Back To The Old School...kinda.

[UnderstandDavid]

This ancient, decaying beauty is now in my studio.



Got my Ableton controller back too, so it should be fun to hook up the old and the new!

[Pigswill]

I'd love to use a recorder like that. How did you find yours?

[banned]

morbid... i like it

[melko]

the fostex is cool as hell
which year is that from?

coincidentally, recently got really enthusiastic about getting a 70s Teac (Model 2b, 3, 5) or a similar Tascam mixer
or a Boss KM60
but no luck so far

btw, if anyone could suggest a good alternative to the above, that would be much appreciated
(OP, i hope you don't mind me asking here, was just going to start a thread about that, but then saw yours, and I feel the topic kind of fits)

[UnderstandDavid]

I'd love to use a recorder like that. How did you find yours?

Ebay! Got it for xc2xa330 plus postage, so it was less than xc2xa350 in total. It was sold as being for spares or parts due to missing a few cosmetic bits and pieces, like the tape cover and a couple of caps on the rotary dials. I need to get a new belt for it but they're only about xc2xa315.

Turns out they sell for over xc2xa3500 now, so it was a total bargain that I'd found purely by chance.

Dig into the "spares or repairs" lists on eBay when you're searching for gear. A lot of the time, you'll find stuff that's listed as "Untested" purely because the owner doesn't have a power supply, or they were given it by someone and don't know how to use it.

I've picked up so many amazing deals by doing that, e.g. the APC40 shown above cost me about xc2xa360, fully boxed as new. They sell for anything between xc2xa350 and about xc2xa3200 so it's well worth digging. If you can repair electronics yourself then it's even better 'cause you'll find cool stuff that's dirt cheap, but maybe only needs a capacitor replacement.

[UnderstandDavid]

the fostex is cool as hell
which year is that from?

coincidentally, recently got really enthusiastic about getting a 70s Teac (Model 2b, 3, 5) or a similar Tascam mixer
or a Boss KM60
but no luck so far

btw, if anyone could suggest a good alternative to the above, that would be much appreciated
(OP, i hope you don't mind me asking here, was just going to start a thread about that, but then saw yours, and I feel the topic kind of fits)

I think it's from between 1981 and 1984 at very latest. There's a few cool articles from magazines and manuals of the era that are available online, so I'll link them here: Fostex250 Manual - EMM Dec 1981

My first 4-track was an old Tascam Portastudio that I 'borrowed' from school in the early 90's. Those seem to sell for quite a reasonable price nowadays, and I absolutely loved it.

In '96, I got a Tascam Porta02 but I ended up smashing it to bits two years later. Long story. Hahaha!

As for as investing in some retro gear like a 4-track, it comes down to what works best for you and what sort of quality you'd like to achieve with your recordings. For most of us, our 4-track recordings sound shite and only really give us demos...but that's also part of the charm. For me, that dirty, lo-fi tape compression; the wow and flutter, and the hiss are what draw me to that particular medium.

I could and can replicate the sound digitally, making it sound 100% analog...but that's not half as much fun!

In my opinion, shelling out big bucks for a 4-track tape recorder that provides near-digital quality recordings is pointless. If you're going for a bigger setup, like Prurient or something, then digital multitracks are awesome...but overkill for most of us DIY noiseniks. I go for tape - whether it's the Fostex or one of my Sanyo Talkbooks - because of the low quality, rough and ready sound.

I just had a look at the Boss KM-60 and have one thing to say: Build your own. Seriously. The price is fucking insane for what it is. It's just an active mixer with a few filters and an analog VU meter, and it's aimed at gearheads who'll pay top dollar purely because it says "analog" on it.

Again, depends on what you're going for sound-wise. Personally, I wouldn't touch that KM-60 'cause it seems like a bit of a rip-off to me. You'd be as well getting something like a half-decent Allan & Heath ZED-60 mixing desk for half the price and quadruple the functionality. Alternatively, keep your eyes peeled on eBay for used 4-tracks 'cause there are some amazing deals to be had. The Fostex was less than xc2xa350.00 including postage, but they sell second-hand on places like Reverb for crazy money!

Look in the "untested", "spares or repairs" and "used refurbished" sections in eBay. Change your settings so that it shows only "Auction" items, but also sort the list by "Ending Soonest". Seriously, the deals you can grab are insane. Most of my gear purchases in the last 18 months have come from doing that, and I've bought everything from an old Yamaha PS-1 keyboard to a pile of Nintendo DS's for re-sale.

[Pigswill]

I'd love to use a recorder like that. How did you find yours?

Ebay! Got it for xc2xa330 plus postage, so it was less than xc2xa350 in total. It was sold as being for spares or parts due to missing a few cosmetic bits and pieces, like the tape cover and a couple of caps on the rotary dials. I need to get a new belt for it but they're only about xc2xa315.

Turns out they sell for over xc2xa3500 now, so it was a total bargain that I'd found purely by chance.

Dig into the "spares or repairs" lists on eBay when you're searching for gear. A lot of the time, you'll find stuff that's listed as "Untested" purely because the owner doesn't have a power supply, or they were given it by someone and don't know how to use it.

I've picked up so many amazing deals by doing that, e.g. the APC40 shown above cost me about xc2xa360, fully boxed as new. They sell for anything between xc2xa350 and about xc2xa3200 so it's well worth digging. If you can repair electronics yourself then it's even better 'cause you'll find cool stuff that's dirt cheap, but maybe only needs a capacitor replacement.

That's quite a steal. I'm always wary about the "sold for parts, non-functioning"-type stuff since it seems like a gamble (though I did score a nice MIDI controller off of someone who got rid of it for cheap because he thought it was an electric piano with a broken speaker).

You should post some recordings of it soon

[NoiseWiki]

I got my first 4 track in the late 80s. It was Tascam Porta Two.

Viewed 1832 times

It was a really solid machine.

There's a lot of digital tracker options these days but they don't usually have the same number of ins and outs

[UnderstandDavid]

That's quite a steal. I'm always wary about the "sold for parts, non-functioning"-type stuff since it seems like a gamble (though I did score a nice MIDI controller off of someone who got rid of it for cheap because he thought it was an electric piano with a broken speaker).

You should post some recordings of it soon

Aye, definitely worth being cautious. What I'll normally do is to check the notes to see what the issue/damage is and whether or not it's something I could feasibly fix. Oftentimes you'll find that it's being sold for parts based on reasons that have nothing to do with the functionality of the item. When it's something really, really cheap I'll usually just take the gamble and, if I can't fix it, I'll strip it and repurpose the shell and the components, so it's a win-win for me either way.

I'll definitely post some stuff once I get a new belt on this and some aux leads to hook it up to my audio input.

I just need to get my VHS's and video mixers over to my new place and I'll be back in business for full audio/visual mayhem!

[UnderstandDavid]

I got my first 4 track in the late 80s. It was Tascam Porta Two.

It was a really solid machine.

There's a lot of digital tracker options these days but they don't usually have the same number of ins and outs

That's the very one! I absolutely loved it. The rubber dials and really smooth faders were amazing. The Porta Two was my first real introduction to recording and noise, back when I didn't even know that anybody else was into the same thing!

I'll need to dig through my parents attic and see whether I've still got those old tapes somewhere. It would be hilarious to hear them again. My teenage versions of what turned out to be something like Mike Patton's "Adult Themes for Voice" and "Metal Machine Music".