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List Price: $279.99
Sale Price: $189.95
Today's Bonus: 32% Off
- Two 1/4 mic/line inputs
- Switchable guitar input
- Headphone/Line output
- USB 2 connector for connecting to your home computer
- Records to SD Card media
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As a songwriter who needs something that will allow me quickly to jot down song ideas and fragments, as well as completed songs, this unit is a little cumbersome. In order to create a song, you must do the following:
1. Turn on unit
2. Press "Menu" button
3. Scroll to "Song" menu item
4. Click a function button to select
5. Using the data wheel, scroll down to "Create"
6. Click a function button to select
7. Use data wheel to enter name of song one laborious letter at a time (optional step: you can forgo naming a song and it will be named "Song023" etc.)
8. Click "Home" button
9. Click "Rec" buttons for tracks 1 and 2 (assuming you want to record in stereo).
10. Click the record transport and play transport buttons together, to start the recording process (I'm assuming you have already set the input levels and want to use the built-in mics)
11. Click the stop transport button when you are done recording your song
12. Repeat steps 9-11 if you wish to overdub another voice or instrument on tracks 3 and/or 4.
13. Click "Menu" button, then "Play" to listen to playback
14. Click stop button at end of song
15. Click "In/Out" button
16. Click function key "Out" to set the out point
17. Click "Rec Mode" button
18. Using data wheel, scroll down to "Master Rec"
19. Click function key to select
20. Click the record transport and play transport buttons together, to start the recording process for the "master" track (this is simply a stereo mixdown of the four tracks)
21. Click "Rec Mode" button
22. Using data wheel, scroll up to "Multi Track"
23. Click function key to select
24. Click "Menu" button
25. Scroll using data wheel to "Wave"
26. Click function key to select
27. Scroll down to "Export Master"
28. Click function key to select
29. Use data wheel to enter name of song one letter at a time (optional step: you can forgo naming a song and it will be named "Song023" etc.)
30. Click function key to execute exporting of the master stereo tracks to the FAT partition of the SD card within the unit.
31. Attach unit to your computer via the supplied USB cable
32. Open folder to view the files on the Tascam
33. Click the "Wave" folder to find the master tracks you just created.
34. Go to a file conversion program to convert the ".wav" file to an ".mp3" file, so you can email it to your friends, etc.
Whew! Not exactly a quick, friendly, intuitive process!
What you want is a two-click process to start recording (as on my old mini-disk recorder), and then be able to connect to a computer to copy the file and convert. There are an awful lot of extra steps involved, but of course you are talking about four tracks, not just stereo, so there's just no getting around the necessity of the mix-down/mastering. What is a little odd and annoying are those extra steps to export the master to the FAT partition of the Tascam SD card (steps 27-30, above).
Also, since each song file must be loaded before you can listen to it, there is no way to play songs one after the other unattended, or zip quickly between songs like you can do on an iPod or CD player, to audition which is which (thus naming them is critical).
Anyway, a word to the wise if you want something quick and easy. You pay for the ability to make a multi-track recording. On the other hand, if you want something with great quality recording sound, ample storage (a 16 GB SDHC card gives you 1300 track minutes in the 8 GB partition you can create (the largest possible), very nice and sensitive built-in stereo mics,and something you can use to create an excellent mini-demo, then this will definitely do the trick.
TIP: Purchase a PSP-100 power adaptor. It is made for the Sony Playstation and is identical to the more costly PS-P520 Tascam says you have to buy (i.e., 5V, 2A, correct plug and polarity). I paid $5 for mine, not $30!
Buy Tascam DP-004 Digital 4-Track Recorder Now
This is my favorite toy at the moment. I bought it to use it for what it's supposed to be used for a multitrack recorder. I wanted to record myself playing rhythm guitar and then do some lead over the top.
I own a decent Yamaha cassette tape 4-track from the late 80's. How far things have come since then! The DP004 runs from 4AA batteries and fits in the pocket of a pair of baggy shorts. Sure, it's only got 2 audio inputs, no EQ and you can only record 2 tracks at once, but for the price it's fantastic functionality. The user guide is well written and very comprehensive 111 pages in all.
If you're trying to use it to record lectures or other lengthy stereo performances, you've picked the wrong tool. It will do it, but it only records in 44.1kbps, 16bit WAV format big files! If you need to record lectures, buy a dictaphone. The supplied 1GB SD card (ATP brand for mine) is only useful for learning how to use the machine. I put an 8GB Transcend SDHC card in and it says I have 408mins worth of record time on a 2GB partition. (It made itself 3 x 2GB partitions).
The four track recordings go on a proprietary MTP partition on your SD card and the WAV files end up in a FAT partition that your PC can read. The bigger the SD card you put in, the more and the bigger the partitions you get. It wants to format a card as soon as you put a "new" one in. It won't format the whole card into one partition. To the bloke who reckons it ate his card read the part in the manual (p85) that tells you how to reformat the whole card to FAT32 after you've finished using it.
True, there are several steps involved in mixing down your four tracks into a stereo master and then exporting the stereo master to a WAV file. You can fiddle with the level and pan settings during the mixdown, so that's why it takes place in real time. Remember it's supposed to be used for recording garage band ideas, not bootlegging orchestra recitals.
I have done just that however I tried recording my son's school percussion ensemble. I just left the unit on the floor under my seat with the microphones pointed towards the band. Even with the mics only 4" apart, it gives an amazing stereo image. Captures the bass drums, bells and cymbals beautifully. There is a very slight perceptible hiss from (good) headphones on playback, but I'm not sure whether that's the recorder or just the headphone amplifier. This is not a 48-track professional studio mixer with XLR inputs and a gajillion knobs and sliders what can you expect?
The built-in mics have three gain settings high, mid, low and there is an input gain adjust and overload LEDs for each channel. I've tried recording bands with the built-in mic on several MP3 players, and the gain is too high you just get distortion. I have placed the DP004 about 2' from my son's drum set and on the "low" setting it works a treat.
The unit is very easy to use and I've only had to refer to the manual a couple of times to learn everything I needed. The user interface works just like a tape recorder with cue/review, play and stop buttons. You can also jump to any point in the track by changing the index time values (h:mm:ss) with the data wheel.
What a superb piece of kit!
[Edit 7/29/09] One thing lacking that I quickly discovered it has no automatic punch in/out. Tascam's website blurb says it does, but the firmware clearly doesn't support this. You can manually punch in/out but that's next to useless when you're trying to re-record part of a bungled guitar solo for instance. It's not physically possible to let go of the guitar mid song, push the "punch in" button on the recorder and get your hands back on the guitar in the split second before your solo starts. My ancient Yamaha tape 4-track does have this feature. I emailed their tech support about this and got no response whatsoever. Not even a "We're not going to answer your question" email. If anyone can figure out how to do this, please let me know! All it needs is a firmware update; no hardware modification. Still an excellent tool, despite this.
[Edit 12/4/09] I just noticed Tascam now do a DP-008, which is a very similar unit but with 8-track recording. Guess what the '008 has an auto punch in/out feature! I emailed their tech support again, begging them to release a firmware update for the DP-004 with this missing feature included. Join my campaign and email them the more people that bug them, the more likely they will oblige. You can find their (Teac's) customer support email address on their website.
Read Best Reviews of Tascam DP-004 Digital 4-Track Recorder Here
I just bought the Tascam DP004 pocket studio so that I could record my music, mix tracks, etc. Just a few short points I guess, since this is the first device like this that I've bought.
1) A big complaint is that you can't just turn it on and record (when those inspirational moments come, they just come...) When it turns on, the previous track you recorded on is loaded up, so you can over-write your previous stuff if you just turn on the unit and start recording. Instead, you have to go through some digital menus and create a new file name. When practiced, it takes 20-30 seconds, depending how much effort you want to put into naming the file (somewhat annoying, using the turn dial to select each letter one by one from a long list).
2) Buy the PSP100 power supply, not the tascam brand one. It'll save you at least $20. I have the PSP100 and it works like a 5 volt charm.
3) Recording multiple tracks is easy, and track editing is great. But every time you press the record button, the button physically makes a clicking sound. This sound is recorded and will appear on your track. This is lame.
4) There is a learning curve on this device, but it's not at all unreasonable given what this puppy can do. Just look at the instructions and figure it out as you go along.
5) The unit attaches to computer for data transfer via usb, and this works fine (the tascam just pretends that it's an SD card reader, it seems). If your computer already has an SD card reader though, you might as well forget using it for tascam file transfers. Getting the SD card out of the tascam is a pain. It's hidden in the battery compartment, and it cannot be removed without removing the batteries. Oh well.
6) The built in microphones are great quality. Now just a caveat I'm no professional sound engineer, but there's no extraneous noises, hissing, static or any other type of interference that I can detect. I can record a quiet part and amplify it 10 times when I get it to my computer, and it still sounds great.
A great buy, as long as it doesn't fly into a million pieces anytime soon. (It's sturdy, lol.)
Addendum: Tascam DP-004 handles external microphones very poorly. I've just been recording using the internal condenser microphones, which are actually pretty good, but I upgraded to a shure sm-57 mic, plugged it into the tascam (an xlr-to-1/4 cable) and found that it picks up a lot of noise. The problem wasn't the microphone either. In fact, I have read non-amazon reviews using much better microphones than me, and no one can get external mic recordings nearly as clean as what the tascam's internal condenser mics get. So if you get this tascam, you're sort of stuck with the sound quality of the mics that it comes with: fairly noiseless but with only mediocre quality, frequency distribution, etc. Had I known this, I would not have bought the tascam. To be fair though, it doesn't even have xlr inputs, so maybe I should have taken the hint...
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I use it for recording acoustic violin and Yamaha P-90 electronics piano.
Pro 1: Function very well and its compact size.
Pro 2: Built-in internal microphone is excellent.
Minor Con 1: There is no preamp capability. A phantom power adapter or preamp is required for most microphones.
Minor Con 2: The optional power supply PS-P520 is not a generic 5-volt AC adapter. The DC plug shape is not standard. If AC adapter is not an option to you, you need to spend another $20 to $30 on this adapter.
Minor Con 3: The two microphone/line-in inputs are both ¼", not 3-pin XLR. This is not a problem for guitars. For XLR microphone, XLR to ¼" adapter is required.
A year or so ago I bought a Boss Micro-BR for portable and home recording, and after fighting with it for a few months, I sold it. It worked well enough, and had a lot features, like built in effects and drum tracksbut it was way too complicated to use. Every time I took it out it seemed I had to review the manual. Even when when I thought I had the functions all sorted out, it was easy to get confused, with all the menus and sub-menus. I sold it after a few months. Why couldn't they make a cheap multitrack recorder that was as easy to use as the old Tascam cassette-based Portastudios?
Enter the DP-004. While it's not as easy to use as the old cassette units, it's pretty easyand it does a lot more than any cassette deck ever did. It doesn't have effects or drum tracks (it does have a metronome function) but it does have a lot of knobs and buttons where the Micro BR used menus, and it has two microphonesmaking it a great portable stereo recorder.
The DP-004 does have menus, but once you've set the parameters for a session (inputs, track assignments) you can pretty much ignore most of them until it's time for mastering, and even then it's not too complex. Most of the time you can just use the default settings. Live stereo recordings using the built-in microphones can be done with the DP-004 right out of the box: Punch record on tracks 1 and 3, adjust the levels, and hit the RECORD and PLAY buttons. That's it.
I find myself using the stereo recording function even more than the multitrack capability. It's great for recording practice sessions (or school concerts, for you parents) and yet costs about the same as a lot of the two channel recorders.
It's not perfect. I'd prefer less menu functions and more buttons and switches, but I suppose that would have raised the price and made it larger. Battery life could be better, too, but an AC adapter works well at home. (Hint: Use the Sony PSP100 power supply, which can be had for a fraction of the price of the Tascam unit.) For the money, it's pretty hard to beat.
