Tascam, 4 AD Converter, usb2.0, Black, DR-40

I am easily irritated by sound chipsets in laptops these days: they are an afterthought, always plagued with noise and high latency. Plug in a high-Z microphone, and they are barely useful for Skyping or other low-datarate realtime communication. But even for a hobbyist or amateur musician who wants to get started recording themselves, or parents who want to record their kids' band concerts? Laptop A/D converters are barely up to even that task! Enter the TASCAM DR-40. This little gadget gives me exactly what I need. I used to play around with 4-track tape recorders as a kid, and let me tell you, this is exactly the toy that picks up that heritage of letting the kids play around and learn, but also has the quality for serious work even by pros. This is the very cheapest device you will find that offers balanced XLR inputs, A/D conversion circuitry designed for low noise, and high-res, pro-level digital formats (96khz/24bit). As other reviewers have mentioned, there's a bit of handling noise from the internal microphones, but that's to be expected; that's why the pros use those elastic suspensions for even their $10,000 large-diaphragm condensers. Either a tripod for this device or an external microphone on a stand will eliminate that handling noise and makes the user the hero of the high school performance. The overdub mode and mixdown functions bring back those old four-track recorder functions we used to play around with so many years ago, but I think this device will have more longevity. Unlike modern laptops with horrible sound hardware, this does not require a special line-lump power supply that can get lost or broken; it does not have a laptop monitor hinge that will wear out and break; there is no reason why, twenty years from now, my kids, once grown, shouldn't be able to dig this out of my gear closet, remember how much fun they had singing along with Adele into it, dust it off, pop in fresh batteries, and do it again, just like they do today. (Good luck finding cassette tapes to use with those old four-tracks!) Of course, twenty years from now, the kids might also find that it's still plugged into the mixer and being used every day to record practice tracks or performances. For more advanced editing than simple mixdown, it couldn't get any easier. This recorder mounts as a USB bulk storage device, so I plug it into any computer's USB port, drag and drop the .wav files onto the local hard drive, and then I can do professional-quality effects, mixing, and mastering with free software downloads like Audacity, or import into a full-featured DAW. My recommendation is, if you are any sort of musician, performer, hobbyist, parent, or gear junkie, you will be pleasantly surprised with how versatile this recorder can be and how high quality its recordings are. Toss this in with your gear, and you will quickly find that you don't need to lug the laptop and associated cables along any more, nor waste time trying to clean up horrible recordings made through its microphone jack.

I bought the DR-40 a few months ago, and just got down to using it these past few weeks. My expectations were high based on the reviews I've read, and I am happy to report that my expectations been exceeded. But first, a caveat: I am using the DR-40 in a controlled environment (more on that later) and not out and about, so my review will focus on this as a studio microphone set-up. I am also not a sound professional. I was a film major back in college, so I know a bit about sound production and technique, but by no means does my career revolve around it. If I had to label, I'd say I was an amateur enthusiast. I have the three AAs installed (they come with the unit), but am running with the USB connected (USB bus power) to my laptop. I purchased a sturdy little table top tripod to pop the unit on, and that has proven to be a wise purchase. I can position the Tascam so that it is pointing directly at my mouth, no matter how I am sitting, and the stand also keeps vibrations down. Since the Tascam is very sensitive to any movement or vibration, isolation is important. You cannot handhold the unit by its case and expect not to pick up rustling; you have to mount it on something if you want to carry it about. Learning the button layout and features is fairly straightforward. The interface and buttons labels aren't the clearest in the world; there is a shallow learning curve. But once you get them down, things are easy and make sense. With a thirty second glance at the manual I was up and recording. Hit the 'Record' button to go into standby mode (it blinks red) and hit it again to begin recording (steady red). Pretty easy. I was able to upgrade the firmware with no problem. When recording, it took me a couple of tries to get the levels right. And to be honest, they still aren't right. I'm yacking into the DR-40 relatively close, and the levels on the screen look good, but when I import the sound into Audition (yeah, I know) the levels are mediocre. I'm also getting some clipping on hard P sounds, even though I am not that close to the mics and the level monitor doesn't indicate clipping. These are small problems, and I'm happy to attribute them to user error at present. I'm also fairly certain an external mic would mitigate these problems. But again, I'm confidant I can solve them with a little experimenting. As for the sound, I'm very pleased. I've been recording short phrases for a iOS game I'm making. The first try was ok. The second try better. The third try, excellent. I was able to get a full, balanced sound out of the unit. And even after having bumped up the levels in post, there was very little noise in the signal. Listening to playback through a pair of Grado PS1000's was like listening to me talking to me. It sounded live, so much so that it startled me the first time. My setup is a bit funky: I currently live in a hotel, and it is tough to get a quiet spot. Even 25 floors up, the Tascam picks up road noise. It is very sensitive. I've been locking myself in a closet, AC off, with a heavy quilt over myself and the Tascam. Even under these less-than-optimal conditions, the sound is stellar. Importing sounds into the laptop is easy if you have a card reader. My laptop does, so it is as simple as popping the SD card out of the DR-40 and into the card reader. The card shows up as a volume on the desktop, and the individual sound files are a drag and drop away. The unit comes with a 2GB card, and I upped it to 8GB just to be safe. I didn't need to worry. A 3-4 minute file at default settings saved as a WAV comes out to be around 50MB. Based on how impressed I am so far, and realizing I've uncovered a small percentage of capability and potential, I can enthusiastically recommend the Tascam DR-40. I'm giving it five stars based on the price and quality. Fifteen years ago I used a Tascam professional DAT field recorder that cost 1KUS , and I think the DR-40 gives it a run for its money.

I was in the market for a handheld digital recorder and was having a lot of trouble trying to find any that explicitly stated that they could handle a VERY loud band. In my band we have a bass player who has a near pathological obsession with speaker cabinets. He has a wall of speakers featuring no less than 2 4x10 cabinets, a couple 18s and a couple 2x15s. In addition we have two guitar players running full stacks with Marshall and Verellen heads, and of course a drummer. I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, nor is it safe, but that's what we do. It gets LOUD. And even though I'm pushing forty, I know loud. We play stoner rock and sludge metal. This ain't your dad's cover band. After a bad experience with a previous Tascam DR-2d recorder that seemed to always be clipping no matter how low I set the input gain (it was stolen before I had the chance to see if the distortion was the result of a bad setting on my part), I was skeptical but hopeful that this one would perform better. It far exceeded my expectations. I couldn't get the Peak light to come on unless I was holding it right next to the drummer and he was really cracking the snare. I placed it in the center of the room, pointed it in no particular direction and set it to record. I set the input level all the way down and let it roll. We played through about four songs and then I went out to the car to see how things were sounding. I was blown away. It obviously doesn't sound like it's ready to be pressed to vinyl or anything, but it sounds AMAZING for a little handheld recorder. No distortion from the drums or the bass, you could hear all the instruments even though I didn't take any special care in directing the built-in mics toward one instrument or another. It basically created a faithful recording of what we were doing and allowed us to hear back our practice clearly so that we can refine our songwriting. This will be an indispensable tool for all future practices, and I might even record some live shows with it. Those tend to be even louder, so we'll see how it holds up. I haven't even tried the dual record mode yet, which is supposed to create a safety recording at a lower level. I'm going to upload a customer image of the levels from this recording so that you can see that nothing was clipping and there's still plenty of room left for me to increase the input volume. I'd also like to give some special props to Tascam for including a storage card with a *usable* amount of storage. Every digital camera I've purchased in the last 15 years comes with a tiny card that you can't do anything with. They include a generous 2GB SD card which is a ton of recording time in single track mode. Files are very easy to access via USB and recorded in WAV, which any audio editor will understand and easily convert to mp3 in seconds. My buddy has a BOSS digital recorder and we still can't figure out how to read its proprietary track format. Bad move on their part, and I'm glad Tascam didn't go that route. All this plus XLR ins with phantom power so I can use any mic that I want? (Though the built-in mics sound great!) I think I'm in love. Another bonus, it kinda resembles a tazer and you never know when you might have to scare away a crackhead who's giving your gear the greasy eyeball while you're loading your van.

I just got through putting this thing through it's paces. *Internal Mics: For the price, the internal mics are fantastic. There is a lot of handling noise, and that is the result of the cheap, hard plastic body. The H4n is definitely sturdier. The mics look like solid metal, but they're cheap plastic as well. All that said, they pick up warm, rich sound, especially for the price point. *Build quality: It feels like a cheap plastic toy. The H4n is much sturdier, but then the H4n is more expensive. The buttons on the Tascam feel pretty sturdy, though. Internal Preamps: Yeah, if you're a newbie to sound recording like me, you may not even know what that means. Basically, it's the device(s) inside the recorder that boosts the electric signal coming into the recorder from an outside source, like a microphone. The Preamps on this are really weak. I tried using my Sony EOS-44b Lavalier mic (pro grade lapel mic), and there was a lot of hissing noise, even with the Gain turned down (but then I didn't get a good signal that way). I then tried a Sennheiser EW112PG3A Wireless Kit. The sound was great with this set up, but the Sennheiser is delivers a more powerful signal. So, higher power mics are going to be fine on the Tascam, but low power mics won't. *Learning Curve: 5 minutes. Seriously. It's really easy to learn if you just click around and try combinations of buttons. I only had to refer to the handbook for one thing. That said, in the age of smart phone touch screens, the LCD setup on this seems like something from the stone age. Again... the price point on this was really low for sound equipment. All in all, I just don't think there's anything else out there that's even close to this price point that will deliver better results. Get the right gear to go with it, but it works like a champ.

Wonderful little toy. I bought it less for any serious or specific purpose, and more as an experiment for getting into soundscape recording, or possibly for recording interviews with people. For any of these purposes, so far it has worked well. Of course, I have no doubt that one COULD use it professionally (such as with an SLR, or an external audio rig), I'm just not a pro myself. In Japan, I used it alongside a plugin separate USB battery (which I rubber banded to the recorder), and this worked just fine. It also was handy to attach it to a tiny little tripod, which doubled as a grip. Battery life with AA's was pretty good, but I can't recall how many hours they lasted. It wasn't an issue, even with a few hours of use over several days. Plus, AA's are easy to find everywhere. The unit is a bit "plasticky", which is a bit of a letdown for its price, but the quality of the audio it records (from the built-in mics) is excellent to my ears. I've done no digital manipulation, nor have I connected separate microphones, although eventually I'll do both. I keep it in a case to protect it. I've never dropped it outright. I'm doubtful it would survive a waist-high fall onto concrete, but most electronics won't. For now, with a muff over the built-ins, it records clear audio in a variety of situations. I recorded some street festivals in Japan with remarkable results. It does very well with voice reproduction, sounds pretty life-like. I'm sure it'll do even better when paired with a quality external microphone. This unit was an excellent price, and produces exactly the results I expected, without a lot of hassle.

At the first time when ordering the DR-40, I was little bit influenced by Zoom H4n reviews, hence I was skeptical thinking to the DR40 performance quality. How ever after testing it many times, either the built in condenser microphones or using external AT897-Audio Technica shotgun condenser mic, both of them return excellent recording sounds. All these functions; Stereo-dual-4 Tracks and Overdub modes are put into the device to meet various field recording requirement. For an instance, the '4 Tracks' mode with the built-in mic turned on, the AT897 connected as an external mic and mixed them with built-in Hall#1 re-verb digital effects,the output mixed sound is so amazing. The digital effects function loaded into DR-40 produces great mixed sound quality which I think not too far from those tracks recorded in a recording studio . The 4-tracks mode gives the best blends and full coverage of all inputs source specifically could be arranged by setting the mixing level. Another impressive screen view at DR-40 is the visualization of 'parametric knobs' which is simulating the professional audio mixer console for mixing and panning the sources. For people who interested on ATH 897 boom mic, the TASCAM DR-40 is a perfect combination for field recording, i.e. to record an interview with a person in the middle of crowds and surrounded by ambient noise. As my brief testing result, the input mic gain setting, if used with the AT879, probably can be increased 20-25% relative to the level of DR-40 built-in mic in order to get a balanced recorded sound. I had noticed from Zoom H4n users feedback saying that the AT897 mic seems did not perform greatly when used with their recorder. For instances, the sensitivity level of Zoom H4n did not giving enough gain to AT897, while increasing the gain level will promotes the hiss and background noises. Also they were complaining the equalization frequencies not significantly improves the sound quality. ******** updated on June, 2, 2015****** From my evaluation to this far, the DR-40 and AT879 are a perfect match and works excellently with no noticeable issue. Another indirect & untold feature yet found, the DR-40 also can be used as the audio tape to MP3 converter device, by manually wired the music tracks from a tape player to be digitized/ recorded on selected digital audio format, which I had tested using TEAC-W890 cassette tape deck to MP3 format. The result, amazingly, the DR-40 has produces a very good quality/ fidelity of sounds after the recording process, which I noticed somehow the internal circuitry had removed the hiss noises/ unwanted distortion automatically while the same event it did not affecting the original audio tracks clarity. Superb! I would highly recommended this recorder.

I've never previously owned a recorder so I was jumping in the deep end with this after doing some homework. I used it for the first time this past weekend to record my band at a live gig, and I couldn't be happier with the results. I watched a few tutorial videos on YouTube, and read some of the manual so I was familiar enough to use it without a lot of effort. I also bought a 32 GB SD card, and an adapter so I could connect it to a mic stand. I recorded roughly three hours and forty five minutes of music (WAV, 24 bit, 44.1 khz). Since I wasn't sure how large the files would be, i recorded each set on three different SD cards. Each file was about 1.3 GB's. Using dual mode it recorded a separate backup file so 2.6 GB's x 3 for close to 8 GB's total. So, as it turns out I would've been fine just using my one 32 GB card. Using only the built in mics in A-B mode we turned the input level down to 26, raised in on a mic stand about 8 ft in the air level with the PA speakers about 10 feet away in a relatively small room. The crowd was loud, but didn't drown out the music at all, and there was no clipping either. Levels for each of the instruments were recorded well. I could hear drums, bass, guitar, vocals cleanly. Based on this first time experience, and the ease of use/learning curve, I'm very glad I made the purchase and would recommend it to someone else looking to use it to record live music.

I have looked at multiple youtube videos on this product from the manufacturers website as well as independent research. Listen, don't believe the hype. The sound quality was soo bad that I thought it was my ignorance so I have also put substantial amounts of time into learning the product thinking that I may not be adjusting something correctly. I also do not like when the advertisements or bandwagon people involved in the hype talk emphasize all of the convenient features that it has like a tuner or prerecording. Listen, I don't care about a tuner when the recordings are low quality. The key reasons that people pay for audio equipment is high sound fidelity and low noise. Emphasis on any other feature is a diversion from the main focus. Get the audio right first, then add cute little features. About the mics: The frequency response of the built in mics is mediocre. The sounds of the recording come out sounding thin in comparison to studio condenser mics. The recording is high detailed, but just sounds thin. Remember, this is a dedicated audio device. I guess the designers think that for $150 they should be allowed to sell you something that is only a little better than a $30 recorder because it is one of their lower cost recorders or because of all of it's cute automatic switching features. They probably want to convince the customer that they need to empty their pockets to get a decent sound from a recorder so you will have to buy one of their higher end products. But that's not the bad part. See the next section below for the bad part. About the amplification section: The bad part is that the recordings are very noisy. Whether you turn the "internal" mic volume all the way down or all the way up, there is very substantial gray/white noise that comes out in the resulting recording. The gray/white noise gets worse as you turn the "input level" up from 0 to 90 indicating that the noise comes from the amplifiers while the mic volume is still relatively low. There is no way that you should hear high volume noise in the recordings or earphones when turn the mic preamps all the way down or up and are using their built in mics that they chose to use in their audio design. Even a total novice can hear that this is just plain wrong. Remember, this is supposed to be a dedicated audio device and in fact a lot of cellphones (which are multi-functional) produce better audio. As a test, I loaded and played an mp3 file from the DR-40 in my earphones and the sound was clear, so this tells me there is something wrong with the input amplification section of the device. So it makes a great mp3 player, but that's not what you buy for. This is all due to poor quality mic amplifiers and/or circuit topologies in design. What's even worse than that is the false advertisement that reports a signal to noise ratio of 92dB (for external mics). The only way that you could get that S/N ratio is if you held it in front of a car horn and honked. So you would have to be at the threshold of the SPL limit to get a difference of 92dB from signal to noise. When people listen to your recordings they are not going care about the brand name equipment, they only care about the sound. It doesn't matter whether you recorded it with a taSCAM or trashCAN; as long as it sounds good, that's all that matters. So don't pay these people just because of their company name. They need to produce good products, not just get paid off of their brand name. This isn't the fashion industry it's technology. Therefore, do not buy this recorder if you plan on recording meetings or interviews or anything less than screaming volume (you will hear a lot of gray/white hiss noise) and keep in mind that the built in mics will only produce mediocre fidelity as compared with studio condenser mics as a reference. If this was a defective unit and I confirm good performance from a non-defective unit, I will be more than happy to change my review to indicate the true performance of the product. Advice for the company: Don't sell people something that isn't worth having just to get some amount of money from people. If you can't produce something that is worth having at a lower price that's fine but don't sell them junk just to get something out of them. As a final note, the action of the push buttons feels shallow and hard to push. They are low quality stiff popples. It is apparent that the company puts a lot of work into the appearance of the product as it looks more high tech than it actually is. Go to their website and see how impressive the advertisement looks for this product. They are more about cosmetics than they should be and dress up the product to make the sale happen. Buyer beware of false advertisements!!!

The product arrived to my home in the supplier's branded carton box and not in its original sealed box. Which means the product was open or used before. On top of that, the product had a disfunction. It powers on and the microphone option for recording works. However, when you switch to recording in the line 4 channel mode, the device turns off. Every time I turn the device on and try again the device shuts down right away.

Je cherchais depuis longtemps un enregistreur de qualité pour pouvoir produire un son de qualié pour mes court-métrages (bruitages, ambiances,dialogues...). Celui-ci me comble ! Il ne me manque plus qu'un micro canon XLR (je pense bientôt craquer pour le Rode NTG1) pour aller plus loin mais sa directivité m'a déjà bluffé ! Son menu est plutôt simple, les réglages sont faciles d'accès et une fois dans la main il inspire la qualité et la solidité. Il n'y a aucun souffle dans les enregistrements de scènes calmes, ça change des enregistrements de DSLR et même avec un micro externe en jack ! Il y avait dans le paquet 3 piles alkalines, un cable mini usb qui peut servir pour relier l'appareil au pc ou pour le connecter à une batterie de secours par exemple (comme les smartphones). Il intègre une carte micro SD de 4Go, oui oui 4Go, ce qui m'offre environ 1H d'enregistrement en .WAV 24bits à 96khz sur 2 pistes. Largement suffisant pour moi. Bref je recommande ce petit bijou si vous souhaitez monter d'un cran la qualité de votre audio. Je parle en tant que vidéaste. Pour mieux montrer les détails, la finition et également son menu j'ai réalisé une petite vidéo qui illustrera mieux mes propos...

It is awesome.

Der Tascam DR-40 ist ein toller recorder, der seine Aufgabe zu meiner vollsten Zufriedenheit erfüllt. NAch kurzer Eingewöhnung ist das Bedienen kein Problem. Die Mikrofonempfindlichkeit ist so gut, dass ich im Wald oft auf ein Richtmikro verzichten kann. Die Größe ist für mich optimal, damit überfrachte ich meinen Rucksack nicht, habe dadurch nicht so viel Gewicht zum Schleppen. Wer Murmeltiere auf hundert Meter Entfernung allerdings abhören will, kommt mit dem TAscam natürlich an dessen Grenze. Aber dafür ist das Gerät auch nicht vorgesehen. Für Unterschnitt-Tone, RAum-Klang oder eben nahe Aufnahme Situationen ist es dagegen Klasse. Als Recorder für Interviews mit gekoppelten Handmikro, oder Laviermikro, ebenfalls sehr gut.

I love this thing sooooo much! It's really easy to use and quite similar to other recording devices so it's easy enough to pick up if you're used to another make/ model. It's quick and easy to set up and having been a freelance filmmaker for the past 2 years and hiring equipment out, it's definitely a releif to have my own equipment that I know that batteries will be fully charged and the settings will always be right before going on set. I also love to look after my equipment and this little beauty is something I will cherish for years to come. So far, I think the longest it has recorded for in one time (with a large SD card of my own in) is an hour, but I believe that all depends on the quality settings and if you've got enough battery power and space on your SD card. The quality of the microphones are great too. I traditionally try to use an external mic for voice recording/ ambience and, basically everything, but now I can't hire a mic, so this is surely coming in handy. It does, however, have an XLR and/or jack (I think... can't remember) external mic option for when I do invest in a mic (which I surely will eventually), but it still gives me an option of higher quality audio than, for example, recording sound directly from my camera or a phone or something like that. It's easy enough to listen back to everything and pause/ play ect and the settings make it easy the change what you want it to be like. There are still some things that I have no idea what they do, but as I'm still learning some things myself, it's perfect for me as I learn and develop. There's no point spending more money on something I don't understand or use yet, but this one has everything I needed and everything I will use and the audio is very clear with little white noise and if pointed in the right direction, say, at someone's mouth if it's for dialogue, it can block out some things in the background, but a lot of it depends on how you use it really... So, I'd suggest, for someone like me, who was after a first-time recording device with knowledge of (but not a pro... yet) audio recording, I think it's the best I could have found. And the best part- it's already paid itself back in freelancing. :D