DP-01, DP-01FX, DP-01FX/CD, 2488, 2488mkII User Experiences

[Sexy Heather]

I'll begin. As an owner of a DP-01FX/CD since August 2005 (I bought one the day they arrived in Austin) and a longtime Portastudio owner (688, 564, 424, PortaOne), I have enjoyed my DP-01FX/CD. It has some limitations, particularly the lack of inputs. I have solved that with a Behringer 1204 mixer. Another issue I have is with the tiny, non-color, non-backlighted LCD display. These days, every cell phone on the planet has a bright color display that's more readable than this display, plus it's really small. The display on my 564 is backlighted and looks better. The lack of sweepable mids also bothers me. Sure, my old 424 doesn't have mids, either, but most Portas have had them for awhile now, especially at this price point. Apart from those things, I really like my DP-01FX/CD. The sound quality is great, as are the built-in effects and the onboard CD burner. I have tried software-based recording, but as a longtime Portastudio user, that just isn't for me. The DP-01FX/CD definitely reminds me of how I felt (creatively inspired and liberated) when first multi-tracking with my PortaOne, nearly 20 years ago, albeit in an updated fashion. The DP-01FX/CD is a solid machine and I enjoy it very much. Anyway, I'd like hear from other newer digital Tascam Portastudio users regarding their experiences and impressions of their machines.

[the cool one]

I have a Roland VS880EX digital 8 track. I think it's the coolest thing ever. Probably about the same as the comparable Tascam model. I also have some assorted Tascam tape multitracks. Nice stuff.

[mrmoe]

I also have a dp01 fxcd and have the same complaint about the lack of inputs and poorly lit meter....it would also have been nice to have higher output preamps built in, but with the addition of a couple of Behringer mic 200's, that issue was easily solved.....with that said, I've been able to make some very decent and clean recordings on it.....I am beginning to wonder about the importance of moving from 16 bit to 24 bit (computer) recording....is it really going to be significantly better?.....I'm using a pair of old Sony ecm-22p's for acoustic guitar, AKG Perception 200's for vocals, Beyer m-500 ribbon for vocals, and AKG d-1000's for micing amplifiers....

[A Reel Person]

Though I haven't used them much, there's a prohibitive and cumbersome feel that I get from the gadgety operation of this type of digital workstation. Select Song>Enter>Main-Menu>EQ-Menu> all that gadgetiness of operation doesn't sit right with me. I'm not in the swing of things when it comes to menus.

Another common complaint I have about such units is the PS5's A-in/B-in architecture or the 788's 1-8 input-to-track assignment scheme these units represent, (which would be analogous to the DP01 or 2488). There's no front-end internal mixing in these units, and that's a big pet peeve of mine. You can't mix more than one input down to one track upon recording.

The modern philosophy that applies with these units is to record e'thing to it's own discrete track, then bounce it all down to another track for that "mixed" effect on a single track. I'm sorry, but that by itself doesn't work for me. I need input bussing. That probably reflects directly on my analog background.

There's no input mixing or bussing on the DP01, PS5, 788 or 2488 and similar type units. These units always seem to beg the issue of having a front-end mixer, but I see that as compromising the all-in-oneness of the Portastudio concept.

I can't say I'm an avid user of these recorders (PS5/788), but they both sound pretty impressive, which is a good selling point. For someone who doesn't mind menus and button pushing, they're fine units.

[Sexy Heather]

Yeah, I absolutely prefer using my cassette multitracks to these units, and I say this as a hige computer user. Like Dave, most of my recording background is in the analog realm, and menus are still a bit puzzling to me when it comes to recording. It's definitely a significantly different process than working in the analog realm. That said, I know younger musicians who are totally versed in digital recording that have no clue about analog recording. Analog recording will always have a niche, but digital recording is the mainstream now. I have tried to adapt, albeit in a limited way (hence my getting a 564 and a DP-01FX/CD, as opposed to a 788 or a 2488, which I'm certain are both great machines). The 564 is digital, but the mixer stage is totally analog, and functions just like a cassette Portastudio. It's a real transitionary recorder, totally representative of the era (late '90s) in which it was conceived. As much as I agree about the limitations of the digital Tascam Portastudios, they are all vastly superior to software-based recording, as far as I am concerned. To me, working with those programs is about as inpsiring as running Microsoft Office apps!

[A Reel Person]

I'm not anti-digital, as I have several nice digital units. It's not my main thing, though. I much prefer analog's simplicity. When some newbies get confused & think analog's difficult, I get puzzled.

I'm definitely one who falls in the camp of preferring a digital all-in-one workstation to the standard PC/Mac DAW. I use PC recording as the "mastering" stage, for lack of a better term.

The 564 and others like the FD8 & Yamaha MD8 are true analog/digital hybrids, and that's a way-better design factor, AFAIC, & is what I prefer. The hybrid's definitely a transitional design from a while back that ultimately gave way to designs with multi-use banks of knobs and buttons, with interchangeable function menus.

As I said before, I think the DP01 is good in concept trying to get back to single function knobs, but I feel it's not fully or well implemented. The idea's good, though.

I'd not pan outright units like the DP01, PS5, 788 or 2488, but I'm always left with pet peeves and little disappointments about the design. From what I've read, I'd say these units are generally liked by the homrec'er community.

[Oancient1]

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

There's no front-end internal mixing in these units, and that's a big pet peeve of mine. You can't mix more than one input down to one track upon recording.

I can't speak for the 788, but the no front end mixing problem on my PS5 is kind of moot point where micing is involved as the PS5 preamps are pretty weak. Most PS5 users I know use at least an external preamp, and many use an external mixer/preamp of some type.

Tom

[89gtsleeper]

My 2488mkII is absolutely amazing for the price. This unit can record 4 XLR and 4 1/4" simultaneously. The only other thing I dislike about it is that there is no way (without midi controllers) to create panning and volume parameters that change over time... This is a pretty basic function I think should stay in there. They also removed the drum machine that was built into the original 2488. Other than, that I think it is amazing. 24/44.1 recording, a bunch of virtual tracks, lots of nice effects, great sound quality, easy copy/paste/move/silence operations, wave form editing, 80 gig ubilt in hd, cd burner built in, import/export wav. Several speaker output options.

And over everything else, it is SO easy to use for the most part. This is one where I read the manual extensively before even taking it out of the box and then realized I had probably wasted alot of time becasue it was so easy to figure out. Every button pretty much does one thing, and you won't ever find yourself trying to push like 4 buttons at once to activate a specific function. At 900 bucks retail, this thing is just absolutely a terrific unit for those wanting to stay away from computers, but stay in the digital world.

[Nico2112]

I'm a proud owner of a DP-01

After many years of analog recording with my trusty 414, last year I took the leap into digital recording.

I have to admit, the DP-01's flexibility is nowhere near the 414's, both on inputs and track routing. The 414 has 4 mono inputs and 2 stereo inputs, and you can record up to 4 inputs into one track (something impossible in the DP-01). This problem was solved with the addition of a Peavey PV14 mixer board

Nonetheless, what I really love about the DP-01, is the possibility of recording endless number of tracks without bouncing (of course, if you edit your recordings using a PC software. I use Cool Edit Pro 2.0 for mixdowns) Something you can't do with a 414 without bouncing and losing fidelity.

Yeah, I'm going to complain too about the non-lit screen; what were they thinking

I bought my 414 back in '98 for $325. I bought the DP-01 for $299.99 in 2006. You get what you pay for, and even if the DP-01 is a handful of limitations (compared to analog porta's), it does a great job at an unrivaled price

About menu surfing: Tascams are the easiest, most intuitive digital portastudios out there ( don't beleive me, take a look at some fostex, korg and yamaha manuals and you'll see what I mean )

Before buying this unit, I did a lot, but I mean, A LOT of reading. I was afraid to take the leap.........now, I'm not looking back

Couldn't be more satisfied!!

Cheers!

[Zaphod B]

The 2488 was my first experience with home recording equipment, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I've never had any analog recording equipment aside from consumer-electronics-grade cassette units.

Anyhow, the main drawback to the 2488 is the small LCD display. It makes it really difficult to read (especially when you are an old fart like me and need reading glasses). It increases your labor because the lack of visual real estate means having to access multiple pages and menus of information that could be displayed together on a larger screen. Also, it really limits the amount of timeline you can see when you are looking at individual channels. You'd think they would have provided some kind of video output so that you could at least hook up an external monitor.

Other than that, I really like the unit as a "studio in a box" because I'm not interested in having to acquire and maintain a bunch of discrete devices like pre's, signal processors, etc., etc. It's easy to use once you've gotten a bit of help from those that have come before you.

I can think of features I'd like to see added, but I understand that you get a certain amount of capability at a given price point and I think this unit has a very good performance to cost ratio.

[futch]

I have just taken the plunge and purchased a DP-01 today. Back in the 80's I was in a band with a guy who had a TASCAM cassette machine and I thought it was the most fun toy in the world. Couldn't afford one then. Finally can afford the DP-01, if only barely.

But I need some help. I just read the manual and it says not to use "studio microphones such as a condensor mic" which leaves me puzzled. What type of mic am I supposed to use? I'm a multi-instrumentalist but I don't know the first thing about microphones.

What kind of mic am I supposed to use? With the old cassette 4 track we used cheap $10 mics from radio shack which were powered by putting a couple of AA batteries inside. Is it safe to plug this into the DP-01? I'm just making some home recordings, not a Steely Dan record (or whatever equivalent you prefer).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[mrmoe]

I use a pair of AKG Perception 200 condenser mics, a pair of Sony ECM-22p condenser mics, a Beyer M-500 ribbon mic, and some old AKG D-1000 dymamics with my DP01-fxcd......to increase gain (and for the modeling option), I use a couple of Behringer mic 200 pre-amps......I read the manual and never saw the warning against using condenser mics; in fact, since the recorder provides phantom power, it's obviously intended for use with condensers.

[Nico2112]

DP-01 FX and DP-01 FX/CD : both provide XLR inputs and phantom power.

DP-01 : DOESN'T provide XLR inputs and phantom power.

Condenser mics can be powered by: 1) phantom power (provided by a mixer or recorder) and 2) batteries

I have the DP-01, and have used condenser mics without any problem. Condensers are the choice for recording. Just make sure you use either an external mixer to power up your mic, or buy a battery powered condenser.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

[futch]

Originally Posted by Nico2112

DP-01 : DOESN'T provide XLR inputs and phantom power.

I have the DP-01, and have used condenser mics without any problem. Condensers are the choice for recording. Just make sure you use either an external mixer to power up your mic, or buy a battery powered condenser.

Thanks for helping out this newbie. This is exactly what I needed to know.

[Nico2112]

Anytime mate

[shockingcandy]

Hi all

I've owned a Porta 03 , a 414, a 788 and currently a 2488.

Over the years I've used a variety of other solutions ranging from open reel multi tracks to PC software (Cubase, Cakewalk, FLStudio) etc and I can honestly say I've had the most success with the Tascams. Yes, they have flaws (doesn't everything?). The 2488 has a crap screen and the built in effects aren't great either - I generally only use the mic and dynamics processors and leave reverb to my Lexicon box - but it's reliable, sounds good and is a cinch to use with enough inputs to track a live band and a track count high enough for me not have to worry. This means I spend less time thinking about the recording process and more time being creative. Surely that's the most important thing?

[A Reel Person]

Thanx!.........

[Nico2112]

Since a week ago, I'm a proud owner of a 2488MKII

Coming from a DP-01, this unit is a breeze to operate. Everything is as intuitive and easy as the DP line. The day I received it, I recorded a complete song

Happy camper here!

Now I have my old faithful 414, my DP-01 (for small projects) and my 2488MKII.
What can I say, I'm a Tascam sucker

Cheers!

[Nicole_Rose]

Originally Posted by Nico2112

Since a week ago, I'm a proud owner of a 2488MKII

Coming from a DP-01, this unit is a breeze to operate. Everything is as intuitive and easy as the DP line. The day I received it, I recorded a complete song

Happy camper here!

Now I have my old faithful 414, my DP-01 (for small projects) and my 2488MKII.
What can I say, I'm a Tascam sucker

Cheers!

That's great. As soon as i get the money together i'm making the step up to a tascam 2488 Mkii as well. how's the learning curve going? i have perused the manual and can see that it's very different and far more powerful than the dp 01.

[Nico2112]

Thanks Nicole

Yes, it's a lot more powerful than the DP-01, and, beleive it or not, it's not a lot harder to use

Up to now, I've used the basic stuff, tracking, track bouncing, scene memory, exporting wav files to CD, importing wav files from CD, click track, tuner, EQ'ing, panning (basically what I did with my DP-01).

I'm not going to use: mastering, midi, inboard effects, outboard effects, effect loops. (I prefer doing all the editing and mixing in my PC using Adobe Audition)

I'm really happy with the 8 track simultaneous capability, that's what I was after, since I'm a drummer, and 2 tracks for drums wasn't enough

If you are a DP portastudio user, upgrading to the 2488 is a breeze!

Cheers!

[pseudosun]

i just searched for dp01 threads, and just got mine (dp01) today. I'm not sure if i'll like it as much as my fostex dmt-8vl. I may have had this same feeling before i knew my way around my fostex, but it died (i bought it cracked, and didn't think it would last). I really could fly around on it, especially with punch recording. It also had two effect sends and a nice screen. I'm really tempted to get another, we'll see. On my tascam i just learned how to insert the punch in and out points, but i want to zip back and listen to my recorded part. Next, i need to learn about the locate points i guess. It's just a little frustrating when you are used to a certain recorder, and can't really feel comfortable recording until you know what you are doing.

[Nicole_Rose]

Originally Posted by pseudosun

i just searched for dp01 threads, and just got mine (dp01) today. I'm not sure if i'll like it as much as my fostex dmt-8vl. I may have had this same feeling before i knew my way around my fostex, but it died (i bought it cracked, and didn't think it would last). I really could fly around on it, especially with punch recording. It also had two effect sends and a nice screen. I'm really tempted to get another, we'll see. On my tascam i just learned how to insert the punch in and out points, but i want to zip back and listen to my recorded part. Next, i need to learn about the locate points i guess. It's just a little frustrating when you are used to a certain recorder, and can't really feel comfortable recording until you know what you are doing.

don't worry, the manual to the dp 01 is easy to figure out. if i can make it work in just a few days i'm sure you'll be able to do it too

[Michael O'Regan]

I got a DP-02 at the weekend. Its my first home recording unit. Finding it pretty cool so far.

Anyone got any hints or tips?

Any particular problems or limitations, etc.?

-Mike

[A Reel Person]

The preamps have limited gain, & are not what I'd consider "hot" or even adequate in some cases with some mics. I also don't like the A/B architecture of stripped inputs assigned directly to tracks. An outboard mixer solves both of these issues of gain and mix-ability on the front end, but then my nitpick is that it's no longer a 1-piece solution.

After clearing those hurdles, I think it's a pretty nice unit. It's highly capable for it's size and sounds good too.

[Michael O'Regan]

Theres just me playing lot of acoustic instruments, voice, possibly some bass and electric guitar.

Seems like it'll be adequate for my purposes.

But, yeah, I see what you mean about the limited input capabilities - though this does simplify things a little, it could be said.

One question though, the answer to which I can't seem to find in the manual - How much recording time is on the hard drive?

-Mike