I have a Tascam 488 MK1 and it's quite good, though this is my only experience with analogue recording. Does anyone know what the difference is between the MK1 and the MK2?

do you have a stereo with a tape deck? cause what i always do is: record two tracks on the 4-track, transfer the tape to the stereo, and re-record it onto the four track (by hooking up the headphone jack to the input). then you can repeat the process for as many tracks as you need. there's the obvious problems, like not being able to change the levels of the individual tracks once they've been fused together, and diminished sound quality, but chances are if you're using a 4-track you already embrace those lo-fi quirks.

so, kinda just read through the topic and noticed that my suggestion was already mentioned by the poster. oh wellz

It works better if you use something other than the headphone output on the cassette deck.