DR-05 vs DR-40 for recording loud music

mortstiff

New member
New here, apologies if this has already been discussed. I plan on recording electric guitar instrumentals in my small home office space, using a Roland Cube 20X amplifier and Zoom G2 effects pedal for my electric guitars. Among the music I write are some improvisations that can get very loud in the small room, even with the small amp, and with certain effects and feedback I hesitate when deciding on the appropriate recorder.

My online search has led me to the Tascams and the 05 looks really good for my needs. But I am wondering if the price difference (around 60 euros) upgrade to the DR-40 is worth it. I am especially intrigued by the function that records a second track at a lower db. I would like to have the recorder next to me when I record, but I can't stray too far from my pedals, so the recorder will be close to the sound source. Can I rely on either or both of these pedals to suit my needs (record tracks in mp3 and transfer to my laptops; record music on top of already recorded music)? Or should I look to some alternative recorder? I really don't want to spend more than the 157 euros asked for the DR-40 and even that is a bit higher than I wanted to spend. Thanks.
 
Record at 24-bit (WAV - not MP3 - 44.1kHz unless you'll add this track to video, then 48kHz), and keep the level so it doesn't peak above -10 or -6dB and you won't need the backup track feature.

All of these handheld recorders have small condenser microphones with physical limits on how high a sound level (SPL) they can handle. It's a physical limit, so recording a lower track automatically (when you can just set it that way for the main track) doesn't keep you from overloading the microphone, just the A/D firmware.

Both Tascams have the same physical limit of 125dB max SPL, which is pretty good, actually (I checked the Zoom H2n and it's 122). If the recorder is next to you, that should be fine, because you should not be spending any time anywhere near that kind of level if you want to hear anything in a couple years. (Plus, I don't think that Cube 20x with its 8" speaker is going to put the recorder at risk.) So, either will work, if you set the record level properly.

That DR-40 is nice because you could plug an external mic into it if you acquired one, e.g., to close mic the amp, later on, so a lot more flexible. I expect the results using either of those model's built-in mics would be quite similar.
 
KR - this is really helpful, thanks.

As a follow-up perhaps you can explain if there is any difference in overdubbing between the two Tascams. I use a loop pedal with my guitars - play a rhythm base and then record a lead track on top of that, ad infinitum. This can be done on both the 05 and 40?
 
... I use a loop pedal with my guitars - play a rhythm base and then record a lead track on top of that, ad infinitum. This can be done on both the 05 and 40?
Honestly, I don't know. I would suggest searching, RTFM'ing, maybe hit up a Tascam forum, as well. I'm a Zoom person myself (H2 and H6), and I know the H6 lets you do that, but the H2 is not designed for that use, so I wouldn't be surprised if the 05 behaves like that, i.e., overdubbing in the device is not a feature.
 
If anyone is interested in the answer to my question about overdubbing, I can now answer it. Both models allow for overdubbing. There's a B and H YouTube video comparing the DR-05 with the DR-07 (the latter of which now appears to be off the market) saying that the DR-05 does not have the overdubbing function, but it turns out that firmware upgrades have now made that possible. Judging from the DR-40 manual, it is possible to overdub multiple times. The DR-05 manual is somewhat unclear about this, although maybe I'm not reading it carefully enough.
 
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