Customer Reviews

Tascam CDVT1 Portable CD Vocal Trainer

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got one of these on sale from Musician's Friend, for $80, and its not bad for that price. I can't remember whether I tried running burned disks in it or not.

There are software packages that do something similar as far as changing speed or changing key (Transkriber, Amazing Slow Downer), but you need to be tied to a computer for those. However they have more flexibility, and the sound is slightly better. These packages do not have the rest of the features that this usit has though.

With the Tascam unit, I found that the sound got a bit more warbly the slower you got. Even the software packages have this problem, but not to the same degree it seems. It still worked for what I needed though.

Defining a loop segment is a bit more of a headache if you're not entirely satisfied with where you set your original start and end points. You simply have to start over. With the software packages, they allow you to fine tune the start and end points by moving little pointers.

Navigating the menu system can take a little getting used to.

Overall, I'm glad I got it, but its not the be all to end all.

The directions state that burned and finalized disks can be played in this unit. I have yet to find a burned and finalized disk that can. I'm using a Plextor 716A (one of the best) cd burner to burn disks. If you're just practicing covers using disks that weren't burned by a cd-r then it should work well for you. It's hard to work on originals if you can't play your own burned disks, however.

I don't know if the second generation of this unit (CD-VT1mkII) has better handling of burned disks.

this product plays a CD or takes input from an external source. It comes without a power supply and without speakers. It wants batteries or else a 9 vdc input, center plus. It has both Headphone and Line Out jacks. It will slow down the tempo by four different steps, without changing the pitch. At -8 or -16% the music being played is clear. At -32% some distortion is apparent. At -50% the sound is still usable, but is noticeably shredded. The unit will change pitch without changing the tempo. The change can be in half-steps (semitones), up to 5 steps plus or minus, or by decimal increments. If you leave something set on the menu (e.g., a tempo reduction), turn the unit off, and turn it back on, the setting remains. Without realizing it, you might change the pitch, turn the unit off, start over, change the tempo, and end up with both tempo and pitch altered. You have to be careful to check each menu as you proceed to be sure the one you DON'T want has been reset to zero. We borrowed the speakers from a computer and plugged them into the "earphone" jack and the sound was acceptable. I also ran the sound through a larger home amplifier and the sound - with pitch and tempo unchanged - was fine. Changing pitch doesn't cause as much distortion as changing tempo. This is an extremely useful trainer for music or voice students, but it requires some persistence to get it working. There are other features I didn't try, such as a "loop" which allows you to play the same selection over and over again. For the price, this unit does a lot.