static is killing me

[Montanawildlives]

So I’m on my second Tascam device this month. The first was a 424mkiii. There was pervasive static that I could not get rid of. I tried a hundred things; new cables, new routing, new mics, etc. It came and went. It didn’t seem to be on the tapes because I could take the tape out of the tascam and put it in another player and the recording would sound fine (albeit half speed). I could also play the same tape twice and it would be there one time and not the next. The audio being monitored would also just cut in and cut out through static, and I could always generate static by wiggling a few buttons or dials (e.g., the high EQ dial, when touched and turned during playback, would cause static). It was there through headphones or monitoring stereo/speakers, with the monitoring stereo completely disconnected, etc. Whatever, nothing mattered. I’m not really giving a complete flowchart of my efforts here (but could) because I was working on it for a couple of weeks and really tried to rule out everything.

So, I returned that device today. Now, a 414 was delivered and for Pete’s sake the same thing is happening. More sporadic, etc., but I can still get it to happen by touching various buttons during playback, switching from L/R to Effect 1 on monitoring, etc. It still comes and goes though, even on the same recording playback, so I don’t think it is actually being recorded.

Is this a common problem with these old devices (common enough that I might have just gotten two lemons)?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[Montanawildlives]

Just a little update—the new 414 is much better than the 424. But, I can always make static by ever-so-gently wiggling the Tape/Guitar/Mic-Line switch. Now, you might ask, why wiggle that while playing back?!? Yes, true, but…sometimes the static is there by itself and I can STOP it by wiggling the switch after some playing around. The switch is very clearly linked to the static. I’m no electrician but I think this means there is a short in there somewhere. After all, these circuit boards are 30 or so years old, have been stored and kept in sub-optimal situations, etc.

But, I don’t want to spend the next 2 years wiggling buttons to get rid of static on playback. I wouldn’t mind a spot of static if I push the buttons to switch from L/R to Effect 1, for example (which also happens), but…it’s quite an annoyance having to get all the buttons and switches to sit in the perfect position to have all the connections right.

The only real discussion I’ve seen of this online is on the "424 Recording” youtube channel where he seemed to be having this experience with a 414.

Thanks again.