Tascam - MF-P01
Ah, yes the MF-P01. This was the first 4-track bought around 10 years ago. Before I started KOLP, I used this to record demos for a few hardcore projects I had done. This was a great introduction into tape recording because the unit was so simple. Plug a mic into the unit's singular input, arm the track, set your gain with the master fader, then press play/record. Bam, you have a recording.
I enjoyed the simplicity of this thing. Just plug and play. I also enjoyed the results when recording drums. I would place it 3' behind me, in-between my hi-hats, with the mic pointing towards the center of the kit. I used that method for the Soft Landing e.p. and loved the results after a little EQ action. The kick drum sound nice and punchy, and definitely had some power to it.
The only downside to this unit is that it has only one mic input and L/R line out for monitoring. Not a lot of options to bounce your tracks to create more tracks, then keep your recording in stereo on the way back in. Also, no EQ section, so place those mics carefully because you get what you get! Overall it's a great unit for folks looking into 4-tracks or just want to jot some quick notes down.
Tascam 424 MKIII
The 424 MKIII is an interesting unit. For whatever reason, the workflow seems a little weird on this thing for me. I don't pull this unit out very often because of that. I'm sure it's just me not putting in the time/effort to really understand this thing. I need to because I dialed in a really good drum sound while recording the S/T Ep recorded last spring. I utilized the old Glyn Johns technique if anyone was wondering. I liked what I pulled out of the mixer section of this unit as well. The EQ section gave me a really dark sound and I was able to control the high end of the cymbals in a manner where I didn't need to use too much knob twist or use other outboard equipment.
Tascam 488 MKII
The 488MKII is hands down my favorite unit. This thing just does it all for me. I can record on the first 4 tracks simultaneously with the first 2 inputs having phantom power and still have enough tracks available to do everything else. The mic inputs give off a really dark sound which is something I dig. I'm not a huge fan of super bright cymbals, so it saves me some work. The mixer section on this unit also gives me more flexibility to shape my sound. I'll even bounce mixes recorded on other units to the 488 to take advantage of the sound I get from it.
Tascam 424 MKI
The 424 is my scratch pad. I love this thing. It's a little bright, but it's easy to set up and use. I think the only thing I released that I recorded on this thing was "The Cycle" cassingle. I love the fact that it has the 1-4 tracks out, so I can bounce tracks to my computer or even another tape machine.
Tascam 244
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