TASCAM 2488

I have the MkII version of the 2488. Ease of use is good in general, as always some things are buried in menus but navigation is not bad. Assigning inputs to tracks and FX processing is flexible and simple, a serious step above the Boss multitrackers I've owned. The manual is OK but lacks an index. The ability to name tracks is a big aid during mixdown.

The onboard FX processing is a weak point. I don't even bother with the guitar FX, limiting myself to the "mike effects" (compression, reverb). Unlike my old Boss unit, this has two real (mono) FX sends which lets me use outboard gear instead.

The sound of the recorder itself is fine esp. for this price point as it's uncompressed and 24 bit unlike Boss.

The need to "premaster" your mix before you can burn a CD is a time waster, it's easier to transfer your mix via USB to your computer for burning.

Out of the box I have one "sticky" button but luckily no other issues (yet). It's not the most rugged piece of gear...why do you think it's so cheap?

I have issues with MIDI timing (both MIDI clock and MTC) getting out of sync unless you always start the transport at time 0. This is a real annoyance if you need to jump a few minutes into the song to do an overdub or edit. Pretty pathetic for the 12st century.

Have not dealt with Tascam yet, but found a lot of help at the user-run Tascam Forums website. Tascam's online support (FAQS, etc.) is weak.

Strictly a good bang for the buck purchase. To get 24 tracks at 24 bit in a standalone multitracker form anyone else would be 2x-3x the price. It's the cheapest solution that lets you record 8 tracks at a time. Since all mixer controls send MIDI data, you can automate your mixes using an outboard sequencer. Downsides are buggy MIDI sync, weak FX, fussy CD "mastering" flow and cheap construction...my Boss was also plastic but felt much more robust. If you plan on using it for 40 hours a week all year long I'd look elsewhere. If lost or stolen I would buy something else although it would cost me a lot more money.

I purchased the 2488 Neo version of the unit. I dont know if something is wrong with the unit or what but the first track records beautifully. When I select and record the next track it seems to lose its stereo separation. The manual is far too technically oriented. The editing of patches is cumbersome and confusing, and placing "in and out" points to let the machine know where recording starts and stops was quite confusing.

I am using a Roland-ready Stratocaster with the guitar jack going through a Boss GT-10 and the midi output going through a GR20 guitar synth. It is not noisy the recorder just takes something multi-layerd and makes it flat. Distortions are very bad with this unit.

I never even thought about dependability I was wallowing in frustration trying to get decent sound from it.

I didnt call them I knew I wouldnt be keeping this unit.

I play neo-classical Yngwie type rock. I have been playing 32 years.
If someone stole it I would say thank you because at least I could claim it on insurance. I am very disappointed I have been using Boss BR-series recorders since 1999 and while they dont have studio quality at least they were usable and souded multi-layered, not like a transistor radio like this thing.

It would be easy to use if the damn thing worked. General experience with studio in a box type gear will easily lend you the expertise necessary to operate this peice of crap.

Good sound quality for such a terribly built unit. Especially if you take your tracks to a real studio for mixing. I was able to easily get the same quality SIGNAL from good mics and good gear as the $50 an hour studio down the street. It's too bad I could only use every fourth take when I could make it through without it crashing. Mixdown is another story. Will make for good demos if you mix using this unit, but I found my demo turned into an album when I took the tracks to a studio.

THE WORST PILE OF CRAP EVER. I WOULD NEVER BUY THIS PRODUCT. Freezes constantly, have to save after EVERY single take. I have owned many portstudios and this is by far the WORST. Never had so many problem in 6 short months. I bought it new and watched this thing breakdown more in 6 months than than Pinto.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

Portable 24 track recorder with an adequet viewing screen and pretty well laid out control surface. Software is compatable with XP and Vista.

XLR and 1/4" input jacks feel secure but dont be rough with them. Wouls liked to have them mounted on top of the unit instead of the rear for better accessability.

Plenty of conections for the home based user, the usual options for mixing, EQ, effects are included here. CD burner onboard for all in one operation. Very good sound reproduction.

All the typical power adaptations are in this 2488, nothing fancy. You may experience some noise through your monitors/speakers if your area/house has some grounding issues. I cured this by putting a 2 prong adapter plug on the cord, eliminating the ground and that made for noiseless operation. I did the same for my Korg M3. Sometimes you have to make these little additions for quiet operation. The 2488 is not the source of this ocasional noise rather the house wiring is generally the culpret.

Computer friendly, good connectivity. READ THE MANUAL AND GET FAMILIAR WITH IT FIRST, there is allot you can do with this unit.

For the home user and doing your band demos/cd or just plain putting your own music into a CD for the sheer fun of it this Tascam 2488 is versitile and a very good unit to have around. Read the manual along with sitting in front to the controls to get familiar with all the features and it will be worth the price. Dont worry, you wont mess anything up bu pushing the wrong button, trial and error is all part of the learning curve. One suggestion is to NOT buy one used off of EBay. You will be stuck with the other owners settings that will be a pain to undo, tattered manual (if they can find it), worn faders, dust and scratches on the control surface, etc. Start fresh with a new one from somewhere who will accept a return for refund if you dont care fot it. I bought it new and kept it, didnt really change any of the factory settings or abused it. Good coustomer service and warranty if needed.

This is the worst purchase you can make!!!!
The manual is the worst I have seen and the support from ta-SCAM, is the pits.
pass over this item

no big deal....

crashes all the time...stay away

they ahve two people for the whole USA....THE SUPPORT IS NON-EXISTENT

JUNK...RUN

Just Read the manual

The Pre amps are the best i have worked with an all in one.

So far so good. I use it for live as well as recording and dumping into computer.

Never used it.

I didnt pay that much for it. I play Gospel, Jazz, Ranb piano and a lot of Live Production. For what i have paid i like it. I dont even use a seperate mixer for it. The pre amps are that good.

If you read the manual it is easy after a few days of study

EXCELLENT
http://www.isound.com/alleycat_va
here is some recordings I done you tell me if not excellent

Tascam came in the picture when there was not many 24 track 40 GB hard drives on the market and set a price that everyone could afford.
I have owed 3 over the past several years and never had a problem with anu of them for this reason.
1- I take care of what I pay money for..
2- I went over the manual several times before I used the unit.
80 percent of the people that buy one skip point 1 and 2
I have made CDs that sound as if recorded off a 40.000,00 unit
so please
take care of the unit and it will last many years...

Never needed them

One of the best 24 tracks on the market for the price you pay

read the manual people... not that hard

pretty darn good except for the noisy guitar effects , and the mastering is limited ( I have the early model,so I'm not commenting on the mkII ). Actual recording is very good althogh I'd use some other guitar effects and I'd use some software for mastering ( I like ozone)

I guess I'm lucky... NO PROBLEMS HERE

again no problems so I haven't had to deal with them

I play all sorts of music and have even used it to record other peoples stuff. They were happy and so am I. You may find it hard to get a real 'polished' 'commercial mix' as the mastering is very basic ( maybe im just a mastering dummy)but the recorded sound is very 'clean' as long as YOU dont clip it. Also the guitar effects are a noisy let down so I use a pod or just mic an amp.Other than that I'm very happy with this unit. I have recorded tons of music with it , infact I used up all the space and had to make some room on the HD.

When it functioned, the unit was fairly logical to operate. HOWEVER, mine (like countless others) crashed occasionally, then constantly, now simply refuses to boot up. I had recorded a total of 24 songs - not exactly running it into the ground! What I did record, is now irretrievable without expensive repair. With so many alternatives on the market, SPARE YOURSELF THE HEARTACHE AND AVOID THIS UNIT ALTOGETHER! IT HAS AN AWFUL REPUTATION (CHECK IT OUT) WHY DO YOU THINK THE PRICE DROP IS SO DRAMATIC!

Again, WHEN it worked, sound quality was ok. Duller than my old MIDIMAN D/A converters.

The unit always crashed when I attempted to patch in FX. Now it doesn't even boot up. After researching on-line, I discovered that THEY OVERHEAT!!!!!!

AVOID THIS UNIT. THERE IS NO COINCIDENCE WHY THE PRICE DROPPED SO DRAMATICALLY. None of the on-line retailers (Musician's Friend etc.) would let me post a negative review. So don't rely on them.

Read what others here have to say.

NO. NEVER. DO NOT TRUST THIS UNIT. SEARCH ON-LINE. YOU'LL DISCOVER THEY OVERHEAT AND CRASH. PERHAPS TASCAM HAVE FIXED THIS PROBLEM WITH VERSION II, BUT I WOULDN'T RISK IT.

TASCAM OFFERS ZEEEEEEERO CUSTOMER SUPPORT. F*CK 'EM.

I have vintage gear from the 60's, 70's and 80's that out perform this glorified paperweight.

READ/CHECK ELSEWHERE. YOU CAN NOT REACH CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

Perhaps the switchboard was inundated with furious 2488 customers.

I've dealt with EMU, AKAI, even CASIO with much greater success.

Avoid Tascam. Spend your hard-earned cash elsewhere.

30 years exp. Pro. Live, work in LA. Love vintage keys - and they all function better than this piece of garbage.

If it were stolen, then at least I could claim for it on my insurance.

I have some old electronic gadgets that my kids use as toys. That's about all this is good for.

There's a TON of recording options these days. Why bother dealing with a company who produces a $1,000+ unit that overheats, and then provide no customer support. As I said, there's a REASON the priced dropped so much.

It's like a lot of current/modern equipment - a lot of the controls do more than wone thing, or you have to use more than one button to do one thing. That's the price you pay for not having a board with 250 knobs on it.
That said, if you have a decent grasp of technology, you shouldn't have much problem with this thing. You do have a learning curve, and I'm sure it's difficult for some. But I was up n running and using 80% of the features within a day or two.

I think it sounds great. I haven't worked in a pro studio with $10,000 mic pre-amps or anything, but I think it sounds great for everyone else. I will go along with a lot of others who've said the effects don't sound as good as outboard stuff (duh...), but at least they have fully adjustable parameters. I've use units with built-in effects where they're totally fixed. Sux.

This seems to be everyone's problem with this unit...and yet - except for the unit being very fussy about CD-RW's, I've had no problems with it. No firmware problems, no crashes, no lockups, no power supply problems. After owning it for 2 years, the jog wheel has gotten dusty and will occasionally jitter a bit when you use it, but otherwise, it's been a workhorse for me. I should probably mention it's been in my home studio, not on the road or gigged.

For the few times I've had to deal with them, I've found them very middle-of-the-road. I wouldn't consider this a selling point for this, or any, Tascam unit.

Overall...well, I'd say it was worth every penny. If you do your homework and decide that this is a suitable unit for your abilities and your needs, you really can't go wrong. I think the people who are unhappy with it (not counting the ones who got lemons) are ones who need a unit that's above or below this one in terms of quality, features, whatever.