Undoubtedly, many great (and not-so-great) songs were made on these first units in bedrooms and basements worldwide, but it took a bit more development before the four-track cassette format really came into its own. The 244 and 246 were the first to bear the “Portastudio” name and upped the ante with sweepable stacked-knob EQs and dbx noise reduction. The unit resembled a mini-version of the classic 388 with its black chassis, multicolored knobs, and analog VU meters. It all began in 1979, when the TEAC 144 became the first four-track recorder to utilize a standard cassette tape. The magic of the Portastudio cannot be replicated. Later, after completing a recording technology program that taught me to use industry-standard DAWs, classic Trident and state of the art SSL consoles, and top-of-the-line Studer and Otari 24-track tape machines, what did I do? I found a Tascam 424 mkIII on Craigslist and snatched it up for $80.
The hands-on interface and all-in-one recorder + mixer configuration are the hallmarks of Tascam’s Portastudio line and allowed me to learn without being overwhelmed by the infinite options of software recording. That machine served me well through my first few years of blundering around, trying to figure out what this “multitracking” thing was all about. It was marked down by $20 because of a factory error that left it stamped “PORTASTUD” – a blemish I would have gladly paid extra for. It was a Tascam DP-02, one of the digital incarnations of the famous Portastudio line. Back in 2009, I bought my first recording device.
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