TASCAM Portacapture X8 - Portable 6+2-Track High-Resolution 32-bit float/192-kHz Recorder, usb2.0

Product Information

The firmware releases seem to be mainly concentrated on operational stability, which is quite important to get right. It should be clear by now that I am quite taken with the Portacapture X8. The GUI is nicely thought through and easy to use; the separate apps for different tasks provide plenty of hand‑holding, but as the Manual app lets you access all parameters none of that gets in the way of the expert user. The onboard mics are capable of making good recordings and the preamps excellent ones. Podcast: Though obviously not the equal of dedicated podcast hardware, this app nevertheless offers a number of useful facilities to aid in the creation of podcasts.

Slate tones can be added automatically or manually to simplify synchronization of video files when editingTotal harmonic distortion ratio (THD+N, 1 kHz sine wave, –5 dBFS at input, GAIN at minimum, 20 kHz SPCL LPF)

The Manual app also features a Recording Guide turned on by default. This walks you through the recommended workflow and can be helpful at first, but most people will want to turn it off after their first couple of recordings. For customers in outlying areas of the country, the price of the Extended Warranty may be marginally higher, due to the potential for higher collection and redelivery transport costs. As you can see in the photo, I mounted the X6 and X8 next to each other and set them recording using the Manual recording app, with similar settings in both cases. I recorded one instrumental tune (fiddle and concertina) and one unaccompanied vocal harmony song together with my wife Anne Gregson. I transferred them to my DAW (Logic Pro X) but, apart from normalising the volumes to make comparisons easier, I did no other processing on them. I then had a listen... Wireless remote control is possible via the TASCAM Portacapture Control using the optional AK-BT1 Bluetooth dongle with your Android or iOS device. Audio interface. The X8 can be used an audio interface while also capturing audio from the onboard microphones at the same time, and recording to the microSD card too. It can’t be used at 192 kHz in this mode, though.I always recommend my students play with the equipment to understand it better before they go out on a shoot. Not following my own advice, I went on location with a shotgun microphone to record some sound effects. Please note that this extended warranty is currently only available on products sold within the UK, EU or EEA, and is subject to the terms and conditions as detailed on the extended warranty certificate provided. A third problem I noticed is unexpected bursts of noise, mostly when signal reaches 0dB but not only, both in 24 and 32 bit recording modes. This is probably related to limiters, although it happens even when they aren’t engaged. Speaking of which, the limiters cause an unnatural pumping effect that makes them unusable.