Teenager w/o infinite money, good 4/8 track (portable) recorders?
 

I like the Tascam DP004, but i really don't know much about this. I just want to be able to record a few rough songs with friends and get going from there. Anyone know of any good, inexpensive multi-track recorders?

You found it. But I'd spring for the DP-008. I had the 4 and outgrew it quickly.

How many tracks do you want to record simultaneously?

Yeah, i see that it offers more than 4 other tracks. since i'm broke and both are rather expensive to me, i may as well just save up longer

It really bounces around, but never passes 4. I still think the dp 008 is a better option in general

Ok. Read the specs of whatever item you are researching to get. Many of the introductory products record only 2 tracks simultaneously. The more expensive ones go to 4 or 8 and then more.


i.e the Tascam DP 008 can only record a maximum of 2 tracks at a time.

Check out used products too. Many deals to be had for old electronics that still work fine.

the zoom R8 or R16, best bang for the buck and a buttload easier to use than the tascams or Boss units

I am, like the OP, a teenager without much money. I dropped a little under $300 on a DP-008 and I love it. The 8 tracks are a good thing to have, I couldn't get by with four. It's nice and convenient.

wait, simultaneously? just one, really. The two just seems like it would confuse me.

MF Stupid Deal TODAY (Saturday), DP-004 for $79. Doesn't get much cheaper than that!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid/

I really like the Tascam. Make sure you check out audacity as well. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacity_(audio_editor)

You can take a 4 track and bounce tracks to record 8:
Record 1,2,3 and bounce to 4 (3 tracks)
Record 1 and 2 and bounce to 3 (2 tracks)
Record on 1 and 2 (2 tracks)=8 tracks
If you record one track live along with the bounces you can get 10 tracks. We used to do this all the time back with cassette 4 track recorders. At least the digital tracks add no noise.
Another alternative if you have a good computer available is to get a cheap M-Box. I picked one up at GC for $50 after in-store rebate w/Pro Tools Essentials (16 tracks) for my teaching studio and also picked up an M-Box off Craigslist with Pro Tools LE for $50 (32 tracks) for one of my home computers. It's a whole lot more flexable than a standalone digital recorder.

At $79 the 004 seems like a no brainer... But the 008 does add reverb and eq.
How many people are in your band? If it's just two than maybe the 004 would work.. but 8 tracks really opens up a lot more doors - to me 8 'feels' like more than double the 4.. Does that make sense? 4 tracks is really tight but 8 is great :)

Zoom R8 or R16. You can find them around and online. Best one I have used and I have one I use all the time.

Depends what you want to do with the recordings.

Just a document for band members? A two-track Zoom will work. Want to post recordings on a band website or use them for a booking demo? I'd look for a multitrack computer recording interface.

That's a big thing to be clear on. Recording 4 or 8 tracks at the same time allows you to record your band together on separate tracks for later mixdown. The recordings will sound so much better that way.

However, if you don't need that then the Tascam DP-004 or DP-008 will do great. At regular prices, I'd go for the DP-008 ($250) over the DP-004($200), (XLR inputs, 8 tracks, built in reverb)but that "stupid deal of the day" at MF, is well a stupid low price of $80 for DP-004.


Portastudios are great. They are designed solely for what they do, and they do it very well.

I love my DP-008 I use it to record tracks at the studio then at home I import them in to Logic. Great sound and the workflow is smooth.

If you wanna go really cheap...... Master out form a mini mixing desk into a laptop with audacity...

Not great but uber cheap. If you want more options/better quality i'm afraid its more cash