I’m finding recording anything I do to be a pain in my ass. Basically everything sounds great through my PA and headphones, then I go and record it and there is always something way off. In general the overall volume is too low. Then when I use Audacity to raise it I end up with clipping issues or I just can’t get the volume up high enough because of something that will clip.
I’ve been recording direct from USB off my mixer to Audacity and recently switched to my Tascam DR-40 field recorder. So it comes down to I need to start mastering my recordings in order to have anything to show for it.
I have been trying to stay as much out of the box as possible. So I have been looking at getting a Tascam DP-32SD Portastudio multi-channel recorder. I would have bought it already if it weren’t for the lack of MIDI on this model. It looks like the prior model (discontinued) had MIDI but was taken out on this one. I would have thought this would be the easiest way to record, just press record and the instruments will start playing in time. Then adjust the audio channel levels and EQ as needed when mastering. Now it looks like I need to just wing it and record as close to in time as possible when making multiple recording passes. I’m not above this and I think it could add some extra human feel to my sound, but is there another way to sync everything that I am missing that would make Tascam think MIDI is a useless feature?
i have a tascam dp 32 with MIDI sync and cd-burner.
Quality is o.k. for it´s price. I can get good results on it,
For MIDI sync it can only be Master.
I use it that way:
i connect a octatrack and some external synths that are sequenced by the octatrack to the Tascam. from the channels on the tascam i send aux signals to external effects like delay and reverb. often I also have connected a guitar and a mic, just for the case I ´ve got a good idea.
the good thing: i can record up to 8 Inputs at once. doing layers and additional recordings is very easy. I really love that workflow a lot.
a very creative and fast way to record tracks.
but:
to fully edit a more complex recording, that uses a lot of tracks, and a lot of interrupted recording the tascam is a catastrophy. you will cry for a daw.
it´s possible to send all recorded tracks to a computer, but I could not find a way so far to get the song informations into ableton live for example.
i have to bounce every channel to one track of the length of the full song to get the correct arrangement into ableton.
I used to sync the octatrack to the tascam via MIDI clock a lot.
well it works, but the solid timing of the octatrack is not there anymore, especially when you start the machines (you need extra time for punch in recordings that are sequenced, because OT needs time to hang on MIDI clock)
I´d say the effects on the tascam are useable but, …sorry… shit.
the one little thing i hate most is the fact you have to turn the encoders
about 10 times to pan from left to right or to send fx…otherwise i could say, wow, the tascam is not only a recording device, it´s also a mixing desk.
I ended up to really think about my arrangements, and how i want to design my track…because i wanted to avoid to do too much editing afterwards.
that means you have to get as much as possible right at once while recording. so that was the first time i turned off MIDI sync. even without midi sync you can still do overdubs, you just start the sequencer manually…works better than most peope think.
i bought the tascam just because of that MIDI thing. but it is pretty big, not that much porta at all.
anyway, i like the dp 32 ! but i hope there will be a smaller and better quality option soon. would be interesting what elektron would create out of that concept.
I have the DP-24 - it’s got MIDI and has been a really useful recorder. I agree with HIAH’s gripes above … my bandcamp page has some stuff i’ve recorded with it: