ruffrecords
Well-known member
Let me say up front, I love the sound of tape and I love the sound of dbx noise reduction. To my ears the combination of the two is magic. The ultimate affordable version of this is the Tascam 238. 8 tracks, double speed transport, 35uS EQ and works with regular (affordable) chrome cassettes.
Long story short, I had a couple of these sitting around for the last decade, both with transport problems. Recently I was lucky enough to be put in touch with Calum Davidson who managed to create one good working machine from the two. In anticipation of using it, I went online and purchased a bunch of chrome cassettes (mostly TDK). Some were unused in their original packing and others were used (and a lot cheaper).
When I got the refurbished 238 I ran a bunch of test tracks onto it (basically some 8 track reel to reel from my Fostex R8). I used a cassette I had used in the machine before sending it to Calum. One of the problems Calum had worked on was excessive wow and flutter but the initial recordings showed no sign of this so I was very pleased with the results. In fact, the performance was exemplary. Then I repeated the test with a used cassette. The result was dreadful. Loads of flutter, far more than before Calum fixed the machine. I admit, I began to panic a bit here. So I got a brand new unopened cassette and repeated the test. Everything was perfect. I then ran the test on a handful of used cassettes and about 50% of them have the flutter problem.
I am not sure what the cause was but the moral of the story is only by unopened cassettes.
Anyone want a bunch of used cassettes??
Cheers
Ian
Long story short, I had a couple of these sitting around for the last decade, both with transport problems. Recently I was lucky enough to be put in touch with Calum Davidson who managed to create one good working machine from the two. In anticipation of using it, I went online and purchased a bunch of chrome cassettes (mostly TDK). Some were unused in their original packing and others were used (and a lot cheaper).
When I got the refurbished 238 I ran a bunch of test tracks onto it (basically some 8 track reel to reel from my Fostex R8). I used a cassette I had used in the machine before sending it to Calum. One of the problems Calum had worked on was excessive wow and flutter but the initial recordings showed no sign of this so I was very pleased with the results. In fact, the performance was exemplary. Then I repeated the test with a used cassette. The result was dreadful. Loads of flutter, far more than before Calum fixed the machine. I admit, I began to panic a bit here. So I got a brand new unopened cassette and repeated the test. Everything was perfect. I then ran the test on a handful of used cassettes and about 50% of them have the flutter problem.
I am not sure what the cause was but the moral of the story is only by unopened cassettes.
Anyone want a bunch of used cassettes??
Cheers
Ian
