Getting As Bad As Jim For Waving The Teac/Tascam Flag

Hey Chris! Welcome from another ex-pat! Just a comment - I'm pretty sure the Teac C1/C3 and Tascam 122/233/234 all share the same drive and chassis. I know when I had my Tascam 233 (a stereo deck with a cue track for multi-image shows), it was the same drive as a friends's C3.
 
Bob Boyer said:
Hey Chris! Welcome from another ex-pat! Just a comment - I'm pretty sure the Teac C1/C3 and Tascam 122/233/234 all share the same drive and chassis. I know when I had my Tascam 233 (a stereo deck with a cue track for multi-image shows), it was the same drive as a friends's C3.
Click to expand...
Good to know bob! Thanks. :)
Watching ASB Custom's videos is definitely an inspiration to get hold of a fixer-upper 233 as a hobby-deck. I've constrained myself to Naks and Yammies so it would be nice to branch out to another decent brand.
 
Nice. Sam = ASB?
If you're offering to sell it to me then I would have to politely decline. I wouldn't trust any shipping from the US into NL. Not because of any speculation about your packing skills but sadly because of theft of packages here in NL as well as the time it takes to get things cleared through customs...and then onto a theft risk. It's just rife sadly.
I usually go and collect items in person.
It would also be 120v if it's not multi-voltage? 220v here.

It's a nice example though!
 
Chris Cables said:
Good to know bob! Thanks. :)
Watching ASB Custom's videos is definitely an inspiration to get hold of a fixer-upper 233 as a hobby-deck. I've constrained myself to Naks and Yammies so it would be nice to branch out to another decent brand.
Click to expand...

I led you astray - they are 133s, not 233s. If you can snag a good 133, it's a good stereo deck. They tend to look a little rough as they spent a lot of time in road cases while running shows on location. I used one in my home system on occasion if i wanted a 3 and 3/4 ips recording when I wasn't programming multi-image presentations for clients. IIRC, it only works in one direction, though as the stereo tracks are 1 and 2, not 1 and 3 as is normal so you can flip the cassette for side B. They did that to use track 3 as a buffer between the soundtrack and the computer cue tones on track 4, which are pretty loud.

Hmmmm. As if i didn't need another rabbit hole to throw money down... I should try locating a working Arion 4-projector programmer/dissolve unit and a couple more Kodak projectors, a decent 133, and a projector rack and play with making those presentations again. I still have enough landscape slides around here.
 
And if you need/want balanced in and out, at low cost, the 112B is a two-head deck of good quality (pro playback deck) with Balanced in and out (the "B" suffix). I had one for a while before I got my 122 Mk. III and it did a fine job of digitizing cassette to CD.

Some of the other Tascam decks have a removable rear cover to insert the balanced module, but those are super-rare out in the wild, as most places spec'd the deck as they wanted it and didn't bother with "upgrades" later. Correct remotes can be hard to find as well.
 
I liked the Teac C decks when we sold them back in the day. Not really tempted as I got a Luxman K-12 and it did nicely for decades. Now I'm waiting for a Yamaha C300 to heal itself as it sits over there. It has the balanced I/O that I probably won't use.

Nice to see these Teacs being enjoyed.
 
@Chris Cables: The Teac C-3X doesn't have a distinct sound signature - if that's what you meant by SS. In other words - it's true to the recording. I got a bunch of premium Type IV tapes not long ago. The tapes are used and were recorded to once. The seller can't recall which deck he used to record the tapes, but he had a recording studio. This is his email message to me when I asked him about the history of the recordings:

Thu 2024-05-16 11:04 AM

HI,
Back days I had a recording studio where I worked for many years, then I retired and sold almost all my equipment,
for the cassettes, I used lots of different machines, Studer 215, Nakamichi 1000, 700, CR-7,
so I don't know exactly what I used to record your cassettes,
I didn't use CDs for sure, can be only reel tapes or LPs

Mike

Here is playback of two consecutive tracks on a TDK MA-R 90 he recorded. The tape was played back on my Teac C-3X:

TDK MA-R90 Malia & Boris Blank Teac C-3X.wav

20240509_173057.jpg

And these are the cassettes I bought from him in a bulk purchase. I paid less for the lot than I've seen a used Sony Super Metal Master go for.

20240504_144844 (5).jpg

Nando.
 
With the Teac C-3X , I needed a few items. First, was a set of factory feet as the deck was rack-mounted and there were no feet when I got it. A TH member gifted me a set.

20240501_154309 (1).jpg

Second, was a factory Teac tone generator to enable me to correctly calibrate cassettes for recording. I bought both from the same seller, a member at TH:

20240518_073433 (2).jpg

Once I learned how to calibrate the Teac C-3X, I recorded a couple of tracks on a Denon MG-X 100.

Denon MG-X 100 No NR.wav

Nando.
 
Elite-ist said:
With the Teac C-3X , I needed a few items. First, was a set of factory feet as the deck was rack-mounted and there were no feet when I got it. A TH member gifted me a set.


Second, was a factory Teac tone generator to enable me to correctly calibrate cassettes for recording. I bought both from the same seller, a member at TH:


Once I learned how to calibrate the Teac C-3X, I recorded a couple of tracks on a Denon MG-X 100.

Denon MG-X 100 No NR.wav

Nando.
Click to expand...

Yeah, great score nando, I read about it on TH!
I'd be wary of using those TEAC tone-generators maybe as at this age and esp if they're oscillators then they may be out of spec to use as accurate calibration tools.
If you have a solid state/quartz tone generator then this would be a good investment. Even a TG on your phone may be more accurate. Just a thought ;)

I'm definitely keen to experience the Teac/Tascam sound signature (SS) in a balanced signal path configuration so I'm keeping my eyes peeled and I'm going to listen to those wav's tomorrow. I'm on the black stuff while watching the 24hr LeMans race so not the ideal listening conditions lol.
Cheers!

IMG_20240615_210918.jpg

...and a wave from Luca Giancarlo from Ferrari too. hahha
 
@Chris Cables: I did do a check of the Teac T0-8 using the Spectroid app on my phone. With the spectrum analyzer app on my cell phone, I got 410 Hz, 6281 Hz and 12469 Hz at T0-8 tone outputs of 400 Hz, 6.3 kHz and 12.5 kHz. That seems close enough for me.

Go Team Ferrari!

Nando.
 
You can plug the output into a multimeter and get exact frequency.

I bet there are trim pots inside to dial the tones in.

Not having those boxes are why I got rid of my 122 (mark I). No other way to calibrate back then for me. Otherwise the 122 could be used to bludgeon an ox to death and then a fire truck wheel chock.
 
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