Recording music to cassette tape on an 8 Track

[@JawedKarim763]

Its amazing how good these can sound in the right hands!

[@gregaudrey307]

My goodness,that sounds very,very good. I miss the sound of tape! You’re about to make me rethink my entire recording\production process. I bought and used a T 246 many years ago and later got rid of it in the name of “upgrading\modernizing” LOL. There’s no denying the great sound of your recording,great job.

[@Daniel_Plainview]

What a song! great everything! Love the voice.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Great song and video, particularly like the tone of the Gibson acoustic!

[@rpavich]

This is just sick. Not necessarily the recording process (which is great in itself) but the tune...the vox....so freaking good. wow.

[@RobinJamesHurtMusic]

Hey! Just discovered this, awesome job. I have a 488mkII as well, picked it up off eBay in March this year. What an incredible piece of engineering! Re the 'robust' thing vs 4 track, I have a Tascam Porta02 as well, which is a really basic 4 track with no eq or noise reduction but great fat pre-amps. It works brilliantly for adding tape compression/saturation to just about anything. The 488 is a much more subtle machine, watching your video I think you have the input gains and levels just right! I've tried driving the channels hard - like on a 4 track - and it doesn't respond so well. But keep the gains in check and you can get such a sweet full sound from the 488mkii, it is a brilliant and unique device. The channel eqs are super-responsive! Can totally relate to 7-track vibe, man down!...on my 488 track 4 is the culprit, distorted recording and the erase doesn't work on it. Makes it kinda interesting. Best wishes from Co Wexford, Ireland! Keep it tape!!

[@spooktasticaparanormal]

Beautiful song my friend. Really nice clean recording. Way better than any DAW.

[@morrisbailey1621]

i love this. i still use all of my cassette multitrack and old reel to reel recorders. forget the digital, computer etc. if this all you have just plug and record already. there is no excuse to not get a great sound regardless of the format. nice.

[@tonygraham4939]

Dude! What a great song....very good tune... recording is on point too:)

[@frequincyrecording4286]

I really like your songs. Great recording there. I have a 246 and a 238 Syncaset and they both sound terrific. I also was surprised at how great the 238 sounds.

[@oinkooink]

Nicely performed and put together. Who's the inspiration for a track like this. Kind of almost Springsteen. Would that be a fair guess?

[@michaelflameling8695]

I was so inspired by your recording, I purchased the same unit myself.

[@4Ever4Track]

Such a great machine. Hope you’re enjoying it.

[@michaelflameling8695]

@@4Ever4Track i havent got it yet. But it is being delivered to me. Im super excited!!!

[@mateuszwozniak8049]

Very good sound!

[@andreasl4318]

Always room for singer-songwriters, and you're really doing a great job!

[@Hamfantasy56]

Beautiful song, great audio quality

[@arisarkadia13]

Very nice song and job!!!!I have a question:What if i need more channels? The ideal for me would be 12 channels. So If i buy a 424 or a 488 and the model 12(so i could send separately every channel to model 12)could be this possible done dawless??thank you so much!!! Keep going!!!

[@4Ever4Track]

You can get as many tracks as you want with a 4 track and the M12. Record 4 tracks to tape, bounce them over to the M12. In the M12 bounce those 4 tracks back to two tracks on the tape. Repeat as desired.

[@arisarkadia13]

@@4Ever4Track Thank you so much for the precious information!!! Is the connectivity for something like this difficult? How could i find some information about this setup?(tape recorder to model 12?)

[@4Ever4Track]

@@arisarkadia13 the tape machine is going to have rca outs. You need an rca to 1/4” cable to connect from the tape machine to the inputs on the M12. The best 4 track tape machines have 4 separate tape outs for each track. That’s the best way to go.

[@arisarkadia13]

@@4Ever4Track Thank you so much!!! With this setup (4outs),do you have any quality limmitation of the machine? I really appreciate your time answering me !!

[@4Ever4Track]

@@arisarkadia13 quality I think is subjective. I prefer warm sounding recordings over bright modern “hi-fi” music, so cassette quality suits me well. Are you going to get pro studio sound from this setup? No. But will it sound good enough? Absolutely! And that will hopefully keep you in the creative space and not worrying about it being hi-fi

[@YY-bv3ik]

Can you do a tutorial on this machine please ! I’ve been searching all through out the net and there isn’t one full in depth tutorial on how to use the 488 mkii . Looking for help on recording, assignment, doubling , and also erasing a track please !!!

[@deanwolfechannel]

Sounds great.❤

[@GypsyMoon]

Hello, I am from PA.. I use to own one of these when my band was recording allot. I have about 30 tapes of us, just catching what we played.. My singer Steve, just passed away Aug. 29th, and I no longer have this unit to get the tracks down on the computer... Would there be ANY way I could rent this unit for about a week or two? I know you don't know me from adam but it would mean allot to me, and his parents. If not, could I make payments? If not, I understand, I just can't find this anywhere, and the ones I do either don't work or playback... Thank you for your time. PS: I have mixed allot of bands, If thats something you would want to work with..? Sorry if this message is out of line for asking, I just dont have any options.

[@14ohms]

i hope you've find someone to work with in order to do that

[@vesternor]

Great song!

[@TheWilliamHoganExperience]

Great music! Great technical rundown! THANKS!

[@SteveJohnsen]

Great video and such a great song! Really enjoyed it.

[@YY-bv3ik]

can you do a step by step guide on how to record with this machine ? I have a 488 mii now but there's no tutorials for the mk2

[@AlexanderOspanov]

You've recorded much more than just a music. You have recorded Love on 8 (7) tracks. Great song and sounds amazing!

[@MB-uz2zu]

Sounds amazing!

[@michatroschka]

omgg reaally really dig the track......... did you use dbx?

[@4Ever4Track]

Yes. I’ve tried not using the noise reduction, but it’s just too much hiss.

[@michatroschka]

@@4Ever4Track thanks, yes noise issues here too ;) im using type one tape, maybe thats the problem. but without dbx it sounds more airy

[@ralf5150]

Awesome!

[@thrillbound]

This was great!

[@bravinneff7932]

Given that the track width is about half that of The Four Track, have you noticed a difference in the sound quality compared to the four track?

[@4Ever4Track]

To me it sounds every bit as good if not slightly better than the 246 four track that I have.

[@bravinneff1]

@@4Ever4Track Wow, no kidding? I need to look into this.

[@tommcdermott11]

@@4Ever4Track I'm pretty surprised by this. That's such a skinny little strip of tape, I'd think for sure the difference would be noticeably worse. It's what's kept me from getting a cassette 8-track, I'm just assuming the sound wouldn't be that good. Very interesting...

[@user-yf3kr7je7z]

Great recording! How did you get it to digital?

[@4Ever4Track]

488 LR stereo outs into the Tascam M12 channels 1/2 - recorded to SD card.

[@richfromtheligerz4922]

Great video ❤️ 8 tracks are great

[@buddhikachathuranga9202]

Did you compare it with 246? any videos?

[@4Ever4Track]

I didn’t make a video comparison, I just compared it to recordings I previously made on the 246.

[@pewdiepiechallenger4151]

Awesome. What mic/s did you use on the acoustic guitars, the SM7B as well or SM57?

[@4Ever4Track]

For the fingerpicking guitar, the 57 doesn’t really work, so I used a small condenser, I think it’s a rode something.

[@ryan2stix]

Sounds like Waylon....rad

[@bucksmoonlightrevival]

Great vid and song! We just finished a concept album recorded on the Tascam 488 Mk1 Portastudio. It's alt-folk style music with some experimental sounds like tape loops, musical saw, synths, field recordings, etc. It's uploaded on our channel if anyone wants to check it out!

[@JeffHendricks]

I like this!

[@4Ever4Track]

Cool. Thx!

[@pewdiepiechallenger4151]

Man I'm really itching to get one of those tape machines. But I guess it's kinda pointless if one doesn't have all that extra gear, pedals etc. to run stuff through?!

[@4Ever4Track]

It just depends on what your goal is. There are lots of great acoustic tracks with no effects. Some tracks sound better totally dry. If you want some reverb, you can get a cheap reverb pedal for under $50.

[@pewdiepiechallenger4151]

@@4Ever4Track Right. So you're saying I don't a need a vocal preamp for a thousand bucks.. I saw one from Behringer for $50 😂

[@4Ever4Track]

The tape machine has built in preamps that sound great. You do not need an external preamp at all. My guitar always goes through the tape machines preamp.

[@pewdiepiechallenger4151]

@@4Ever4Track Ah really, that's amazing. Does it provide phantom power for condensers? I thought you used the Grace preamp on all your vocals at least.

[@4Ever4Track]

Some do have phantom power and some don’t, so before you get one you should look at the manual or ask the seller. I use the grace for vocals because I already had it and the sm7 needs a bunch of gain in order to be a few inches from it and not right on top of it.

[@tonygraham4939]

Thats a great song! You can record on all eight tracks?

[@tonygraham4939]

My 424lll won't record on 8 tracks duh...😆

[@seanmichaelpatten3930]

How do you record 8 tracks to cassette? From what I know cassettes only have 4 tracks on them.

[@4Ever4Track]

The 8 track record heads split the tracks in half to get 8.

[@seanmichaelpatten3930]

@@4Ever4Track fancy