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Tascam DP008 8-Track Digital Pocketstudio Reviews
Home >> Recording >> Removable Digital Media Multitracks
Average Review: 3
Manufacturer: Tascam
Price: $249
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About the Tascam DP008 8-Track Digital Pocketstudio
TASCAM culminates 30 years of Portastudio Recording with the DP-008, a portable 8-track recorder for all musicians. TASCAM's DP-008 is an eight-track recorder that captures CD-quality audio, two tracks at a time. You can use built-in microphones to grab ideas, plug condenser mics into the XLR inputs or plug a guitar directly in to lay tracks. There's even a metronome and chromatic tuner built-in for tight-sounding tracks. The DP-008 also allows you to digitally bounce tracks to make room for more, and touches like editing and undo make recording stress-free.
Tascam DP008 8-Track Digital Pocketstudio Reviews
I have been a PC based audio producer musician since 2002 and frankly have HATED recording with PCs.Troublesome interfaces, system crashes, latency, non-portability etc etc. And last but not least, that annoying fan noise and AC hum that creeps into every recording. I was just dying to find a way to get out of PC based recording.I was looking for an easy and painless way to be able to make my music and songs without the hassle of using a computer or laptop.Portability is also imprtant to me because I know that the size and type of a room affects the way your voice and instruments will sound. So i needed to be able to take my recording setup anywhere I wanted to.I needed a portable studio.I was able to record a full song with harmonies, guitar solos etc using just the internal microphones within 5mins of opening the box.The quick start quide helped me do this. In fact, all you really need to read is the quick start guide which is right in the beginning of the manual. You'll easily be able to figure out all the other functions and options on your own once you read the first 5 pages.The guy who said it's intuitive is right. Its a VERY intuitive device. All the things you need to use while recording are provided right in front of you.Here are my initial findings:+ Ease of use. This is already covered well by the others. Power up and you're recording. This is the BEST feature of this device. You can record songs very fast.+ Build quality. Good construction. NOT all metal but reasonably sturdy. Not cheap plastic either. Knobs are rubberized which means they wont break and are easy o rotate. Also the device has a good bit of weight. Which means it HAS something substantial in it. I'd suspect any device that's too light. Mind you this isnt heavy. It has a good weight for its size.+ Size. Its way smaller than an ipad and about the same size as a small tablet. Its like a palmstop studio.+ Knobs! After years of using a PC for recording, you'll LOVE the feel of tweaking knobs.+ Inbuilt mic quality. VERY good mics. You can adjust sensitivity (Lo/Hi) which is another bonus+ Phantom Power - Workd like it should and makes for endless possibilities. Hook up a nice large diaphragm condenser mic and you're talking serious stuff. For people on a budget I recommend Rode NT1A Anniversary Vocal Condenser Microphone Package+ Battery operation. I use four rechargeable NiMh cells and it works like a charm. I prefer this over using adapters and power supply units. I dislike clutter and unnecessary wiring. It's annoying!+ Battery life. Using just the internal mics, you can use this for a long long time. 4+ hours for sure. I haven't tried this with phantom power. Will try that and get back to this review.+ Tuner and Metronome ready. Both accessible at the touch of a button on the front.+ Sound quality. Crystal clear. CD/Studio grade no doubt.+ Reverb. Doesn't sound cheap like a lot of other effects processors out there. Very good quality reverb. And you can choose from a few different types.+ Look. It looks very cool. Has a very well thought-out design with well matched colors. It's important to ME :pThis unit doesnt really have any obvious negatives. Here are some requests to Tascam for a future firmware update:> More effects like compression and mastering gates and expanders. This is so that we can just mixdown the whole record with NO need for a PC. Basically i mean complete onboard mastering and compression.Right now, I mix down all the tracks and then mix and master them on the PC. I get the best results this way.COMPRESSION and LIMITING is badly needed. Just the inclusion of a soft limiter can make a massive difference in the sound of your recordings.> Recording direct to wave. I really don't know why Tascam records in its proprietary format in its own file system after which you need to export your recordings to WAV format. I can live with this too. It doesnt take super long to mixdown and its a great excuse to go take a break. If there was a means for on-board mastering and more mixing effects like compression and parametric EQ the current setup would work just fine. Maybe I'm just being greedy.> Allow for 24bit recording. Presently it is fixed at 16bit.> Provide mp3/ogg supportTips:1. To make the most of the recordings made with this unit, I would recommend exporting the tracks of your song and then mixing and mastering on a PC with any DAW of your choice. This way you can apply track compression/saturation as well as mastering expanders and the like.2. Get rechargeable cells. It runs on 4 batteries. I use NiMh rechargeable cells and I couldn't be more pleased. yes phantom power will exhaust them sooner but be glad you can even use phantom power on a portable multitrack device. I have an Envie Speedster 4 cell charger and it charges to max in 1.5 hours. I would charge cells maybe once a week depending on how often I used my Rode NT1A condenser mic with this. Now my entire performance and recording rig is mobile and clutter free. I also have a battery powerd amp the CUBE Street Battery Powered 2x6" Guitar Combo Amplifier which is quite good.3. Learn how to use the different combinations of external and internal mics while recording. I have been able to go direct with my acoustic guitar and also use the internal mics to pick up the sound. this way i have two channels of the guitar and mixing them together provides a nice robust sound. This way there are endless possibilities to getting the perfect sound.4. Understand that its the quality of the SOURCE of sound that matters and not the capability of your recorder. This means that if your sound source is rubbish, no amount of post production will change that fact. Learn how to POSITION the recorder when using the internal mics and you'll be surprised by the results.NOTE: I am putting up videos of my recording full songs on this device on youtube: /user/tascamdp008.In a nutshell, as an audio engineer and producer who's worked with all the latest DAWs and audio inerfaces, I'm 100% satisfied with this item and am glad I bought it. Of course it could have more features but am sure with some prodding Tascam will provide those in the next firmware update.In the words of Deep Purple in 'Smoke on the Water', with this you will be able to"Make records with the mobile..." Coz we don't have much time!;)"
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