DUDE,
Check this out......
Will make any tascam or cpu sound like complete crap!
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1448552426
Or if you are on a tight budget...
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1260455158
Now, What I do is take my CPU with an 24/96 M audio audiophile card &
sync it to my Otari 8 track using smpte.
I usually put drums, lead vox, acoustic guitars on analog & synths, back voxs,
bass, & electric guitars on the sound card.
Doing this lets me use high quality of the Otari, and the convenience of digital.
Plus, I can record many tracks over eight using the digital.
The tascam I have shown you is very self contained. You will not need to buy a mixer.
This unit is also relatively simple to learn. Not much harder than a porta studio.
As for quality, not bad to pretty good, but you may get better results using a good sound
card, low end used mixer & a CPU.
The Otari, on the other hand, is far more difficult to understand, needs a
separate mixer with 8 XLR outputs, you may need to rewire XLR cable for
the Otari, has a lot of buttons and swiches that you will need to get adjusted
by a service place ( pricey), and will take a time of learning before you can record
even one song.
The advantages?
The Otari is not really semi-pro, it is on the low end of pro quality, or high end of
semi-pro take your choice, anyway it does sound fantastic.
Much better then those tascams, fostexs & even sound cards.
BE WARNED!!!
This setup holds a lot of hidden cost, which I found out the hard way.
Good luck,
Sean