Tascam Pocket Studio 5

I was looking for a "beginners" digital recorder at a relatively low price. As a songwriter, I do basic home demos, nothing very complicated, and I wanted something I could record on quickly but with a reasonable amount of quality. I did some research online and the PocketStudio5 seemed to have some good features. I bought this recording unit at Guitar Center in Minneapolis and paid $400.

I think the price is reasonable. I like the fact that it is easy to send mixed MP3 versions of your recorded songs to a computer.

This recorder was very difficult to figure out and use. The instruction manual left me confused in many cases. I was able to get helpful tips from the Tascam forums, but even with that help, I struggled to do even the most basic recording on this unit. The menu-driven operating system was too complicated. The display screen on the unit is hard to read. After two weeks of working with it and getting very little actual recording done, I traded it in for a cassette four-track recorder.

This was another letdown. The unit looks good, but is made mostly of plastic, and things like the faders seem very cheap and not sturdy.

I have much more experience with analog recording than with digital, so perhaps for some more technically-minded musicians, this will be a recorder they can work with. I know many people at the Tascam forums seemed happy with the PocketStudio5. But if you are new to digital recording and expect a recorder to be intuitive and easy to operate, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

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

I use it since the purchase date. I use it just now
I have not tried any other digital recorder.
Likes: The portability, versatility, style arranger is excellent, ease of programming of a song and the ability to record over. The sounds of generators without its correct. The brass of course send the funk styles. It is a small MIDI expander with nice audio and more.
I do not like: the management of different types of files on the card not obvious: mp3, smf, playlists ... You can not save changes to program sounds, volumes, effects, occurring as midi file (must go through the PC). You can not save the south.
It is a pity we can not import new styles (well not to my knowledge).
With experience, you do again this choice?
Yes probably, but I would look at lending to small sequencers Yamaha SY. I think they have an audio input. Most powerful noon, but they record the audio? No idea
Value for money: it's an old product, difficult to assess today.

Multitrack recorder numrique compact
Record four tracks of audio-numriques CompactFlash
Module synthtiseur internal playback MIDI files squence
100 styles of songs with the possibility of rearrangement to CRER original music
Over 100 Intgr effects, high quality for voice, guitars and other instruments
edition Audio / MIDI: copy / paste with bars / beats, bounce tracks, automate punch-in/out
USB port for interfacing your music with Mac and Windows
Mixdown to MP3 format to post your music on websites or sent by electronic mail a friend
Playing MP3 audio files
Condenser microphone and headset
32MB CompactFlash card intgre
Up to two hours of autonomy guaranteed by two standard AA size batteries
AC power supply also included.

The Tascam Pocketstudio 5 includes 100 standard MIDI files, which allow the user to quickly be able to interview the potential of the recorder, to an instrument on the soundtrack incorporated. In addition, the Pocketstudio 5 allows users to CRER new compositions through these files, to the extent that each contains six musical scores for the standard Fast Fashion songs (Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Fill 1, Fill 2 and End) with the possibility of rearrangement. Its internal module synthtiseur allows high quality playback of any squence in the standard file format MIDI.

The Pocketstudio 5 also offers the possibility of mixing CRER final Stereo MP3 format that can be sent to personal computers through its USB port intermdiaire then be post on websites and electronic mail sent by friends and collgues. Likewise, thanks these features, the 5 can also Pocketstudio be used as an MP3 player.
Numrique as a recorder, it excute aisment editing functions such as select automatic entry / exit registration "Auto punch in / out", the 'edition of audio and MIDI tracks with copy / paste "Copy / Paste", using the measures and beats "bars-and-beats" and the bounce track "Track bouncing".
The Pocketstudio 5 is a portable recording solution vritable numrique, thanks its compact and run-time of two hours, guaranteed by AA-size alkaline batteries standard. It is also a quip AC power supply, a 32MB CompactFlash card and a headset in its complment Intgr condenser microphone.

For € 749 (ie 4913.12 FF) you have good quality and multiple functions that I put 2 Demos available.
Now it's my opinion ...
But above all Do not hesitate to ask me the DMOS, because I would not you buy before they have heard.
Because if you buy it and you of your, I do not want to be responsible.