Zoom H2 vs. Tascam DP-004

[bfloyd6969]

I've read very good things about the Zoom H2 and was just about to finally order one of these for recording just a single guitar and single voice. Of course with the H2 being a single recording source, the guitar and voice would need to be done at the same time. Once I got to looking around more I noticed for the same price the Tascam DP-004. This is a four track recorder and would allow the guitar and voice to be recorded seperately if/when so desired. Of course this means nothing to me if the sound quality of the DP-004 is not as good as the H2. Does anyone have experience with both of these units to comment on this? Thanks.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H2/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DP004/

[Ed422]

Originally Posted by bfloyd6969

I've read very good things about the Zoom H2 and was just about to finally order one of these for recording just a single guitar and single voice. Of course with the H2 being a single recording source, the guitar and voice would need to be done at the same time. Once I got to looking around more I noticed for the same price the Tascam DP-004. This is a four track recorder and would allow the guitar and voice to be recorded seperately if/when so desired. Of course this means nothing to me if the sound quality of the DP-004 is not as good as the H2. Does anyone have experience with both of these units to comment on this? Thanks.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H2/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DP004/

I have both. I think the mics/mic directions are better on the Zoom. I got a good deal on one of the Tascam's. It is pretty good and great using better mics and the line ins. For old people like me, the interface is more familiar, too. (grin)

Ed

[centerpunch]

You'll be surprised how quickly those four tracks fill up.

If it's in the budget, spend $100 more for the DP-008.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DP008/

(I actually have an older generation Tascam DP-02, but I'd get the DP-008 if I was buying one today.)

I also have the FourTrack app for my iPhone ($10), and that's what I use most of the time!
http://www.sonomawireworks.com/iphone/fourtrack/

I use the built-in phone mike, but here's a video with an accessory mike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcYlNolI_ic

[bfloyd6969]

Originally Posted by centerpunch

You'll be surprised how quickly those four tracks fill up.

If it's in the budget, spend $100 more for the DP-008.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DP008/

(I actually have an older generation Tascam DP-02, but I'd get the DP-008 if I was buying one today.)

I also have the FourTrack app for my iPhone ($10), and that's what I use most of the time!
http://www.sonomawireworks.com/iphone/fourtrack/

I use the built-in phone mike, but here's a video with an accessory mike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcYlNolI_ic

Thanks for the replies everyone. I don't really need too many tracks. My intent was for a single guitar with a single voice. I just thought it would be nice to seperate the guitar and the vocal tracks and record them seperately. I understand with the H2, this is not an option. However, if the sound quality of the internal mics of the H2 are better than the Tascam, I don't have a problem recording both the guitar and voice together... All in all, sound quality is more important to me than multiple tracks. OTOH, if the internal mics in the Tascam are just as good as the H2, then why not have the option of mulitiple tracks

[MartinPlayer]

Have you looked at the Zoom H4n?

[dragonfly66]

I heard that the Tascam internal mics were ok but not great. I recommended the Tascam DP008 to a friend because the interface was easy to use. She will not use something that it too complicated. She also has an external mic.

If you do plan to get the DP004, I wouldn't. You can get the DP008 for almost the price of the DP004 if you go to bhphotovideo.com. She actually called Musician's Friend and they priced matched AND gave her the rebate that is happening now on the Tascam's. I'm not sure when the rebate ends.

The quality of the mics are likely acceptable but it all depends on what you are doing with the end result. If you are making a demo and burning to CD you'll need to use better mics even if you were using the H2. If you are just going to share the recordings by MP3, WAV or some other compressed format I'm not sure it is going to make that big of a difference.

The 8 track will give you room to grow and to experiment. As soon as you start into multi-tracking you'll want more tracks.

[powerpopper]

What about the Boss BR-800? I had a BR-600 that was great but this thing looks killer:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BR800