Knobs now have colour‑coded tops, and connections are on the rear panel rather than the top panel.
There are some cosmetic alterations, chiefly a contemporary 'rounding off' of edges, though the metallic blue finish remains the same. The differences between the MkII and the new machine are few, the most significant being an improved mixer section: where the MkII had four mono channels and two simplified stereo channels, the MkII has six mono channels and one stereo. The 424 is a long‑lived machine - the MkII version was reviewed in SOS September 1996 - and it has now reached its third revision. Though the sound‑quality of the 414 MkII (above) matches that of the more expensive 424 MkIII, the smaller unit has more limited connectivity and facilities. Having examined both sides of the issue and admitted that there's probably still a place for the analogue Portastudio, we'll turn to Tascam's two latest models, the 424 MkIII and the 414 MkII.
Analogue Portastudios also provide an excellent grounding in basic recording techniques for novices, are cheap to buy, and offer unrivalled speed and immediacy for quick demo recordings. We're also quite partial to the idea of being able to pick up our multitrack recording medium (a cassette) from virtually anywhere, knowing that with reasonable care it won't go corrupt - and therefore doesn't really need backing up. To which the log‑dwellers might well respond that, yes, those things are great, but we'd rather not worry about looking after the hard drive, pay extra for something to back up to, lose our latest masterpiece because the HD recorder crashed before we'd backed up, or spend hours poking about in menu‑driven operating systems to get the built‑in reverb routed where we'd like it.
Has the affordable digital revolution passed them by completely? Are they really prepared to forgo the things hard disk multitrackers offer - clean, hiss‑free digital recording without wow and flutter, the convenience of digital editing and built‑in effects, the freedom of virtual tracks, the life‑saving power of the 'Undo', the speed of instant locating, the wonder of not having to give up a track to sync code in order to synchronise a sequencer? Some will no doubt be wondering which log these people have been hiding under for the past couple of years. (There are exceptions, of course.) So the fact that the two leading exponents of the analogue cassette multitracker format, Tascam (its originators) and Fostex have both put out new models recently must mean that there are still people who want to make multitrack recordings on cassette tape. If something doesn't sell, they won't usually make another one of the same, in order for it not to sell too. Successful studio equipment manufacturers aren't known for flogging dead horses. Derek Johnson & Debbie Poyser go back to the future. In these digital days, is there still a place for the good old analogue cassette Portastudio? Tascam clearly think so, having just released upgraded versions of two of their most recent models.