TASCAM DP-004 Digital 4-track Recorder

Product Description

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Smaller than a paperback book, the 4-track Tascam DP-004 Pocketstudio digital recorder is simple enough for students, songwriters and musicians who want to keep their recording process simple and creative.
The portable Tascam DP-004 Pocketstudio 4-track recorder (see larger image).

Offering four tracks of CD-quality digital recording, the DP-004 can record two sources at once to the included 1 GB Secure Digital (SD) memory card. A built-in stereo condenser microphone makes it simple to record anywhere you go, perfect for concerts, rehearsals and songwriting inspirations. A pair of 1/4-inch jacks on the rear panel allow you to connect your own microphones or sources--you can even switch the inputs to guitar level for recording.
You can build up your arrangement until you've filled up all four tracks, and the Bounce feature allows you to consolidate tracks and make room for more overdub layers. Once you set levels and pan, record your mix onto a dedicated stereo master track. You're able to transfer your tracks and mixes to a computer over USB for CD burning and sharing online.
Key Features Connections:

• Two 1/4-inch unbalanced mic/line inputs
• Switchable guitar input
• Headphone/Line output
• USB 2.0 connector

Recording:

• Four-track digital multi-track recording
• CD-quality 44.1kHz/16-bit WAV recording
• Records to SD Card media (1 GB card included)
• Repeat, Record undo
• Dedicated stereo mixdown track

Physical:

• Powered through AA Batteries or optional PS-P520 power adapter
• Battery life: About 8 hours recording, about 8.5 hours playback (alkaline batteries)
• Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.3 x 4.2 inches (WxHxD)
• Weight: 2.8 ounces

This review is from: TASCAM DP-004 Digital 4-track Recorder (Electronics)
It does exactly what it claims to. High quality sound (for the price), highly portable, pretty durable. Other reviewers have covered most of the bases, and I more or less agree with them. However.

1: Some units produce noise/hiss/whatever you want to call it on tracks, some do not. Mine does not. I have a friend with one, his does. Hit or miss. Bad quality control, and the only reason it didn't get a higher rating from me. Try yours out and if you get noise, exchange it.

2: Naming new songs is pretty easy, since it does it for you when you create a new song. Rename them on your computer, since it has a keyboard and the tracks end up there anyway.

3: Mixing/Mastering/Bouncing is kind of a pain. With the feature set and target demographic this could've been reduced to about... 2 buttons. Instead it requires setting an end point for your track manually using two buttons (hey tascam- the track ends when there's no more data on it), then the another button to set the recorder mode, then two more buttons at the same time to use the recorder mode, then the same button you used the first time to play the master of the mix you made. Just to make that clear, you have to be in a special mode to play the stereo master of the mix you created.

That's without trying to bounce any tracks down and record some more.

You can get around this by Mixing/Mastering from the raw wavs on your computer (audacity works and is free), but you really shouldn't have to. wtf, tascam.

4: Transferring tracks to the computer is cumbersome the way mixing is, although not quite as much of a pain. I'm not sure why, since they're recorded to the unit as WAV files, but you have to copy the WAVs to another folder (reducing your overall SD space) so your computer can read them. Again, wtf tascam.

5: Battery life is pretty solid. One set gives me about a days solid use. Back lights are nice, but it would actually drain the AA's since it would have to be on whenever the unit was on. It's also one more thing to break. If you want ambience, light a candle. The contrast is pretty good for an lcd, but... it's an lcd. So yeah, the viewing angle sucks.

6: It occurred to me that the same person complained that this unit isn't really a 4 track, since it only records 2 tracks at once. Since it only has two inputs, I'm not sure why they thought it would do more, but it will in fact record 4 tracks... 2 at a time.