One Hundred and Thrirty First Mister Man,
As a rank newbie I will share my research and hopefully be of some help.
All quotes originally posted by MrMan131
I'm looking into buying a 4-track recorder. I'be loked around, and since I don't have much money, I'm probably going to get the Tascam PortaStudio. Now here are my questions.
1) Is it worth the money ($150) for a first recorder?
Whether or not a $150 Tascam will meet your needs depends on what you plan to do with it. I opted for a used MD4 ($300) when my budget evaporated because all I wanted to do was record my daughter's singing efforts to help them improve, not create the next R&B sensation or become a HipHop producer.
2) Do 4-tracks have a gain control on them or do you have to use an effects pedal to get distortion?
The MD4 has one per channel, can't speak to the Tascam.
3) Is it possible to output the analog signal to a computer (through the computer mic input, for instance) or would the quality be too low?
You would have to use the headphone output, and I believe that you have issues given that the headphone output is not a line level signal... you might fry something. And given that you could, it would most likely be pretty sucky.
The MD4 provides an output for each track. (No, I am not selling MD4's, MD4s's or anything else). The manual states that this is to allow the signal to go to a larger mixer, but it would also work for input to a PC given that the sound card provides for four inputs.
4) Is digital worth the extra $250 (a lot of money for me)?
No.
Also, keep in mind that the mixer is only part of the signal chain, and really not the most important part. You need a good mic, and good mic pre to get the sound in, and good monitors to know just what you accomplished.
Sound recording is an expensive passion. If you just want to bum around with you and your friends, dump the karaoke machine, dabble in sound recording... great. If you think that you are going to be cutting an award winning CD and being escorted through the Melrose gate at Paramount for your media debut next Christmas, well....
Good luck.
