Tascam DP-006 6-Track Digital Pocketstudio Multi-Track Audio Recorder, Built-in Mics, Songwriting, Battery Operated

UPDATE: I originally said the manual did not list the power consumption of this unit. That is not correct, I noticed that it does -- it lists the power consumption as 1 Watt maximum. That means the power adapter has to be 5 volts with no less than 200 milliamps. ----- I have an old Tascam Porta 05 4-track tape recorder that I bought new in 1987. Yes, it still works fine after all these years. Hopefully the Tascams these days are as well made, we'll see! I bought this DP-006 to replace it, along with a 2x2 USB audio interface for use separately with at DAW. I got both of these together for a small fraction of what that old Porta 05 cost me back in the day. It's a great little machine. The manual is very good and thorough (don't lose it!). It had me up and running in no time. I started downloading and installing the DAW software for my USB audio interface, and this always takes forever -- these are multi-gigabyte downloads. Add to that the time it takes to install and update the drivers for the USB interface (which gave me trouble), and it easily can (and did) take pretty much the whole day. And then you have to learn the DAW. Meanwhile, while the downloads were going, I had plenty of time to go through the Tascam manual more than once, learn its features, and even put down a six track recording (vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drum machine, and ukulele). It even happened that one of the ground wires inside my electric bass had come lose, and I resoldered it -- got it all in before the DAW (mine was a 30-gigabyte monster). So, it does take a little time to learn the features of the Tascam, but when you put in perspective, it hardly seems too much to ask. The great feature of this Tascam is its extreme portability. Also, it's great to lay down basic blues, rock or jazz rhythm tracks to practice soloing and improvisation, for example. Or also to record yourself conveniently so you can listen back from the observer perspective and notice things you might not pick up on when you're concentrating on performance. It's very handy. Others have remarked about the power cord, well this is one thing that SHOULD have changed over the years. It was a bad deal back when the Porta studios cost hundreds and hundreds, but even worse when you have a $79 unit. They still price them at $40 a piece. You can get cheaper non-Tascam ones, I paid $9.99 for mine (hasn't arrived yet tho). Disappointingly the manual does not list the power requirements, but rooting around on the Internet I found the specs of Tascam's adapter.They are: 5V 2000mA 10W Max Tip Size: 2.5mm x 5.5mm (Inner diameter x Outer diameter). The pin on the connector is positive. So the adapter is capable of putting out a lot of current. I doubt the DP-006 uses the full 2 amps at any time, but as a rule you don't want to run anything under-amped. You do need a 5 Volt adapter. Having more amps available than necessary is fine, but you don't want less.That's asking for trouble, so unless anybody can say what the actual engineered current draw for the DP-006 truly is, I wouldn't recommend running any adapter on it that's not 5 Volt, 2 Amp. That's a change for the worse, my old Porta 05 4-track did list out these kinds of specifications in the manual. [UPDATE: The manual DOES list power consumption after all. It's listed as 1 Watt maximum. That means you need to have 5 volt adapter that can handle at least 200 milliamps.] This thing does put down its own filesystem on the SD cards, one that Windows or OS X can't read. So, there is a conversion step that has to happen when you export your songs or tracks to the computer. People have complained that it takes too long. I tried it with my one recorded song, and I didn't think it was too bad. But I did mix and master it on the DP-006, as we do on the old Portas from before the age of the DAW. So I only had the finished song to export, no biggie, not six separate tracks. I saw some comments where people said the onboard mikes weren't sensitive enough. You can set their level, though. They have three sensitivity levels: low, mid and high. Default is low. I had them on low, and I found them to be more than adequate. Quite nice actually. In fact, the air conditioner unit kicked on outside when I was doing my vocal track. It doesn't make a lot of noise, just a new low hum. I didn't think the DP-006's mikes were going to pick it up, but dang it they did, had to re-take it. I tried out a few additional features, the metronome and the chromatic tuner. The metronome is useful, helping you synchronize things. It will appear in your headphones, but not in the recording (unless you tell it to show up in the recordings). I couldn't get the tuner to work, but I didn't give it too much time, this is undoubtedly user-error. I don't really need it. Still operating off the trusty old 440 A tuning fork here. I think it's a great piece of equipment. Well worth it.

These are GREAT little units! I've owned a Tascam DP-008EX for a couple of years now, and though it'll do everything this DP-006 will do (and more), the 006 has two distinct advantages, at least in certain situations: (1) It's SMALLER and even more important (2) It has a TRIPOD MOUNT (or with a special adapter, can be attached to a mic stand. I don't know why the 008 doesn't have a mount, but it doesn't. Maybe it's because Tascam feels the additional weight of the 008 would make it more prone to damage with a tripod mount? I don't know. The internal condenser mic's are AWESOME. You might not expect a cheap lil' unit like this to give such an great ambient recording, but it will; just set your levels so it's not gonna clip and you're good to go. And wherever you place the unit, whatever your ears are hearing is EXACTLY what you're gonna hear when you play back, and that's even BEFORE you do any mixing down or Mastering. This includes the LOW registers; The specs don't say what the internal mic's frequency response is, but the output's rated at 20Hz, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they'll capture down to that level. If you happen to have both units like I do and want more tracks, you can just pop the SD card out of the 006, stick it in the 008, and keep going. However, there are a few negatives, imho: (1) Maybe it's just me, but I don't consider operation of either unit to be as "intuitive" as it could be. Even with the Owner's Manual, I found myself jumping around all over the place, rather than being able to go through the Manual straight from page 1 to the end. Still, once I got the hang of the unit, it's quite easy (though Importing/Exporting are quite time-consuming; they happen in real-time). (2) I realize this is a smaller unit, overall, than my Tascam DP-008EX, and there's simply not enough room for 1/4" phone AND XLR inputs. But since you can ASSIGN inputs, if you had one of each, you could record a simple instrumental/vocal song without need of an XLR adapter. (3) And a glaring omission, LINE OUT RCA PLUGS. They call the headphone mini-plug a "line out" and sure, you can still patch into a Stereo receiver using the headphone jack, without having to export the tracks. But gimme a break! A couple of RCA line outs would make more sense; there's enough room on the exterior housing to accommodate this. Since I already own a 008, I didn't even think about this; I kinda assumed this unit would have 'em too, but no dice. I have the luxury of getting home from using the DP-006 and popping the SD card into my 008 (which I happen to be doing right now). Still, you shouldn't have to spend a coupla hundred more dollars to do that; I just happen to have needs for both units, depending on the situation. The 006 is better for remote recording but if you're planning on multi-tracking, the 008EX will suit you better. All in all, I think Tascam digital recording equipment is a GREAT value. And remember, Tascam is part of the TEAC family of products; there is not a more trusted name in the recording business. They've been around since the beginning, and you can't argue with that!

So I bought a multitrack recorder a few years back. It sounded great but was pretty complicated and the manual might as well have been written in hieroglyphics. After having spent an inordinate amount of time watching YouTube videos I was still couldn’t really use it. I have been looking for something easy to use that would make good sounding songs. Started using the Tascam DO-006 just yesterday and I am having a blast with it. Much easier to use and I don’t have to shovel my way through menu after menu with nothing to show for my trouble. Don’t get me wrong you will still have to put in some time learning how to use. Much more intuitive. I went right to the quick start in the manual and had a decent track within around 30 minutes of unboxing. I can already tell I am going to enjoy using it. Going to improve my guitar playing too. Really glad I spent the $129. Power adapter was another $9. Unit is well made and looks like it will hold up if not abused.

First off, I appreciate that Tascam still bothers to make Hardware multitrack recorders at all! They can be immensely helpful for a songwriting and demo production workflow. In researching which multi track system to buy, I looked extensively into the portable Tascam line, as well as the zoom line of portable multi track recorders. I already have a Tascam dr-40 which I feel very happy having for recording live performances and notes and ideas. It has fantastic mix of quality and options, but it's multitrack ability amounts to basically a two-track recorder, with one track record and one playback. This requires a mixdown (aka, "bounce") for each new track. For my actual song demo workflow, I find it much easier to have more than two tracks of simultaneous playback! Secondly, in the course of putting together a demo song, it is much easier to be able to queue and record on a different track at a specific point in a song. On the dr-40, however, you must play each take all the way through from the beginning. This has its benefits, don't get me wrong. It really forces you to get your stuff together, and really know your song inside and out. But it can also make putting together a quality demo much more tedious and stressful. If the dr-40 allowed me to separate out the two stereo tracks into two mono tracks or even one mono and one stereo track, and it allowed me to record from a queued position, then it would fit all of my needs. But it doesn't so here I am... While I appreciate zooms transparent WAV file recording, in studying their user manuals, I have found them incredibly tedious and confusing to operate due to a lack of dedicated controls. I record only with real instruments, so the extra features of the zoom and boss recorders do not appeal to me, and quite frankly they give the units a complexity that leaves me feeling anxious. That basically left me with the Tascam units as the most Hardware Direct option. In looking at the Tascam line, I considered this unit, the dp-006 as well as its larger siblings, the dp-008ex and the dp-03sd. I ended up going with the dp-006 for the following reasons: First, all three recorders have microphones based on the portable Dr recorder line of microphones, who's sound quality is actually very good. However, microphone placement is one of the most important factors in getting a good recording. More important than the type of mic and the quality of the preamps, Etc. The only things more important are the environment, and the Sound Source itself, which basically amounts to a quality performance and composition. Confusingly, neither the dp-008ex nor the dp-03sd have a tripod mounting option like the dp-006! This sabotages our capacity to maximize recording quality through appropriate mic placement. The dp-008ex and the dp-03sd each have built-in microphone preamps, which you will need to make use of in order to get anything in the way of decent microphone placement. While the dp-006 does not have a built-in microphone preamp, you can use its internal microphones to maximum effect. More microphones means more gear and more complexity in the setup, which creates more inhibition in the workflow. If needed, we can always add an outboard mixer feeding the dp-006 to use external mics. Second, the dp-006 gets much better battery life then its larger sibling. It has a much more portable footprint. This means I am more likely to keep it with me and to actually use it to its fullest potential! The dp-03sd requires AC power, which drastically limits it's use as a portable device and further limits the potential to use its internal microphones fully. The dp-03sd is honestly probably too large to consider any serious placement of its internal microphones by providing a tripod mounting option, and so internal mics do not make sense for it. The dp-008ex badly needs the same tripod thread mount that the dp-006 has! Third, when recording solo I like having the option of remote control. Interestingly, the dp-008ex and the dp-03sd use different footswitch options. The former uses a standard quarter-inch Jack single-function footswitch, while the latter uses Tascams RC 3F footswitch, which I already have. In the end, however, I decided that no footswitch and better mic placement was far more important. On that note, good mic placement usually leaves the recorder within relatively easy working distance for me, practically eliminating the need for a foot switch in the first place. Fourth, and Final, the dp-006 does not have any effects or EQ on board. It has only level and pan controls, which are easily the most important controls we need to determine the potential of a good mix. After that, we have EQ, and then after that we have effects. It confuses me that the dp-008ex and the dp-03sd dedicate a precious Hardware control to a Reverb send! Their EQ section while admirable for a few rough tweaks, does not provide sufficient options for doing any serious mixing. I feel it provides a dangerous distraction. The dp008ex and the dp03sd would be much better served by replacing the dedicated Reverb knob with a dedicated assignable EQ knob for a flexible EQ section, with an easy reverb or effects and even EQ bypass switch to hear the all-important dry signal. The dp-006, in foregoing both EQ and Reverb or other effects such as compression, really requires and allows us to focus on getting good quality recording takes from the start, focusing on mic placement, recording environment which we have much more flexibility over due to the portability of the DP-006, and in the end, more focus on the performance and the composition. We can then export all the finished tracks to a digital audio Workstation for much more powerful EQ and other effects processing. Although ironically, really good takes need a lot less in the way of complex post production work! Although having only six tracks versus eight seems Limited, it is actually even more limited than that, because it is basically a four track recorder with two stereo tracks that can be assigned as mono tracks. This gives the possible configurations of four mono tracks, 3 mono tracks and one stereo track, or two Mono tracks and two stereo tracks. This provides a huge upgrade to me over the extremely limited two track recording of the otherwise fantastic dr-40 portable recorder. If anyone thinks that this unit is too limited, I strongly recommend that they read the "applications" section on the Tascam dp-006 product website. It provides a fantastic example of a usage scenario and workflow that captures the full potential of this little portable recording studio! If Tascam ever made an 8-track version of this device that also allowed control with their rc3f footswitch then I would pounce on it like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh! This could be an incredible unit if they also allowed 24-bit recording and had dedicated left/mono and right line outs for outboard effects and/or EQ.

I absolutely adore this little thing. I have a problem with getting distracted when i go to record on my computer playing around with settings and plugins and things like that and i don't end up recording anything. with this recorder however there aren't really settings to mess with, it does one job and does it very well. The mics are great, and it's nice that it can mount on a stand. the editing features are all you really need to get a decent recording. My only complaint is that it uses a proprietary file system so you can't get songs off of it without exporting on device, you can't just plug the SD card into a computer and get the stems. It's annoying but oh well. phenomenal device. The menus are easy to navigate, and if you have any experience recording with other music recording devices it's fairly intuitive. the only non-intuitive thing in my opinion is creating and exporting a master, but after doing it a few times it isn't a problem.

If you got some decent quality headphones then you're good to go. That is the minimum requirement to start recording right away. My first test was performed using multiple tracks with a capella. The built-in mic was great. Comes with batteries, a data transfer chord and an SD card. So wanna start right away? Headphones.

I bought this product as I thought I could use it much the same way I had the Tascam Porta '03 mini studio decades ago. Unfortunately, it is far more complex to use. I hoped to use it primarily as a two-track stereo recorder, but found the setup complicated, and almost impossible when I realized that I had to do everything on that tiny unlit LCD display. Too many steps to simply make a recording and transfer to a computer for further processing and editing. I don't recommend this unit unless you have the time and patience to spend learning how to ensure that your inputs are routed to the correct channel, are willing to then create a master track, and then copy it to the internal memory, and then transfer it to a computer. I would probably find it easier simply to use a multitrack recorder on a laptop. Of course I understand that might not be a suitable for remote recording. I ended up replacing this with a simple Zoom two track recorder, model H1N, which doesn't have nearly as many options, but is also not as complicated to operate. I realized that for some, this device may be perfect, and the internal mics do make a decent recording. I hope you have good eyes, though.

I already own a professional home studio that's on my property but when doing live practices with the band the studio is overkill just to make reference or scratch recordings and this little unit is perfect for capturing a live practice so that I can share the files with the band members. It also works great as a little scratch pad when I'm working on an arrangement because I can carry it anywhere and record "off the fly" at a low volume. The only negative thing I can say is the manual is a bit difficult to follow on some of the topics and you really have to learn the basic functions to be able use it correctly but it's worth it and you can find youtube videos of people who own these recorders who put out help videos. I would recommend this to anyone out there who takes their music seriously.