No playback from Tascam Porta 02 mkII

[Yv1]

[edit: How the hell did this end up in the cubase forum?? mods, please move this - sorry!]

Hey everyone,

I am absolutely new to the whole home-recording thing, so be prepared for my high level of ignorance on the subject!

The title says it all really... I got a Tascam Porta 02 MKII recently from Ebay, which seems to be in perfect just-out-of-the-box condition. Except when I record something to tape, rewind and press play, I get nothing. The record function itself is definitely working, because the tape plays in my stereo just fine, but I get nothing through either the headphones or the Line Out (to my hifi), even with every damn knob on the machine turned up full.

For the sake of experiment I've tried to play various other tapes in the Tascam too, to no avail. I've recorded on Tracks 1 & 2, and through all 3 inputs too.

Since the tascam itself seems to be in perfectly good condition I don't know if it's a problem with the tascam or with me I'm probably making a really stupid mistake, so if anyone could help me out I'd really appreciate it!

[richiebee]

Its a pretty simple bit of gear - not much can really be down to user error. I'd say the playback head is screwed.

There are a few things you can try though.

- try with headphones and using the main outputs.
- make sure the output levels of each channel are up using the knobs on the left side.
- try panning to centre, and also panning to left/right.
- try the mono switch

If you still get nothing, I'd say its the playback head. Probably a relatively easy fix for a repairer, though at $100 for a new Portastudio, you should get a quote for repair first.

[Yv1]

Yeah I've tried all that alright, and seeing as I haven't been able to find anyone else online with a related problem I guess it probably is an issue with the Tascam itself.

I'll see about getting the play head looked at so.

Thanks for the reply!