Recording to Tape

I have a mini porta02 mkII… I am recording into the porta from my mpc and an sp404. The problem I'm having is that I can't seem to record in stereo from the mpc… this is a problem because I actually have quite a bit of panning on some of the stuff I'm trying to record, and unfortunately this is all being condensed into a mono track after getting it into the porta02.

Went through the manual and didn't find anything specific to what I'm doing… wondering if using typeII hi-bias tapes would help the process… I don't know, any feedback from people who have experience with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

if it cant record two tracks at once.. try em one after another?

That's an idea... I was just hoping to record direct from the mpc, into the porta02, and have things panned the way I want them, the way I am able to do when I record into the 404... think I'm dreamin of a scenario that simple on the porta though... thanks for the idea though.

i meant recording L and R separately, then hard panning both tracks.. so you still have stereo information

AntonPD wrote:i meant recording L and R separately, then hard panning both tracks.. so you still have stereo information

Ahh... nice, even better. Will give it a go tonight and see what I can come up with... thank you, my friend.

btotheg wrote:I have a mini porta02 mkII… I am recording into the porta from my mpc and an sp404. The problem I'm having is that I can't seem to record in stereo from the mpc… this is a problem because I actually have quite a bit of panning on some of the stuff I'm trying to record, and unfortunately this is all being condensed into a mono track after getting it into the porta02.

Went through the manual and didn't find anything specific to what I'm doing… wondering if using typeII hi-bias tapes would help the process… I don't know, any feedback from people who have experience with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Either the second track is not working or the track itself is not armed for recording. I don't have the manuals. Put them up and I can have a look.

Beware recording a stereo signal in two mono passes. Natural tape flutter will reek havoc on the phase. Best get it working how it is supposed too.

Shostakovich wrote:

btotheg wrote:I have a mini porta02 mkII… I am recording into the porta from my mpc and an sp404. The problem I'm having is that I can't seem to record in stereo from the mpc… this is a problem because I actually have quite a bit of panning on some of the stuff I'm trying to record, and unfortunately this is all being condensed into a mono track after getting it into the porta02.

Went through the manual and didn't find anything specific to what I'm doing… wondering if using typeII hi-bias tapes would help the process… I don't know, any feedback from people who have experience with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Either the second track is not working or the track itself is not armed for recording. I don't have the manuals. Put them up and I can have a look.

Beware recording a stereo signal in two mono passes. Natural tape flutter will reek havoc on the phase. Best get it working how it is supposed too.

Wow... thanks for the help... here's the manual if you want to have a look.
http://www.tascam.com/content/downloads ... manual.pdf

Appreciate that so much man, thank you.

Well, set the input function of input 1 to er... input 1! and 2 to 2. If track 2 is in SAFE mode, it won't record.

Shostakovich wrote:Well, set the input function of input 1 to er... input 1! and 2 to 2. If track 2 is in SAFE mode, it won't record.

Okay, had that correct on the Tascam... that said, on the 3000 outs, I used the headphone jack as the out... because I don't have a 2 headed 3/4 at both ends, only have the cord that's a 1/8 on one end, and 2 3/4's on the other.
Could that be the difference? A trip to the store to pick up a cord that has 2 3/4's on each side?

THank you again for taking the time man... so grateful that you're able to bare with my ignorance.

^^^ Your best scenario would be to use a small mixer (like a 8x2) then connect that to the tascam. Your instruments plug into the mixer, but the main outs of the mixer plug into the two inputs of the tascam.

1/4 in. jack cables is what would work in a case like this. Stereo to mono connections my be ok for live play, but in the studio where all your critical recording is done...that can be a bad thing (depending on what you're striving for).

dabmeister wrote:^^^ Your best scenario would be to use a small mixer (like a 8x2) then connect that to the tascam. Your instruments plug into the mixer, but the main outs of the mixer plug into the two inputs of the tascam.

1/4 in. jack cables is what would work in a case like this. Stereo to mono connections my be ok for live play, but in the studio where all your critical recording is done...that can be a bad thing (depending on what you're striving for).

Great idea, dab... I have a little mixer I can experiment with, this weekend. Thank you for the suggestion.