by Slater

You know when you find that perfect spot to Beatbox, an all-tile room or and auditorium that has the perfect sound for your percussions. Wouldnt it be nice to have a portable recorder on hand that can record 24-bit files that's designed for musicians? Look No More...

I'm very interested in the Tascam portable recorders, two in particular:

• TASCAM GT-R1 Price $249.99 USD
• TASCAM DR-07 Price $99.99 USD (sale), Normally $149.99 USD

Tascam GT-R1

The TASCAM GT-R1 Price 249.99 Portable Guitar and Bass Recorder (wich not only has built in mics but has a 1/4" jack with up to 8gb of space using SD cards).

Note: With This Model, your Mic, mini preamp and an XLR to 1/4 jack cable you could have one of the most compact portable recording studios out there with top notch Sound Quality. 😎

Audio File Using The Buit In Mics (Guitar):

* This model has Swivel Mics unlike the DR-07

This Model has Looping built in and SLOW DOWN MODE that can slow music playback down without changing the pitch so you can listen to your drops in slow mode and work out the kinks.

Other Features include, built in drum effects and live recording guitar and bass effects. With this you could collaborate with the onboard drum machine.

Here is an example of an on board drum beat someone made then played the guitar with it live:

Here is the same file with a third dub on top of it (the third sound is a bass):

Here is the best part yet. With the Variable Speed Audition (slow down mode) you could drop a super fast beat then slow it down so that you can put it into SBN (Standard BeatBox Notation). So that then you could upload the particular file in full speed then the slow one with your SBN. And if you're in the mood you can even speed it up, play it back and try to work on your tempo. Remember it can change the tempo without changing the pitch!

The cons It doesnt come with the wall charger, only the USB charging/input cable is included and it can take a long time to charge on the USB. You need a computer to charge it. Not to mention the Wall charger costs $29 USD.

Specs

Audio Input and Output:

GUITAR IN input: (Not sure if you could use a mic without preamp)
Jack: 1/4", mono, unbalanced
Input impedance: 1 Mohms or more
Nominal input level: -26 dBV
Maximum input level: -10 dBV

MIC IN input
Jack: 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo phone with 2.3V power
Input impedance: 30 Kohms
Nominal input level: -64 dBV (HIGH)
-48 dBV (MID); -32 dBV (LOW)
Maximum input level: -48 dBV (HIGH);-32 dBV (MID); -16 dBV (LOW)

LINE IN input
Jack: 3.5-mm phone (stereo)
Input impedance: 23 kohms
Nominal input level: -10 dBV
Maximum input level : +6 dBV

Phones/LINE OUT output
Jack: 3.5-mm phone (stereo)
Nominal line output : -14 dBV
Maximum line output: +2 dBV
Maximum headphones output: 15 mW + 15 mW (with 32 ohms)

Audio performance

Frequency response (LINE IN > /LINE OUT): 20 Hz—20 kHz, +1/-3 dB
Distortion (LINE IN > /LINE OUT): 0.02% or less
S/N ratio (LINE IN > /LINE OUT): 90 dB or more

Frequency response (GUITAR IN > /LINE OUT): 20 Hz—20 kHz, +1/-5 dB
Distortion (LINE IN > /LINE OUT): 0.07% or less
S/N ratio (LINE IN > /LINE OUT): 73 dB or more

Other specifications

Audio file compatibility: MP3 files: 32—320 kbps; 44.1/48 kHz sampling frequency; VBR (playback only); ID3 tag support up to Ver. 2.4
WAV files: 44.1/48 kHz sampling frequency 16/24-bit rate
Recording medium: SD card (64 MB—2 GB) or SD HC card (4—8 GB)
File system: FAT16/32

Physical

Lithium ion battery: 3.7 V, 1800 mAh
Battery life: About 7 hours when recording MP3 format with the built-in mic (varies with operating conditions)
Power consumption: 1 W (during MP3 playback)
Dimensions: 70 (W) x 27 (H) x 135.3 (D) (mm)
Weight: 208 g (including battery)

Tascam DR-07

The price difference between the models is clear. Whereas the GT-R1 has overdubbing, effects and a built in drum machine, this one is basically just a recorder with some good mics and alot of space. Also, this model doesn't have rechargeable batteries. This could be a positive or a negative for some people because if it dies on you, you can just slap some more batteries in it, but then again you have to pay for them.Yet it still has the essentials: nic Input, Line in jack and headphone jack all in 3.5mm jacks.

The DR-07 has a built in set of condenser mics that can record in stereo.

To start recording you press the Record button once to arm the device. From here you can get your levels correct. Once you are happy with the levels you can press record again to start recording.

From the menus you can adjust different settings for recording like changing the mic gain, setting a high-pass-filter if you are recording in an area with wind or low frequency rumbles, and set the auto gain control.

In the Box

The Tascam DR-07 comes with

• a 2GB SD media card
• a windscreen (Some sites don't have this included)
• a USB cable
• (2) alkaline AA batteries and
• an Owners Manual.

This Model can Take an SD card up to 32GB and It can record mp3 files from 32-320 kbps and wav files up to 24-bit/48kHz.

The Tascam DR-07 has a mini USB 2.0 port and 1/8" stereo LINE IN, MIC IN and headphone/LINE OUT jacks.

Specs

Portable digital recorder
Built-in stereo electret condenser microphone
Records to SD or SD-HC card media
2GB SD card included
USB 2.0 jack for transferring files
3.5 mm stereo mic input
3.5 mm stereo line input and output
Switchable low cut filter, analog limiter and auto gain setting on input
Writes WAV files at 44.1 or 48 kHz, 16 or 24-bit
MP3 file recording from 32 kbps to 320 kbps
Variable-speed audition function slows down music without changing the pitch
Powered by two AA batteries (included) or optional PS-P520 power adapter
Dimensions: 2.2" w x 5.3" l x 1.1" h
Weight: 4.4 oz (with batteries)
WS-DR2 windscreen

Finally...

Many companies make these type of portable recorders and this is a biased post based on two that I personally like. However, I hope that your eyes have been opened to a whole new world of recording your beatboxing beats.