Published 6/11/08
Pocket Portastudio
Thirty years ago, Tascam were pioneers of a new market: home recording. With their Portastudio products, they brought simple, accessible recording to the masses, and gave thousands of bands and instrumentalists the tools to capture tracks in their garages and bedrooms.
The latest Tascam Portastudio, the four-channel DP004 is, as you’d probably expect, a simple device. But it's much more compact than recent Portastudios, such as the DP02. In fact Tascam say it's "smaller than a paperback book".
It has two mono inputs, which can be used simultaneously. One of these can accept a high-impedance signal (such as that from a guitar or bass), and the device has on-board microphones; useful for desert island-based musicians and castaways, or just when you're jamming and you want a quick and dirty recording. A mini-jack socket, with independent level control, doubles as a headphone feed and line output.
Each of the DP004’s four channels has dedicated record-arm buttons, and level and pan controls, while bargraph meters help users set the levels so signals do not clip. Other controls allow the user to assign recorded takes to different tracks, punch in and out, and undo their last action. A bounce feature allows track-consolidation inside the box, and various track-editing tools let the user tweak their performances after the recording has been made.
The DP004, which costs $199/£152, records on to an SD card (1GB of storage is included), and has a USB port for connection to a Mac or PC, so files can be copied from the device to a DAW system. Power can be supplied by a pair of AA batteries or a AC-DC adaptor.
Tascam +44 (0)8451 302511
www.tascam.co.uk
The latest Tascam Portastudio, the four-channel DP004 is, as you’d probably expect, a simple device. But it's much more compact than recent Portastudios, such as the DP02. In fact Tascam say it's "smaller than a paperback book".
It has two mono inputs, which can be used simultaneously. One of these can accept a high-impedance signal (such as that from a guitar or bass), and the device has on-board microphones; useful for desert island-based musicians and castaways, or just when you're jamming and you want a quick and dirty recording. A mini-jack socket, with independent level control, doubles as a headphone feed and line output.
Each of the DP004’s four channels has dedicated record-arm buttons, and level and pan controls, while bargraph meters help users set the levels so signals do not clip. Other controls allow the user to assign recorded takes to different tracks, punch in and out, and undo their last action. A bounce feature allows track-consolidation inside the box, and various track-editing tools let the user tweak their performances after the recording has been made.
The DP004, which costs $199/£152, records on to an SD card (1GB of storage is included), and has a USB port for connection to a Mac or PC, so files can be copied from the device to a DAW system. Power can be supplied by a pair of AA batteries or a AC-DC adaptor.
Tascam +44 (0)8451 302511
www.tascam.co.uk
