Tascam 488 or 488 MK2?

[yetipur]

Hello,
I want to purchase a Tascam 488. What is the difference between the 488, and the 488MK2?
Thanks!

 

[A Reel Person]

A pretty big difference!

What I can remember off the top of my head:

488: B/W LCD display
488mkII: Bright Color Flourescent display

488: 2 onboard preamps
488mkII: 4 onboard preamps

488: No XLR mic inputs
488mkII: 2-XLR mic inputs w/phantom power

Well, that's not a huge difference!

 

[themaddog]

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the MKII also has more EQ control. I had an original 488, but it only had a treble and bass tone nob for each track.

The 488 is a great machine though. The only downside for me was that you can't record more than 4 tracks at a time on it, and I was mostly recording my band. For a singe person - aka a one man band setup - it's a great machine.

-MD

 

[A Reel Person]

Yeah, true!

The 488 has standard High/Low EQ & the MkII has 3-band High/Low/Mid-sweep EQ.

I knew I was forgetting something!

Those few differences make the 488mkII a better buy, IMO.

 

[Torin Krell]

Actually if you are looking for a feature filled 8 track portastudio don't forget the TASCAM 688, which is the best and most feature filled cassette based portastudio ever made. It is truthfully a bit more complex and difficult to master than the 488 & 488 mkII however. Of course if you already have an appropriate mixing board the TASCAM 238 is also a great machine that is very easy to use.