Tascam PORTA-05 (1987)
The Porta 05 was Tascam's entry-level ministudio of the late '80s. It's a four-track cassette recorder with a built-in four-channel mixer. It used Tascam's proprietary head technology. The mixer has full channel strips with linear faders, pan, effects send, and separate high and low EQ. Built-in dbx noise reduction, defeatable, handles the tape hiss. The mixer is a 4-in/2-out design, and the recorder runs at cassette speed with the usual pitch and sync-tape tricks of the format.
DB Magazine (March 1988, p.60) reviewed it as a low-cost, portable tool for home demo tapes and for capturing musical ideas while composing, and noted one quirk worth knowing: if you leave your input cables plugged in during mixdown, the tape tracks won't be heard — the input fader serves double duty, setting record levels during tracking and adjusting track balance during mix. The same review mentions the MTS-30 FSK/MIDI Translator (around $225 retail at the time) as the way to sync MIDI gear to the Porta 05's sync track, which kept sequenced parts locked to tape tempo and start time.
The Porta 05 shows up repeatedly in late-'80s dealer advertising as a budget entry point. One Southern California retailer pitched it at "as little as $5 a week," in the same financing tier as the Porta One. It was also demonstrated at trade events like the West L.A. Music DJ show in October, where the Tascam booth lineup listed it as the "Porta .05 Ministudio."
Known specs, as documented:
- 4-track cassette recorder with 4-channel mixer
- 4-in / 2-out mixer configuration
- Linear faders, pan, effects send per channel
- Separate high and low EQ
- Built-in defeatable dbx noise reduction
- Tascam proprietary head technology
- Sync track for FSK/MIDI sync (via MTS-30 translator)
Surviving documentation on the Porta 05 is thin compared to its better-known siblings, the Porta One and Porta Two. Original production years and pricing aren't well recorded. It appears to have been a short-lived model.
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