Recording January 2022 - 59

The TASCAM 388 can start clean, but
things get vibey fast. The tape formulas
make a big difference on the 388 as
you push the bias and saturate the tape.
The BASF LPR35 formula shows gentle
signs of grunge out of the gate and gets
rough and ready fast. I also liked how
the clean GP9 felt like it was fighting
to stay hi-fi but kept losing ground, resulting
in a rich, satiated breakup. The
388 is an excellent sound design tool for
adding analog breakup to drums, bass
guitar and vocals, with a wonderfully
full-featured EQ section.
Then we come to the sound of many a
Gen X bedroom studio. IK did a fantasBiased
Bias
is essential on tape machines. Gently under biasing can pull the sound back
for an open, brighter tonality. Under bias too far and the sound becomes starved,
distorted, and ripe with dropouts. Pushing the bias drives the sound into thicker, fuller,
even slightly compressed saturation.
Tone shaping
Each machine offers a pre-tape high-frequency EQ (it's common to exaggerate high
frequencies on the way to tape). From there, the TEAC twins and PORTA ONE offer
high and low-frequency EQ on the output, while the 388 has a full mixer-style threeband
semi-parametric EQ with low, mid and high options.
Last are controls for Power (bypass), Auto Calibration (resets the record, play and
EQ sections) and Reset (returns every parameter to its default state).
Tape selection
For tape choices, you can thread up (BASF SM) 911, (Ampex) 456, (Quantegy)
GP9 and (Ampex) 499. The TASCAM 388 substitutes the 911 formula for (BASF LPR)
35. The TASCAM PORTA ONE offers Type I (dark, rounded and even muddy) or Type
II cassette tape (cleaner and more open).
Sounds like
The TEAC A-6100 MKII is the cleanest and most hi-fi, especially with GP9 tape, a
gentle bias boost and a 15 ips tape speed. This model is closest to the previous IK
Tape Machine Collection but has a hint more low-mid punch and an excited top-end
thrust. The TEAC A-3340S is similar to the A-6100 MK II but with an upper midrange
that moves subtly forward. It is the best all-rounder of the bunch, with a smooth, gently
obvious tape tonality that can be pushed from clean and minimal to a beautiful, richly
driven saturation. It can get aggressive and fuzzy at 7.5 ips with a slight push of the
bias using the 456 tape.
Final thoughts
While I use words like 'grungy',
'driven' and 'vibey', these are not
heavy-handed tape emulations with
copious amounts of wow and flutter
(none of the IK Tapes have this option),
exaggerated tape hiss (also not an
option) or superfluous thickness. Instead,
they are models of real-world tools that
you can push to extremes, as you might
the real thing.
It would be nice to have an auto-gain
compensation feature on the main in
and out, but it's not a dealbreaker and
would perhaps make the proceedings
less authentic.
You can go home again
The IK coders and the TASCAM
engineers outdid themselves with the
IK Multimedia T-RackS TASCAM Tape
Collection. When I call up an 80s softsynth
emulation and run it through the
PORTA ONE, it just takes me back...
Price: $199 (collection); $99 (each)
More From: ikmultimedia.com
RECORDING January 2022 59
tic job harnessing the nostalgic tone of
the TASCAM PORTA ONE. Even though
the control set is minimal, there's a broad
swath of tonal massaging and mangling
to be done here-just dig in and play.
Drop the input slider, raise the tape input,
engage the super-murky Type I setting, pull
back the curtain with under-biasing, push
the high-end generously into the tape, and
then EQ to taste-just one example. This
is a great box to rough up acoustic guitars
à la vintage Rolling Stones.

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Recording January 2022

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