Tascam DP-008 EX

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4.6 / 5

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57 Reviews

Tascam DP-008 EX
$209
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User Friendly with Professional Results
Halina 01.05.2015
The first thing you notice about the Tascam DP 008 EX is that it is very small; barely bigger than a paperback book at about 8 inches by 5 inches. But it certainly packs a LOT of features into a small package.

The unit is attractive and professional looking, with a bank of individual knobs at the front, 3 for each track: volume, left/right pan and reverb. The display screen seems very small at first but it is very easy to read, being back lit in a nice bright orange colour. It uses a series of menus to make choices in a step by step fashion, which you will quickly get used to.

The power supply is sold separately but is worth getting because although the 4 AA batteries make it portable and convenient to use anywhere, they only last about 5 hours of continuous use. I also bought a 32 GB SD card for it which enhances its capacity to hold lots of songs by a long way.

I made my first recording using guitar, bass, electronic drums, keyboards and a vocal and found the whole process easy and straight forward. You can visually monitor each instrument as the signal is shown in the display moving up and down as you play and during playback.

I bought a set of headphones to begin with for monitoring, but it is advisable to get monitor speakers as soon as you can. It makes the whole process so much more relaxed.

The on board condenser microphones are very good. I have done all my singing using them so far. You can plug your guitar or bass straight in and the results are excellent. Mixing the track is the real fun part. Once you have done that, I found it very easy to transfer onto a computer.

There is a basic, quick, easy way to record which will get you started on the way to your first recording but the more you use the DP 008 EX, the more you discover advanced features which you can incorporate as your technique improves.

I would highly recommend this mini studio. It’s user friendly and you get very professional results.
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Fantastic little multitracker
RN. 07.08.2015
Field report.
I should start out by saying that this great little device will not be able to record an ensemble performance onto individual tracks per instrument, you can't record your band rehearsal unless you're only going into stereo - this machine records two tracks at a time.

I bought the Tascam DP-008EX to act as a portable substitute for my larger 24-track digital studio (also Tascam), since my main studio feels more like a workspace and sometimes I want to be somewhere "simpler" where I find the ideas come to me a little better. So I needed a notepad, and what better than a digital 8-track that really is about the size of a notepad?!

The price is very reasonable for what you get; there are smaller 4-track recorders available without mixing facilities that cost about the same. It nevertheless has compromises that affect its usefulness as part of a larger system, which I will come to.

It works well out of the box, although in my opinion it needs a power supply and doesn't come supplied with one. Instead you have 4 alkaline AA batteries to get you started although it also uses rechargeable (NiMH) batteries. You can do a long day's recording on one set of batteries, so if you're a guitarist your fingertips will hurt long before the unit runs out of power!

It takes a few moments to "boot up", and runs through a little animation until it allows you to start work. The menu system and method of working should be studied before you get to work with the unit, although if like me you use a larger Tascam machine, some of the options will be familiar. It's just quicker to read the manual in one sitting rather than feel your way around the options as you go (tempting though it is), because there are limitations that need to be borne in mind, such as the ability to record only two tracks simultaneously, so the manual is good background to stop some headscratching later - which is worse for creativity than knowing your stuff to begin with.

If you want to know the features before you buy, it is possible to download the manual for the DP-008EX from the Tascam website and figure out whether it meets your needs before parting with any money. There are also hands-on reviews on Youtube and elsewhere.

For recording music with no automation (using MIDI or synch options) this unit is marvellous. The ability to record through two small condenser mics situated on the front panel is excellent. I thought it would be a poor relation to using a "proper" mic, but the results really are usable. Changing the input sources is a bit of a fuss, going through the interface as necessary. It becomes easier with practice but isn't as simple as having a dedicated input source switch. I also experienced problems with what sounded a little like feedback at first, but which seemed to be vulnerability to interference from nearby electrical cables. I still haven't localised that problem, although as it is set up presently, it works fine.

The audio is clear and well defined on headphones, and the unit will drive computer speakers through the socket without a problem, although then you'd have to be careful about feedback if using the built-in mics. There is a demo song recorded on the supplied SD card (now 4GB rather than 2GB) that demonstrates the fidelity of the unit very well. The usual techniques of recording are essential on these smaller units, keeping the signal level high when recording so that later the noise floor isn't as obtrusive. Certainly if the demo on the SD card was recorded on the DP-008EX then quality is not a problem.

Effects routing is less obvious than I expected, and the settings are sometimes not obvious at first glance because they are displayed on such a small screen. There are significant compromises on the display side of things that can sometimes be frustrating although the effects, when you get them, are limited but not bad quality. This is however a notepad, and reviewing it as a studio is somewhat missing the point.

The significant omission for me was the synch side of things. It would have suited me better if the unit had at least the basic ability to output a sync signal to other hardware, such as a drum machine. There is the ability to set a tempo for your recordings and play to a metronome/click, meaning that audio transferred to bigger recorders (via USB, and probably via a computer too) can be synced after the fact, but it would have been nice to be able to create a framework drum track to play against since it affects the feel of the playing, and only later actually record the drums when the drum track has been perfected. Creating a finished track on the DP-008EX means that everything has to be recorded, there can be no virtual instruments.

Anyone hoping to create finished "releasable" recordings on the DP-008EX will find the limitations a bit frustrating unless their music is played and created very simply but, for solo songwriters or bandmembers sketching ideas, this is a great tool.
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Best birthday present I ever bought myself!
Sytim 25.03.2021
I simply love this recorder. I use the internal mic to capture guitar/vocal ideas quickly and the quality is surprisingly good. I also use it with my old drum machine and several preamps for guitars and keyboards.

I like the handy on board tuner and the bounce, mix and mastering is quick and easy for good sounding demos. I tend to record on all 8 tracks then do a quick rough mx and master, export the master to a WAV file..then bring that as a stereo track into my DAW, maybe add a few effects then play it back and record it to the Tascam in a new empty song and start adding another 6 tracks to it. The whole thing is quick and really helps with a final arrangement later.

Pros: Just about everything about it. It's a great way to get ideas down and the sound quality is very good.

Cons: None really, but I personally would like it to be a bit larger in size. Only really because the controls and buttons are quite small. Then again its very transportable.

One other thing...when bouncing tracks make sure sound levels are up. Bounced tracks get quieter.

Highly recommended!
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Great Choice
King3Kings 17.08.2017
I use the Tascam DP-008 EX for home recording and find that it is excellent. The sound quality is great and once you get used to using it it is relatively easy to use. This model comes with 2 built in microphones but I am using an external mircophone rather than the built in mics so I can't comment on their sound quality.
It did however take a while for me to understand how to use it but I have never tried anything like this before.
The range of effects is limited however that is not a limiting factor in my case.
In addition it can be powered using batteries or by connecting it to the mains. I initially opted to use batteries but later ordered the mains adaptor, I recommend buying the adaptor up front.
The build quality also appears to be very good.
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Fantastic Piece of Kit for Beginners.
Setanta 13.10.2017
I'm a singer songwriter and I've been plugging away with Acoustic and Electric for a few years and decided to buy this to expand my horizons. I didn't want to fork out a grand on a laptop and music programmes and all the other kit so just started with this.

It's incredible. I am able to plug in my electric and fire away. The default setting is A for input and B for internal mics and it has 8 lines which you can configure any way you want for input. I layered 6 vocals on one track for instance. I find 8 is enough as anything more and you are going into really heavy producing.
Pros..
1. It's really easy to use. There is a bit of figuring out when setting up inputs and all that but you will get it with a bit of practice.

2. The internal mics are really good. I was using them for vocal and acoustic guitar. But I decided to invest in a good condensor mic and the Tamscan has a phantom power button for this which is great.

3. You can set the input and output volume.

4. The mastering feature is great and very flexible.

5. Cheaper alternative to a LOT of kit. Personally I adore it.

Cons.
1. You absolutely need a power adapter which doesnt come with it. It eats batteries.

2. You can store lots of tracks on it but once one is mastered you have to overwrite it for the next one. Its not the end of the world but if you intend going back to update a song you have to remaster from scratch which is a bit of a pain.

3. Can only record two lines at a time so its suitable for one man bands but not really for recording a group.

4. The editing feature- forget it. You have to go start to finish in one go with one take or it's a disaster. That works for me. I look at it more as a really well designed digital eight track

Overall I am very happy, I think its insane value for money and has really let me record high quality stuff from scratch.
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Excelent home studio
frep 29.04.2017
This recorder is excelent for musicians who play at several instruments. I use it with electric and acoustic guitar, bass and i also recorded drums withs this item. The built in microphones are really amazing, i don't need any external microphones to record vocals. I only can recommand the tascam recorder.
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Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.
Anonymous 07.06.2014
In March this year I have decided to buy TASCAM DP008 EX, and must say it was WRONG decision. Initially it works fine but next day it produces a massive noise whilst recording using internal mics. I have sent it to Thomann twice but they keep saying that the unit is OK, even the fault is obvious when you listen to the recording. Sadly they are unable to find the fault. Waste of money and time for sending it to Thomann twice. I am more than happy to send you recordings done using this unit to justify my opinion. Rubbish tool, rubbish service. Never buy it as they are not very happy to exchange it for a good one. I must admit that I have purchased some stuff from Thomann but this is my last one. Anyone wants a voucher they gave me?

This is my previous review:

... simple to use; however I did not have a chance to use it much since I bought it and it is still in its box :) Sadly I have to return this unit as it produces increasingly annoying noise when using internal mics. I have no experience with it so initially I thought it is normal effect, but now I guess it is something wrong. I will rate it again after servicing, but now let's think positive and give 4 stars for an idea.
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Great value.
Mark1798 28.06.2015
Tascam have really come up with a winner here.
I finally decided to replace my trusty old Tascam 414 MK II cassette recorder, and this is the perfect update.
It's similar enough so as not to feel intimidatingly new, whilst still being modern, all digital.
It's also smaller and more portable (fits in a gig bag pocket), with good quality built in microphones.
The 2GB card advertised as being contained turned out to be a 4GB card, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Reccommended for demos, recording band rehearal or live from the desk.
There are songs on the net, and vids on You Tube which show the quality of recording. With it's mastering features you can even prepare for-sale quality sound files on the machine itself, or export them to your favorite DAW for further editing.
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Great sound and hardware quality, terrible firmware
Korlavar 17.05.2022
My initial impressions of the hardware, the sound, and tactile usability, were very good, while recording. But then, as I checked the manual for how to archive song projects from SD to cloud-storage I discovered that 100% of the stored song data is proprietary and heavily obfuscated. The only way to extract useful sound files is through extremely slow mixdown, mastering, and export processes. It is possible to export tracks from projects, but the default naming conventions are so unhelpful. It's a lot of effort to avoid name-clashes between multiple songs. How hard would it be to default to song-specific sub-folders for exports, for example? Or for the song name to be incorporated into export filenames in some way. It also needs a fast and easy 1-click mixdown-to-stereo-file option, that doesn't play a whole song back in realtime before completing. It feels like a user-experience that is too closely following what would have happened when mixing down and mastering from tape, rather than taking full advantage of the fact that it's all digital.
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Excellent
RSully 02.04.2015
If you are looking get some tracks down and have a quality recording at the end of it, this is the perfect tool. Easy to use, excellent features, portable, great price, and most importantly a great recorded sound from the built in internal mics.
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Tascam DP-008 EX