I think I'm going to take this 424 and use it to make music until I wear it out! The physical and even sonic limitations are welcome at this point, as I need to take a more basic, roots approach to recording for while. I do appreciate all the help and suggestions guys. But I appreciate the suggestion, and I'm going to file it away for use later in life! I want reliable analog gear for making music.Īs for ways to sound better recording in the digital/pc domain, a $2k+ mic and preamp setup isn't practical for my budget at this point, nor do my current abilities or applications require gear like that. I certainly don't want an old piece of gear to maintain just for the hobby of it. I want to develop my recording abilities further, and once I feel that my abilities stretch beyond this 424, I'll move into some better analog equipment.
#Tascam 424 mkii 4 track review series
I'm also seeking something that provides the kind of utter simplicity that the 424 series provides, just to record some music. If it's a dirty analog sound, I'm OK with that for now. I don't mind if the cassette recorders like the 424 MKIII are dirty and limited. that really doesn't sound like what I'm looking for anyways. Check out Buddy Miller's stuff - he's all about ProTools, yet his records drip "vibe." With the right choice of mics, good engineering chops and most importantly, great players, you can make great sounding records, digitally. If you just like to play around w/old stuff for fun, by all means, knock yourself out. That said, IMHO even a 1/4" open reel machine isn't going to do what you're looking for, in regards to PITA/mojo ratio. We've got a well-maintained MCI JH-24 at the studio and I've used it 3x in the past 6 years. If you like the artifacts, you'll use it for certain things. At this point, it's just a choice more for color, rather than superior fidelity. Even analog 2" (the Holy Grail) is being used less and less, simply because good converters, at 24-bit, are sounding pretty darned good. I get this question a lot over on my recording forum at H-C, and generally the advice from most everyone is that it's more hassle than it's worth. Instead of hiss and distortion (the hallmarks of cassette) you'll get a taste of the clarity and that elusive analog "warmth." You'll also need to get really good at maintenance, tracking down parts and adhering to a rigid cleaning/demag regimen.Īre you planning on dumping this to your DAW, or will this be the finished product? What will you mix to and what console/outboard will you use? If working properly, sound quality is a magnitude better. Head wear is always an issue, as are pinch rollers, relays, etc. Also the Tascam 40-4 and 34, 44 Models are OK. I'd probably try and find an Otari 5050 4-track. $50 for 100 60-minute tapes seems like a pretty fair deal to me! They come in quanties of 100, and you can get them in any length from 1 to 97 minutes. I also just found a good source for bulk type II cassettes, given that there are definite advantages to tracking to virgin tape, rather than using them over and over again. So never being the patient person, I just found a used 424 MKIII in excellent condition for $150! It was used in limited capacity at a church by the reverend's daughter, so I'm pretty sure it has been taken good care of. I realize that a cassette ain't no 2" tape, but hey, it's my project studio and I'm on a budget here! Just what the doctor ordered! I realize maybe my thinking is a little backwards, but sometimes I wonder why people spend so much money on really pricey outboard gear and plug-ins to make their digital recordings sound more analog, when all you really have to do is record to analog to begin with, then bounce it to digital for editing and mix down. No fuss interface, and that nice, warm, natural analog saturation and compression. That's very cool man! Exactly what I want to do. In that light, the older MKI units look like the most straight-forward. I just want decent preamps, and good analog sound quality. Do the input/output features differ on any of the versions?Īny other extra features really take a back seat for me given that I'll be doing all mixing/editing, etc. Obviously the 2x tape speed is very important as well, but I think all the 424's have that, right?Īlso important as far as features goes would be I/O options. What are the differences between the MKI, MKII, and MKIII models?Įven though this is just a cassette 4-track, the best sound quality possible is paramount, so if one has better preamps than another, or if one has greater simplicity in it's design that leads to better sound quality, that would be my preference. I'm strongly considering the Tascam 424 series. I've got a ProTools LE rig, but I'm looking to pick up an inexpensive cassette 4-track to use for tracking to analog tape.