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Tascam 2488mkII 24-Track Recording Workstation

Larger hard drive, an all-new LCD display, new guitar effects and improved CD mastering capabilities.

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""a sum gesture for your buck"" submitted September 7, 2007

By a customer from yahoo.com
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Musical Background: Sound engineer, recording producer/singer
Music Style: Tropical Salsa, Latin pop + ballods, R&b urban style and hip-hop
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Sound: In a world were computers are the key source of what to record on...I still prefer the stand-alone Tascam-2488. My Tascam-2488 has 24 tracks and just about all the unlimited virtual tracks i need to get the job done! Sound...well lets just say that I can record on my Tascam-2488 and make it sound just as good if not better than your pc-recording. And since I don't use my Tascam-2488 to connect to the internet...I won't have a problem with a slow running hard drive due to viruses and such. Feature: In an all and one package suite, you cant ask for more in the ease of use dept. The voice recording effects are outstanding and once you take it to the next level with the internal Eq and compression stations...Wow...Its you and your creative mind against the the Enginuity of the Tascam-2488! Ease of Use: Great sound is what I got from my Tascam-2488 2days after I opened it up and got it out of the packageing. I like to read and familiarize myself first before I jump into it. Since I use standalone gear I connected my synth-keyboard to a stereo track and my condenser to track one and the rest is history!!! Quality: I do Live sound for up 16pc bands and when i do 10pc and under I like to take my Tascam-2488 and try new things. I have enough mic space to connect 3lead vocals, 3 percussionists, and 2winds a bass player and keaboardist, yet have enough back-up mics inputs to better mic up drums or the timbales. Value: In short I paid more for the 1st release of this product only to be sold later with more upgrades at a lower price. And since I never keep reciepts...what can I do? Manufacturer Support: Till now I've had no need to contact the dealer but...Since upgrades have been implemented to the new release model...in the near future I will be talking to my Tascam dealer to see about getting my gear upgraded aswell. The Wow Factor: Not only does it look good its a sturn piece of equipment. The wide screen is lit well and to carry and place it on a table you fingers grip firmly under each hand placement for a firm and reliable grip. Overall: When I first bought my Tascam-2488 I liked everything but...the save and reload system. It takes too long for it to reload a song saved from cd-rw and to save to cd-rw its still a long process. I,ve seen zip-drives save and reload faster the the current setting.
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"BUY THIS BOX! (before you buy yet another software program that you won't use!!)" submitted July 9, 2008

By a customer from bellsouth.net
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Musical Background: "active musician, engineer" for 35 years
Music Style: commercial sound
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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW
Sound: Having started recording on a 3m/walensak reel to reel recorder when I was 14 (1969!), I truly believe that this is the best "stand alone" multi-function recorder on the market considering the cost/feature value. I now use an ALESIS 24HD (for my personal mp3 projects), but, I always take my TASCAM on the road in my special portable suit case. This is my second machine and may buy one more because it looks like the recorder will be discontinued soon! 8 comps and effects on every pass is a great help in a motel room at 3am after a gig!! ( I have even sold cd's of the previous nights shows in the past made with the cd burner ) IT is the best high grade "sketch pad" and better than many of the last generation HD recorders (like the early roland's . .FOR THE MONEY, YOU CAN NOT BEAT THIS SYSTEM. Feature: It truly is an "all in one" answer to the job of recording from the bedroom to the stage. I am a "sound guy" in the "real world" and I try to record most jobs. I have used the TASCAM 'lots over the years. (today, I record everything on a usb thumb drive out of a peavy 24fx . . .that works great and many times I will reload that into the tascam for other "stuff" if I'm on the road and am just waiting for the next bus to the gig LOL) Ease of Use: Once you know how to use this box, it is a joy, but others have suggested getting the DVD to start off with, DO THAT, it is much easier than reading the manual . . these things do WAY MORE than even the company knows many times, so don't be afraid to push the thing as far as it will go. Quality: Others talk about crashing, I have never had a crash and have owned one since they first came out and cost $1000 net. I would suggest that quality of power is many times the issue, but, machines do crash, so, just give it a try! Value: This is the best deal in america. When not working, I am either in a music store, on the web, or reading catalogs . . . this is the very best value out there in my opinion. Manufacturer Support: I have tried, but, it is hard to get in contact with tech people for low end products when the company also supports large commercial products in the same area . . .and most sales people are LOCKED in on every kind of software in the world . . .since I hate software based ANYTHING, I have a fond spot for this machine. The Wow Factor: It is simple, yet not confusing. It may look like it does not do much, but, in a pinch, I have even run sound with this machine & it is great for a "one man band" type of show, especially techno/ trance. You can set up an entire show that seem like loops and then play 8 live tracks @ the same time . . .it just takes being comfortable with the box. Overall: I will use this machine until it goes away. (since I have 2, I hope to always have one that works . .I will eventually leave it @ home or loan it to my church . . .the folks @ church have ALL of the most current gear, but, in a crunch, they could do A LOT with this and I would encourage any "start up group" or small church to consider buying one instead of some (expensive) digital mixer that no one will be able to use . . .BUT YOU KINOW THEY WON'T DO THAT!!
43 of 44 people (97.73%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Escape from the visual DAW" submitted May 7, 2008

By a customer from aol.com
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Features
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Musical Background: begininer
Music Style: edm styles, electronic
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VERIFIED BUYER
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Sound: Transparent. No latency problems when compared to. It sound is broadcast quality, or a company that makes great recording equipment for the project studio or live situation. Using the spdif is great for capturing my mixes of my roland mc909. As the digital adage goes garbage in, garbage out. there are tons of guitar effects built into this box. you can also side chain external and internal effects to all tracks. The compressor and eq are average, if you need them. similar to a swiss army knife approach in recording, they are there if you have to use them, but the results are at best woody in sound.It might be better to get nice outboard gear as you go. Such as a nice tube mic pre amps,expanders, compressors,etc. Feature: One button mastering is nice. Getting away from a visual approach of protools style recording tracks can be liberating. It's closer to making mix tapes for your friends. I love that. The live writer is a great selling point in theory, in practice I've never used it. There are so many features for the live musician or session recording person. I have yet to use them for my style of music. 80 gb means you dont have to worry about time left in your jam session. When your all done you can export your live session to disk or usb for software mastering or out of house post production. Ease of Use: If you have never done session style recording or recording your work, get the dvd asocated with this box. The dvd will get you there faster than the manual, which is helpful but not as good as watching sombody use your box to produce songs. After the breaking in period of a few weeks. For your work flow this box is a snap to sketch out ideas. Then mix them down with other tracks in to one completed song in a hour or less. the wav editor on board is tricky, and this machine is never going to match the ease of a software program dedicated to that purpose. this porta sudio is to get away from the mouse and just press record, yet still get the same or better results. combined with a software suite the portastudio is a nice way to blend the two realms. the only catch is the hard drive and firmware are slow in moving song or tracks to the usb. since the box uses FAT for writing to disk in stead of NTFS which is faster, but is not so friendly to macs. so bring verf your band mates; go to the fridge, get six pack open and bake a redbaron pizza whilst the process of writing or transfer occurs. Your workflow on this portastudio is first to record, premaster record, mix down, then transfer to cd or usb for mp3 export. doing that in real time is tedious, so ifind its better to separate in chunks days to do all of your songs for differnt functions on this box. Quality: I still dont get why you have the 24 bitrate work environment, and then the head room is only 44.1 or sixteen bit quality recording in frequency. Possibly the reason is to keep this box under $1000 us dollars. it made of plastic to keep it portable, other wise its appearnce looks sub par consumer grade electronics. It's (not) A Sony! Value: its made for musicians not audio engineers and protools snobs who sneer at this box.for sombody who just wants to get an idea down fast in this box is great for that. Recording a jam or 4x4 dj battle with mcs in your basement, it's great for that. what your not going to get is a 100,000 grand studio. But most of those big guys are dinosaurs. this unit is digital and is great for the beginner and the seasoned pro who know what they want from a production standpoint. It's very organic and hands on the mixer type of flow, departing away from the mouse and digital catapillars on the screen. Record all at once or separately. the idea is there in all of its glory. Manufacturer Support: I called them out in montebello, it took about an half an hour to get the answer I got, but I guess there might be one tech or two for this box for such a big audio company's call center. job burnout i guess -but the problem was solved nonetheless. The Wow Factor: the original was dorky with the greenscreen and general midi loops on board. The blue is nice, the spdif is great to have when connecting to hardware EQs and mastering boxes. this portastudio is a great way to get from just noodling to finished songs. hearing what you made sucks or is worth buying. Is great feedback and for why i purchased this box. It has more for the musican who has more gear or is going to be getting more gear. although i dont really use all of its features as sombody would for recording vocals or guitars. Overall: You have plenty of room to grow with this box. It frees you from always working in software. This approach of hearing songs instead of looking at your songs approach is refreshing. In this day and age of entry level software setups such as garageband, sonar, and protools le. Why get all of that out board gear just to get the same result of this portastudio? Just press record, and listen and repeat.
5 of 5 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"This product met my musical goals and never crashed out on me." submitted November 28, 2007

By a customer from sbcglobal.net
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Musical Background: Active musician/ Recording Engineer
Music Style: Latin Jazz, Rock, New Age
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Sound: This product sounds great, once you get a good mix and tweak it even sounds better. I had a project mastered through a company in New york and my CD sounded just as good as the big boys. This machine will help you achieve the sound you are looking for as long as you record with good mics and decent instruments. The effects are not bad either. I have owned the product before this one and I never had a problem with it crashing out. It would be helpful to have automated faders for mixing. Overall I love the product. Feature: Comes with power chord. The EQ features and some of the effects are useful. I have only used the chorus for guitars and it's not bad but I prefer to use my own stuff. Ease of Use: It's easy to use even if you have not had experience recording yet. Pretty intuitive machine. You can easily tweak your sound to almost perfection by using what's on board. The manual is self explanatory. You can also play your music back through your PA system or just some nice monitors. Quality: I've never had to move my tascam recorder so I don't really know how well it does on the raod. Nice look to it and it goes well with all my other gear in my home studio. I imagine something might break if it is dropped. A backup would be great. If taken care of this machine will last for many years to come. Value: Well worth the money. Manufacturer Support: Never had to deal with the company. The Wow Factor: In a dim room with soft lights it looks great. Every time I walk into my studio it makes me want to record something. Overall: I look forward to the next product with automated fader features. I will supplement it because you can never have too many recorders. I have never owned any other product so I can't compare but even with some of the not so good reviews on this product I still took my chances and bought one and I am glad I did. It met all my musical goals.
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"HAPPY TIMES RECORDING!" submitted November 4, 2007

By a customer from yahoo.com
Overall
Musical Background: ACTIVE MUSICIAN.
Music Style: SEVERAL ROCK AND COUNTRY STYLES
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Sound: EVERYTHING HAS GONE WELL SO FAR, GREAT SOUND and QAULITY! Feature: ITS GOT EVERYTHING THAT I NEED AND MORE! I HOPE MINE DOES NOT CRASH BECAUSE I HAVE A LOT OF SONGS ON IT! Ease of Use: ITS FAIRLY EASY TO USE BUT THE INSTUCTION BOOK SENDS YOU BACK AND FORTH FOR EVERYTHING!!! Quality: SEEMS TP BE PRETTY SOLID SO FAR! Value: GREAT VALUE Manufacturer Support: HAVE NOT HAD TO GET A HOLD OF THEM YET! The Wow Factor: IT LOOKS VERY NICE. Overall: I HOPE TO BE WITH THIS PRODUCT FOR AT LEAST 5 to 10 YEARS!
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"The Most Awsome Portastudio ever envented for home recording very easy to use and the clarity is out of this world" submitted July 20, 2007

By a customer from aol.com
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Musical Background: Bass guitar player for over 30 years active musician
Music Style: smooth jazz, pop, old school motown rock contry
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Sound: the sound quality is awsome. I play bass guitar and this recorder puts out deep punchy crisp bright bass for any style bass. you can shape your tone to anything you want with the EQs I also use a keyboard and now looking for a guitar so I can dip in to the new OD and AC list. I hardly ever play guitar so nows a good time to mess with it with all these awsome features for guitar and vocals Feature: It only included the power cord and manual but I filled out a form for free stuff from Tascam being that I bought this machine recently and in the time that makes me eligable for a pair of head phones with mic and cable, so i am still waiting on that. I'm still learning more and more as I use it. and love everything about it so far.it really is a great recording porta studio Ease of Use: Once I got to know the features I find it fairly easy to get the sound I want. as I get more familier with it, it will be a breeze. The Manual is very clear and understandable for any who would use it. its very easy to use with the equipment I have. Quality: I owned 2 other portastudios before this one. the porta one 4 track then stepped up to the Tascam 488 8 track portastudio, being that they both worked so good for me I wanted to stay with Tascam and again I love the great features and the beauty of this product WOW nice I have no complaints at all I am hooked. Value: very Manufacturer Support: None of the above The Wow Factor: everything about it is top notch inside and out. its just an awsome piece of equipment. no more need to be said about that for sure. love it Overall: this 2488 will last me years of enjoyment to come. I can see my instrument collection rising tho. perhaps a new drum machine. I was so ready for a long time for a portastudio with cd burner built in and I finally got it and its a beauty
23 of 31 people (74.19%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Great unit - if you don't mind crashes & losing your data" submitted October 28, 2007

By a customer from msn.com
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Musical Background: Active Musician/Engineer/Producer
Music Style: A little bit of everything
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Sound: When it works, this is a very user friendly unit that allows a multi-instrumentalist (such as myself) to record everything with relatively flat sound. Feature: This unit is loaded with all sorts of features that will be more than adequate for most home users. Ease of Use: It is EXTREMELY easy to use. Even for someone who has never really worked with recording consoles previously; just follow the manual and you'll be recording great stuff in no time. Quality: While I cannot comment on whether or not it's the worst, I can say that I've only had the unit for approx. 5-6 months and the system has crashed on me at least half a dozen times; on two occasions, critically where I've lost all recorded material. There seems to be some sort of operational defect with this particular model - just look at the Tascam forums for this particular product and you'll see that mine is not an isolated incident. Value: Save your money and get a more reliable product. This one has really good "bells and whistles" but the fact that it continues to crash without any explanation or recall from Tascam makes it impossible for me to recommend this product. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY LIKE I DID!!!! Manufacturer Support: In previous dealings with the support staff, they were courteous & responsive. Unfortunately, they could not tell me why the system crashed or whether or not it would do it again (which it has). I have followed the operational instructions to the letter so I KNOW it is NOT user error. This last time it crashed, I was simply going from one song file to another and then BOOM - blank screen with the words "SYSTEM ERROR: CODE 01" That was the same error message I received the last time it crashed. The Wow Factor: As stated above, it is very functional. The only other thing I would have included is a VGA output capability so you could connect a computer monitor (much like the Roland VS series consoles have). Overall: Depending on how well Tascam support treats this issue will dictate how I update this review.
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"The Tascam 2488 and 2488 NEO are totally unreliable!" submitted February 11, 2009

By a customer from comcast.net
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Musical Background: Active musician for 45 years and recording engineer
Music Style: Blues, rock, jazz
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Sound: When it works it sounds fine. Feature: It makes a very expensive paperweight! Ease of Use: When it works it does what it should. Quality: Both my 2488 and my 2488 NEO broke after about 3 sessions each. Value: The selling price would be very good if the unit was reliable but it's not all. Manufacturer Support: Both my calls to Tascam took at least a half hour to 45 minutes before I could talk to someone. Both my 2488 and my 2488NEO needed service after less than 3 times of using the unit. The closest service center was 40 miles away and actually the one center told me they didn't work on the digital units after driving all the way there and having confirmed by phone in advance that they worked on 2488s. Then the motherboard needed replacement at $640. I could buy a new one for near that. The Wow Factor: I can't say anything good about this product. Overall: I've owned Tascam products for years starting with the 248 4-track cassette deck in the eighties, the 488 8-track cassette deck in the nineties but this 2488 doesn't work and I only bought the 2488 NEO because I thought that by the third generation they would have worked out the bugs and it had a great price - but garbage is garbage! Tascam used to sell great products but they should be very ashamed of these models.
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