The new Cutec Multirecorder 4-track home studio offers a better specification and more facilities than its predecessor. But how well does it stand up to all the rest of the competition?

The latest in the ever-increasing line of multitrack cassette recorders is a new model from the Cutec camp: the Multirecorder. On first inspection it's a straightforward machine, nicely styled and sturdily built, sporting a steel chassis and wooden end-cheeks. In comparison with similar machines on which you can record simultaneously on all four tracks it falls into the lower price category. Unlike other machines in this price range, this one runs at double the standard cassette speed for greater fidelity (ie. ⁹/₂ cms/sec) and DBX noise reduction is employed to keep tape noise at bay.

Let's examine the unit in more detail and start the ball rolling by following the signal path through. First of all, the channel facilities.

Channel

Slightly unconventionally, the channel gain control (Trim pot) is located at the bottom of the channel, just above the level slider. This is continuously variable from mic to line level sensitivity, rather like those used by Tascam, but there's no peak LED available to help you set it up. The easiest method of doing this is to set the channel fader to about '7' and then adjust the Trim so that the channel meter reads somewhere in the region of 0dB in the presence of the loudest input signal.

The positioning of the Pan control is also rather odd: mounted right at the top of the channel, next to a pair of basic EQ controls serving treble and bass ranges and both providing 12dB of cut or boost. The channel faders themselves are not calibrated in dBs but are equally divided into 10 sections with a darker coloured band indicating the 7' position. There is no auxiliary send control, which to my mind represents a great limitation, as does the fact that there are no additional return inputs. Instead, there are two phono sockets for each channel located on the rear panel normally joined by a metal link. When this link is removed, an effects device can be inserted, but this limits the use of the effect to the one channel and precludes the use of mono in, stereo-out effects such as reverb unless you're willing to compromise and use mono. Likewise, it's impossible to pan the effect to the opposite side to the instrument. There are however four line outputs on the rear panel, again on phonos, that allow the user to patch the four tape channels directly into a separate mixer. Naturally this opens the door to much greater flexibility.

The master channel is very simple and consists of a monitor level control and a single stereo slider which controls the overall level of your final mix. Above these controls are four switches, one for each channel, which are all 3-position toggle switches and these allow you to select Rec, Play or Send, Send being used for track bouncing.

As for the front panel, here we find not only the four input jacks but also two headphone outputs... such luxury.

Recorder Section

Again this is a simply organised section that sports all the usual transport controls, which are of the soft touch type and have accompanying status LEDs. The monitor system also resides in this section and comprises a row of buttons to select the track number required and a master Mix button to switch the monitoring from channel to tape track. Similar buttons are employed for the DBX On/Off and Memory Stop. One last control, the button labelled Power, should hold no mystery for the average technically informed H&SR reader. This machine is, however, strictly mains-powered only; there's no provision for battery operation which, considering the price of batteries, is probably no bad thing. Finally, the varispeed has a range of 10% in either direction which is more than enough for any sane operator.

The tape counter is mechanical but offers a Memory Stop feature which can be a great help when you are trying to locate the start of the song you're working on.

I'll finish off by taking a look at the last few rear panel facilities. There's a fuse holder, which gives you somewhere to store your spare nails and bits of silver paper, a jack input for an optional remote drop-in footswitch, and stereo outputs for mixdown and monitoring: very straightforward. So what's it like in practice?

In Use

And now the bit you've all been waiting for. Firstly, the sound quality on record is very good and any detrimental effects in sound quality caused by the DBX are minimal; if anything the sound is brightened rather than dulled. The best results are obtained by keeping the record level below 0VU, and you don't have to concern yourself unduly about noise with DBX. When bouncing tracks, the sound quality naturally worsens slightly but if anything, it becomes harder rather than more woolly, so it doesn't represent a problem of any size until you get onto your third or fourth bounce (pushing it a bit for any recorder). But bouncing up to three generations gives no significant noise problems.

When mixing or track bouncing however, it is essential to make sure that you unplug any inputs not being used as any signal, or noise, carried by these will be added to the recording. The fact that the signal inputs still operate can be used to good advantage though, allowing you to add sounds live as you mix or bounce but their level can only be adjusted by the channel Trim control. This has a restricted range due to the fact that the gain cannot be turned down to zero. If you have an instrument or effects unit with an output gain control you'll be better off than if you use a pedal effect with a fixed output. At mixdown you could use this facility to make slightly more ambitious use of effects by taking a signal from the insert link on one channel without breaking the link, feeding this through an effect and then plugging the output of the effect into another channel's input. In this way you could for example get a delayed sound in a different position to the dry sound.

"...worthy of mention is the EQ, the ranges of which are well chosen in terms of the frequencies it covers."

Used without the DBX, the result is as you might predict, a little noisy but no more so than most other good cassette machines run without the benefit of noise reduction. However, the DBX is so well behaved that it's unlikely that you would want to run without it.

Also in line for an honourable mention is the EQ, the ranges of which seem well chosen for most musical applications. The manual didn't give much information on this section but in practice it sounded just right. The treble brightens without causing harshness and the bass adds kick without wooliness, assuming that your basic sound is more or less right to begin with of course.

When bouncing tracks, any tracks set to Send are routed in mono to any tracks set to Record. This is very easy in operation but it does limit you to mono when submixing. With 4-track this isn't too serious because the number of available tracks usually forces you into this sort of compromise in any event.

Entering Record mode is simple. You select Record on whichever tracks you want to record and then hit the main record button. When tracks are in the Ready-to-Record mode, the Record LED flashes and this stays on once you actually start to record. To drop in, you can put the tracks into Play, press the main Record button, and then push the desired channel switch into Record at the appropriate time. Unfortunately, though, this does result in a slight click on occasions so it's as well to drop in on a drum beat. Dropping out is simply a matter of pushing the switch back into Play, though an alternative method is to use a non-latching footswitch in the Remote socket. This allows the user to drop in or out whilst leaving your hands free to make last minute mistakes on the part that you played perfectly just ten minutes ago when you weren't recording. Again this can result in a slight click but it won't be a problem if you if you drop in over a drum beat or other loud sound.

In Conclusion

There is very little to criticise in terms of the quality of the machine's features, but its omissions are significant. For instance, conventional effects send facilities and a couple of returns would be a great bonus. Where it does score heavily though is in its sound quality, its durable construction and the simplicity with which it may be used. Tape noise too is all but absent.

As to whether it will represent good value, there are cheaper machines that offer similar facilities and flexible effects routing but it must be said that they do not sound as good. A small mixer would be a great help in getting the best out of this machine and the direct outputs make that easy, but then this does naturally add to the expense.

At the end of the day, you have the final choice, but it would be silly to dismiss this model out of hand. It could do you proud.

The Cutec Multirecorder costs £558 including VAT.

Further details are available from: MTR, (Contact Details).