TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio 

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

I've had mine for 2 months and love this little recorder. It is extremely small and therefore a bit fidgety to use unless you have tiny hands, but it has all the features you could want in a portable 8-track. All the track recording and editing features work very well and are easy to use. You can import .wav tracks in mono or stereo, which was key for me as I use a software drum machine for bass and percussion. The DP-008 does not interface directly with your computer, but rather to its on-board memory card (which in turn talks to your computer via USB), so import/export can be time-consuming. I recommend you keep your on-board files tidy… back up finished songs and remove them from the unit to save memory space (it's great that at a later time you can restore past songs and all the tracks and editing history are preserved). Filling up the memory or a power failure can wipe all your data out, so apply some discipline when using this unit. You NEED a power adaptor with this. The reverb and pre-amp are adequate. This unit is best for recording demos, but the sound quality is excellent so in theory you could get studio-quality recordings out of it, with the right mics, effects, and maybe a better vocal pre-amp. There are on-board stereo mics with surprisingly decent sound, useful for recording a multi-instrument jam where sound fidelity is not a priority.

My beefs with the DP-008 are few. One is that the position markers on the knobs are not all aligned properly with each other, so if you are trying to equalize levels on different tracks you are never sure they are turned to exactly the same spot (so do it by ear, which is maybe better in the long run). Also, the knobs are so small that making fine adjustments is tricky, but sliders would necessarily increase the size of the unit so they use all knobs. You should know that you can only record from 2 inputs at a time, in case that's an issue for you. It does not have an on-board CD burner, but that's what your computer is for.

Overall, you can't go wrong with this as a first digital recorder for a beginner, or as a portable to bring to your gigs, jams, or practice sessions.

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

I am pleased with the recording ability, EQ, and overall quality of this little tascam portastudio. It is easy to operate, compact, and worth the price. I would recommend an alternate power supply though as it goes through batteries rather quickly.

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

I was trying to record myself on acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocal on a stereo field recorder. While the field recorder is excellent to capture jam session from electric band or chambre music, it's not best for acoustic sessions in muffled area.

I started looking arround for a mini multitrack studio and I came accross this one on sale.

I was looking for a small minimalist multitrack recorder which does not require computer/software to master and can achieve modest demo easily with goud sound.

- Can record two tracks at a time.
- Two bands EQ on each (2) input
- Support line in, instrument, dynamic mics as well as phantom power
- Low noise with condenser studio mics and plenty of headroom
- Good sound with Dynamic stage mic, but need to cranck gain to the max and some noise
- Dedicated two bands EQ on each (8) track
- choice of decent reverb
- Can clone, delete, edit or mix tracks to make room for more tracks
- Exports master in WAV only. That'Ok for me.
- Does not have compression, but I have messed with compression before and don't find it necessary. Anyway for acoustic projects, compression is not required.
- Punch in and out. What it means is that while listening, you can start to synchronise with the tune without recording, and while keeping playing, you punch in with a pedal to start recording, and punch out to stop, all while the tune is playing. This is mostly convenient to fix a good track without re-recording the entire track again.

I use it with one AKG Presentation 220 and one Samsung Q8 (an excellent Beta57 knock off)

The unit is simple to use, has an excellent LCD display and is very simple to learn and use.

Everything I whish would be there is actually there.

I have done a few session during the last couple of days with a Taylor DN3 (good studio sound), a Seagul 12 strings, some harmonicas and my niece to back me on vocal.

We had a lot of fun and are VERY impressed with the results.

I did 4 well synchronized guitar tracks, one harmonica and two vocals tracks.

Then I hooked the unit to my high end Sound System (YBA Preamp, Bryston Amp and JMLab Speakers) for mastering and we were blown away by the quality and and detail, especially the 12 strings sparks and delicatess. While recording I was turning the EQ on for some tracks but when hooked to the Sound System, guitar and vocals were flat. I beefed up the harmonica at around 1K and I only used a bit of "Studio Reverb" from the unit to compensate for our lack of vocal experience (nice trick).

The AKG has a lot to do with sound quality of course, but hey this is still an entry level studio mic.

The only challenge is to learn how to position the mic to capture the best tonal balance from the guitars.

We have many folk song in mind to record and we will use this a lot get copyright on our material and we will proudly share our accomplishments with our friends. Who knows, we may make a buck or two with our material because sounds good enough to distribute it online. Yes it can be that good. :)

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

Most all reviews for this product were spot on. Unit is very compact (smaller than expected), yet packs a powerful set of features. Manual was very helpful and, right out of the box, I was recording in a matter of minutes. Unlike other reviewers, though, I had no trouble transferring my master mix right into iTunes on my MacBook pro. Sound is great, reverb works well and, overall, this unit let's you focus on your music, without getting bogged down by the recording process. Battery (incl) life is okay (a few days), but the manual is clear that they are for unit set up and function confirmation only, NOT regular recording use. Seems silly not to just include the power adapter. Go ahead and order one with the unit, you'll need it. Great recorder. Great value.

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

Step by step manuel allows you to quickly create quality recordings.

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

Good sound. Takes a little practice to learn how to use it. Great for the new user. Good price too.

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

Capture your songwriting inspirations with no hassles or complications. Intuitive, fun and friendly. If you're used to old school recording with digital quality this is the real deal. Love it!

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

Just bought in Dec 2012. My son and I use it for recording lessons and jam sessions at home using acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass, keyboard and garage band on ipad. We are relative novices (been playing for a couple of years). We've had it for about 1 week now and have been using every day. It's simple to set up and use (this is the first music recording device we have used). I specifically wanted something simple to operate (plug and play) and this fits the bill - we were up and recording within 30 mins of opening the box (thanks to the quick start guide). Since then it's just a matter of a minute or so to start recordings. I did consider using softare in lieu of the Tascam but concluded that it would require more time to set up the equipment using software. We have recorded guitar, bass, keyboard and ipad through the direct external connection (cable) and it works great. We also recorded instruments and voice using the built in mikes and again the sound is good. We listen via a connection to one of the guitar amps (mono) or via a Shure headset (stereo) - this is OK but we will probably buy a pair of stereo studio monitors in the near future. Overall great product for a amateur recording - I believe it's probably also a very good product for more professional portable recording but don't have the experience to really comment on that aspect.

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

This recorder is really great to use but I am having serious trouble not being able to export the songs to my computer. Other than that it works great

Comments about TASCAM DP-008 8-Track Digital Portastudio:

My recording ability went from Flintstones to the Jetsons overnight.....Great for novice up to pro, portable & loads of fun...especially when you hear what you,ve just done...thumbs up & 5 gold stars..Thanks a-million.! I use with NI Maschine & Korg XL & 68 Gibson EBO Bass. Sound reproduction is amazing, when I record 808 drum tracks....it booms...!!! :)=