Tascam 464 Portastudio 4-Track Cassette Recorder

This is a short demo video about Tascam Portastudio 464. For small band or home studio recording, this machine is all you need. It also operates at two speeds and has a DBX noise reduction system, delivering high Signal to Noise Ratio.
Where the 464 Portastudio is concerned, quality definitely seems to have
been put high on the agenda. In fact, at the risk of pre-empting those
who immediately turn to the concluding paragraph of a review, let me
just say Tascam seem to have done their sums and put together a very
well-engineered, professional machine.
The restrained grey finish is easy on the eye and nicely complemented by
the curves at the back and front. The pushbutton controls all have a
positive click action, while the sliders are responsive - if just a
might uneven in their travel - and the rotary controls click nicely into
their center detente positions. The knobs themselves feel rather like the erasers you find on the end of pencils - a little slim, but not difficult to use.
A large LCD shows the meter levels, tape counter, record indicators and several other functions that we'll come to presently.
The 464 has a 12-input mixer section. The first four inputs are the main
ones and have jack and XLR inputs - but you are warned in the manual not to use both of these at the same time. Each channel has a Trimpot
followed by an Input selector which determines where the signal is coming from and where it's going. As well as being able to select
Mic/Line or Tape you can also select the third option here which sends the
tape signal directly to the left or right Master output - effectively creating a Bus Input. In a conventional way, channels one and three go left and two and four go right.
Next along is a three-band EQ section with a sweep control in the Mid-range. The High shelving point is 10kHz, the Low is 100Hz and the Mid
the range is variable from 250Hz to 5kHz. You can be creative with this if
you have a mind to. I generally don't use much EQ (though many's the
'discussion' I've had with pro-EQ friends) but then most of the stuff I record comes directly from an electronic source and I reckon the shaping
should take place before it hits the mixer. Audio sources are another
a furrow of Fourier frequencies, of course, and it's standard practice to
use the EQ to compensate for tracks which have to be bounced - so it's
perhaps as well to have the 464's comprehensive facilities there if you
need them.
There are two Effects Send controls that receive signals after the channel fader (post-fader send) and route it to two Effects Masters.
After these comes the Pan pot followed by a fader which feeds the Master
fader.
The remaining inputs (jack only) are grouped together in stereo pairs -
five and six, seven and eight and so on - but each run through a single signal route. You can also use a mono signal with these which will be fed to both left and right channels. Inputs five and six, and seven and eight, have a slightly simpler signal path compared with the first four inputs. There is no Trim control (the level being nominally set to
-10dBv), no Mid EQ (a blank fascia marks the place) and the Panpots become Balance controls.
The Input switch has three options: Main, Off, and Cue. The Main setting sends the signal to the main stereo bus for recording, while Cue sends it to the Cue mix for monitoring. The manual suggests that if you are using sequenced 'virtual tracks' you should use channels 5 to 12 so they
can be sent to the Cue without being recorded.
There are four Master Cue controls - one for each track - which controls the balance between the tracks, plus a Cue Master which adjusts the overall volume in the headphones. Channels 9, 10, 11 and 12 each have a
control to vary the level going to the Assign switch which, again, has three positions L-R, Off and Cue. The L-R setting sends the signal directly to the left and right sides of the main stereo mix for recording.
There is no EQ, Effects Sends or Pan controls in this section.
The input sockets are all located at the rear of the console but face
upwards so you don't have to fiddle around the back of the machine to
make connections. On the back panel itself, there are two Inserts, two
Effect Outs, four Tape Outs, two Line Outs, two Monitor Outs, Cue Out
and two sockets labeled 2TR In which provide a route from an external
two-track mixdown recorder to the 2TR In switch in the Monitor section.

[@endlesscassette8905]

I have the same model! Beautiful!

[@AngelGeleto]

Very nice!

[@sebotonin_official]

Thanks for this!