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Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
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.
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
- 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
Product Description
Tascam DP004 Digital Pocketstudio Recorder based on 30 years of cassette Portastudios! Though based on Tascam's long line of cassette. Pocketstudio brings users into the new-age of digital recording with four CD-quality tracks and features like Undo and Repeat that wouldn't be possible on your past generation, cassette portastudios. Much like those easy-to-use Portastudios, the Pocketstudio sports a similar row of knobs to set levels and pan instead of confusing you with menu screens.The Tascam DP004 is able to record two sources at the same time onto it's removable SD memory. A stereo condenser microphone has been designed into the unit to make it simple and ready to record in any situation. Record concerts, rehearsals and sudden songwriting inspirations when they occur. Dual rear panel 1/4 inch jacks provide connection to dynamic mics or other stereo or mono sources. Inputs are switchable to a guitar level signal for easy recording. Tascam DP004 Features Two 1/4 mic/line inputs Switchable guitar input Headphone/Line output USB 2 connector for connecting to your home computer Records to SD Card media Autopunch, repeat and record undo Dedicated stereo mixdown track Powered through AA Batteries or optional PS P520 power adapter The DP004 allows you to build up your arrangement until you've filled up all four tracks. The Bounce feature allows you to consolidate tracks and make room for more overdub layers. Also available is an autopunch feature for fixing problems, track editing and an undo function. Mixing is also built into the Digital Pocketstudio. 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 2 for CD burning and sharing online. Despite its go-anywhere
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
139 of 143 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
As a songwriter who needs something that will allow me quickly to jot down song ideas and fragments, as well as completed songs, this unit is a little cumbersome. In order to create a song, you must do the following:
1. Turn on unit
2. Press "Menu" button
3. Scroll to "Song" menu item
4. Click a function button to select
5. Using the data wheel, scroll down to "Create"
6. Click a function button to select
7. Use data wheel to enter name of song one laborious letter at a time (optional step: you can forgo naming a song and it will be named "Song023" etc.)
8. Click "Home" button
9. Click "Rec" buttons for tracks 1 and 2 (assuming you want to record in stereo).
10. Click the record transport and play transport buttons together, to start the recording process (I'm assuming you have already set the input levels and want to use the built-in mics)
11. Click the stop transport button when you are done recording your song
12. Repeat steps 9-11 if you wish to overdub another voice or instrument on tracks 3 and/or 4.
13. Click "Menu" button, then "Play" to listen to playback
14. Click stop button at end of song
15. Click "In/Out" button
16. Click function key "Out" to set the out point
17. Click "Rec Mode" button
18. Using data wheel, scroll down to "Master Rec"
19. Click function key to select
20. Click the record transport and play transport buttons together, to start the recording process for the "master" track (this is simply a stereo mixdown of the four tracks)
21. Click "Rec Mode" button
22. Using data wheel, scroll up to "Multi Track"
23. Click function key to select
24. Click "Menu" button
25. Scroll using data wheel to "Wave"
26. Click function key to select
27. Scroll down to "Export Master"
28. Click function key to select
29. Use data wheel to enter name of song one letter at a time (optional step: you can forgo naming a song and it will be named "Song023" etc.)
30. Click function key to execute exporting of the master stereo tracks to the FAT partition of the SD card within the unit.
31. Attach unit to your computer via the supplied USB cable
32. Open folder to view the files on the Tascam
33. Click the "Wave" folder to find the master tracks you just created.
34. Go to a file conversion program to convert the ".wav" file to an ".mp3" file, so you can email it to your friends, etc.
Whew! Not exactly a quick, friendly, intuitive process!
What you want is a two-click process to start recording (as on my old mini-disk recorder), and then be able to connect to a computer to copy the file and convert. There are an awful lot of extra steps involved, but of course you are talking about four tracks, not just stereo, so there's just no getting around the necessity of the mix-down/mastering. What is a little odd and annoying are those extra steps to export the master to the FAT partition of the Tascam SD card (steps 27-30, above).
Also, since each song file must be loaded before you can listen to it, there is no way to play songs one after the other unattended, or zip quickly between songs like you can do on an iPod or CD player, to audition which is which (thus naming them is critical).
Anyway, a word to the wise if you want something quick and easy. You pay for the ability to make a multi-track recording. On the other hand, if you want something with great quality recording sound, ample storage (a 16 GB SDHC card gives you 1300 track minutes in the 8 GB partition you can create (the largest possible), very nice and sensitive built-in stereo mics,and something you can use to create an excellent mini-demo, then this will definitely do the trick.
TIP: Purchase a PSP-100 power adaptor. It is made for the Sony Playstation and is identical to the more costly PS-P520 Tascam says you have to buy (i.e., 5V, 2A, correct plug and polarity). I paid $5 for mine, not $30!
1. Turn on unit
2. Press "Menu" button
3. Scroll to "Song" menu item
4. Click a function button to select
5. Using the data wheel, scroll down to "Create"
6. Click a function button to select
7. Use data wheel to enter name of song one laborious letter at a time (optional step: you can forgo naming a song and it will be named "Song023" etc.)
8. Click "Home" button
9. Click "Rec" buttons for tracks 1 and 2 (assuming you want to record in stereo).
10. Click the record transport and play transport buttons together, to start the recording process (I'm assuming you have already set the input levels and want to use the built-in mics)
11. Click the stop transport button when you are done recording your song
12. Repeat steps 9-11 if you wish to overdub another voice or instrument on tracks 3 and/or 4.
13. Click "Menu" button, then "Play" to listen to playback
14. Click stop button at end of song
15. Click "In/Out" button
16. Click function key "Out" to set the out point
17. Click "Rec Mode" button
18. Using data wheel, scroll down to "Master Rec"
19. Click function key to select
20. Click the record transport and play transport buttons together, to start the recording process for the "master" track (this is simply a stereo mixdown of the four tracks)
21. Click "Rec Mode" button
22. Using data wheel, scroll up to "Multi Track"
23. Click function key to select
24. Click "Menu" button
25. Scroll using data wheel to "Wave"
26. Click function key to select
27. Scroll down to "Export Master"
28. Click function key to select
29. Use data wheel to enter name of song one letter at a time (optional step: you can forgo naming a song and it will be named "Song023" etc.)
30. Click function key to execute exporting of the master stereo tracks to the FAT partition of the SD card within the unit.
31. Attach unit to your computer via the supplied USB cable
32. Open folder to view the files on the Tascam
33. Click the "Wave" folder to find the master tracks you just created.
34. Go to a file conversion program to convert the ".wav" file to an ".mp3" file, so you can email it to your friends, etc.
Whew! Not exactly a quick, friendly, intuitive process!
What you want is a two-click process to start recording (as on my old mini-disk recorder), and then be able to connect to a computer to copy the file and convert. There are an awful lot of extra steps involved, but of course you are talking about four tracks, not just stereo, so there's just no getting around the necessity of the mix-down/mastering. What is a little odd and annoying are those extra steps to export the master to the FAT partition of the Tascam SD card (steps 27-30, above).
Also, since each song file must be loaded before you can listen to it, there is no way to play songs one after the other unattended, or zip quickly between songs like you can do on an iPod or CD player, to audition which is which (thus naming them is critical).
Anyway, a word to the wise if you want something quick and easy. You pay for the ability to make a multi-track recording. On the other hand, if you want something with great quality recording sound, ample storage (a 16 GB SDHC card gives you 1300 track minutes in the 8 GB partition you can create (the largest possible), very nice and sensitive built-in stereo mics,and something you can use to create an excellent mini-demo, then this will definitely do the trick.
TIP: Purchase a PSP-100 power adaptor. It is made for the Sony Playstation and is identical to the more costly PS-P520 Tascam says you have to buy (i.e., 5V, 2A, correct plug and polarity). I paid $5 for mine, not $30!
42 of 44 people found the following review helpful
This is my favorite toy at the moment. I bought it to use it for what it's supposed to be used for - a multitrack recorder. I wanted to record myself playing rhythm guitar and then do some lead over the top.
I own a decent Yamaha cassette tape 4-track from the late 80's. How far things have come since then! The DP004 runs from 4AA batteries and fits in the pocket of a pair of baggy shorts. Sure, it's only got 2 audio inputs, no EQ and you can only record 2 tracks at once, but for the price it's fantastic functionality. The user guide is well written and very comprehensive - 111 pages in all.
If you're trying to use it to record lectures or other lengthy stereo performances, you've picked the wrong tool. It will do it, but it only records in 44.1kbps, 16bit WAV format - big files! If you need to record lectures, buy a dictaphone. The supplied 1GB SD card (ATP brand for mine) is only useful for learning how to use the machine. I put an 8GB Transcend SDHC card in and it says I have 408mins worth of record time on a 2GB partition. (It made itself 3 x 2GB partitions).
The four track recordings go on a proprietary MTP partition on your SD card and the WAV files end up in a FAT partition that your PC can read. The bigger the SD card you put in, the more and the bigger the partitions you get. It wants to format a card as soon as you put a "new" one in. It won't format the whole card into one partition. To the bloke who reckons it ate his card - read the part in the manual (p85) that tells you how to reformat the whole card to FAT32 after you've finished using it.
True, there are several steps involved in mixing down your four tracks into a stereo master and then exporting the stereo master to a WAV file. You can fiddle with the level and pan settings during the mixdown, so that's why it takes place in real time. Remember - it's supposed to be used for recording garage band ideas, not bootlegging orchestra recitals.
I have done just that however - I tried recording my son's school percussion ensemble. I just left the unit on the floor under my seat with the microphones pointed towards the band. Even with the mics only 4" apart, it gives an amazing stereo image. Captures the bass drums, bells and cymbals beautifully. There is a very slight perceptible hiss from (good) headphones on playback, but I'm not sure whether that's the recorder or just the headphone amplifier. This is not a 48-track professional studio mixer with XLR inputs and a gajillion knobs and sliders - what can you expect?
The built-in mics have three gain settings - high, mid, low and there is an input gain adjust and overload LEDs for each channel. I've tried recording bands with the built-in mic on several MP3 players, and the gain is too high - you just get distortion. I have placed the DP004 about 2' from my son's drum set and on the "low" setting it works a treat.
The unit is very easy to use and I've only had to refer to the manual a couple of times to learn everything I needed. The user interface works just like a tape recorder with cue/review, play and stop buttons. You can also jump to any point in the track by changing the index time values (h:mm:ss) with the data wheel.
What a superb piece of kit!
[Edit - 7/29/09] One thing lacking that I quickly discovered - it has no automatic punch in/out. Tascam's website blurb says it does, but the firmware clearly doesn't support this. You can manually punch in/out but that's next to useless when you're trying to re-record part of a bungled guitar solo for instance. It's not physically possible to let go of the guitar mid song, push the "punch in" button on the recorder and get your hands back on the guitar in the split second before your solo starts. My ancient Yamaha tape 4-track does have this feature. I emailed their tech support about this and got no response whatsoever. Not even a "We're not going to answer your question" email. If anyone can figure out how to do this, please let me know! All it needs is a firmware update; no hardware modification. Still an excellent tool, despite this.
[Edit - 12/4/09] I just noticed Tascam now do a DP-008, which is a very similar unit but with 8-track recording. Guess what - the '008 has an auto punch in/out feature! I emailed their tech support again, begging them to release a firmware update for the DP-004 with this missing feature included. Join my campaign and email them - the more people that bug them, the more likely they will oblige. You can find their (Teac's) customer support email address on their website.
I own a decent Yamaha cassette tape 4-track from the late 80's. How far things have come since then! The DP004 runs from 4AA batteries and fits in the pocket of a pair of baggy shorts. Sure, it's only got 2 audio inputs, no EQ and you can only record 2 tracks at once, but for the price it's fantastic functionality. The user guide is well written and very comprehensive - 111 pages in all.
If you're trying to use it to record lectures or other lengthy stereo performances, you've picked the wrong tool. It will do it, but it only records in 44.1kbps, 16bit WAV format - big files! If you need to record lectures, buy a dictaphone. The supplied 1GB SD card (ATP brand for mine) is only useful for learning how to use the machine. I put an 8GB Transcend SDHC card in and it says I have 408mins worth of record time on a 2GB partition. (It made itself 3 x 2GB partitions).
The four track recordings go on a proprietary MTP partition on your SD card and the WAV files end up in a FAT partition that your PC can read. The bigger the SD card you put in, the more and the bigger the partitions you get. It wants to format a card as soon as you put a "new" one in. It won't format the whole card into one partition. To the bloke who reckons it ate his card - read the part in the manual (p85) that tells you how to reformat the whole card to FAT32 after you've finished using it.
True, there are several steps involved in mixing down your four tracks into a stereo master and then exporting the stereo master to a WAV file. You can fiddle with the level and pan settings during the mixdown, so that's why it takes place in real time. Remember - it's supposed to be used for recording garage band ideas, not bootlegging orchestra recitals.
I have done just that however - I tried recording my son's school percussion ensemble. I just left the unit on the floor under my seat with the microphones pointed towards the band. Even with the mics only 4" apart, it gives an amazing stereo image. Captures the bass drums, bells and cymbals beautifully. There is a very slight perceptible hiss from (good) headphones on playback, but I'm not sure whether that's the recorder or just the headphone amplifier. This is not a 48-track professional studio mixer with XLR inputs and a gajillion knobs and sliders - what can you expect?
The built-in mics have three gain settings - high, mid, low and there is an input gain adjust and overload LEDs for each channel. I've tried recording bands with the built-in mic on several MP3 players, and the gain is too high - you just get distortion. I have placed the DP004 about 2' from my son's drum set and on the "low" setting it works a treat.
The unit is very easy to use and I've only had to refer to the manual a couple of times to learn everything I needed. The user interface works just like a tape recorder with cue/review, play and stop buttons. You can also jump to any point in the track by changing the index time values (h:mm:ss) with the data wheel.
What a superb piece of kit!
[Edit - 7/29/09] One thing lacking that I quickly discovered - it has no automatic punch in/out. Tascam's website blurb says it does, but the firmware clearly doesn't support this. You can manually punch in/out but that's next to useless when you're trying to re-record part of a bungled guitar solo for instance. It's not physically possible to let go of the guitar mid song, push the "punch in" button on the recorder and get your hands back on the guitar in the split second before your solo starts. My ancient Yamaha tape 4-track does have this feature. I emailed their tech support about this and got no response whatsoever. Not even a "We're not going to answer your question" email. If anyone can figure out how to do this, please let me know! All it needs is a firmware update; no hardware modification. Still an excellent tool, despite this.
[Edit - 12/4/09] I just noticed Tascam now do a DP-008, which is a very similar unit but with 8-track recording. Guess what - the '008 has an auto punch in/out feature! I emailed their tech support again, begging them to release a firmware update for the DP-004 with this missing feature included. Join my campaign and email them - the more people that bug them, the more likely they will oblige. You can find their (Teac's) customer support email address on their website.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
I use it for recording acoustic violin and Yamaha P-90 electronics piano.
Pro 1: Function very well and its compact size.
Pro 2: Built-in internal microphone is excellent.
Minor Con 1: There is no preamp capability. A phantom power adapter or preamp is required for most microphones.
Minor Con 2: The optional power supply PS-P520 is not a generic 5-volt AC adapter. The DC plug shape is not standard. If AC adapter is not an option to you, you need to spend another $20 to $30 on this adapter.
Minor Con 3: The two microphone/line-in inputs are both Ľ", not 3-pin XLR. This is not a problem for guitars. For XLR microphone, XLR to Ľ" adapter is required.
Pro 1: Function very well and its compact size.
Pro 2: Built-in internal microphone is excellent.
Minor Con 1: There is no preamp capability. A phantom power adapter or preamp is required for most microphones.
Minor Con 2: The optional power supply PS-P520 is not a generic 5-volt AC adapter. The DC plug shape is not standard. If AC adapter is not an option to you, you need to spend another $20 to $30 on this adapter.
Minor Con 3: The two microphone/line-in inputs are both Ľ", not 3-pin XLR. This is not a problem for guitars. For XLR microphone, XLR to Ľ" adapter is required.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Awesome
Okay, so I've been jamming with a drum machine, a bass, and guitars for a while. I've had a 4 track cassette recorder (also Tascam) when finally after years of abuse (drunken... Read more
Published 1 month ago by jeg138
My experience using this has not been pleasant
I bought one of these to use for songwriting and supposed easy and convenient recording. First of all I'm a guitar player - not an engineer on an interglactic spaceship or... Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Russell
Amazon sent a used one, again.
I love this little thing. I've owned a few multi-track recorders, but they all have had issues with syncing (tracks would be a few milliseconds off. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sonja Voight
Tascam 004 Layman's Review
The built in condenser microphones are surprisingly good.
The mandatory 44k sound eats memory - huge files not needed for most recordings . Read more
The mandatory 44k sound eats memory - huge files not needed for most recordings . Read more
Published 3 months ago by mechtech
TASCAM DP-004 Digital 4-track Recorder
Very nice portable Studio. Easy to manage, you can run a guitar and Mike at the same time and record on 2 different tracks
Published 3 months ago by Matt
What A Nightmare!!
Ever since I have purchased this unit, about a week ago, and I am still struggling to make it record. I am just tired of trying to make it record 2 audio channells. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Yousuf E. M. Ebrahim
Great for songwriting
I love this thing. I just got it and I really don't find it complicated at all, I breezed through the manual to get the basics and recorded three songs in the past two days. Read more
Published 4 months ago by antwich
DP-004
First of all I agree generally with the upper star reviewers on the product. Additionally my only real complaints with the unit are as follows;
1) No backlit display... Read more
1) No backlit display... Read more
Published 6 months ago by C.K.
Not user friendly
This product is not easy to use. When running guitar, or a bass into it with or with out an amp and pedals between, it is very difficult to get a good volume (something loud but... Read more
Published 6 months ago by messexplosion
Nightmare
This thing is a nightmare, you will not be happy with it. I am not stupid and I follow the directions precisely and it does not do what it says it is supposed to do. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Trasse
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