Topic: Tascam DR-40 - how is it now?

[Karl]

It's been about a year since this has been out http://tascam.com/product/dr-40/

There hasn't been many threads about this. It looks like a really nice recorder and I am surprised it hasn't had more love here. It's small, a good brand, it has a nice price, and it supports 48V phantom power. It looks like it could be a GREAT all in one recorder if you want to run Phantom power.

Pros?

Cons?

How clean are the pre amps?

Ease of use?

How is it for handling loud signals?

How is it for recording anything with a lot of dynamic range (classical music etc?)

(as a side note, I will be using this or whatever I end up purchasing to record everything from drums up close to classical music with AT-853 mics)

[acidjack]

I own one. I'd call it "alright". 

Pros:
Cheapest thing with P48
Battery life seems good (at least 4hrs of P48 with at least some mics)
Decent internal mics (handled being onstage with fairly loud electric guitar fine)

Cons:
Not very easy to use.  Menus not very intuitive, as I think is a problem for many Tascam products
No digital in/out 
Build quality is eh.  Feels "plasticky". Again, another Tascam issue.

Price is right, and if you don't care about the digi-in of the DR-100mkII I think this is the cheapest P48 all-in-one on the market.  I have not tested it enough to make a definitive statement on the pres.

Here's something I recorded with the internals, judge for yourself:  http://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc/william-tyler-cult-of-the

[Karl]

Thanks for the input!

[Karl]

Noticed another con. Not the best taper friendly....inputs are limited to xlr and dual 1/4 inch. Not incredibly versatile for taper needs.

[nor-cal henry]

I am brand new to all of this.  I own a dr-40 and really like it.  I don't have any problems with the menus, but I've also owned a dr-07mkII for a while, so I'm used to the Tascam recorder menu layout.

I've only recorded 3 bands with it.  Links to a pair of the recordings are below.  They are not prefect examples, because I added in a sbd feed for a little more drums for American Jubilee.   Tim from Mother Hips was sick that night, so the sbd vocals also helped.

I also recorded Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and really liked how that show came out.  But that's not posted anywhere.

Again, I am brand new, but I really like the dr-40 so far.  No issues for me at all, at least not yet.  Battery life has not been a problem, but I do use new batteries every time that I record a show.  I use the leftovers for my band rehearsals.

http://archive.org/details/aj2012-12-28.flac16

http://archive.org/details/mh2012-12-28.flac16

[F.O.Bean]

I really like the matrix of the Mother Hips Nice job!

[adrianf74]

I really like the matrix of the Mother Hips Nice job!

What Bean said... nice job on the Mother Hips show.   

[nor-cal henry]

Wow, just noticed your responses....thank you for the kind words.  I know from reading these boards over the past few months how much you guys record, so thanks for the feedback. 

Working on getting some BSC-1s.

[jbou]

Menus not very intuitive, as I think is a problem for many Tascam products

I'm curious, what don't you like about the menus? I was just playing around with a DR-40 for the first time tonight and after 30 min or so didn't seem to have a problem doing the things I needed to. I don't really mind the way they have it setup. Doesn't seem terribly different than my R-05

[Karl]

I just got the Tascam DR100 mkii....and while there are some minor times where it's slightly confusing, I was able to figure out things quite easily.