TASCAM DP-03SD Digital Portastudio 8-Track Recorder

I bought this nine months ago, and just have taken it out of the box! I was a bit intimidated by it, thinking it would be a bear to learn. Finally had some time, and to my surprise it's actually quite intuitive! I'd never done any multi-track recording, but I really wanted to get a decent "demo" copy of several songs I have written. I haven't mixed down and mastered yet, but step by step I will get there. I've done two songs so far, and will continue to work on them. Bass, drums, 12 string guitar and vocal so far. They sound decent as is. I'm going to experiment with my keyboard next. I may bring in some harmony vocals. Already the songs sound so much better than I thought they would. This thing is fun as well as productive. I'm sure it won't replace time in a studio with a producer, but for those of us who love to write songs it's a great way to test and preserve ideas, work them by experimentation, and preserve them for the future. Now I can't wait for the weekend to play with my studio!I bought the "used-like new" model for a substantial savings and it was true to description. Original packaging, not a scratch on it. I definitely recommend saving some bucks.

After 4 years it still works well. XLR, 1/4" inputs. Intuitive controls.

I haven't had an opportunity to explore every feature of this machine, but so far I am impressed. The built-in condenser microphones are of surprisingly good quality, and the unit performs so far to my expectations. You can record yourself, or a band, do a mix-down, master, and then export the result to a WAV file, copy that result to a computer, and burn to a CD. The device is also an excellent learning tool: You can also create WAV files on a computer, import them into the DP-03SD's SD card, and then listen to and/or record yourself, playing along with the imported music. That's an excellent way to detect and correct mistakes in your timing or execution. Both of these techniques require multiple steps, but they are pretty straightforward if you're willing to read the accompanying manual.My original unit periodically displayed a "FX Rx Failed" error message when it was powered down. This happened with different sizes and brands of SD cards, so the cards were surely not at fault. The Tascam manual doesn't explain what this particular error message means; it simply says "If any of these errors occur turn the unit power OFF and restart it. If these error message (sic) continue to appear, please contact a TASCAM service center." Well, Tascam doesn't seem respond to messages left on their website (they ignored one of mine), so it seemed more expeditious to have Amazon replace the device. So far, so good.Beyond that, there are several things that deserve mention.1. WAV files can be imported into a "song", but each WAV file typically has two tracks, so after four imports, it appears that nothing more can be imported without cleaning out some existing tracks. The trick here (not mentioned in the manual) is to create a new "song". Once it is loaded, the import process can start anew. In other words, WAV imports go into the currently loaded "song", but you can create as many "songs" as you like.2. The "songs" menu does not display titles in alphabetical order; instead, they are displayed in the order that they were recorded to the SD card (or imported, or restored from a backup). This can make it difficult to identify a particular song in a long list.3. There is no easy way to back up or copy an entire SD card. The DP-03SD uses a proprietary file format, in addition to a FAT partition, but the SD card's "songs" are not visible on a computer. The only way I've found to copy songs to a new SD card is to (1) backup each song individually per the manual's instructions, (2) copy those songs from the SD card's BACKUP folder to a computer, (3) copy the files from the computer to the BACKUP folder on a new SD card (which must first be formatted by the DP-03SD); (4) restore each song individually once the new SD card is inserted into the DP-03SD. This process is highly laborious and time-consuming.4. The Tascam website lists authorized dealers for the DP-03SD, but Amazon does not appear on that list. I contacted Amazon Customer Service, which researched the matter, and assured me that Amazon is indeed an authorized dealer, and that Tascam would honor the warranty for units sold by Amazon. (This may not apply to third-party sellers on Amazon, so caveat emptor.)

I grew up using the Tascam tape cassette four track. Even though I record with Cubase on a computer now, I bought this because I occasionally need to record someone singing or performing away from my studio. When I got the unit, I formatted the SD card and imported a stereo instrumental wave file to the first two tracks panned left and right with no problems. The first thing I noticed, however, is that the headphone volume output is very quiet. Therefore, I highly recommend getting an affordable headphone amp to use with this. I do wish it recorded at 48kHz 24bit. Other than that, it will help me record vocals and other parts when I’m away from my studio. When I imported the instrumental I was able to record vocals over it without much of a learning curve. Reverb and EQ both easy to use and sound good. The build quality is solid which is what you’d expect from Tascam. The sound quality seems great to me.

This product is what I need to create my recordings as well as for the trio I jam with. It takes a little getting used to but performs as described. It would be helpful if the system would date stamp each recording for ease of use. All in all a great product!

I have been using TASCAM/TEAC products...including Portastudios since the 80's. This was my first *digital* Portastudio. I am very pleased. It's a piece of cake to record tracks, mix down, and upload. The sound is amazing considering the cost of the unit. It's super small...easy to move around. Very pleased.I did have a problem with the first unit... DOA. But the second unit is working great... keeping my fingers crossed. The only thing I don't like so far is the mini-USB connection. Seems a bad choice for this type of equipment... i.e. equipment that gets bumped and jostled around a lot. Could easily get damaged.Everything is else is pretty well thought out... this isn't meant to be a studio recorder by any means. However, you can definitely make great sounding tracks with it! Thumbs up!