Tascam CDBT1mkII Portable CD Bass Trainer

Slow down speed up to 50%. 16 bass effects. Easy-to-use interface

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Tascam CDBT2 Portable CD Bass Trainer

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    • 5 people rate: 8 out of 10

The new CD-BT2, is the latest introduction in the portable CD trainer line by TASCAM. Like the wildly-popular original CD-BT1 bass trainer, musicians have the ability to slow down the speed of a CD without changing the pitch - allowing artists, musicians, students, and music teachers to practice, learn and teach fast licks, rhythm parts and solos from their favorite bass players. Learn More...

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Tascam CDBT1mkII Portable CD Bass Trainer reviews

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22 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 7 out of 10

 

4 People wrote reviews

Read all Tascam CDBT1mkII Portable CD Bass Trainer reviews...
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10 zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

"Outstanding piece of equipment!"

Feature:
The only fly in the ointment is that it does not come with an ac adaptor; if you plan on buying one of these things, make sure that you open up your wallet a bit wider and get the adaptor for it. One reviewer stated that this thing goes through batteries like his kid brother goes through potato chips, that is an apt analogy. The most useful features are the tuner and the bass track supression. I never use the onboard effects and, frankly, this gadget has more features than I know what to do with!

Quality:
Very well made, I dropped mine a couple of times and it's working like a champ.

Value:
This is probably the most useful piece of gear that I have purchased in over thirty years of playing the bass.

Desirability:
It looks like a solid, reliable piece of gear, because it is!

Sound:
This is a wonderful little piece of gear. I have one of the original incarnations and I have used mine every day since I bought it. The sound can vary from bass to bass, you will have to experiment to find the best setting, my biggest gripe is that it is a bit underpowered.

Ease of Use:
I have to agree that the user interface could be made a bit more user friendly.

Support:
Never needed any support.

Overall:
I have not seen anyone else come up with a product that even comes close for the money you spend!

Submitted: 12/6/2006

Style of Music: I will play anything


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* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10 zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

"Great tool, but comes with the worst owner's instructional manual ever written."

Feature:
As to features: You must buy a AC adapter from day one- because it will eat up batteries faster than your kid brother can go through a bag of potato chips! It should come with an AC adapter, and the batteries should be the option to use, not the other way around. It also has all thess special effects which you don't need to practice along to a CD-it only makes the using of it much more confusing and complicated. Tascam should of kept it much more basic- as it's a practicing tool, and not a performing amp. Sometimes less is better...

Quality:
As to quality: it seems to be made well. No problems here. I use it almost on a daily basis and it always works well. Even dropped it once on a hardwood floor and it still works. I own other Tascam recording equipment and years later all of it is still working great!

Value:
As to value: It would be nice if it would cost about $50.00 less than it does-given what it does. It should come with an AC adapter because without it it's pretty much useless unless you personally own a battery company that can supply you with an endless supply of batteries that it quickly gobbles up. But then again there's not much else out there at the present time to compare it to.

Desirability:
Without a doubt it's a great teaching tool to own. Having the feature of being able to slow the speed down of a song without changing the pitch of it to learn licks is great! It's also nice to be able to practice along with CD with headphones on without distributing anyone else in the house. I sit on the couch, plug my bass in, put headphones on, and practice away. It's helped me a lot with my playing I think. It'slike having a very portable practice amp.

Sound:
As to the sound: pretty good really. Once you figure out to get the mix right between your incoming bass signal and the recorded CD it sounds pretty good. It took me a long time to get both levels adjusted right because of the poor instructions in the owners manual on how to easily achieve this. It was so hard to figure this out the first time I used the bass trainer that after a few hours of total frustration, I was ready to throw the thing in the trash can! If it had come with easy to follow instructions in the owner's manual then it would of been a breeze, but it didn't. You have to have a lot of patience to use this thing the first time around...

Support:
As to support: there is none as far as I'm concerned- at least for basic questions that you may have about their products, such as how to operate them. Tascam provides you with no toll free number to ask them questions about operating the BT1- so you are at the mercy of the totally lame instructional manual that comes with it. Seems to me that as big as Tascam is that they should at least have a phone number for you to call when needing some help or advice. The guys at the local music store couldn't even help me out with some of my questions about the bass trainer, as even they couldn't figure out Tascam's owner's manual. As to service support I have no experience- so I can't say anything about that.

Overall:
Overall: I'm happy with my purchase and use it almost on a daily basis- but as I have said over and over again the owner's instructional manual that comes with it is just terrible!

Submitted: 3/3/2005

Style of Music: All types


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Read all Tascam CDBT1mkII Portable CD Bass Trainer reviews...

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About This Product!
Description
Docs
From Our Catalog
From Rhonda Smith to Reggie Hamilton, it's hard to find a professional bass player who doesn't travel with a CD-BT1. Its successor now features Bass Enhancement including Bass Cut and Bass Boost, more variable speeds, built-in metronome, more controls accessible by footswitch and much more.

Easy to Learn and Use
"The CD-BT1mkII is a must-have for me. It's great in the studio, dressing room, backstage, bus, plane... If you practice with an amp, the CD-BT1 is a fantastic addition." Reggie Hamilton

If you can operate a CD player, you can use the CD-BT1mkII. Take any standard compact disc by your favorite band and put it in the CD mechanism. Then plug your bass directly into the CD-BT1mkII's 1/4" input. Put on some headphones, set the volume, and start rocking! If you're a vocalist, you can do the same, substituting your microphone for the guitar.

Slow Down and Learn with Slow Speed Audition feature.
In ancient times (like the 1970s), musicians would take a vinyl LP record and manually spin the record on a turntable, slowing it down to be able to better hear and understand the performances, like bass solos and complex chord changes. With the CD-BT1mkII, you get a training method that's even better. Not only can you slow down the speed of the CD by up to 50%, but you can do it without changing the pitch of the original material! After you learn the lick at a slow speed, you can increase the tempo in steps until you can match the original performance note for note. Also, you can change the pitch of the CD without changing the speed...use this feature to "tune the CD" to your instrument.

Effect Yourself
The CD-BT1mkII has 16 great-sounding built-in customizable bass effects...you don't need to turn to external boxes for chorus, EQ and more. The Bass Boost and Enhance settings allow you to boost the bass part so that you can hear it better, and Bass Cut lets you mute the original so you can play along.

Performance Tools
You can set seamless in-out loop points with the CD-BT1mkII...it will play the same section of music over and over again so you can focus on your playing. Use the footswitch input (footswitch not included) to start and stop the CD, or to scroll through effects. The CD-BT1mkII even provides a chromatic tuner so you always sound great when you play, and can run on batteries to take your show on the road. You can listen to the CD-BT1mkII via headphones, or use its Line Output to plug in speakers.

There's never been a better or more affordable bass training tool than the CD-BT1mkII.

Features
Easy-to-use interface

VSA (Variable Speed Audition: pitch control without affecting key): +16, +12, +8, +4, 0, -4, -8, -16, -32, -50%

Key Control: ?6 semi-tone, in semi-tone steps with ?50 cents fine tune

VSA and Key Control can be used at the same time

+16 to -50% Pitch Control in 1% steps (when VSA off)

Bass Enhancement Effect (Bass Cut, Bass Boost, Bass Enhanced)

MONO Monitor for CD (L+R, L, R)

Split Monitor (Left ch: CD, Right ch: Input or vice versa)

Single Loop, All Loop, and Seamless IN-OUT Loop

CUE point memory

Flash Start with CUE: Seamless locate and play from the CUE point

Single Play and Continuous Play

10-sec. anti-shock memory

Metronome (BPM: 40 to 220, Beat: 2 to 6)

Active/passive bass input

16 built-in Bass Effects

5-setting Effect Memory

5-band Graphic EQ for Bass with Mid Shape

2-setting EQ memory

Foot Switch for CUE (sold separately), Flash Start, EQ Slot Select, Effect Slot Select (next or previous), FFWD, or REW

Input Volume for Bass IN

Output Volume for PHONES and LINE OUT

Chromatic Tuner with calibration (435 to 445Hz) and OSC

Stereo mini jack input

Batteries not included, optional power supply available
The best tool for practicing your bass. Load in your favorite CD, plug in your bass, put on your headphones, and start jammin'! Pitch control lets you slow the CD without changing the pitch--so you can hear that perplexing lick. Onboard effects give you a versatile bass sound.

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