Demo'd the Tascam MF-P01 Multitrack Recorder.

A Reel Person

It's Too Funky in Here!!!
I demo'd the MF-P01 multitrack recorder the other day. It's funny that it's "multitrack" on the Tascam web page, not "Ministudio" or "Portastudio",... that's how really stripped this recorder is,... not to at least warrant "Ministudio" name in the title. Ha.

Technically, the MF-P01 performed rather well, and sounded better than I expected. The sound is clear and robust, and.... no hiss! Hiss, whether electronic or tape-hiss was not a factor. This surprised me a little, but it's true. I'd put the MF-P01 up against the all-digital Pocketstudio 5 any day, and the MF-P01 might outperform the PS5, based on handling saturation and overload a lot better, while the PS5 would crackle rather noticeably when highly overloaded.

I just wanted to exclaim online that for myself, a veteran Portastudio user of the higher end variety, the MF-P01 performed better than expected and sounded pretty decent as-is. Though it's a stripped scratchpad recorder, I'd not dismiss the MF-P01 out of hand. I've heard it. It's useable and decent sounding, maybe not stellar, but you get what you pay for!:eek:;)

PS: The production model doesn't have those knobs. It almost looks like they were photoshopped in!!:eek:;)

Sorry, no MF-P01 music clips at this time! Maybe later!
 

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Dave, the MF-P01 was my first recorder... :cool:

And it did have all those knobs, well, it still does I still have it.

Maybe because I bought it in Japan? Or maybe because I bought it in 2003?
 
Wow!

Interesting point!

No doubt they're 414mkII/424mkIII knobs, but as the PAN goes, isn't the little center stripe backwards? The tick mark should be on the top, center position.

That's neat and curious to know that the MF-P01 shipped with those knobs, at least somewhere at some time. However, the Japanese models would often differ in some way from the US models. The US 424mkIII/414mkII/Porta02 lines being black for the Japanese market and blue in the US, F/I.:eek:;)
 
~Edit~

Check that. I'm not gonna say 'no hiss'. Don't wanna lose my credibility.

Gonna say 'negligible hiss' or not hissy as a predominant feature. The signal is robust. Sure, if you turn it up to 11 you might hear hiss just before your speaker cones launch across the room!

Hiss, whether tape or electronic, was not a factor in production using this sleek little bomb. Use Type II tapes and keep the levels up a bit and it sounds very good despite it's diminutive and stripped format.

I'd pit this dude any day against the PS5 on sound quality. Sure, they're two low-end formats. They're pretty comparable. The PS5 actually has better features. The MF-P01 has a bit of an edge on sound. YMMV.

The MF-P01 is a deal at $79 blowout prices lately, (clearance). It's very stripped and mostly fits the scratchpad niche. Mic/Line and Tape. It's that simple, but it forces you to use good mic technique.

I'm still used to (spoiled by) a good front end mixer, but that's another post.:eek:;) A user could consider fronting the MF-P01 with a functional mixer. I try mostly to use these devices as a standalone unit in native mode, but the stripped-input idea really begs the issue of a front end mixer.

As I said, that's another post. The MF-P01 is ridiculously simple, is fun to use and sounds pretty good. Word!
 
No doubt they're 414mkII/424mkIII knobs, but as the PAN goes, isn't the little center stripe backwards? The tick mark should be on the top, center position.
I think for purposes of that shot at that angle, they may have photoshopped them in just for clarity. But you are right, they do resemble the 414mkII knobs; but then again, it's the same company...
 
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