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Why the Tascam 424 Portastudio sound so great? - Detailed audio tests
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- čas přidán 1. 03. 2019
- **WARNING** This video contains high pitched tones that can be harmfull to your hearing. I've done my best to warn you before a loud tone begins so you can be prepared but anyway be carefull with your volume and stay alert.
Laptop and cell phone speakers are totally out of question here! Some of the tests presented are really subtle and you´ll need a good pair of speakers to perceive the differences or, even better, headphones.
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EXTERNAL LINKS:
Download the original audio files and test results in 24bit/44.1 Khz
.waw format:
Work in progress
Wow & flutter measuring tool by A.N.T Audio:
www.ant-audio.co.uk/index.php?...
"Wow & Flutter Meter Basics" - awesome video by Techmoan
on the subject - You can't miss his channel! It's full of awesome reviews of vintage audio gear and history of old technologies:
• Wow & Flutter Meter Ba...
Tascam 424mkIII User Manual - In case you want to know more
about this awesome machine:
tascam.com/us/product/424mkii...
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All the music played during this video is written and recorded by me and is available for free at the Inspiring Tracks channel:
Killer Groove Funk (Em/Bm):
• Killer groove Funk (Em...
Cool Groovy Jazz Funk:
• Cool groovy Jazz Funk ...
SRV Inspired Texas Blues:
• Guitar backing track -...
Also If you want to suport my work you can purchase this tracks in Bandcamp by clicking here:
inspiringtracks.bandcamp.com/
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Greetings from Argentina!
Juan Pablo - Inspiring Tracks
To hear my first "real" recording of a song with the Tascam 424 click here: czcams.com/video/Y3UWY5VjpsY/video.html
I wish I could like this video twice! This is the most thoughtful and careful analysis video on the portastudio I've seen! Absolutely loved seeing how it paired up with digital, makes me even more excited for mine to arrive. Keep it up!!
Wow, thank you!
I used one of these many years ago, great machines. It looks like you put a lot of effort to make this video. Thanks
I'm really impressed by how good it sounds, and yes it took a lot of work but is also a lot of fun. Thanks!!!
Dude, you should win a CZcams award for the amount of effort and time you put into making this, really outstanding. The one thing though that the spectrographs etc. cannot measure is the 'vibe and feel' that tape puts on to music that digital can't . Even with vintage plugins , digital recordings still lack something to my ears. What do you think?
Thanks Frank! It certainly was a lot of effort but also a lot of fun. I was searching more detailed info about this machines when I was thinking about buy it and couldn't find much, apart from somebody playing old tapes or some basic tutorial, so when finally I bougth it, I deceided to make this video in case somebody find it usefull. And with respect to the more subjective question of how it sounds, I made a second video, recording from scratch a backing track for the channel using exclusively the Tascam, check it out if you want. I definetly find it has a certain warmth hard to emulate on a DAW, and the total imposibility of editing the tracks after being recorded also adds a more live flavor wich I think is really cool!
Very good job. Glad to own this model! Thank you for these good tests!
Its an awesome machine. I'm glad you liked the test!!!
I've wanted to do a test with my 426 & 388 using a snare as the test sound. It's one thing that always sounds better off tape in a mix, and have wanted to study the actual differences with an isolated snare, full beat and then a full mix in a manner like you've done. Good stuff.
It's a great idea. After recording this video I've used this machine to process some drums, vocals and bass and I can confirm that all sound great. Let me know what you think when you do your own tests. Cheers!!
Really outstanding and helpful video. Thank you!
Thanks!!!
Loved the bomb going off at the end of the RW! That is exactly what it feels like!
These seem to be pulling $400 plus now in working condition. Starting to appreciate even more the 424 MKii I extracted from its moving box. And the stack of unopened SXII tapes I kept with it!
The reason for the addition of DBX and/or Dolby is for the the reduction of noise accumulation during the second, third and subsequent generations of recordings when bouncing tracks. Bouncing tracks at various tape speeds and N.R. enabled or not would be some good tests. Also consider using pink noise for tests as this would include possible inter-modulation. Use the pink noise and tone sweeps for your objective tests. Repeat the tests using the exact same range of some backing tracks for your subjective tests. Good work. Love it.
Thanks for that really helpful advise, I'll definitely take note for a second part! And also you're right about dbx. It helps A LOT. I think in this tests it appears to not have much effect because I used a test tone of a single frequency maxed out at +6db and it must overload the companding part of the system, kind of like opening the gate and leaving the noise come through. Check my newest videos, I recorded a track with actual instruments and the result with dbx on is totally amazing! Almost zero hiss even after EQ and compression
Great video. Don’t forget to demag the heads and maybe repeat these tests. You may see a noticeable difference, especially with high frequency response, background noise and NR. 👍🏻
Thanks! I'm looking for a good demagnetizer to see if there's some improvement. Also I recorded a full track later and it sounds awesome, check it out if you want. czcams.com/video/Y3UWY5VjpsY/video.html
Cheers!
That's a very good test I think. The DBX results are counter-intuitive in a way. I would not have guessed that. When I first started my journey into recording on PC the pristine digital thing was an absolute killer. It's totally unforgiving. I learnt that you had to kind of massage the source into the PC via your preamps etc with EQ and compression maybe too. I started leaning toward not just preamps but channel strips...ones with good flexible EQ controls. I'm always recording acoustic guitar with large EQ moves going in. Especially for my space. Lots of low end off, 1khz and big roll off from 20khz. I guess recording to tape, while still a very hard job, is somewhat forgiving or more so than the cold killer that digital is. If you can get your digital game going though the ease of unlimited tracks and recall and endless options in editing and mixing are just super attractive.
hi,i like your channel a lot,it is inspiring and really got me into analog cassette tape recording,i cant get a Tascam its way out of my financial budget,instead i was offered a great price for a 6 track VESTAX MR66 .i really need help from you regarding tape speed,i mostly record real acoustic drum,bass and guitar,no midi,but every time i print back to DAW the speed is okay in the beginning but in the middle to the end of the song is way off ,i wonder how you solve this using a tone at the beginning and adjust the speed later? or can i solve this issue using MOTU micro express SMPTE to sync the tape as a slave and set the DAW as master?the thing is that Motu micro express midi interface/SMPTE sync is quite expensive and i never tried it and i dont if it will work with a 6 track VESTAX MR66 tape recorder..do you think its worth it or do you think it will work and solve the issue if i were to buy MOTU Micro express,please help me
25 year sound engineer here, record in high-speed with DBX off to maximize highs and real "live" feel of the recording. Clean it up how ever you want when you master it in a computer. Unless you want to go real "old schoo"l and master directly to tape. Then record high-speed with DBX on. Demagnetize your tape path every 10 tapes or so. Max gain with out peaking your preamps. Check board levels before you record. Play you tape back through your system to make any finite adjustments. 8-track recorded makes a great pre-amp. Some of my best stuff was 8-track recorder out into the line in on my Delta 44. 24bit 96khz 4 track recording, in Windows 98.
I know this video is a few years old now, but thought I'd offer my two cents on your DBX question. The reason it didn't work very well on the sweep and the 3khz tone is because DBX essentially applies an expansion/compression algorithm to the signal. During recording, the levels are boosted during quiet passages so there is a higher signal to noise ratio, then in loud passages they are dialled back again, because the human masking effect means that we can't really hear the noise beneath the loud music. On playback, these expansion effects are reversed, which restores the original dynamic range of the source, resulting in quiet passages becoming quiet again, but also taking the noise floor down with them.
In the case of your tones and sweeps, the signal was still quite hot, so the DBX algorithm would not have been able to expand it much over the original source during recording. Consequently, when you played it back, there was very little reduction of the background noise. You might have seen slightly better results if you'd recorded at a slightly lower level, but then you'd have had to boost the levels in post production - and that would also have boosted the hiss!
TLDR: DBX works best on real dynamic sources such as voice or music, and not well on test tones.
Well explained, thanks
Awesome! Would like to look at 414 mk2 tests - strange thing is different specs for 414 mk1 and mk2. Owner's manual for 414 mk1 tells freq.range 40Hz-16kHz, on the other hand for 414 mk2 it tells 40Hz-10kHz. Odd thing for me.
10 khz is way to little high frequency range, that's weird. I know some of that machines where capable of also recording at half the normal cassette speed, I don't remember which now. Maybe 10 khz is the frequency limit at that speed
@@InspiringTracks Yes, weird. I know that 424 is capable of dual speed action, so there're 10kHz and 16kHz limits for low/hi speed. But 414 mk1/ mk2 is hi speed only machine and I guess16kHz too.
Amazing
In my tascam midistudiio 644 when i record with DBX it get good but when turn off ...it does a lot of hiss. I Thinklk i have to learn more about it
@@user-qg3ic5gf6g I did exactly the contrary...i boosted the treble ALL the way up
@@user-qg3ic5gf6g thanks u Very much
Have one of these bad boys but no power lead. They're so difficult to get hold of.
The power supply is just a standard +-12v 2 amp transformer with a fancy connector. Goggle it, its pretty easy to make one if you find the connector and have basic skills with a soldering iron!
Did you record to the 424 with the DBX on to encode it, or did you wait and just turn it on for playback? DBX is a process that has to be encoded and then decoded. If you turn DBX on for a non encoded track, it will sound bad...
Of course it's on during the recording, using dbx in a non encoded recording sound absolutely terrible, It creates a lot of compression artifacts and a harsh pumping sound
good video
Thanks!!
I still have mine but it stopped working years ago. Won't power on.
Check a channel called Tinkering with Tascams here on CZcams, it's full of detailed tutorials on how to take apart and repair yourself various models of Tascam portastudios.
If it is just the power supply that is faulty it shouldn't be hard to fix it.
How did you get the final mix into the digital format?
Recording the tascam's L and R monitor outputs into two channels of my audio interface (a Focusrite 18i8) in 24bits 96khz
Can it record metal tape and can it record multiple tracks so you can only play the tape one side correctly?
That's right, it uses the 4 tracks of the tape simultaneously so it only records on one side, combining this and the double recording speed, a 60min tape only lasts 15. Also the recommended tapes are CrO2, I've read that metal tapes are more abrasive and worn the heads quicker
@@InspiringTracks and that in turn results in higher audoo quality as far as ive managed to gather?
Yes, much better quality than a regular cassette, also the dbx noise reduction works great and gives more dynamic range and less noise
What's a great price for a unit like this? 300$?
Today I think 300 is a really great price. I paid 100 for this unit in untested condition in 2019. Luckily the only problem was a channel not working which was solved with some contact cleaner on its fader. I think it was the greatest deal of my life lol
Taht backing track sound s awesome
Thanks!!
Everything sounds better on tape✌️
You bet! I’m from analog world & digital is sterile