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themaddog « Strong cassette based Portastudio »
Published on 09/21/11 at 04:27The Tascam 464 is a Portastudio designed to record 4 tracks onto a standard cassette. It features a built in mixer with three bands of EQ on each channel, XLR inputs on channels 1-4, and 1/4" inputs for the other inputs. It can record on up to 4 tracks simultaneously. The manual is very easy to follow, it is very easy to master after running through the operations a few times.
The 464 has a pitch wheel to change the speed/pitch, two computer controlled memory locations with auto-punch in, a return to zero locate button, two loops for effect and auxiliary, an option to record a SMPTE track on track 4, and dbx Type II noise reduction. Two speed modes can be engaged, low (1.875 ips) and high (3.75 ips). For the best recordings, high quality Type II cassettes 60 minutes or shorter in length should be used at high speed. Decent sounding recordings can be made without the dbx, the use of which will be subjective to the recordist. If you want to try and eliminate hiss without engaging the dbx, recording at high speed with the pitch wheel all the way to maximum will help, but will cut down on recording time. At high speed, a 60 minute tape will provide approximately 15 minutes of recording time.
The 464 is a pretty solid machine for a cassette Portastudio. I've never owned a 424, but I have used one on many occasions, and in spite of the difference in appearance, the functions and sound quality seem identical to me. For a solo recordist with a small project studio the Tascam 464 is a great machine, capable of producing some excellent demos across simple, 4 track recordings. As such, this would be a suitable machine for rap/hip-hop and singer songwriter/folk music with limited instrumentation. This is an excellent first machine, so long as you don't mind be limited to working with only 4 tracks.
The 464 has a pitch wheel to change the speed/pitch, two computer controlled memory locations with auto-punch in, a return to zero locate button, two loops for effect and auxiliary, an option to record a SMPTE track on track 4, and dbx Type II noise reduction. Two speed modes can be engaged, low (1.875 ips) and high (3.75 ips). For the best recordings, high quality Type II cassettes 60 minutes or shorter in length should be used at high speed. Decent sounding recordings can be made without the dbx, the use of which will be subjective to the recordist. If you want to try and eliminate hiss without engaging the dbx, recording at high speed with the pitch wheel all the way to maximum will help, but will cut down on recording time. At high speed, a 60 minute tape will provide approximately 15 minutes of recording time.
The 464 is a pretty solid machine for a cassette Portastudio. I've never owned a 424, but I have used one on many occasions, and in spite of the difference in appearance, the functions and sound quality seem identical to me. For a solo recordist with a small project studio the Tascam 464 is a great machine, capable of producing some excellent demos across simple, 4 track recordings. As such, this would be a suitable machine for rap/hip-hop and singer songwriter/folk music with limited instrumentation. This is an excellent first machine, so long as you don't mind be limited to working with only 4 tracks.