Tascam 246 Portastudio Cassette Four Track Multitrack Recorder/Mixer

tascam-246
 block-diagram
 channel-strip
 program-master

Last Update 07/26/2026

I purchased this Tascam 246 new in 1989 at the humble start of my recording studio. I had graduated from college and had a full time engineering job, so I embarked on my hobby of recording original songs. "Portastudio" cassette recorders were a hot product in the 1980s, before computer sequencers and DAWs became the norm. Many of them were not well featured; most only recorded two tracks at a time, the channel strips were too simple, no transport memories for rewind/stop/play, no punch in/out feature, the standard cassette IPS transport was noisy and not full bandwidth, and there was no provision for effects busses.

This was before I got involved with MIDI. Back then I owned a Kustom 88 Electronic Piano, Hammond Porta-B, Moog Source, Moog Liberation, Moog Memorymoog, and Moog Polymoog. Processors were an ART ProVerb (ugh) and Moog EQs. I knew my way around a FOH mixer and had done some recording on crude reel-to-reel recorders; the 246 had an impressive feature set that satisfied my desires at the time, and offered functions for future exploitation. Six channels with dual sweepable EQ, inserts, dual FX busses (one buss send with in/out switch), overload LED, and are assignable to any/all track/PGM busses. The unbalanced channel inputs are 1/4" jacks on the front, and each has a 1/4" TRS insert jack. The first four channels can accept signals from the front panel inputs or each track for "remix", the remaining two channels accept either the front panel inputs or the Line "B" inputs on the rear channel. The channel input selectors include an OFF position that serves as a mute. There are no XLR or balanced inputs, or PFL functions.

Four tracks can be recorded at the same time and any of the mixer channels can be assigned to any/all tracks, which permit easy "bouncing" of multiple channels to a single track. The tracks use dBX companders for noise reduction and you can defeat dBX on all tracks or just track 4; I would later exploit track 4 for the SMPTE stripe to sync to the software MIDI sequencer on my computer, using the very capable MusicQuest MQX-32M interface card. You can still find new interfaces with SMPTE I/O.  The DBX NR LED in the master section is steady on if dBX is enabled for all four tracks, blinks if track 4 is disabled (for SMPTE syncing), and off if dBX is disabled on all tracks. The dBX companding noise reduction has worked really well, I have never noticed any audio anomalies in operation.

The master program section was powerful for its time. PGM busses serve two purposes; for recording to any track(s), or for stereo L/R mixdown. The rear panel provides inputs and outputs of the PGM buss. The MONITOR controls are intended for control room speakers to monitor any of the four PGM busses or tape tracks; L/R pan position and gain for each PGM/track can be set independent of the channels, can be summed to mono, and a master level control is provided. Master effects send levels are provided, which are routed to the rear panel Effects 1 and 2 outputs. The two headphone outputs can monitor PGM, Monitor, Effect 1, or Effect 2 busses. RECORD FUNCTION switches enable each tape track; the LEDs blink to indicate that the tracks are armed but not active when the PLAY button is pressed, then when the RECORD and PLAY buttons are pressed, recording is active and the LEDs stay lit.

Punch-in/out is available, but the action is not automated and there isn't a way to mute a track between punch locations while rehearsing. The INSERT switch has to be depressed to enable punch-in/out. You have to manually press RECORD to start the punch-in then STOP for punch-out (risky), or you can use a footswitch with the rear panel INSERT jack to control punch-in/out with your feet (better). Set the CUE/PGM in CUE mode and use the MONITOR section when performing punch-in/out (see next paragraph).

The CUE/PGM switch is a little confusing; with the button depressed (PGM mode), PGM busses are routed to the MONITOR section. With the button not depressed, CUE mode is active for the MONITOR section; what you hear through the monitor section is a function of the INSERT button, RECORD FUNCTION button(s), and which transport mode is active.
Metering is generous. Each channel has overload LEDs (only active with the input selector in "mic/line" position). There are large VU meters for each track/PGM buss, with peak LEDs. These are effective for displaying average audio volumes (the meter needle) and the absolute peak audio volume (the peak LED). Both provide level functions the other does not. Two smaller VU meters (no peak LED) display the levels of the PGM L/R buss, Monitor L/R buss, or the Effects 1 and 2 buss.

The manual recommends using 90 minute cassettes or shorter. Cassettes longer than 90 minutes are not recommended because the tape is thinner and can lead to problems with breakage and/or wrinkling with the transport system. Do not use metal tapes as the material will prematurely wear out the playback/record heads. Only one side of a cassette is used, as the four tracks occupy the full width of the tape. The 246 is adjusted for high bias 70us EQ type II tape. Tapes from earlier Portastudio devices using Dolby noise reduction will not reproduce properly; you have to disable dBX and reduce the high frequency in the 1K to 8Khz range. Track formats and widths vary among other non-Tascam portastudio systems, and may not reproduce at all (don't expect tapes to be interchangeable). The transport on the 246 can operate at the standard 1-7/8 IPS cassette speed or double speed 3-3/4 IPS for lower noise and better fidelity, and the pitch (tape speed) can be varied plus or minus 12%. Since only one side of a cassette can be used, a 90 minute cassette gives you 45 minutes of recording time, or 22.5 minutes at double speed. I have had excellent results using Maxell XL II tapes (amazingly they are still available!).

The bandwidth is better using the HIGH SPEED 3-3/4 IPS setting, but the mixer could be better; the channel inputs are unbalanced thus the mic preamp is sufficient for demos but I've gotten better fidelity using outboard preamps. The mixer seems to mush up the stereo image when mastering. So for the better recordings (such as live performance) I had used the band FOH mixer for the better mic preamps then routed the subgroup outputs to the 246 inputs with the gain set to line, and performed post-processing/mixing using the rear panel TAPE OUTPUTS routed to an external mixer.

Transport memories permit looping and locations for play or rewind. A ZERO RETURN memory can be set at any tape location and configured to STOP, PLAY, or do nothing (OFF)when the zero location is reached. Note that the counter in the display may roll over zero. MEMORY is non-zero tape location and can be configured to STOP, REWind, or do nothing (OFF) when the memory location is reached. The ENTER button sets the memory location, CHECK display the location in memory. Use zero/PLAY and memory/REWind to configure the looping action. If TRT button is pressed, the display shows the time instead of an abstract counter location. The difference is the counter will both increment and decrement, while the time display will only increment. Time display is useful for learning the time length of a program, or for learning how much tape remains on the cassette. RESET clears all memory locations. The only downside is that over each repetition, the actual tape location(s) drifts from the memory locations - there is no precise synchronization with the transport.  This drift is caused by inertia of the cassette reels from an abrupt stop during rewind operation, resulting in overshoot; the transport does not gradually reduce speed as the location is approached.

The rear panel I/O is pretty generous. Besides the aforementioned inserts, there are direct outputs for each tape track, Line "B" inputs for channels 5 and 6, PGM I/O for busses 1 through 4, Monitor L/R outputs, Effect 1/2 outputs. The PGM I/O can serve as I/O to your DAW audio interface. Effects busses can be configured by setting the send levels in the remix channels 1 through four, routing rear panel Effect output(s) to the input of your effects processor(s), routing the output of your effects processor(s) back to the Line "B" inputs as an effects return (which bypasses the mic preamp and trim control), then mixing effects with the remix'd tracks during stereo mixdown.

Not a bad system for a Portastudio, quite flexible. While it isn't going to support a large studio, it's an ideal package for a bedroom or office size electronic music studio. Today I use mine for a "scratchpad".  These are now being sought out by EDM artists. This packs a lot of circuitry so it isn't light at 23lbs (10kg). I acquired the optional RC-71 remote control which extends play, stop, record, fast forward, etc transport controls up to 16 feet away from the 246. Handy as my studio grew to the point that the 246 was not within reach.

Over time, I grew to hate the RCA I/O rear panel jacks. They are the Achilles Heel of Tascam Portastudio machines - while they are economical, they are unreliable. While I make my own cables, I have never found any RCA plug that made a reliable contact with both the tip and the shell.

Two age related problems will occur with the 246 and tape-based recorders. One is drive belts, which dry with age and will break. The other is dry lubricant, which hardens and renders the tape transport inoperative. If you encounter the latter issue, stop operating the machine before the irreplaceable motors burn out and arrange for a competent tech to restore operation. This is not a repair job for the novice, and disassembly/assembly is complicated.

The playback and record heads can wear down with extended use depending on the hours of operation; replacement heads are not available. The tape heads have to be periodically "demagnetized" or "degaussed" since they gradually accumulate magnetism as tape passes over the heads. The excess magnetism affects fidelity. Degaussers are still available but I highly recommend one that is a cassette assembly that "plays" in the transport and automatically performs the process.

NEVER use paint thinner, alcohol, benzine, or any other cleaner that are not designed for any component in the path of the tape. The wrong solvent will damage them beyond repair. Teac/Tascam no longer offer cleaning solvents - I discourage acquiring NOS Teac cleaners because the chemical contents change over time. Metal plated components like tape heads and pins need a different cleaner from the rubber pinch rollers. User rubber cleaner for the rubber components. Some discussion forums suggest 99% isopropyl alcohol for the metal plated components but that conflicts with the 246 user manual, when I find a better authority then I will update this page.

Tascam introduced larger Portastudio tape-based models with expanded features. One model even used a reel to reel tape system. But the 246 and smaller models are the ones in demand on the used market.

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