Tascam DP-02

[jeremyaunderwoo]

Hi all,

I'm looking into purchasing a DP-02 after deciding against a 488. Does anyone have experience with the DP-02? Pros? Cons? I'd like to make a completely informed decision before I jump into the affordable digital world. I am a fan of the all-in-one aspect of the portastudios.

[stevieb]

I own a DP-01, my bud has a DP-01XL/CD. I have some experience using the 01.

I am basically pleased with the machine- easy to use, good results can be had- for semi-serious recording when you don't want to spend the time to learn a somewhat non-intuative computer system, they are good. The 02 has at least one upgrade over my 01 (but not an upgrade over my bud's), that being two XLR inputs with pre-amps. But TASCAM seems to have carried over the obvious cost-saving approach of being able to record only TWO channels simutaniously, NOT eight. When I have recorded at home, either just me or me and my bud, that has not been a major stumbling block, but I would like to record my too-large guitar group live, and two channels is really restriciting. TASCAM is being cagy in their promo material- they do not actually SAY you can only record to two tracks, but reading between the lines, it is obvious that is the case.

[jugband]

I've had my DP-02 for a few months now and really like it. My only disappointment with it was that I realized shortly after I got it that I needed to buy a mic preamp. Get yourself a preamp to go with it and you are golden. If you have any experience with a 4-track you should be up and recording in no time. I use mine to record rough mixes and then dump the tracks into Logic Pro. I just couldn't get into sitting at the computer and recording music. The DP-02 gives me the hands on recording approach I like. A quick read through the manual and it is really easy to use. I have no regrets in buying mine.

[Michael O'Regan]

I've been using a DP-02 for 6 months or so. No problems at all with it. I have not needed to get a separate pre-amp, at least not for my purposes, which is accoustic folk. Get some decent mics.

I'm very happy with the results.

You can hear them here:

http://www.myspace.com/dennisregan

[desertmonk]

Does the DP-02 have an onboard compressor?

[alotawatts]

Originally Posted by desertmonk

Does the DP-02 have an onboard compressor?

Yes in the Drum effects.....Comp only. You can download the owners manual / Tascam site.
I have been holding out on buying a DP 02 because I keep reading about little glitchy problems e.g. the data dial, system lock-ups etc.
Anyone here having any issues ? It would seem these are 6 track with tracks 7 & 8 dedicated for stereo mixdown correct ?
thx

[A Reel Person]

Originally Posted by alotawatts

little glitchy problems e.g. the data dial, system lock-ups etc.
Anyone here having any issues ?

None here. (CF)

Originally Posted by alotawatts

It would seem these are 6 track with tracks 7 & 8 dedicated for stereo mixdown correct ?
thx

No. 8 tracks + stereo master track.

[alotawatts]

Found this demo...at about the 6 min. point of the video he's floating 6 mono tracks to 7 & 8 ..makes it a six track so to speak.
http://www.gearwire.com/Tascam-DP-02...ru-1-of-1.html

Also-

Is the headphones-out the same as audio L&R-outs ? That is.....can you do all the multi-tracking and mastering with just headphones and still hear tracks including effects as well or do you have to use the audio L & R outs to amp/speakers ? Asking 'cause I found this in another forum :

Playing back:

- You must have monitors connected to the outputs.
- The channel fader must be up.
- The master fader must be up.

Importing .wav files:

- The filename must conform, to DOS standard names, not Windows names.
- No filename characters other than lowercase letters and numbers. No spaces.
- The filename must have no more than 8 characters, plus the .wav extension.
- The file must be a mono file. Stereo files will not upload.
- The file must be on the top level of your hard disk. It must not be in a folder.

[A Reel Person]

Originally Posted by alotawatts

Found this demo...at about the 6 min. point of the video he's floating 6 mono tracks to 7 & 8 ..makes it a six track so to speak.
http://www.gearwire.com/Tascam-DP-02...ru-1-of-1.html

Track-bounce technique. Bouncing down 6 tracks mixed to stereo onto 7 & 8. A technique to free up tracks to squeeze more "parts" into an 8-track production. It's a fairly common technique to bounce tracks 1-6 to 7 & 8, but the DP02 is 8 tracks plus stereo master track. Not 6.

Originally Posted by alotawatts

Also-

Is the headphones-out the same as audio L&R-outs ? That is.....can you do all the multi-tracking and mastering with just headphones and still hear tracks including effects as well or do you have to use the audio L & R outs to amp/speakers ? Asking 'cause I found this in another forum :

Playing back:

- You must have monitors connected to the outputs.
- The channel fader must be up.
- The master fader must be up.

Headphones alone would work. The headphone circuit gets the same signal that feeds the Stereo L/R line outs.

Originally Posted by alotawatts

Importing .wav files:

- The filename must conform, to DOS standard names, not Windows names.
- No filename characters other than lowercase letters and numbers. No spaces.
- The filename must have no more than 8 characters, plus the .wav extension.
- The file must be a mono file. Stereo files will not upload.
- The file must be on the top level of your hard disk. It must not be in a folder.

These sound basically correct, except... A stereo file will upload but won't be recognized by the Tascam OS. It must be a "raw" file, not a file within a folder. These (last 2) statements sound correct, but I'd word them a bit differently.

[Luna Cat]

Well,I've had mine about a month,and I'm pretty happy with it.The manual isn't great,but if you spend some time going back and forth while learning to use it you'll figure it out eventually.The problem I'm having now is that I can't get much volume INTO the mix,and thus,the CD from it is low,and has to be played on a stereo with the volume way up to hear it well.I see everyone recommending a pre-amp,and I'd sure like to know which one is compatible!All in all,though-it's fairly easy to get the baisics down,and has good sound quality for the price.Some of the on-board effects are cheesy-but others are all right.

[Sailjunkie]

and I've found it to be a great deck! It has two inputs, so I was using a small Behringer mixer to handle all of my instruments...just went mixer outs to DP02 ins and I was good to go. Also, there is no compressor on the DP02...I used an outboard (Alesis 3630), plus a Lexicon MX 200 for multieffects. It was a great rig, and still remains my backup in case I have issues with my 2488MKII (I needed more tracks!). The interesting thing is that the DP02 has dedicated inserts vs. the 2488 (which needs to utilize input channels).