ProAudio Review - August 2008 - (Page 18)

BROADCAST | TASCAM Continued From Page 16 REVIEW and recording are mutually exclusive so it won’t work as a click when tracking. Playback speed can be changed while maintaining pitch, pitch can be changed while maintaining tempo, or they can both change together, tape deck style. It gets glitchy when going too far off speed or pitch, but it’s a handy learning tool, particularly when combined with the loop-repeat function. The effectiveness of the part canceller depends on how “mono” the part you’re trying to remove is. Rather than simply canceling the center, you can “aim” the canceller left or right of center, which may improve results. File transfer via the 4-pin mini USB port is pretty speedy. It took one minute and 40 seconds to transfer the contents of a full 1GB card to my computer, about 13 times as fast as my Zoom H2. The trapdoor covering the USB port and memory card slot feels flimsy when opened, and is likely to be the first thing to break. I’m a real fussbudget when it comes to user interfaces, and the DR-1’s, though designed with good intentions, came close to driving me batty. There are four different menu buttons: Menu, PB Control, FX, and Setting. The Setting menu selects the input and its related settings (HP Filter, Limiter, Gain), PB Control contains variable speed and pitch controls and part canceling, FX has the effect processors, and Menu manages the file library, selects the record mode, tuner and metronome, manages setup such as date/time and flash card formatting. There’s an I/O button (which I kept hitting when I wanted to change input sources), but this selects the loop start and end points. The FX and PB Control buttons have two modes. Hold one for a second and the menu comes up, but tap it briefly and the currently selected effect or process toggles on or off. More than once I suppose I inadvertently hit the PB button and was greeted with offspeed playback. There are indicators in the LCD that show when a process is engaged, but you have to look for them. Curiously absent from any menu is the capability to rename recorded files, though they can be renamed with a computer via the USB port. What’s annoying about menu navigation is that there’s a scroll wheel to browse through the menu, but once you find what you’re looking for, it’s necessary to press another button to move the cursor from the selected parameter to another column, from which you can then scroll through the options for that parameter, then press another button to get back to the parameter list to make another adjustment. Nearly everything is a two-handed, three-button plus scroll wheel operation. The DR-1 comes with a printed quick start guide with the full manual as a PDF file loaded on the memory card supplied with the recorder. If you don’t read the quickstart, you won’t know where to find the manual (though it can also be downloaded from the TASCAM web site). As manuals go, it’s adequate, but not very tutorial. | CONCLUSION Like most of these devices, the DR-1 gets easier to operate with experience. Once set up, most of the time all I needed to do was press the Record button to bring home a perfectly reasonable recording from the built-in mics. As a field recorder, I’d prefer something with more mounting options than hand-held or tabletop (the cradle and tripod should solve this problem), but the DR-1 would be great for a songwriter or arranger to take to the beach or on a family vacation just in case an idea came up. Mike Rivers, a retired location sound recording engineer, operates a studio in Falls Church, Va. The overdub capability is pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it; hey, even Les Paul blew a few lacquers while learning his system. With a little practice I was able to sing a trio with myself. The only control over panning of an overdub is which direction you point the mics. The process is non-destructive, though, so you can revert to the previous good take if you don’t like the balance, position, or talent. The best position for recording yourself is with the recorder on its back on a table with the mics pointing toward you, and aimed slightly upward. This means operating the controls upside down, not difficult with a little practice. The reverbs are usable; the effects are soso. “Detune” sounds like a bad case of wow, “Emphasis” sounds like an exaggerated SM58 presence peak. The tuner in the Chromatic mode displays the note played and relative deviation from true pitch. In Osc mode, you set the pitch and it generates a tone. Reference pitch is adjustable from A = 435 to 445Hz. The metronome is a basic tick with the number of beats after the accent adjustable between 2 and 8. The metronome 18 | ProAudio Review | August 2008 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.sonicus.net http://www.sonicus.net http://www.proaudioreview.com

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ProAudio Review - August 2008 Contents Publisher's Page Broadcast News and New Products Yamaha Pocketrak 2G Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder Bench Test Marantz PMD620 Flash Recorder TASCAM DR-1 Portable Digital Recorder Tips From The Pros: Location/Production Audio Prosumer Portables in a Pro World Studio News and New Products Apogee Ensemble Solid State Logic Duende Mini FireWire DSP Live News and New Products Avril Lavigne's The Best Damn Thing World Tour Behringer Eurolive B412DSP and B415DSP Active Loudspeakers Gear for FOH Engineers — A PAR Contributors’ Wish List Contracting News and New Products Buyer's Guide Single Slice

ProAudio Review - August 2008

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