Vegasdiamond
Offline
Antwerp, Belgium

Dear fellow chiptuners,

Last week my computer broke down due to a faulty harddrive and I've been making music without using it since. It occurred to me that I only use my computer as a recording device. I would like to experiment with recording directly to cassette tape (not the big tapes) but do you think I would need other pieces of gear for this? I normally master my recording by gently compressing and then hard limiting them in ableton; can a tape do something similar for me ,i.e., does tape compression work for this kind of thing? Would I need an extra compressor or limiter to make it sound good?

I'm not really interested in getting that 'tape sound', just interested in moving away from using a laptop at all (except for digitizing recordings maybe), so if there are other options you think I should consider I am all ears.

Thanks!
Vegas

arlen
Offline

If you aren't after that tape sound, there are digital recording workstations that work in a similar way to old 4 track tape recorders. I don't know if those have any dsps or anything, it may vary by model.

But that's boring!!! Tape is pretty neat because you can pull off all sorts of weird little tricks with it. Using 4 track recorders for distortion is pretty cool. You should be able to pull off some simple compression on a 4 track.

Invisible Robot Hands
Offline
Playboy Man-Baby

Chiptune can sound pretty warm on a good-quality cassette, but bear in mind that if you're just going directly into tape from your Game Boy or whatever, it does have a certain type of sound to it.

Last edited by Invisible Robot Hands (May 23, 2014 10:02 pm)

SurfaceDragon
Offline
USA

I sometimes record practice stuff with a cheap pocket digital recording device or my phone just to have as a reference but when I record serious/substantial stuff I use a computer.

From my experience tape sucks and it became obsolete for a reason.

Dadibom
Offline

^ same thing with gameboys, but old things have a special feel to them

Fudgers
Offline
Indiana

you could do this, and it has its charms, but it will not be a hi-fi recording

sleepytimejesse
Offline
Youngstown, OH
Dadibom wrote:

^ same thing with gameboys, but old things have a special feel to them

true that

If you still want super clean recordings I'm afraid pure digital is the only way to really go. And there are many personal digital recorders you can use, and just plug whatever you're using into it directly via an input. I own a Zoom H4N that's fantastic for many, many reasons. One being on-board compressors and effects. Run about $200-$300 but super awesome and flexible units.

If you've got a smartphone or something you can probably record onto it somehow and achieve some pretty good results. Maybe even better than the zoom if you nab a recording app.

If you want to go a cheaper route, such as tape/analog recording, you're going to get a huge tinge on your sound, and it'll never sound as crisp. That's not a bad thing, I love the effect tape has on sound, but it's not going to replace or even mimic abelton and hard limiting.

Last edited by sleepytimejesse (May 24, 2014 5:18 am)

Vegasdiamond
Offline
Antwerp, Belgium

Thanks for all the responses! I feel my first post might have been a bit misleading,, when I talked about not going for the tape sound I did not mean that I wanted a hi-fi/crisp sound neccessarily, I just don't want tape for the sound per sé.

Sleepytimejesse, I might try that Zoom H4N, looks great! Most likely I will just buy a tape recorder pretty seen and start recording and try to figure out what happens. I will be sure to let you know if I get good results.

GenSek
Offline
Sestri Levante, Genova, Italy

I use a Sony PCM-M10 handeld digital recorder, nice built, simply Interface, good sound and relatively cheap. I think it's a great portable recorder, good also for field recordings.

rumpelfilter
Offline
Italy

If you want the king of all portable multitrack recorders, check out the Zoom H6. Though it's a bit more on the pricey side.
I also have a Yamaha MT4X 4 track tape recorder, which I sometimes use for fun... though it's really big.

sandneil
Offline

i have a sony cassette recorder and the sound quality is
well
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/140773656/horse.mp3

i have a zoom h2 and its super practical for just recording stuff wherever/whenever and i love it so something like that might be better for you
or just use your phone if you are a hypercool 2k14 pperson

Domu
Offline
West Yorks, UK

if you want hifi audio cassette tape take a look at sony wm-d6c. it is litterally unthinkable the quality you can get from recording to a metal tape using one of those! srsly

sleepytimejesse
Offline
Youngstown, OH
Domu wrote:

if you want hifi audio cassette tape take a look at sony wm-d6c. it is litterally unthinkable the quality you can get from recording to a metal tape using one of those! srsly

ooooooooo