Tascam 122MKIII

[StratLou]

Hi All,

Does anyone know if this unit runs at the regular 1 & 7/8 ips like home use decks do or is it in the 4+ ips range. Can't remember where I read that it runs at the faster speed normally which makes it pretty unuseful for general home use. Thanks if anyone can help.

Lou

[ZebraBlvd]

I thought it ran @ 1-7/8 ips, and was able to find some data that reinforced my thoughts. Nice deck BTW, I have a model 302 that I like real well.

Heads: 3 (Erase, Play, Record)

Frequency Response:
Metal Tape: 25Hz-20kHz, ±3dB
CrO2 Tape: 25Hz-19kHz, ±3dB
Normal Tape: 25Hz-17kHz ±3dB

Signal to Noise Ratio:
80dB, Dolby C: Over 1kHz
70dB, Dolby B: Over 5kHz
60dB, NR off: 3% THD level, Weighted

Wow/Flutter (WRMS): <0.04%

Tape Speed: 4.76cm/sec (1-7/8 ips)

Pitch Adjustment: ±12%

Inputs: RCA unbalanced, 1/4" unbalanced (front panel), XLR Balanced

Outputs: RCA unbalanced, XLR Balanced

Power Consumption: 23W

Dimensions: 3 Rack Spaces

Weight: 8.4 kg (18-1/2 lbs)

[vinyldavid]

The Tascam 134 does run at the higher speed.....trying to get one out of my school....

[guiller]

I own a 122Mk2 and it runs at normal speed. If the differences between the Mk2 and Mk3 are minor (a speed difference is not minor in my opinion), then it should run also at normal speed.

[StratLou]

I noticed the mkIII has direcr drive and no belts which I liked. Was curious about the 302 or 322 dual decks. Does Tascam make a good enough unit that the usual auto reverse head alignment problems and tape drive system quality would not be an issue? Are these dual decks a viable option vs getting a 122 mkIII and using, say, a Kenwood kx-1030 like I have now. Thanks for opinions.

Lou

[StratLou]

I thought it ran @ 1-7/8 ips, and was able to find some data that reinforced my thoughts. Nice deck BTW, I have a model 302 that I like real well.

Heads: 3 (Erase, Play, Record)

Frequency Response:
Metal Tape: 25Hz-20kHz, ±3dB
CrO2 Tape: 25Hz-19kHz, ±3dB
Normal Tape: 25Hz-17kHz ±3dB

Signal to Noise Ratio:
80dB, Dolby C: Over 1kHz
70dB, Dolby B: Over 5kHz
60dB, NR off: 3% THD level, Weighted

Wow/Flutter (WRMS): <0.04%

Tape Speed: 4.76cm/sec (1-7/8 ips)

Pitch Adjustment: ±12%

Inputs: RCA unbalanced, 1/4" unbalanced (front panel), XLR Balanced

Outputs: RCA unbalanced, XLR Balanced

Power Consumption: 23W

Dimensions: 3 Rack Spaces

Weight: 8.4 kg (18-1/2 lbs)

I had the ips and cps mixed up then! This unit runs at the usual speed of any deck then. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Fred Sanford]

I noticed the mkIII has direcr drive and no belts which I liked. Was curious about the 302 or 322 dual decks. Does Tascam make a good enough unit that the usual auto reverse head alignment problems and tape drive system quality would not be an issue? Are these dual decks a viable option vs getting a 122 mkIII and using, say, a Kenwood kx-1030 like I have now. Thanks for opinions.

Lou

Not the exact comparison you ask for, but I've got the 202 MKIII and the 112 MKII. The 202 is a decent utility deck (rack mount, can parallel or series record and auto-reverse), but the sound is better on the 112. I keep the 202 for reference recording when mixing a live band, makes for an easy recording on the fly without having to pay much attention to it. The 112 has been what I'm using to archive old cassettes to digital via Alesis Masterlink.

je

[StratLou]

The 112 has been what I'm using to archive old cassettes to digital via Alesis Masterlink.

je


Instead of the Masterlink, could I just go from a tape deck using a dual RCA/usb cable to computer's usb port to rip mp3's on the computer of similar quality as to burning cd's with the Masterlink? I would eventually take that mp3 to minidisc. Any idea of the quality in this sound recording path vs the Masterlink pathway? Thanks.

Lou

[peltor]

Is the same as Teac C-1 ?

[Fred Sanford]

Instead of the Masterlink, could I just go from a tape deck using a dual RCA/usb cable to computer's usb port to rip mp3's on the computer of similar quality as to burning cd's with the Masterlink? I would eventually take that mp3 to minidisc. Any idea of the quality in this sound recording path vs the Masterlink pathway? Thanks.

Lou

You'd need more than just a passive cable to convert analog audio to something a PC can take into a USB port. Not familiar, but there are probably some folks here that can point to a product that will do that conversion.

A CD quality (or higher than CD quality, this unit can record & burn at 96kHz) file from a Masterlink will be better than an MP3 version in the first place, and then converting the file again to Minidisc will further degrade the quality. That's not to say that it won't work for your needs, but it's going to be inherently compromised. You don't have to use MP3 as your initial digital format if you're concerned about quality, you can use WAV if you have the memory space for it. That would start you at CD quality, but there would still be another conversion when you went to Minidisc.

je

[StratLou]

You'd need more than just a passive cable to convert analog audio to something a PC can take into a USB port. Not familiar, but there are probably some folks here that can point to a product that will do that conversion.

A CD quality (or higher than CD quality, this unit can record & burn at 96kHz) file from a Masterlink will be better than an MP3 version in the first place, and then converting the file again to Minidisc will further degrade the quality. That's not to say that it won't work for your needs, but it's going to be inherently compromised. You don't have to use MP3 as your initial digital format if you're concerned about quality, you can use WAV if you have the memory space for it. That would start you at CD quality, but there would still be another conversion when you went to Minidisc.

je

I've been away from sound for too long and so much has changed. Much to catch up on. I will start a new thread about the follow-up to this situation called the Ion deck, if you could please comment there. In the meantime, can you store WAV files on a memory stick? And can you record WAV files to minidisc or just mp3? Thanks again for your thoughts. Lou

[Fred Sanford]

I've been away from sound for too long and so much has changed. Much to catch up on. I will start a new thread about the follow-up to this situation called the Ion deck, if you could please comment there. In the meantime, can you store WAV files on a memory stick? And can you record WAV files to minidisc or just mp3? Thanks again for your thoughts. Lou

Not sure what you mean by memory stick, if it's a USB thumb drive, then yes you can store a WAV file on that.

I've never used Minidisc myself, but I believe that the file type used on there is neither WAV nor MP3. I'm sure it could take an analog feed in, but don't know what they're looking for on digital inputs.

je

[KentTeffeteller]

Hi,

Minidisc can't record WAV files natively or MP3 unless you have one of the recent Hi-MD units using a Hi-MD disc. These machines are mostly portables only although there were Onkyo decks available in Japan. There will likely be some analog conversion going on with MD's copy protection. Also, most cassette decks can't do USB copying. The ion machines are very limited in performance. The Tascam 112 you have is way better performance wise. MiniDisc's compression format is ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding). Sony's own compression format.

[StratLou]

Hi,

Minidisc can't record WAV files natively or MP3 unless you have one of the recent Hi-MD units using a Hi-MD disc. These machines are mostly portables only although there were Onkyo decks available in Japan. There will likely be some analog conversion going on with MD's copy protection. Also, most cassette decks can't do USB copying. The ion machines are very limited in performance. The Tascam 112 you have is way better performance wise. MiniDisc's compression format is ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding). Sony's own compression format.

What does it record as, filewise, then? For ex., cd to minidisc. Wouldn't that be mp3? And if I wnated to copy a wav file from pc to minidisc, wouldn't that be wav? Still learning this stuff. I have the older minidisc format but have been thrilled to see the Hi-MD format. Will gravitate towards that eventually as it seems quite versatile. Thanks again.

[KentTeffeteller]

Hi,

MiniDisc uses ATRAC compression for recording and playback. Some recorders have digital in/out. However, you can only do one generation before having to go analog. WAV, CD, and MP3 get converted to ATRAC. You need to begin looking for a Hi-MD recorder as they are getting scarce. For full Hi-MD recording of PCM, WAV, MP3 and long play ATRAC, you must use a Hi-MD disc. These are more expensive. This recorder can still record/play regular MD as well.