Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I intend to use the recorder for
1) recording my (viola) practice for self-evaluation;
2) using the variable playback speed function for practicing with a recording of the music I'm practicing;
3) recording groups I play with (non-professional).
I haven't used it much yet.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I use the Tascam for audio during weddings in conjunction with an external mic as well as without it when the ceremony is indoors. Definitely a good product!

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

Great little portable recorder! Pretty small, easy to fit into a pocket.

Although I haven't used the on-board mics, the recorder is excellent when coupled with an external lav mic. I use this primarily for special readings or prayers during weddings and other events, but also works great as a backup recorder when your other wireless mics go out or if there is too much interference for wireless.

Takes 2 AAA batteries, which last about 3-4 hours. Uses a microSD card, andthe included 2GB can hold a pretty good length of recordings at 48KHz 16-bit WAV. You can obviously get more using MP3 format, and I'm sure the capacity will outlive the batteries.

The buttons are very minimal, but you don't really need much. I keep the mic level on "Low" and coupled with a decent lav mic it works great. If you set to high it picks up too much background noise.

Totally made of plastic, the built-in mics feel very weak, and its missing a quarter-20 thread on the bottom for mounting to other accessories, but if I need to mount gaff tape works well.

Overall great little pocket recorder. I doubt it would survive a fall or being stepped on but can;t beat the value for the price.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I got this to record the bride and groom at wedding during the ceremony and its a great way to attach a wired lav mic and place it in the grooms pocket. Slim and works great.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I'm currently using this product to record blips, bloops, clicks, ambient noises, and pretty much anything for glitchy music. There are a few things that I like about this recorder:

1. It's portable - you can fit this in your coat pocket
2. It has adjustable microphones - this was a big sell for me, since you can record directly at the subject or adjust for more spatial environments
3. Quick and dirty interface
4. Haven't really noticed any issues with batteries but I'm only recording short spurts rather than longer recordings. I picked up some Eneloop rechargeable batteries which should help.

However, there are some drawbacks:

1. I always feel as if I have to be careful while handling the microphones and even the casing. It's held up so far, but the microphones are flimsy and feels like they would fall off with some minor abuse.
2. Casing is plastic. So you will get ambient noises from handling the buttons or even just holding the thing and moving it around.
3. Doesn't come with the wind screen
4. Sub quality EQ interface. Wish there were more options for EQ

I wanted an affordable recording device and I've looked at several other units - despite its flaws, this one stood out (for its price range). Zoom has the H1 but I wanted adjustable microphones.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

Can't get it to work. Of course the quick and easy directions to record and play back don't get this thing to playback. I have no idea what's wrong. Followed all the directions...no luck.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I am a professional that needs good production quality audio using a lapel microphone but simple to operate for the average person giving a lecture. This device does not fit that need because of those "gotchas" that come with technology. Here are a few features and limitations:

Audio Format:
I chose PCM 44.1K for CD quality recordings (one of the final deliverables). However, one can only select PCM 44.1K 16 Bit for mono where I would rather use 24 bit so that I have some headroom to work with in post. PCM 44.1K 24 bit is available in stereo, but then I'm wasting a lot of memory for the unused channel and I must convert to mono in post. In the end, I could not use stereo because of the record time limitation (to be discussed later).

Battery Life:
I purchased Pearstone's AAA rechargeable LiMH batteries. They give about 3.5 hours of record time. This is too short for an all day conference. They need to go at least 8 hours. Alkaline batteries last even shorter. I'll have to try some Lithiums to see how they work.

External Microphones:
I purchased two different ones to try with this recorder, both using the Plug-In Power (changing batteries in the microphone is not an option for me, ruling out the AT). The Sony ECM-CS10 is tinty (no low end) and unsuable with high handling and cable noise. The Olympus ME-15 is decent. lacking in the highs but excels in lows without being too boomy. The chrome tie clip that comes with it is hideous and unuseable if video accompanies the recording (reflects light creating flashes).

Built in Microphone:
Decent sensitivity and noise floor, but not useable for my purposes. There was one recording that was empty; not sure what happened there. The mic is very sensitive to wind so get a wind sock if using in close proximity to the mouth or outdoors.

File Structure and Record time:
The recorder uses a FAT file system which limits the recording size to 2GB. When set to PCM 44.1K 16 bit Mono, that gives 6 hours of audio. But the batteries won't last that long anyway. In PCM 44.1K 24 bit Stereo, it allow 2 hours. That is too short for my use so I'm force back to 16-bit. Also, because of the FAT structure, a limited number of clips can be recorded at the head. Hopefully, with folder structure that TASCAM uses, this won't be a limitation.

Memory:
I used Kingston 8 GB MicroSDHC kit (KIMSD8GBK). It does work but the batteries must be fully charged in order to complete a full format. I had to repeat a couple of times to get four hours of a full format to complete. There is a "Quick" option for simply erasing the card.

Using with a computer:
The device mounted and unmounted with Windows 7 Pro without any problems. I have not yet tested it with a Mac.

Microphone Preamp and Compressor:
The recorder provides Manual, Auto-High, and Auto-Low for the recording level. The Manual gives the best quality but does not account for a high dynamic range (if only I could record in 24 bit!) The Auto-High records weaker audio sources but cannot account for high dynamic range. Mild audio sources peak and are badly distorted. I do not find this setting to be functional. The Auto-Low provides a very high average recording but rarely distorts. However, the noise floor is greatly enhanced with this setting. I have not measured the SNL yet but am curious. Even so, the audio is useable. But I wished the noise floor would be closer to the manual setting.

Operation:
For the professional audio engineer, I found everything to be very intuitive and did not have to refer to the manual. For those that don't know the technical terms, you'll need more than the manual to understand them; you'll need to get an audio engineer to explain what the various settings are and what setting are good for your application.

I'll report back more as I use it more. In the end, I would not recommend this device.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I had to call customer service to get it to work.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I could not believe the audio quality coming from such a small recording device. The stereo mics are great for recording music. I highly recommend the DR-08 because of the quality of the recordings and the great price. Thank You

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I will use this in combo with a parabolic mike for recording bird songs, mostly. It is compact yet very functional and easy to use. I like the expandable memory and the easy downloading. The controls are easy to learn so one-handed operation is a breeze. The only less than optimal detail is that the built-in speaker is not loud enough, so an external speaker will need to be used when necessary.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

Bought this recorder to record band rehearsals. Decent sound at 192bps mp3, CD quality, and above CD quality. Built in mics quite sensitive, a little on the bright side, and a bit hissy when the gain is cranked. And the way the mics are mounted seems somewhat weak. Time will tell. The line input is dead quiet. Battery life runs a little over four and a half hours at mp3, CD and 96k rates using 1000mAh LiMH rechargeables.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I use this recorder while jamming with my bands and I was surprised at how clear the playback is given the volume of sound. Drums, guitar, bass and vocals are all very distinct. Very easy to use - just plug into the computer and grab your files. I would recommend this to any musician that wants a small portable recorder to capture tunes while playing with other musicians.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I found this recorder easy to set up and pretty intuitive in its use. My only real, minor disappointment was the lack of a mount to set it up on a tripod or similar device. I have the DR-07 which had the mount and found it useful but did not check when I bought the DR-08, kind of an assumption thing. The reason I upgraded to the DR-08 was the 96/24 bit recording which works very nicely. I recommend this recorder.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I use it for recording audio for case studies. It's best used with an external mic because even touching the recorder will get picked up on the regular mics.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I use the product to record my band and take lecture notes for engineering courses.

Pros: Sound quality at 44.1 16 bit is amazing. I haven't even tried to use it at 96khz 24 bit (don't feel the need). I was in a car with a nice stereo turned up loud, recorded a song playing back, and then played it back through the aux input. The sound was nearly indistinguishable from the CD except driving noise. It's cheap and sounds amazing.

Cons: Battery life is terrible. Swivel microphone tops are flimsy. Don't recommend walking around with it in your pocket. The speaker on the back for previewing your recordings is nearly inaudible, worthless.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

Excellent device for what I need: a reliable and trustly recording unit for everyday practice time. I am a professional classical musician and it helps me a great deal in audition preparation. I have not try it in professional context yet, but it seems very exciting.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

Does the same thing as the upcoming Zoom H1, but the Tascam-TEAC variant costs $50 more. Which in the case of the Zoom H1 is a 50% higher price. The little flip-down table stand is nice, but the unit misses the tripod mount (1/4 20) that the Zooms have. So you cannot mount it to your camera or support. The multiposition mics are nice, but they seem to be just out there and fragile, since these little mics are all plastic nowadays. Frankly, this one looks more like a nifty toy, product does not seem too robust for demanding field use.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

Bought this for my brother to use to record music from band practice and playback. Compared to the last recorder they used, this one plays back clearly...no background noise, just the band playing/singing. Sound quality is great.

Comments about Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Audio Recorder:

I also wanted to use this as a all-around voice recorder. The microphones are quite fragile and would break if in a pants pocket sitting down, and the on-board speaker was so quiet as to be unusable. I did get some sound out of it by cranking up the recording volume, but it was distorted, more by the cheap speaker than overpowering the input.

It would be great, probably, if carried in a briefcase, and if it was plugged into an external output, like computer speakers. And its adjustable speakers will help when gigging.

Neat unit, but not for me.