mastering to 1/4" four track-worth it?

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by blinkSaunders

wondering if mastering to a 1/4" tape from protools is worth the trouble?

Depends how good the tape deck is and how well it's set up.

Originally Posted by blinkSaunders

the unit is a four track, so if I'm mastering stereo - is it only using half of the tape?

Yes, unless you record Left to 2 tracks and right to 2 tracks.

TW

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

Depends how good the tape deck is and how well it's set up.



Yes, unless you record Left to 2 tracks and right to 2 tracks.

TW

tried that once - muddies up the high stuff unless the machine is very well set up.

[blinkSaunders]

it's a Tascam 34 in really good condition.

[blinkSaunders]

by set up...do you mean aligned and degaussed? what else should i look for?

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by narcoman

tried that once - muddies up the high stuff unless the machine is very well set up.

I can see how that could happen. I always wanted to try it with my two inch when I had it, but never got around to it (12 L and 12 R). probably would have been a little skewed I'd imagine.

TW

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

I can see how that could happen. I always wanted to try it with my two inch when I had it, but never got around to it (12 L and 12 R). probably would have been a little skewed I'd imagine.

TW

I tried it with the 4 stack i have for my atr102.... not greta.

otherwise - super duper machine !!

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by blinkSaunders

by set up...do you mean aligned and degaussed? what else should i look for?

Tape path alignment, EQ over bias, play, record, etc. pretty much everything when you're dealing with analog tape set up has to be pretty precise. Seems like more trouble than it's worth with a 4 track though. I really can't see it working to well for mastering unless the deck was an ATR, Studer, Scully or something else stellar. Even then as Narcoman said probably "not so great".

TW

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by blinkSaunders

it's a Tascam 34 in really good condition.

well - the proof is in the pudding and you may get some cool results - but that machine runs VERY slow for running mixes too. Give it a go and see what you think - but don't do the multi LLRR thing on that one - it'll just mush.

[thenoiseflower]

and keep the tracks apart.
as in, ch 1 left, ch 2 empty, ch 3 empty, ch 4 right.

is this for mastering or mixing?

[wado1942]

I don't really see the point in working in the digital world and dubbing the output to a prosumer tape format just to take it down another generation back to digital. Now if you want it as a safety copy, then yes it's worth while because DVD-R and CD-R don't last nearly as long as the manufactuers claim. Tape, on the other hand, has the longest shelf life of any recordable medium next to polyester black & white film.

Of course if you're processing in the analogue domain, then there may be some merit to recording it to 1/4" but I wouldn't spend my time/money on a Tascam 34. They're fine machines for what they are, but are by no means a stereo mastering deck. A friend of mine has used one for surround sound mixing, but it now sits in the back of my mix room, having not been plugged into anything for about a year. They're a bit too limited and noisy (in headroom and bandwidth), not to mention the track width is only about double that of cassette.

Now you can get an Otari MX5050 for under $500 and they're decent machines. They support IEC or NAB EQ at the flip of a switch which is very handy for a mastering deck. The record trimmers are also super easy to adjust without opening the case. I modified mine a bit and using GP9 at 400nWb/M gives me a good 16dB of headroom (to 3% THD) with pretty low noise and can handle beyond 40KHz bandwidth at 15 I/S.