[SOLVED] 4 Track Cassette to Digital Needed

[razor7music]

Hey All

I can Google this, but would prefer a recommendation.

I've got a few audio masters that are in 4 track cassette formats and want to transfer them to a wav file. I have a company near me that is doing stereo cassette transfers, but they don't have a 4 track player.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Edited November 9, 2019 by razor7music

[paulo]

I have one of these......

....maybe see if you can pick one up cheap and do it yourself ?

[slartabartfast]

Are you talking about standard compact cassette tapes with one stereo track running on each side where you turn the cassette over to play or record the second set of stereo tracks.  Players for those should still be widely available at most thrift shops or your grandma's basement, although the quality of the tape may well have degraded and you would need to find one with the type of noise reduction used to record the originals. If you are looking for something special with four tracks on the same side/direction  of the tape then an old PortaStudio or the like would be harder to find.  The issue with those is that many of the original units had only two track output requiring a mixdown to stereo in the box. It may be difficult to pull four independent tracks out without potential synchronization problems when you try to put them back together due to tape stretch or capstan variability. 

But surely you can find a transfer service that can do something if you are willing to trust your tapes to the mail.

[razor7music]

Hello

Yes, these are the stereo on both sides of the tape kind.

Since this is a one-off, I was hoping to get a referral to a service that provides 4-track to digital transfers and not buy a deck that I'll never use again.

Thanks for the heads up on the NR -I read that. I also read that not all 4-track players record at the same speed. I know my Yamaha MT1X had a pitch slider, so that would have been great the keep.

We played my cassettes at the transfer company and the quality is still good. Just half the tracks are on the flip side and backwards!

[S.L.I.P.]

I've transferred old 4 track tapes using a regular cassette player. When you play one side of the tape it will be going forward, while the other side of the tape will be playing backwards. ( At least that is how it works with the songs recorded on my old Tascam 4 track) I usually record each side into SoundForge . I then split each stereo file into two tracks, and save each track separately,  giving me the original 4 tracks. I reverse the two backwards tracks, and then import the 4 separate tracks into Cakewalk, or Reaper to work on them. 

Edited November 9, 2019 by S.L.I.P.

[razor7music]

35 minutes ago, S.L.I.P. said:

I've transferred old 4 track tapes using a regular cassette player. When you play one side of the tape it will be going forward, while the other side of the tape will be playing backwards. ( At least that is how it works with the songs recorded on my old Tascam 4 track) I usually record each side into SoundForge . I then split each stereo file into two tracks, and save each track separately,  giving me the original 4 tracks. I reverse the two backwards tracks, and then import the 4 separate tracks into Cakewalk, or Reaper to work on them. 

Yeah, they offered to do that at the transfer company, but I didn't trust their ability to match each pair's timing correctly. Of course, I don't have a stereo cassette deck either.

[Michael Vogel]

After they’ve done the transfer as they offered (do one file per track) you can line up all the files in CbB.

[S.L.I.P.]

4 hours ago, Michael Vogel said:

After they’ve done the transfer as they offered (do one file per track) you can line up all the files in CbB.

Exactly. I haven't had any trouble lining up the tracks I've transferred into my DAW.

[razor7music]

Well, there was a Yamaha MTX1 on eBay for $100, which was lower than what I'd seen. Since I pay $20 to a service to transfer regular stereo tapes, I made an offer of $30 on the MTX1, with no intention of going any higher.

Yup, they accepted. So long as it works as said, I'm all set!

EDIT: I should have worried when the seller immediately accepted my offer of $30 when the asking price was $100. No haggling. It was sold as 'used' and if you know eBay, that means it works but scratches and dings, etc. Well, the item arrived in decent condition. I plugged it in with its non-factory adapter, and it powered on. It brought back some great memories.

Then, while trying to load a cassette, I noticed the play heads and roller were in the play/record position = extended. They should be retracted while in stop mode so you can insert or eject a tape. Then, when you press play or record, they extend into the bottom casing of the cassette tape. I don't want to bust a cassette, and it certainly would be harder to get a tape out with the heads extended than forcing one in, so I watch an old YouTube video (hey, it's been over 30 years!) Sure enough, you place the top of the tape in first, then click the bottom in. I saw no heads extended in the video.

I've already reached out to the seller and they claim to be ignorant about the issue--although, again, going straight to accepting less than a third of the asking price tells me otherwise. Anyway, eBay now has a guarantee, so I'm getting my money back, but I sure am disappointed.

I'll try again with another used deck. I'll find one!

Edited November 18, 2019 by razor7music