580V cassette recorder. It has built in stereo mic, aux in, variable speed and it can FF/RW with preview on for that classic sound. I plan to use it for resampling and as a lofi field recorder.

I even got a clip-on mic to put on my neck-tie … :crazy_face:

15 Likes
#513

Does it have 3 heads or are there inexpensive 3h walkies?