Tascam Analog Multitrack-studios

Bought at Guitar Center, May 2002 for $100. As a guitarist/songwriter, I needed something to work out new songs and arrangement ideas on. I also have a Roland VS2480 (very complex unit), but I needed something SIMPLE & EASY to use to develop musical ideas. Super easy to use & sounds surprisingly good if you use a decent microphone (I am using an ATM 63 dynamic mic--similar to a Shure SM57 in performance). The trick is to saturate the tape somewhat (i.e. record each track pretty LOUD) and monitor with the master monitor volume around 6 or higher, so the prerecorded tracks can be monitored easily as you record new tracks. If you record tracks too soft, they are not as easy to hear well, as there is no way to raise the individual track volume of previously recorded tracks while you record a new track. So let that VU meter go pretty HIGH as you put down your tracks, and there will be no monitoring problem. Overall, very easy & fun to use. Nothing--It does what it is supposed to do quite well. Just be sure to record your tracks (especially the 1st track or 2) nice & LOUD, as described above. If this unit had 2 MORE TRACKS, but remained unchanged in every other way, it would be absolutely incredible--I hope Tascam decides to do this--I would buy a 6-track version of the MF PO1 IMMEDIATELY!! And I bet a lot of other folks would as well. Seems well-made & durable for an item in its price class. A great product!! As a 50-year old guitarist/songwriter, I would have KILLED for one of these units back in the early 70s when I 1st started writing songs. The musical kids of today don't know how lucky they are to have such cool, cheap technology available. This is a great gift for any musically creative person. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The features are pretty good. I havent used the effects channels yet, but it has a nice 'mini mixing board' with treble and bass. Four 1/4" jacks at the front, and two XLR's in the back. It can be tricky to work with, but understanding it isn't that hard once you get the hang of things. $68.00 USD I bought my first four-track recorder off of ebay, 76.00 with shipping. I recieved it, and had only one mic. I started to fiddle around with it, and it sounds pretty good to my surprise. I can record three tracks, and bounce it to one, then record two more, bounce it to one and then record two more on top of it. This is going to sound great with my mixer and drum mic package i am buying. SHop EBAY! It's great. This was in NEW condition, with a carrying case! It's easy to use. Record your first track, mix it, move on to your second, and etc... The only bad thing is getting the right channel on. Sometimes when you use the XLR inputs, it's not divided up by 1 and 2. The first XLR is for tracks 1 and 3, and the other is for 2 and 4. And trying to record without bouncing your track is kind of hard. Buy a lot of tape. It can be quite useful, especially when testing. Very durable! I have beat this things to peaces so far and it still looks new to me and the rest of my friends and family. I love this thing. It is my first analog recording studio, and I can't wait to get bigger and better equipment. I hope to hook up an 8 channel mixer for the drums alone all on one track when I purchase a drum mic package. This is great for all recording musicians! Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Kenny_viper2 (January 0-, 2005)