Shauk

Ok so I just picked this up online for a wopping awesome price of 230$

For anyone looking in to an affordable solid state recorder, this is quite excellent.

Apparently, the 1st model of this was released in Feb, (I have the 3rd production run) this is the only "review" I can find that isn't surface/dismissive. I hate reviews that are merely a recap of the features listed on the box/website. Give me real numbers and real sounds, describe real situations, and well... One guy is doing just that, and this thread seems to have a cult following now.


Right now, at this price point, It has competition from a company that I also buy from, maybe you know them, M-Audio.

M-Audio's entry in to this arena is the "Multi Track II"
now, this, I was actually able to find a review or 2 on, and youtube videos of usability tests that made it look pretty bad... and while most people point out that it's aesthetically pleasing, I prefer my portable things to look utilitarian and inexpensive (less likely to get jacked) The thing that made me look for some other alternative, was the battery life. The "Multitrack II" reviews say 3-4 hours is about average, and that doesn't seem like enough to me considering I will want mine to come with me to any crazy event I go to with 40 bajillion DJ's and so on.

this thing has double the battery life.

now, the question is "can it record?"

well if you peeked in at that thread I linked? you'd know. (some excellent guitar riffs there)

I would link directly to the media on that thread, but quite honestly, you lose out on the experience and knowledge of what it is that you're hearing, so I suggest you read up.

beyond that, I'll provide some samples of my own

Small mp3's

Built in mic, about 15 feet back from the DJ booth with my headphones plugged in to monitor the connection, limiter on, no filter.
An acquaintance of mine walked up, you can listen in on our conversation,
One thing I noticed is this thing is pretty good at isolating different frequencies, on another recording, I was able to pick out bits of a conversation that I could "see" 15 feet from me, but not "hear" right over the music. Very sneaky I moved around a bit toward the end, you'll hear the L/R balance change. Trying different locations for future reference to that club.
http://shauk.dj/music/mixes/other/DR000003.mp3


Line in, limiter on, straight up video game house music.
http://shauk.dj/music/mixes/other/DR000004.mp3

if anyone wants a link to an hour long set that took place that night, pm me. I gave a DJ a copy of his own mix right off of the SD card, cool stuff, he was quite thrilled with that.

I'm a walking audio sponge now

will take some trial and error with the numerous settings in different clubs, Ideally i'd just want a direct line out but I think some of the massive shows would make this an impossibility.

quadro2000

Awesome, Shauk. I received one of these as a groomsman gift last month (awesome groomsman gift, huh?). So far, I've just been using it to record spoken word (usually things to help me rehearse auditions and scripts). I accidentally turned on the EQ which activated the "hall" setting, which I hated. I have to read the manual a bit more, but so far, I like. I may take it with me to a concert next week and see how it comes out. The problem is that the concert is outdoors and the mics on the DR-1 seem to be very sensitive to wind.

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allaboutmusic

Whoa, nice. Thanks for the heads up. I've been looking at something like this for a while now, and there are so many offerings now from Zoom, Roland, Edirol, Boss, M-Audio etc. Tascam makes some great stuff (my main Firewire interface is made by them) and I'll definitely have to check this out.

Shauk

yeah the only "problem" i'm experiencing thus far is when trying to transfer large wav files from the card to the computer via the USB connection.

If I take the card out and use it in the card reader build in to my laptop, it works fine, but if I try to copy it via the usb cable, I keep getting warnings from vista saying "the contents of the file may have changed" and it just comes up over and over, very strange. not sure what would cause that, other than maybe a faulty cable?

Martian

Or a faulty operating system.

It looks like a cool little unit. Sadly I need multi-track recording so it wouldn't do for me, but for folks who aren't so picky I would imagine it works beautifully. Tascam has a good rep, too.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

allaboutmusic

Apparently it has an overdub feature...

What kind of multi-track recording, Martian? Are you intending to layer up tracks, or record them all at once?

Shauk

yeah def check out that thread I linked, they got creative with some different wind guards. I still haven't been through the manual, I noticed a setting that said "power" on or off.

sounded like it was for dealing with power hum? but that's speculation. I'll go read up on it now that I'm actually not doing anything else right now

and yeah that fx button, I'm not sure if this feature is firmware specific, but you can set that to be on recording, or on playback. Probably the safest way to apply effects is on playback. That way you can at least preview them

I wish someone got me this thing as a gift, haha, that would have been super

honestly, I can't tell, I mean like I said, it works fine if I actually plug it in the card reader. I'd hate to think that there is something wrong with the tascam card bay.

what he said

Martian

A bit of both, actually. Hence my conclusion that this would be unsuitable.

What I really need is a 4-track. But then my needs are really quite specific to what I intend to do (which is mainly record music).

I am a multi-instrumentalist. I need a device that will allow me to record my instruments in separate takes, which means that they need to be overdubbed. But I also need (or at least would prefer) to be able to record vocals and an instrument simultaneously on two separate tracks. Most people don't need to be able to approach it that way, so for most people this would do fine.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Fly

yup......wouldn't work for me either.......as with Martian....i need mega tracks to work with.


oh.Martian............*Protools*..........



sorry

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Shauk

well the alternative would be to plug your stuff in to a mixer and then record it from the master? I dunno, I just mix stuff in real time so I don't think I'll ever even use the overdub thing other than to say something like "if you enjoyed this mix, please check out my site at blah blah blah" but even that doesn't seem like a great idea to me, since I go through sites like fiber lovers go through toilet paper.

aside from that, the only piece of hardware that I have that I've yet to really figure out how to implement in to DJ'ing is my Korg em-1

just because it's not something I can really match up on the fly since the timing is digital on it, and my audio is sort of analog, as it's controlled by the speed of my timecode on the turntable, pretty easy to just put my hand where it needs to go to speed it up or slow it down a notch. not so much the case with this korg. it's like "hey wanna go 133 bpm? no? 134? WHAT? 133.7? I can't do that!?"

and yes, I like to mix my sets at 133.7 bpm, i'm l33t

Fly

sweet analogy..........




we use both too...digi and ana.....but with the protools and abelton, we can adjust the bpm,to say......*whatever*........and they both sync up nicely when told to.

you should look into the abelton man....good stuff,and fits nicely on a laptop.

might go sweet with what you have dialed in already.



good luck man,and keep pumpin' the tunes out.......

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Shauk

my desktop would agree

Fly

cool desktop man...........

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Shauk

yeah it took me a while to get in to ableton but, man, that program is great. The timestretching algorithm it uses makes remixing a snap.

Fly

yup..........very nice program.......glad you like it.


keep mixing baby......

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Shauk

so I'm thinking of selling this now that I'm working on building a home computer/studio machine.

I think it's useful for other things but my mixer rec out runs way too hot for this device (good mixer, shitty levels)

I haven't decided it's fate yet. so frustrating having money tied up in assets that get little use. I haven't been going out often enough to utilize this.

Shauk

yep, it's up for sale on ebay now. Don't need it now