I'm not much more than a newb, and I want to record myself for my own enjoyment and to hear what I sound like. I'm looking to buy the Tascam Porta 02 as my firstmultitrack recorder (I like tape format)...
http://www.tascam.com/Products/Porta02mkII.html
But this unit doesn't have EQ, which I'd think would be very useful if, say, the guitar track turns out too dull (not enough treble) or too harsh (too much treble).
Will I regret not having EQ?
You could transfer the tracks to pc and use software EQs maybe? No idea how a tape-multitrack works. If not and you can't use an EQ that would be a serious problem to me...
Arjen, I'd prefer to not use the computer; I'm an old geezer (30 years old) and I generally prefer tape format over digital. But maybe no EQ will suffice for now; since I'm not any good yet, I can't yet justify a more expensive recrder with EQ. If it's okay, I'll post this question on the Beginners Q&A forum.
Some of those recorders figure on you having a mixer before going in to the recorder. The mixer would have an Eq.
Joe
You may need to get a DI box, as the Tascam only has mic/line input, which isn't really suitable for guitar (pickups). A small, passive DI box shouldn't cost much more than $10.
I would suggest that, for an electric guitar, you could get an equaliser pedal. Danelectro do a nice one for around $35.
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Arjen, I'd prefer to not use the computer; I'm an old geezer (30 years old) and I generally prefer tape format over digital. But maybe no EQ will suffice for now; since I'm not any good yet, I can't yet justify a more expensive recrder with EQ. If it's okay, I'll post this question on the Beginners Q&A forum.
If 30's a geezer, then I must be a dinosaur :)
I bought one of those red Fostex MR-8s for around $300 (I think I saw them at $250 the other day). Uses a flash memory card - no moving parts...I love the thing for what it is. I may have opened the manual once. You don't have to use a computer with it, but it doesn't take long to fill up the card, so I usually just dump my files ( including a mix, if I did it on the MR-8 ) to my laptop and burn 'em to CD. But I don't miss tape at all...just my 2 cents..
I use a tascam 424 mk 3, it works great, has good EQ, but now i use it mostly as a mixer since I've got the hang of using the PC ( audacity) The computer is not as hard to use as the cassette machine, and I'm older than you :lol: You might find one on ebay. I got the MR-8 and sent it back, it don't have enough memory to do much IMHO, and costs over $100 to up grade it with a larger memory card card :( You can also spend $40 on a program like Magix Audio Cleaner Lab to add EQ to it, you will need something like it to transfer you stuff to mp3 files so we can listen to them also :D :D ( thats what its all about!!) good luck--the dog
I got the MR-8 and sent it back, it don't have enough memory to do much IMHO, and costs over $100 to up grade it with a larger memory card card :(
Yeah, that's the drag about the MR-8. Makes a great machine for demos, if you're not doing too many tracks (which was my original intention, but of course, I outgrew it pretty quick). I did get a 512M card for about $30, which increased my track time by 4...(about an hour I think). Good idea about ebay - you can usually get a lot more gear for the money...
Some of those recorders figure on you having a mixer before going in to the recorder. The mixer would have an Eq.
Joe
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/s=mixers/search/detail/base_pid/631238/
you can get Behringer mixer starting at about $40.oo --the dog
Yup, if all you do is record one track at a time, either stereo line-level or a mic, then you could even get away with the pocketsize UB502, and with a few billion models from $35 to $2500 the UB series should have something for most home studios. :D
And the UB's have phantom power too! :D
