Twenty-five years after the introduction of the first Portastudio, Tascam has introduced the DP-01, shown at right, and DP-01FX, 8-track Digital Portastudios starting at under $400.

The DP-01 and DP-01 FX feature the one-knob-per-function design found on TASCAM cassette Portastudios to get rid of the page-shift-menu interface.

The DP-01 has two mic inputs on 1/4″ TRS jacks for dual mono or stereo recording. Its eight tracks record at uncompressed CD quality to an internal 40GB hard drive, and a stereo master track is available for recording a mix. Each channel of the DP-01 has a 45mm volume fader, plus dedicated controls for pan, effects send, high EQ and low EQ. An LCD display shows meters, editing settings and locate points. The DP-01 has a USB 2.0 jack for file backup and transferring mixes to a computer. There are analog RCA line outputs, a headphone out and S/PDIF line output.

The DP-01FX adds XLR microphone inputs with phantom power for connecting professional condenser microphones. It has a multieffects processor for adding effects to an instrument during recording and a reverb processor for adding effects during a mix.

Features:

• * 8-track recording at CD quality 44.1kHz/16-bit
• * 2-track simultaneous recording
• * Dedicated stereo mixdown track
• * Dedicated controls on each channel for volume, pan, effect send, EQ high and EQ low
• * Eight 45mm Faders plus a dedicated Master fader
• * Two-band semi-parametric EQ per track
• * Two 1/4″ TRS mic/line inputs
• * Two phantom powered XLR microphone inputs (DP-01FX only)
• * Guitar level input
• * Built-in reverb processor (DP-01FX only)
• * Built-in multieffects processor (DP-01FX only)
• * Effects send and stereo return
• * RCA line outputs
• * S/PDIF Digital Optical output
• * Headphone output with level control
• * Midi Timecode and MIDI Clock Output
• * USB 2.0 port for computer backup
• * Track editing: copy, paste, move, erase, silence
• * Built-in 40GB hard drive

The DP-01 and DP-01FX are the latest editions to TASCAM’s “Capture Your Art” line of products. These products are designed with a low price and simple user interface to help musicians who are just getting their start with recording. An accompanying “How to Capture Your Art” guide introduces multitrack recording to beginners, and store displays put products near guitars and instruments where musicians are most comfortable.

For more information, visit the Tascam site.