Damn, I am sold. I have only just bought a Tascam DR-05X too for recording sounds for electronic music. Great video, thanks for convincing me to buy this. It looks phenomenal.
dude this mics on this thing are SO good. I used a pair of Phillips SPH6500? headphones and usually things dont sound full. especially instruments. the intro sounds SO rich. I got this thing. the future is HERE.
It would've been really cool if the two top mics were connected through XLR also, so there had been 6 mic inputs all in all... Thanks for the video :) Looks like a great unit!
I think you CAN use 4 XLR mics and the inbuilt condensers together for a six track recording. That’s what the Zoom H6 does, so I’d be very surprised if this one doesn’t.
Amazing playing, amazing review, amazing device. Thank you SO much for this video. I only have a small question. No, two. 1. Would this machine work as a multitrack recorder, say, four stereo tracks recorded separately (I am sort of one man band musician)? 2. Does it have a pedal punch-in option? I really need to punch in with my foot because I play the viola:) Again, thank you for this excellent review. Sending love from Seoul. Subscribed.
Since many years I record with an old Boss BR-600 mobile recorder, and nobody has complained about sound quality so far. It has some limitations (No Phantom Power, internal mics are just toys), but combined with an external condenser, which runs on batteries, or dynamic mics, it's great ... very easy to use and reliable, but you need CF-cards and it's not easy to run the Boss wav-converter software on a modern computer.
Is this unit good for recording a live band? Will the drums and noisy guitar not be too loud for the built in microphones or external ones for that matter?
Those mics sound surprisingly well-balanced for a smallish portable recorder. They don't sound very noisy compared to a lot of other condensers and they're neither too boomy (like Olympus' Tresmic mics), nor too shrill (like pretty much every other portable recorder). Pretty impressed. I'm not sure about an interface that relies so much on touch-screen controls, though. I'd imagine that eats a lot of battery?
I am personally very doubtful that the audio is that clean from the get-go. And with that many moving parts and functionalities I reckon it will be a pain when any part of it is faulty.
I have a DR-100 MKIII, and the built in mics on this new one sound pretty similar in their raw form to my ears, but the built-in EQ curves on the X8 seem to help a lot. The unprocessed mics on my DR-100 are very detailed but need a bit of EQ to tame the highs and fatten up the low end.
Fantastic and honest review Tom. I was looking at the mix-pre 3 or even the Zoom F6 to capture audio at 32 bit float. I held off thinking that it wouldn't be long before someone produced a portable device with effects and a pair of quality condensers on the front, and here it is!! - A question I have please is can you (when recording without a preset) add both EQ and reverb at the point of recording, rather than just afterwards in mix-down? Personally I find I can settle in and play better when recording if it sounds pretty good in the headphones from the start of the process. Subscribed to you today. Peter.
Completely agree with Peter. I second the question:) Just like with dslr cameras, it is good to see how it will look in the end at the moment of shooting. I always apply a bit of reverb at the time of recording.
I already have a mixpre 6-ii and it's awesome and probably considered more "pro" but I still want this X8 haha as the UI seems much more intuitive and I love the quick presets and effects already built-in.
@@TaylorThomasVideo I sold my mixpre 6-II and replaced it with the X8. I really like the UI and presets better. The money I saved I decided to buy some izoptope audio programs (RX9 and Nectar) for post processing.
I hear a lot of people saying the preamps and general sound quality is better on the zoom gear, however I can’t help think that the usability and features on this x8 tips it for me, think I will be going with the Tasacm for that reason, thanks for the video even with your disclaimer
Q2: What's the best setting for recording gigs? From say....the mosh pit distance or pub gigs or from let's say 15-20m from the stage? Or just go manual and adjust when the bands do their sound checks. Thanks.
Do they make covers for the mic screw-on connector when you don't want to have those mics installed? I seldom use my built-in mics on my DR100 MkIII --- am sure this would be same. Great review. Thanks
I’ve looked high and low on RU-vid and can’t find the answer to 1 question. Can I connect an aux out from a sound guys mixboard to one of the inputs on this device? Want multi track recording. Or a duplicate main mix of everything.
Thanks for the review. You mention there is plenty of gain available on the pre-amps, do you know how many db's that is? I can't seem to see the figure listed on any of the official specs which is odd.
I take it the Voice Recording App (as heard in Demos 1 & 2) automatically sums the two condenser mic signals to mono? The stereo sound doesn’t appear until you’re in Acoustic Guitar recording mode.
Looking to buy this or zoom h8 for portable studio work… it’s between the 4 inputs and usbc and better preamps on this vs up to 10 inputs but bulkier size on the h8… decisions decisions
How does this compare to the H4N? Namely the noise floor issue. I'd like to be able to get the gain up to a whopping 50% without the audio becoming useless. Also, can you adjust gain while recording with this? Tried doing so with the H4N during an hour long recording yesterday...and it informed me that I was recording. Well, I know that. I clearly do not like much if anything about the H4N and this appears to be an excellent replacement.
Thanks for sharing Tom. Say I've recorded 6 Chanels at once. Next day I want to play the 6 channel mix back on device. Is this easy to do? Will it remember the whole mix on playback? Or do I have to manually select all of the files?
I try to record guitar in a room I mix in, but it's too dead. Wondering if I could take this to record in my garage, by sending a backing track to headphones while I'm recording the guitar.
Hello. Thanks for the tutorial you published. I have a question: The H8 zoom has a mixer with effects like Daily, Repeat and Reverb. Does the TASCAM Portacapture X8 have a mixer or not?
WOW this thing is so good. The interface is a game changer. Even a bass player can use it. Only 1 sd card though? There should be 2...always. But you could hook up a phone as a backup.
Can I use this device to record an electric guitar plugged in an effects modeler, but with the modeler directly connected to the Tascam X8 through a cable?
I've got a zoom R8 but the digital technology is over my head. I wanna record keyboards and vocals for demos in the simplest way possible. Will this be good for that? Watching further on.. Looks like I could...
Hi Tom, are you able to change file names in the unit. The thing I hated about products like the zoom recorders is that when I have a hundred plus recordings, I have no idea what each file is until I play it. It made it painful to rename files. Ideally I’d love to name recordings after I finish recording. Thx.
What amazes me about these portable recorders, is that they offer much more functionality than desktop or pc audio interfaces at the same price point. I don't necessarily have any plans to record outside but if I were to pay $400 for an audio interface, I'd rather have one that can do it all, rather than one that is specific for a computer/indoor setup. I currently have a motu m2 audio interface but I am researching these 32bit float portable recorders. I record mainly commentary and voice acting in my home but I would love to be able to do podcasts or outdoors recording later on. Does anyone know how well these portable recorders work for using on a windows pc for gaming commentary or podcasts?
Hi, I am looking for a new recorder and choosing between Zoom H8 and Tascam X8... I much prefer the Tascam in most ways but after watching your review I noticed instrument level input didnt get a mention... Am I right in thinking this isnt possible with the Tascam??.....
Mine was delivered today, sadly been very ill so can't wait to use it, any certain grade of SD which will work excellent with this and what is the highest gig? I know the SD card can affect quality on cameras so wondering if that's the same for this unit and sound quality, like I said very ill at the moment and cannot wait to use
@@karlboson4803 thank you Karl getting there pesky blood clot in thigh and my Da is critical in hospital but that's another story, But hoping to play with it properly this weekend as I'm able to move a bit better and pain easing off
Thanks a LOT buddy. (angry-face) Another random RU-vid suggestion for a video about another piece of gear I would've not known about and therefore been able to save some money... Now, I need the damn thing because you made it so compelling. :D
can you plug this TAscam PortaCapture X8 directly into iphone using lightning to camera adapter? Secondly, can you do overdubbing like Zoom H4n and H5 with PortaCapture X8? Thank you in advance
Tascam are absolutely bossing the audio recorder market, they have the most amount of individual models as well, imo the only decent competition is from Sony which are hard to find and don't have XLR inputs like the PCM D100, PCM A10, VERY cool demonstration
Great, as always, Tom! By the way, does this work on a mobile phone? Does it have a noise/background noise cancelling feature? Thanks, man! All the best!
Unfortunately I had a horrible experience with mine. Firmware bugs, Glitches, crashes or just strait up turning off. I almost lost an audio file. Needs major firmware fixes. Even 1.01 is a mess sadly. I was really excited for this one but it is not ready for prime time. Zoom F6 is amazing. Solid and not one firmware issue.
@@TaylorThomasVideo arggg they didn't have that when I had mine. Hopefully they addressed everything. They only had 1.01 sadly but I couldn't risk any issues. Also for what it's worth I do video production which is very different then recording music. And I meant to say that this guy rips! Insane guitar work. Hopefully they will address the all the firmware issues and fast. Sadly I can't afford to wait for that.
Damn, I shut my eyes and was taken by your guitar playing. Forgot why I was watching this video. You are a talented guitarist sir. Anyways, this recorder seems nicer than the units made by Zoom.
great overview. 1. what is the case made of? hopefully not that rubberized plastic crap that turns to brittle sticky goo after a few years? 2. does it function as an 8 track Portastudio, eg where someone can record multitrack demos one or more tracks at a time?
Good point. I have a Zoom recorder with rubber/plasic which turned to sticky goo... also an old Tascam USB interface turned to sticky goo...I threw it out
I used rubbing alcohol on paper towels to remove the goo. It worked perfectly. You're left with just the plastic case underneath as the alcohol will remove all the rubber, but I like the look better anyway. Be patient. It took me a good 15 to 20 minutes to remove it all from my Zoom H5. Looks like a brand new unit.
With these types of devices, can you record yourself playing guitar, save it, and play it later? im looking for a device to do one thing, and one thing only, if it does additional things thats fine, all i want it to do, is record myself playing riffs, then play them later, for remembering sake. I know i sound pretty dumb right now, but i need it, my brain doesnt work like it should, and i make amazing riffs, then they go into the void forever. its got to stop.
Very intriguing….. I’ve had my eyes on mixer face by Centrance for music, voice over and general audio but haven’t made any moves yet….. This is in the same price range and seems to have more features….
In the old days the media was in the form of tape or digital tape . If the power would go down the previous recording before the power cut would still be saved . There is just nothing like it that digital world offers
Wow this thing is practically Zoom's F8N but better in that it like the F6 will do 32 bitfloat. But it's better then the F6 again because it's an 8 XLR recorder like the F8N. Finally Tascam made the thing usable as an interface. I don't know if you've seen the XY mics of an H6 Zoom Thom, But if you have, how do these XY mics compair to those?
