Tascam revolutionised home recording with their cassette‑based Portastudio, but haven't yet offered a budget digital version to compete with the likes of the Fostex DMT8/D80 and Roland VS880. Now their 4‑track MiniDisc‑based 564 is almost ready. Paul White gets a sneak preview...
Rumours of a MiniDisc‑based Portastudio from Tascam have been circulating for well over a year now, but it's only in the last few months that the existence of the 564 Digital Portastudio has been officially confirmed. Presented very much as a tapeless Portastudio, but retaining most of the traditional Portastudio features and layout, the 564 is a 4‑track recorder that uses relatively inexpensive MiniDisc MD data cartridges to provide 37 minutes of recording time — more than you get from a regular Portastudio running a C60 tape.
One of the concerns over the use of MiniDisc is the ATRAC data compression system used to squeeze audio information so that it will fit onto the likes of a MiniDisc cartridge — a lot of people seem to have made up their mind about it before even hearing it. The truth is that if you compare a stereo CD to a MiniDisc copy using a very good hi‑fi system, some people can tell the difference, and apparently low‑level detail such as reverb tails suffers the most. However, the effect is subtle, and in the context of multitracking, where effects are generally added after recording, it's arguable whether anyone could distinguish a project made on a MiniDisc multitrack from the same project made on a 16‑bit linear recording system. In terms of frequency response and noise, MiniDisc is broadly comparable with 16‑bit systems such as CD and DAT.
Before moving onto specifics, is there a future in 4‑track recording when everybody else seems to be moving to eight? Tascam obviously think so, and apart from not losing a track to timecode (the 564 can generate MTC or MIDI Clock directly), it's also possible to 'bounce' material forwards to a new 'song' location. Working this way, you can record four tracks, bounce forward to two tracks, add two more tracks, bounce forward again and so on, up to a maximum of five songs per disc. Inevitably, a little quality deterioration will occur, as you're passing through the analogue mixer every time you bounce, but this will be far less serious than it is with cassette systems. What's more, you can also rearrange recorded material using a non‑destructive playlist approach based on up to 20 markers per song. Playlists may be bounced forward to convert them to 'hard' data, and this hard data may then be mixed and bounced to yet another location. Apparently, Tascam's MiniDisc drive, as used in their MD801 stereo recorder, is the only drive with a fast enough seek time to allow this kind of non‑destructive, multitrack playlist editing. Early versions of songs may be kept as fallbacks, or you can simply re‑use the disc space and record over songs by bouncing backwards instead of forwards. Because of the bounce forward facility, you can always go back to your original tracks, remix them and bounce them forward again to replace your first attempts if you get to the end of a project only to realise that the snare drum wasn't quite loud enough!
The Hardware
As pointed out above, the 564 is a logical evolution of the Portastudio, and apart from the absence of a tape transport, there's little clue as to the revolutionary technology under the covers. The disc slot is tucked away unobtrusively on the right‑hand edge of the machine, and most of the front panel controls and functions are reassuringly familiar. However, as a concession to fashion, the designers have changed the colour to a light blue/grey.
The mixer section is conventional analogue, with four mic/line channels, two stereo channels with EQ, and two more stereo channels with no EQ. Channels 1 to 4 offer 3‑band EQ with sweep mids while the first two stereo channels have 2‑band EQ. Channels 1 and 2 have the further benefit of insert points.
...the 564 is a logical evolution of the Portastudio.
Two post‑fade effects sends are provided on all mono channels, and on three of the stereo channels. What's more, when you come to mix, inputs 1 to 4 can be used to route external signals to the Left/Right busses via the input Trim controls. Even‑numbered channels are sent to the right buss, and odd‑numbered channels to the left buss.
Another valuable feature is the provision of direct track outputs, so that you can mix via an external mixer if you wish. There's also a digital output, so you can pipe your mix directly to a DAT machine, though the bounce forward facility means that you could create and store your final stereo mix on the same disc as your multitrack work. This is obviously a great benefit for users who do not yet own a decent mastering recorder.
Full metering is provided for the four tracks and the Left/Right mix, and the familiar Portastudio cue monitoring system is used to set up guide mixes while overdubbing. A 2‑line, 16‑character LCD display provides the user with information and prompts, and a concentric shuttle/jog wheel arrangement makes it easy to locate specific edit points. The transport precisely mimics that of a tape machine (apart from the slow winding!) — you even get the +/‑9% varispeed range expected by Portastudio users.
In a MIDI system, the 564 always acts as the master and can send out MTC or MIDI Clock, as well as responding to MIDI Machine Control (MMC). MIDI Clock is derived from a user tempo map which can have up to 32 tempo changes. When working in this mode, editing can be made to bar and beat locations as an alternative to absolute time positions if required.
Destructive editing functions include the usual cut, copy and move options as well as the ability to silence sections of recording, but an Undo/Redo function lets you go back a step if you make a mistake. You can record on all four tracks simultaneously if required, and the routing system follows the system of recording either from the stereo buss (allowing multiple inputs to be mixed), or direct from any of channels 1 to 4.
As with an analogue machine, there's a footswitch punch‑in/out option, as well as auto punch‑in/out and a Rehearse mode. In this mode, a marked section keeps on looping to allow you to perfect your punch‑in — but a big advantage over analogue tape is that you can store up to five alternative versions of a punch‑in, and then pick the best one.
Summary
At the time of this preview, Tascam were still updating some of the features of the machine, but I was able to record material onto it and listen to the results. Those wary of data compression can rest assured that the side‑effects are far more benign than those of most analogue tape noise reduction systems, and the subjective quality of the recording is far closer to that of DAT or CD than it is to analogue cassette, even if you ignore the benefits of extended audio bandwidth and low noise. What's more, punching in and out is quite glitch‑free, something you can't say of analogue tape, and because the discs are designed for the storage of computer data, I would expect the data integrity to be better than digital tape.
By combining the simplicity of a traditional Portastudio with the sonic and editing benefits of a digital format, the 564 should appeal not only to musicians with a casual interest in recording, but also to the more serious user who wants to add a few audio tracks to a MIDI sequence without taking the integrated 'Audio + MIDI' approach. If the format has a limitation, it's that you can only record four tracks, but this is largely mitigated by the archivable recording media and the ingenious bounce forward facility. Furthermore, the fact that you can mix your stereo master to the same disc means that probably for the first time ever, you really can have a complete recording studio in one box.
Finally, although the price isn't fixed yet, it is expected to be around the £1000 mark, which enhances the desirability of the machine still further. There'll be a full SOS review of the 564 just as soon as we can bring you one.