Tascam has a hit on its hands. That's my opinion, at least, after giving its new DP-01 a test drive. I'm going to spring for one and I bet a lot of other musicians will too, because the DP-01 has a combination of features not found in other digital recorders. It's easy to operate, delivers a full eight tracks of CD-quality recording, and it is surprisingly affordable.

I have always been attracted to the popular tabletop studios for what they can do, but put off by the price and their complexity. Like many musicians, I want to make music, not be an engineer. All the digital workstations and studios I've gotten close to seem too complicated. By the time you get through a 300-page manual, learn to navigate through layers of menus and screens, and use buttons that each do about a zillion different things, you've forgotten how to play your instrument.

Simple is beautiful
The DP-01 is Tascam's response to the problems that are inherent in most digital studio devices. I use a Tascam cassette Portastudio for song writing purposes and love it for its simplicity. So I was eager to check out a digital unit that had Tascam's Portastudio thinking applied to its design. It sounded like my kind of machineósimple, affordable, and not overly fancy.

I should mention first that there are two DP-01s, the DP-01 and the DP-01FX. The unit I tried out was the DP-01FX, which in addition to all the cool features of the DP-01 has onboard effects and XLR inputs offering phantom power for condenser mics.

On the DP-01 recorders, nearly every button has just a single function and the buttons are clearly labeled. It has the buttons and wheels that are standard on digital machines of this sort, but there's also a set of controls that look like those on any cassette recorder: play, fast forward and reverse, stop, and record. They add a reassuring touch of familiarity for those of us who like the old ways.

The mixer layout is also standard. There are two assign buttons and a row of buttons over the tracks marked REC for selecting or turning off a particular track and a number of other dedicated buttons for effects and editing. Compared to other digital recorders, the DP-01 recorders are an open book.

Flying blind
I decided to give the DP-01FX the acid test for intuitive designóI would see if I could lay tracks without opening the manual. Without boring you with a button-by-button account I managed to start it up, create a song file, load it, assign one of its two inputs to channel one, plug my guitar in and get a level that wouldn't clip, adjust my headphone volume. I was ready. I pushed down the record and play buttons just as you do on a cassette machine and started playing.

After a few times around a blues progression, I pushed stop and then rewound. When I hit play, there wasóa clear raw track. It was so easy I couldn't believe it. The whole process took me about 15 minutes and I hadn't looked at the manual once. With this success, I was so taken with the DP-01 that I wanted to read it and know more.

The manual proved to be as easy to follow as the machine itself. It's 66-pages in all, and the pages aren't crowded. It starts with all the basic, easy stuff: how to start it up, how to record, how to save what you've done, and how to shut it off. These are the basics, but there's a whole lot more to this baby.

Extensive effects
I expected the DP-01FX, at its relatively low price, probably didn't carry a huge package of effects. I was wrong. It's loaded. Actually there are two processors: a multi-effects processor for use in recording, and a separate reverb processor for use in mix down and mastering. The multi-effect section is divided into guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drum and vocal effects.

There are dozens of different settings for guitar, close to a dozen for acoustic guitar, a bunch for bass, and so forth. The effects are also easily tweakable via a parameter knob. Sampling through the guitar effects, I found they sound quite goodónot the least bit cheesyóand they give you lots of options for adding color to your tracks.

The right stuff
For such an affordable device, the DP-01s have a surprising number of cool features: a hidden stereo channel for mixdown so you get use all eight channels to record on. Phantom power on the XLR inputs lets you use condenser recording mics, and auto punch capability lets you easily re-record over goof-ups. It has all the basic digital track editing functionsócopy, paste, move, erase, silence, undo/redoóthat make song construction and fix-ups so easy.

Another very cool aspect of the DP-01 recorders is its extensive connectivity. Besides RCA line output and effects send and return, it has S/PDIF digital optical output, MIDI timecode output, and a USB 2.0 port for easy connection to computer. Last but not least is its 40GB drive that gives you tons of recording time for eight tracks (at least 17 hours, and that's a lot of songs).

Wrapping it up
The DP-01s are perfect digital recorder/mixers for musicians who want to create full band recordings but aren't aiming for monster productions. They are perfect for anyone who finds most digital recorders too complicated, or wants quality finished recordings, but doesn't want to pay for capabilities that aren't needed. Most importantly, the low prices of the DP-01 models make them accessible to many more musicians. If you have effects units you can use outboard and want to save a few bucks, go for the DP-01. If you want the XLR inputs and the convenience of everything in one box, the DP-01FX is your baby. They're great machines. Good job, Tascam.

DP-01 Features:
8-track recording, uncompressed CD quality
40GB hard drive
2-track simultaneous recording
Dedicated stereo mixdown track
Channel controls: volume, pan, EFX send
2-band semi-parametric EQ each channel
2 1/4" TRS mic/line inputs
2 XLR mic inputs with phantom power (DP-01FX)
Guitar level input
Built-in reverb processor (DP-01FX)
Built-in insert multi-effects processor (DP-01FX)
Effects send and stereo return
RCA line output
S/PDIF digital optical output
Headphone output with level
MIDI Timecode output
USB 2.0 port for computer connection
Track editing: copy, paste, move, erase, and silence

Don't let another great musical idea get away. Order your DP-01 and start capturing ideas and filling your CD with your own tunes. Musician's Friend guarantees the lowest price and your complete satisfaction, and we know you'll love the DP-01 or DP-01FX.




The DP-01FX features the one-knob-per-function design that has made TASCAM cassette Portastudios the choice of thousands of musicians. It shatters the confusing page-shift-menu interface found in most other digital recorders. The DP-01FX has 2 - 1/4 " TRS mic/

Features the one-knob-per-function design that has made Tascam cassette Portastudios the choice of thousands of musicians. The DP-01 eliminates the confusing page-shift-menu interface popular with most other digital recorders.Designed to be as uncomplicated too

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