While there are 644's around i could buy, I was wondering if any of the smaller Portastudios such as the 244 would play the 4-track, high-speed tapes that I recorded when I had the 644 back in the day. In other words, I'm looking for a smaller, possibly cheaper alternative. I don't need the huge mixer.
Portastudios that will play 644 tapes
- Thread starter Jon L. Jacobi
- Start date
The Tascam 234 Syncaset plays tapes I recorded on a 244: 4-track, high-speed. Not 100% sure, but I think it would take 644-tapes too. I see no reason why not, but there might be one I’m not aware of.
The 234 is a great machine without a huge mixer. Not a portastudio, but you may want to consider it.
The 234 is a great machine without a huge mixer. Not a portastudio, but you may want to consider it.
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That may be so, but my repair guy was very happy to work on mine, which I had bought in non-working condition, because, he told me, those 234 machines are very well built and are also top soundwise. So they are worth the repair. After thorough servicing, they will keep working for many years.
Jon, depending on what tape speeds you've been using on the Tascam 644 (Normal or High), you'll just need to find another machine that offers both of those speeds and has DBX noise reduction. The aforementioned Tascam 234 is one option, as are any of the 424 models. There's a few Yamaha and Fostex models that would also fit the bill. -Jack
I've found a couple of Porta 07 Minis that might work. High-speed only, DBX. Relatively affordable. I'm going for one so I'll be back to confirm one way or the other.
Grabbed a Porta 07 Mini Studio for just over $200. Works like a charm: DBX, high-speed. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but sounds great and it's a lot less than most of the other stuff as well as a lot smaller than a 644. When did Porta Studios become a "thing"? They're severely overpriced for what they actually are.
So, playing back the tapes from my 644. The first three channels are fine, but the fourth has what sounds like sync signal. I think it’s a MIDI sync signal, which is what the manual says, but I don’t know why I put it there as we didn’t use any outboard equipment. What would be the other uses?
Timecode could be used to sync external synthesizers/MIDI components, or to have another recording device (tape or digital) chasing the material on the Tascam 644.
How long ago did you make the tapes, and do all of them have timecode on track 4? Surprising that you wouldn't remember it, if that's the case, as you would have had to manually record the TC to each tape, and would have needed a device which could create said TC.
How long ago did you make the tapes, and do all of them have timecode on track 4? Surprising that you wouldn't remember it, if that's the case, as you would have had to manually record the TC to each tape, and would have needed a device which could create said TC.
These were recorded over 30 years ago. As I said, I can’t remember any need for this though the tapes were the keyboards for the band with a click track for the drummer. I’ll try more tapes but maybe I was thinking we might use an outboard synth. I honestly don’t remember and the 644 is long gone.
"The 644 Midistudio ® is a 4-channel multitrack cassette
recorder, a 16 input mixing system with electronic
routing control, and a Ml DI Tape Synchronizer com-
bined into a single workstaion . It's the first Portastudio®
expressly designed to meet the challenge of the MIDI
revolution . Its mixing section is designed in a new
way to accommodate the greater number of line inputs
in a typical MIDI studio, up to 16 at once plus 4 effect
returns. Each main channel can access up to 4 effects
busses, so you can use a variety of different effects
(reverbs , de lays, choruses etc .) on different inputs. MIDI
Tape synchronization with Song Position Pointer (same
as that used by the T ASCAM MTS-30) is built in, so that
the capabi lities of MIDI sequencing can be blended with
the advantages of multitrack recording."
"The 644 Midistudio ® is a 4-channel multitrack cassette
recorder, a 16 input mixing system with electronic
routing control, and a Ml DI Tape Synchronizer com-
bined into a single workstaion . It's the first Portastudio®
expressly designed to meet the challenge of the MIDI
revolution . Its mixing section is designed in a new
way to accommodate the greater number of line inputs
in a typical MIDI studio, up to 16 at once plus 4 effect
returns. Each main channel can access up to 4 effects
busses, so you can use a variety of different effects
(reverbs , de lays, choruses etc .) on different inputs. MIDI
Tape synchronization with Song Position Pointer (same
as that used by the T ASCAM MTS-30) is built in, so that
the capabi lities of MIDI sequencing can be blended with
the advantages of multitrack recording."
What I was really worried about is that I vaguely remember hearing that some of the Tascam products didn’t align the tracks in the same locations and that I was picking up some sort of signal that I shouldn’t. Yes, everything is “vague” after a few decades away.
It’s only on gig tapes (a trio with keys on tape) that it occurs so obviously I put it there. All good.
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