Studio Recorders > Tascam Studio Recorders

Advantages: Good features, sound quality, can be bought cheaply on ebay.
Disadvantages: No phantom power some leaking issues.

The most expensive of Tascams portastudio range. The 424 MKIII is a very good purchase for the musician on a budget who needs more than just plug and play features. The unit contains, 4 unpowered balanced XLR inputs. 4 jack inputs. (you can't use bolth the xlr and jacks at once) and 2 further jack inputs. So if you were to use XLR - Jack converters. You could run 6 microphones through the unit at once. The unit does have a tricky operation however. ...
...and jack inputs off - for no input tape - for monitoring whilst recording on another channel to monitor without leakage. Then there is a 4 band e.q., high, high-mid, mid and low. Very few portastudios have a 4 band e.q. Next are the effect sends, if you have a compressor of effects unit connected, these dictate how much of the wet (signal with effect) signal comes through. Then we have the pan strip. This is important to the track recording. ... Read review

Advantages: Intuitively easy to use, Excellent recording/reproduction, Importable to computer software
Disadvantages: Tape based, Use limited to straightforward recording, no editing capabilities

Still a vital part of my recording studio! I have 3 units linked. Easy to use, accurate locating, and a warmer sound than computer. I use them for recording live bands/artists that require minimal editing. ADATS are outdated technology by today's standards, but they're great workhorses and make excellent "front-ends" for recording to computer (with an appropriate interface). I have used them for over a decade now with no major complaints. Minor niggles ... Read review

Advantages: Light, good quality sound and recording
Disadvantages: Not very large memory cards(2Gb maximum)

The R-1 is a portable MP3 player with a high-quality MP3/WAV recorder for music lovers and provides a good recording quality in a portable device. The R-1 can record and playback at clear, 24-bit audio resolution without compression. Audio is stored as files directly onto removable cards, allowing maximum recording time. Up to nine format modes are provided, from 64 - 320kbps MP3 compression to 24-bit linear WAV format(mp3 is not so clear) The R-1 ...
...there are no moving parts there is no noise for the microphone to pick up if you are in a quiet area. Other features include one-touch recording - just press the REC button, the level indicator comes up on the lcd display, and you're ready to record. The R-1 can be used as an MP3 player and runs on two AA batteries or from the AC adaptor. also there is a headphone output aswell as external audio inputs.The R-1 can connect to computers by a USB 2.0 ... Read review

Advantages: Potable, Powerfull and Professional
Disadvantages: Limited EQ functions

...year when I got my fostex VF 16 hard drive recorder. I haven't stopped using it since. It is set up in my home studio and works as my main recording colsole. It is compact (about the same size as a normal cd seperate) but don't let the size fool you. It has an on board 16 channel mixer, 8 stereo jack inputs, 2 XLR inputs, Aux out, optical in/out, phono out. It delivers a superb realism and has a fully programmable compressor so you can tell it how ...
...of on board effects (with all the classics, reverb, flange, chorus, delay and all of these effects are fully programmable.) There is no problem when you run out of space on the internal hard drive as you can backup on to Jazz or Zip drives. This means that there is no real limit to the ammount of recording time. The only feature which was a little dissapointing was the EQ. It has EQ features but they are limited and not quite so easy to program. ... Read review

Advantages: Inexpensve
Disadvantages: poor manuals

Edirol's RolandED U8 USB digital studio comes bundled with either CubasisVST or Cakewalk 9 software and is a great entry-level audio/midi hard disk recording studio. The version I bought was the one with CubasisVST. Both versions include Roland's Virtual Sound Canvas Software giving access to 902 sounds and 26 drum sets! It is advisble to contact Edirol (details on their site http://www.edirol.co.uk) to find out if your USB chipset is compatible ...
...What you get for your £350 (at time of writing) is the U8 unit which is a mixer and transport controller for the bundled software and also features an excellent onboard DSP unit which is relatively editable and, as I mentioned earlier, one of two Steinberg sequencer packages. Dealing with the hardware first, the U8 is a stylish dark blue affair with 8 individual sliders and a master slider. There are inputs for mic, keyboard, guitar and midi and ... Read review