TASCAM DIGITAL RECORDER USES SD CARD

by Tascam

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 2.8 x 1.1 inches ; 7.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 pounds
• ASIN: B0013K58DU
• Item model number: DR-1
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,303 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 21, 2004

Product Description

The TASCAM DR-1 puts world-dominating power into your pocket. Its built-in stereo microphones include a unique variable angle mechanism, so you can set it to record from any angle. The DR-1 is the first portable recorder to include a 1GB card, so you'll have plenty of CD or MP3-quality recording time for long rehearsals and concerts. And with a street price of just $299, everyone's gonna want one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I am pretty impressed so far, April 22, 2008

By 

K. Christensen "The 11" (Fontana, WI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: TASCAM DIGITAL RECORDER USES SD CARD (Electronics)

I've had this DR-1 for 4 days now and I am learning about it relatively quickly. The instruction manual (on the SD card (included)) is very thorough, and straight forward. I'm no idiot, but sometimes manuals can bog you down..this one gets to the point. {Don't forget to back up that manual on your pc BEFORE you ever format the card (formatting is not necessary to use the card initially as it is empty) or its adios manual}. The playback sound is quite good, not that I have ever done any studio mix downs, but for something the size of a chubby IPod Classic it sounds good. You can slow music to 50% speed and the pitch stays accurate...as claimed. As far as weeding out vocals or instruments, unless they are on distinctly different L or R channels...that isn't gonna happen totally.

I have yet to overdub, and I see you can't OD in MP3 format (WAV only), so you best have a big gig SD card if you plan on any J Garcia 10 minute wanderings.

So, thus far, I am impressed. For under 230 USD new on Amazon...a good portable unit with some nice features, well constructed, good sound (have to use headphones, unless you connect to your PC for playback). I am not a sophisticated guitarist, but I can see this will be a good learning tool for me...because you never know how bad (or good) you were til you hear it back on a recording. LOL.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great little field stereo recorder, September 16, 2008

By 

Shreddin' Mike (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: TASCAM DIGITAL RECORDER USES SD CARD (Electronics)

I have been doing field recordings, primarily but not exclusively of live concerts (both clandestine and not) since I first bought a Sony TC-D5M in 1982. It cost $475. I replaced that in about 1990 with the Sony TCD-D3 DAT recorder, which cost about the same and was of course far superior (48KHz/16b)...when it worked. Now comes a whole new breed of portable stereo audio recorders. I selected this for a number of reasons, not the least being that it's inexpensive, very lightweight, has that Tascam (Teac) brand name, the sampling rate is selectable between 16b and 24b, it got good reviews, records to cheap SD cards, and it has a removable Li-ion battery with a long life.

And indeed it does; I just test-recorded a show that was nearly 2 hours long at 48KHz, 24b. The battery showed approx 1/3 used once it was over. Also, it used only 1.5GB of a 4GB SD card - this is the other beauty of recording with this technology.

I have not used the "overdub" feature yet but the feature, combined with the 1/4" mono input for instruments, is intriguing.

That said, I did learn some things about this device that may be useful to others:

1. Don't use the built-in microphones for serious recording if you can avoid it; while OK - particularly for undemanding audio purposes like interviews - they are inadequate for recording live music.
2. If you do use them, bring a windscreen regardless of whether you think you'll need it or not!
3. Put the device on solid footing if you are going to use the built-in mics. I held it up - the built-in mics are very sensitive to handling noise, of course. As someone else noted this doesn't have a place for a mic stand. Of course, neither did my previous portable recording rigs...but then they didn't have microphones built in, did they?
4. There is now little that prevents your average joe from recording any audio event at incredibly high quality (except expertise).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for me, but maybe not you, October 2, 2008

By 

B. Anderson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: TASCAM DIGITAL RECORDER USES SD CARD (Electronics)

I bought the DR-1 to record from my Alesis Multimix 8 FW as a backup the the firewire recordings. In that capacity it has been perfect. Sound recorded through the line in mini jack is 100% clean. Transferring the files is easy. Good rechargeable battery.

Now for the bad stuff. When I opened the box, the first thing I noticed was the cheap, lightweight feel. The buttons feel cheap, the wheel that you use to navigate menus feels cheap, everything feels cheap. Also, it doesn't come with an AC adapter, you have to buy it separately. Navigating the menus is difficult, it took me a long time to figure out, after changing something in the settings, how to get back to the previous screen without completely leaving the settings section (fyi, you press the rewind button...?) Lastly, I was not impressed with the mics. You could never use this thing hand held, there is way too much handling noise. I thought the voice recordings were tiny. Other people with more experience than me have been impressed by the quality of the mics, so take my remarks with a grain of salt (it's not what I bought it for anyway, I just thought it would give it a try). If you do want to use the mics, I recomend the accessory kit or you will have plosive problems and handling noise.