Type II Cassette Tapes keep it, or just go digital?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Thanks for the help guys, I guess I'll be looking at Amazon mostly for now.

I was hoping for more of a local thing to get them faster for cheap, but I'm starting to think it's time to probably sell this sucker fast and go to MD or some other sort of recorder that's digital and cheaper to buy media for.

Any opinions? Should I truly stick with tape or just go digital with a MiniDisc or Hard Drive 4-Track/8-Track?

[Ziggy]

I'm not sure what you're recording, but from my experience the best thing to use is a computer. Instead of buying a multi track recording unit, get a USB or Firewire interface. You can get small Tascam units that do two tracks simo, USB/Firewire mixers, or larger rack units that can do 8 tracks simo. A lot of these units will come with free software too. Cubase came with my friends Tascam and it was great.

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... 4MKII-LIST


http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... USBFX-LIST


http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TAS-US1641-LIST


Again, I'm not sure what you're doing. If you're only recording things "live" with one mic, then you would only need a computer. Just run a mic into the mic input on your sound card and use something like Cool Edit / Adobe Audition. Things like Cubase and Pro Tools would be over kill for this scenario. A mixer would also help out a lot, if you have one. Run multiple mics into a mixer, then run the line out to your sound card and record. I've done this before with decent results.

Most tape recorders have a line out or headphones jack, so you could use it as a mixer if it does. Run your inputs to the tape recorder and run a line out to your computer. If you have pan on your mixer or tape recorder, you can even get a ghetto 2-track thing going on. When recording two parts, pan one to the left side and one to the right side and record it on the computer in stereo. Then you can split the left and right side and have two independent tracks.

Or, if you need to make better quality recorders and need the multiple tracks, get something I mentioned above. I really wouldn't recommend one of those multi track digital recorders though, I think they're a waste of money. You're much better off using a PC.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I'm not sure what you're recording, but from my experience the best thing to use is a computer. Instead of buying a multi track recording unit, get a USB or Firewire interface. You can get small Tascam units that do two tracks simo, USB/Firewire mixers, or larger rack units that can do 8 tracks simo. A lot of these units will come with free software too. Cubase came with my friends Tascam and it was great.

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... 4MKII-LIST


http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... USBFX-LIST


http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TAS-US1641-LIST


Again, I'm not sure what you're doing. If you're only recording things "live" with one mic, then you would only need a computer. Just run a mic into the mic input on your sound card and use something like Cool Edit / Adobe Audition. Things like Cubase and Pro Tools would be over kill for this scenario. A mixer would also help out a lot, if you have one. Run multiple mics into a mixer, then run the line out to your sound card and record. I've done this before with decent results.

Most tape recorders have a line out or headphones jack, so you could use it as a mixer if it does. Run your inputs to the tape recorder and run a line out to your computer. If you have pan on your mixer or tape recorder, you can even get a ghetto 2-track thing going on. When recording two parts, pan one to the left side and one to the right side and record it on the computer in stereo. Then you can split the left and right side and have two independent tracks.

Or, if you need to make better quality recorders and need the multiple tracks, get something I mentioned above. I really wouldn't recommend one of those multi track digital recorders though, I think they're a waste of money. You're much better off using a PC.

See my budget is all of Zero dollars, and I'm not trying to be supermusician. Tape was and still kinda is a very, very, very attractive option thanks to how cheap it is. Hobie helped me out in clearing up some misconceptions I had of the format (I thought you needed a freaking machine specifically for erasing tapes to re-use some that had only been previously gently used.)

Mine is a Yamaha MT4X, so aside from being a 4-track it's also still a capable well sought after mixer that is in decent demand. All I would really need tape for would be to keep straight physical masters of stuff or to do my editing before copying the individual masters and later stereo downmix to the comp via line in at line level. Also for if I were to take it anywhere without a comp it would make for a good way to actually keep what I've done on it.

Personally though I was pretty attracted to the MiniDisc 4/8-tracks as they offer long term physical storage for a hard copy backup in the event of a hard drive failure, and so that I can avoid dragging a comp around everywhere for just a straight Jam Session. Not to mention I can write to them infinitely and never worry about loss of quality.

[Ziggy]

Yeah, I hear ya about the budget. Trust me, I know all too well.

No laptop though?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Yeah, I hear ya about the budget. Trust me, I know all too well.

No laptop though?

I've got a laptop, if you consider a 700mhz win98/2k/ maaayyyyybeee XP (pushing it there) machine a laptop. Not exactly the best computer, but it gets the job done for email and light browsing and is built like a tank. Not to mention the sound card is pretty decent and actually has a separate line in for true line level recording. It's battery is complete toast and just hanging on the bottom for show so the portability isn't all there anymore.

I'm thinking of making all the masters on cassette and then copying them to digital one by one in individual instrument tracks and then via the Stereo downmix. That way I'll get the nice warmth of an analog master but the convenience of a digital final copy for distribution and storage.

EDIT!: After doing a lot of research I'm starting to really get on the side of just making an all digital master instead. Any tips from the analog or digital side?

[IcKy99]

Analog > Digital

tape.com has good deals on Type II tapes i get mine from there, i use them with my tascam 4-track. so keep yours because digital recording is bullshit

[CRTGAMER]

Analog > Digital

tape.com has good deals on Type II tapes i get mine from there, i use them with my tascam 4-track. so keep yours because digital recording is bullshit

I think quality digital depends on the compression. Analog does have the snake tape hiss problems, throw in noise reduction of Dolby and lose the higher octaves. There is also the headaches of the fast forward-rewind of tape vs instant access of the hard drive, memory stick or CDR.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Analog > Digital

tape.com has good deals on Type II tapes i get mine from there, i use them with my tascam 4-track. so keep yours because digital recording is bullshit

That site you mentioned is some good stuff man.

My thing is Analog is fine and dandy, but it's not gonna last me ten years without a proper (and costly) storage place. I'm going to do recordings to tape and then make the transfer to the digital copy later if I end up going that route.

That way my recordings get that nice warm feel to them.

[IcKy99]

haha yup you think with a site name as simple as "tape.com" they wouldnt have anything but i get my best tape deals from there and printable CDs are pretty cheap when they go on sale

My thing is Analog is fine and dandy, but it's not gonna last me ten years without a proper (and costly) storage place. I'm going to do recordings to tape and then make the transfer to the digital copy later if I end up going that route.

That way my recordings get that nice warm feel to them.

Keeping your tapes and recorder in its own little box/case would help. I keep my tascam and recording equipment (mics, cables, patches, adapters) in a old suitcase it works well to keep the dust out of my tape reader heads and the sun wont damage my tapes. you gotta preserve that analog "warmth" its missing sooo much from most music these days.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

You know what, I think I'm actually gonna go the tape route and then digitize it when done.

Thanks to you linking me to that site I now have a nice easy way to get stacks of tapes to use for the alpha-master before the digital transfer.

As for cases I've been eyeballing this metal case for tapes that's been at my local goodwill for like a week. It's solidly built and the metal exterior should keep most magnetic interference away.

The 4-Track is a whole other story for storage though. This guy's pretty big and has an internal PSU (it is however shielded in internally circa the tape deck) so keeping it near tapes in a box would do more harm than good.

This is mine (not my pic):


Only problem is I had to replace the tape speed/pitch dial as the last owner ripped it off, and glue the broken leg on the tape well door back on (my fault) as it snapped off when I opened it too quickly.