TASCAM 2488mkII Reviews

[brandondrury]

TASCAM 2488mkII @ Musiciansfriend



TASCAM 2488mkII @ Zzounds


TASCAM 2488mkII Description
The TASCAM 2488MKII has all the amazing features as its predecessor the TASCAM 2488, but with an 80GB hard drive, an improved LCD display, and a colorful user-friendly unit design! With the TASCAM 2488MKII 24-Track Digital Recording Workstation you can record 8 inputs into the XLR and 1/4" inputs simultaneously. 20 physical faders control the mixdown channels, and each channel has 3-band EQ and access to 3 built-in effects processors. A built-in standard MIDI player and General MIDI sound module provide an additional stereo sound source for fuller arrangements. For the final mix, the built-in CD-RW drive can record the 2-track master mixdown in addition to backing up the hard drive and importing and exporting WAV files. A high-speed USB 2.0 jack connects to PC for data backup and SMF/WAV file transfer.

[dlh]

Quality: 9
The Tascam is built solid.
Sounds as good as any other stand alone I've used.
It did what it was advertised to do, and more. It made me happy.

Reliability: 9
I've had it over a year and a half. No problems until I opened the cd drive and took out a disk, turn to get a blank from the far end of my desk and the back of the chair snapped off the drawer. But I look at it as a fail safe. If it didn't snap off it could of cause real damage inside.
I've had no dealing with support, no need.

Overall Rating: 9
This is one fine machine.
I own two Korg machines and the 2488. Each one has something that makes it special, but overall, I'd say the Tascam 2488 is as good or maybe a little better to learn on than the Korgs I have.
If my 2488 burnt up, I would buy a new or used one without thinking of shopping for a bigger one.

[tclei1]

Hi dlh!

Have you done any audio multitrack recording on a PC?

I'm moving my audio recording from my PC [Sonar 5] to the Tascam, and I need to exchange notes with someone who's controlling the Tascam from the PC software.

Thanks much in advance!

Peace!

[Empire895]

Question for you all....

Is there a big difference between the MKII and the NEO.

the NEO runs $100 more but I cannot easily distinguish the difference between the two other than the mixdown button talked about on the NEO that allows you to bypasss the touch screen and go right into mix down mode.

What is the difference between the two models.... is it worth the extra money to buy the NEO over the MKII.

Thanks

[sebastien^_^]

how can you record a full drum using only 4 xlr.....

without losing quality??

[jjhf5678]

I've had my 2488 MKII for over a year with no problems (knocking on wood!) and tho I've only used it for maybe 30-40 hours, it does indeed work great. It's tough to get lots of gain (ie: loud recordings) out of it, but other than that, the sound quality is good. I'm getting some new mic pre's (ART Pre Channels) so maybe that will allow me to do some "louder" recording?? I like the piece overall and almost went the computer route recently but something makes me want to stay with this...I guess the somewhat cheap price of this and the fact that I would need to update my Mac/buy software/buy a interface.

Empire895, I'm pretty sure the main difference is that the NEO has more effects built in. Other than that, about the same model.

Sebastien, I'll be using mine to record my kit with 2 overheads, a snare mic, and a kick mic. Will be doing this soon and will let you know. You could also use outboard mic pre's to take the signal from XLR to 1/4" and use the other 4 inputs to get 8 channels total (not ideal I know, but possible).

[Empire895]

Thanks for your insight.

I haven't had much time to noodle with mine, did a basic track recording with vocals but still have to make some time to use this baby for what I bought it for......

thanks again!

[jjhf5678]

Yeah, I've only used my 2488 MKII maybe 10 minutes in the past year...and that was only to try the two Audix F15s I picked up. Still waiting for my ART pre's (should be here tomm!!) so I can start writing a new song or two.

I take it you ended up getting the NEO version?? You enjoying it?? Never used that one myself, just read about it online. Hope we can BOTH start finding/making some time to record!!

[john67elliott]

The Neo has better mastering tools. Saw a video about it from Pro Audio videos on youtube. They also took out the rythym thing, I think, to make it more dedicated to mastering tools and effects. Looked pretty groovy to me. Check it out....