vic wrote
I am thinking of buying an older 4 -track tape recorder.
Q: do these use special 4 track tape and are these (tape) still readily available in SA ?
Q: any comment on the quality of recordings using this old technology ? I plan to do extensive overdubbing etc.
Q: any tips perhaps ?
Reel-to-reel (and what width tape) or cassette-based? Tape machines are like organs these days - they don't get sold, they get given away. Most are badly worn by now (tape heads, pinch rollers and other rubber parts), and you can't get spares.
If it's a proper reel-to-reel of a decent quality (Fostex, Revox, Tascam, etc.) and in good condition, it'll give you great quality although you'll end up with a fair amount of tape hiss if you use overdubs extensively. Some of the later units had Dolby built in, but rarely on the 4-tracks.
Tape
will be an issue, but I'm not sure how much - I haven't looked for years. Guaranteed, if it is available, it'll be expensive (especially 1" or 2"). OK... just looked and it seems 1" tape is going for prices between $75 - $100.
You must also make sure it's a commercial 4-track that can record on one track while monitoring the others. Domestic machines could only record stereo pairs and without monitoring.
Cassette-based it's fairly easy to find tapes for, but quality is pretty bad. Pretty useless for overdubbing, even with Dolby B, C or S.
In short, probably a better idea to go for a modern digital unit. One upside - If you do end up with one, I can help you out with advice as I trained in the days of tape. ?
