Tascam Portastudio 424 MkIII

I purchased this unit from Musicians Friend (great company by the way)for $329.00.

I am new to the recording scene, and I wanted something simple to use, that would give me some nice demo type recordings. The manual is fairly well written. The over all operation of the unit is pretty easy.

The unit itself seems a little weak. It took a little time to understand how the unit works. My first recordings were rough, but the sound quality wasn't what I was expecting. The knobs and sliders feel cheap, and so does the 1/4" inputs. I decided to send the unit back for a refund. Musicians Friend customer service is very good about returns, I'll give them a 10.

Tascam units seem to be getting cheaper. I bought this because it was recommended by others who had the MK 424II. Seems the revised MK 424III has had some changes including external power source, and the inputs have been put on the back of the unit intead of on top. The knobs feel very weak as well as the sliders. Tascam has been around along time, and have been a asset to the home recording people. But this unit just didn't satisfy my need.

This is my first bad review of a product. I usually take time to read reviews on products before I buy them. I'm not saying this MK 424III is junk. I just feel it could be a little better in quality.

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