TASCAM 488 REVIEW | 8 Track multitrack cassette recorder | 1991 | Specifications | Vs. 688 MT8X MKII 

This is my go to recording deck. I picked it up for $25 US at a yard sale. Replaced the bellt several years later. Glad to see your expertise targeting this specific deck.

Love these videos am delighted every time I come back

I have one of these, I think the 488 is awesome! And I believe there is a workaround for getting more outputs for digitizing (never tested it, but in theory it should work): You can get 4 outs via the group outputs, two by using send 1 and 2, one more by using the cue bus with the phones jack and one by using the sync out.

Really enjoy your teaching style and of course the content is always top notch

Great and informative video. I had the 4 track version and LOVED it. I found it intuitive and very easy to use.... cheers mate.

Awesome channel and hi from snowy Winnipeg Manitoba CANADA. I have recently begun to convert my 488 original 8 track song ideas to digital. I bought my 488 in 1991 and used it exclusively until I bought a Yamaha AW16g. I have some 200 cassettes made on the 488 with many song ideas. The 488 was an excellent first machine to learn how to multi-track and record with. I also used 2 passes to export my 488 songs to digital and I did notice the motor drift. Pass 1 included 4 tracks and pass 2 included the other 4 tracks. What I found is that I could export a maximum of 4 tracks at a time on the 488. 2 selected tracks were selected for group 1 and 2 and 2 selected tracks were used for group 3 and 4. In group 1/2 1 track was panned left while the other track was panned right. In group 3/4 1 track was panned left and the other was panned right. This gave me 4 tracks that I sent to my Yamaha AW1600. Once the 4 tracks were in the AW1600 I exported the 4 waves to the computer and imported them into CUBASE. I used the same process for the other 4 tracks. I imported each pass to CUBASE giving me 8 tracks but it was difficult to get both groups of 4 tracks to match. The motor drift was a problem that could not be fixed so I have been selecting the most important 4 tracks to export so the song could be worked on again. It is possible to export all 8 488 tracks to digital by assigning 2 tracks to group 1, 2 tracks to group 2, 2 tracks to group 3, and 2 tracks to group 4. However, you have less control now because each of the 4 exported tracks has 2 tracks on each. I recently purchased a Yamaha AW1600 because it has a USB out so I can now export my AW16g files to the computer rather than having to use CDs. I have 187GB of song ideas on CDs form my AW16g that I am slowly exporting to the computer. On the AW16g, song waves are backed up in a .cfs file and this file, when extracted on the computer using a Yamaha extraction program, gives the wave files for each track and the 2 stereo tracks if a mix-down was done. Your channel is a wealth of information for those cats who still have their cassette multi-track machines. Cheers : ) Mike

Back then a couple of affordable 8 track cassette recorders came out. I was absolutely thrilled and I knew I had to get one. Ultimately I decided on the Yamaha MT8X and I never regretted it.

Just sold one super cheap on Reverb. Two channels (4 and 8) don’t seem to want to work, and I don’t have time to mess with it.

Ah. Thank you for this! I own one of these. This is so helpful!

I used to have one of these, and sold it without exploring it as deeply as it should've been. Regret it to this day.

I've actually got one of these machines. When it was working it was a fabulous sounding recorder. It's totally dead now, but I think it might need a new pcb. Nice video m8. 😎👍

these are really cool machines, I never should have sold mine

300 pounds... $350 for a fixed 688! amazing deal lmfao how can someone complain about that?

Thanks!

this is wonderful, been looking for a complete "30 years later" review. just got a 688 from a pawn shop and would be great to see a vid too. also possible modding to add an external bias knob to experiment with tape types and sound textures?

Great review, thanks for doing that! Where do you buy your type 2 cassettes from?

Excellent review, I love the 488’s and as you mention they’re easier to get your head around than the 688. Do you think it’d be possible to mod one to allow for 8 tracks of simultaneous recording?

Great review!! I recently noticed my 488 sometimes gives guitars/organ sounds a kind of very fast vibrato/tremolo (more noticeably on the high frequencies). Is that a sign of a fault maybe? Cheers!

Maybe, if you have one track free, you can record a sync track to that one. Ofcourse you would need a syncman or something like that. Then you can record it to your pc, while syncing the pc to the sync-track via MIDI with the sync-machine again. That's at least 7 tracks synced (but with unsynced wobble). I'd really like a 488 MKII.

Ive got a 464 I've recently fixed, thanks to your videos, and I didn't know type one cassettes leave a residue or whatever. If it gets too bad can I just open it and clean it with alcohol wipes? or do I need to switch to type two?

Hello Tetrakan. Is there any coincidence in portastudio models with the plastic cassette lid? Any clue on how to get a lid of a Midistudio 644? Thx :)

I purchased this unit at a 2nd hand shop ,for 60 bucks CDN . The door was broken witch crazy glue solved . I also had broken function buttons on the tape . These fractures can be repaired with Model Glue ,polystyrene glue . The drive belt for the Capstan I suspect has broken , and don't know how to get at it .Any suggestions ? And the wow and flutter is a distraction . .The rest of it works fine .

Hi Tetrakan, I know this video is unrelated to the Tascam 244 but I was hoping you could help me out. I just bought one last week (in good condition, everything in working order seemingly). But when I recorded using all four tracks I noticed there seemed to be a warble/ vibrato that was being produced on tracks 1&2 in playback. When I stop and start the tape there's almost like a latency as the tape picks up speed again. I've been looking all over forums and the like but not having much luck. I know its hard to diagnose but any advice would be appreciated, many thanks!

Its amazing how much the 488 is getting destroyed by mt8x in terms of I/O and grouping / routing possibilities. No separate outs, no returns, inserts no adjustable grouping, no mid eq and one effect per channel!!

Great video. Thanks for posting it. I have one of these units and want to transfer my 8-Track analog recordings to digital. I have a software program, and there are a variety of user interfaces available, but the challenge I'm facing is that there doesn't appear to be any way to get each of the 8-Tracks transferred individually. I don't want multiple tracks bounced together. I need to be able to remix each track individually. There aren't eight outputs or individual outputs for each track. Any ideas?

My name is Sal and I am a customer service representative for TAP Electronics. We are the factory service center for TASCAM USA.

Could this cure the capstand hum from my 488 aswell?

Question: On the 488Mk2 can you export all 8 tracks at once? Does the 488Mk2 have 8 RCA outs for each track? On the 488 you can only export 4 tracks at a time as there are only 4 RCA outs.

Is the 488 format compatible with a 688? Meaning, if I'd recorded on a 488, could I put the tape I'd recorded on into a 688 and have it cooperate?

Actually, the 688 quite famously does NOT have phantom power.

What would be the sound quality difference in this and say a Tascam 238 synacast

How about these Portastudios with the digital displays...if the digital goes aren't you basically SNAFU'd? I'd imagine fixing digital circuits is not easy. Or are they pretty bullet proof and it's the moving parts that fail much more so? I sold a 414 2 years ago which I regret and I wanna buy a new Portastudio or a reel to reel 4 track or something. Just want to get back into tape.

Looks like I found my people ..488

Is this model all analog? Or is it partly digital?

If anyone knows where I can get my hands on one let me know. Trying to play my masters again. Sold my old one for 300 years ago and it looks like imma have to pay 600 to get one now? That’s wild.