All user reviews of 3/5 for the Tascam DP-004

The Tascam DP-004 has 2 ¼ microphone inputs and records in WAV format. You can record up to 2 tracks simultaneously but playback 4 at the same time. There are no effects on this console, it would have been nice to at least have some studio reverb of some sort just to add a little something to what you record. After you record you can then connect the DP-004 to your computer via USB to track out. It is very easy to get your recordings into your computer.
This console has 2 microphone preamps and they are pretty good. But there is no EQ on this console, with no effects and no EQ I say do not purchase it. You can almost get the upgraded version of it with 2 band EQ and effects for about the same price now.
This recorder takes the sound you record and puts it directly to an SD card. It only comes with a 1 GB SD card which probably will not be enough for anyone because I know it was not enough for me. If you want to get a 32 GB SD card it will cost a good amount of money. I wish when they sell the DP-004 they would just include the maxed out SD 32 GB card to save from having to go out and spend more money after you have bought this.
But with the DP-004 you can record anywhere because it takes AA batteries. But it does not come with a AC adaptor. You will have to buy the AC adapter separate which cost over 30 dollars. So by the time you buy a good SD card costing anywhere from 15 to 40 dollars, then you have to purchase the AC adapter; it is just too much extra money to be spent on a console that only cost 150 dollars. It really is not worth it.

I'm not really an accomplished player or anything, but I like to record little dittys every now and then and needed something little for that purpose. I'm not in a band. I like country, rock, and top 40 or pop stuff. I read a book about songwriting a couple years ago and every since I've been playing around trying to get that one hook...

I bought this unit at a music store in a town down the road for about $200.

It's amazing the quality of the recordings. The sound is CD quality and it is so easy to use, it's click and start recording easy. There's a built in stereo mic, too, and has auto-punch, undo, some mixdown features, and a USB 2.0 port - which comes in handy when I want to dump things down to Cakewalk or whatever program I happen to be using at the time.

The track editing function takes a little getting used to, but I've experienced that with other models too so I don't know how much of a downer that is. Just something I need to learn to work with better.

Pretty solid. I feel like I could wind up and zing this thing from the mound down to the plate.

A little pricey, but a lot of technology is tied up in this tough little unit, so I think it's worth it.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Hello,
I agree with most previous opinions: good machine for a 4 track portable base. Good ergonomics, good sound, perfect for short "note" / composite record their ideas or arrangement without using a computer.

But I also agree with Zeeton, with some nuances: the current firmware (1.3 I am not yet gone to 1.4) is extremely slow for everything conversion. And we must do it often ...
It is not communicating with the PC is at stake, it is the slow machine itself, or its firmware (?).

The machine will format the SD card into 2 partitions, one owner, and FAT32. Now all records (4 tracks, bounce and master included) are in the partition owner in a proprietary format.
To start we must first make a "conversion" to switch to 4 stereo master track. In real time but a priori this is normal since we want to mix live. I still wish I had the opportunity to make a quick mixdown ...

But before you can access to the slopes is either broken stereo master from a PC, you must convert them into wav files by transferring them to the FAT 32 partition.
But this conversion is almost in real time! and there is no excuse for cons ...
To summarize: it is a model of 4-track 6 minutes.
must be at least 6 minutes to let a master manip + 6 minutes to convert the master wav. Renaming files at each stage as it does not retrieve the name of the original song ... More transfer to pc. In short almost half an hour a piece of manipulation in order to share the song with other musicians ...

It's ok when it's really about model components, but if it is completely disproportionate to record rehearsals for re-listening.
We can perhaps hope that this defect is reviewed on a future firmware, but until it is quite irritating.

In conclusion, it is indeed a good mini 4-track work for composer / arranger who has time, but not a mini recorder to capture rehearsals and concert.