What do you think about this?

[Hook]

So I've got my eye on this Tascam Pocketstudio 5 for Pan.

 I'm not willing to spend too much but the auction ends tonight and we'll see how high it goes. My questions are these...
1) Has anyone ever used one? Opinions?
2) It seems that you can only use compact flash cards up to 128mb, does anyone know if that was ever      upgraded?
3) how much music/time does 128mb allow?
4) do you think the boss br 900, 128mb card would work in the machine?

It seems like a neat little 4 track with alot of features & would be perfect for Pan to learn how to record with.
As always thanks for your help!
Rock On!

[Redler]

It looks nice, but I think it is very difficult find Compact Flash cards, anymore. What about second hand Micro BR for a first recorder?

[peterp]

CF cards are actually very common in pro photo gear, but usually in very large sizes 16Gb to 512Gb.

I see amazon has some CF cards as small as 32mb still listed!
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_in_-2_p_n_feature_five_bro_8?rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A541966%2Cn%3A172456%2Cn%3A516866%2Cn%3A1197392%2Ck%3ACompact+Flash+Card%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A677885011&bbn=1197392&keywords=Compact+Flash+Card&ie=UTF8&qid=1404235029&rnid=673240011

A Sandisk 128mb is still there too!
http://www.amazon.com/128MB-Sandisk-Compact-SDCFB-128-SDCFJ-128/dp/B001LGAKT8/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1404235041&sr=1-3&keywords=Compact+Flash+Card
Tad expensive for what you get!

The Tascam FAQ states 128mb as the max.
http://tascam.com/content/downloads/products/347/ps5_faq.pdf

[Blooby]

Record four digital audio tracks on Compact Flash media
Internal synthesizer module for playback of MIDI sequence files
Over 100 built-in high-quality effects for vocals, guitars and other instruments
Playback MP3 audio files
Audio/MIDI editing: copy/paste with bars/beats, bounce tacks, automate punch-in/out
USB port for interfacing your music with Mac® and Windows® computers
Mixdown to MP3 format for putting your music on web sites and emailing to friends
Includes 100 song styles that can be re-arranged to create original music
Also includes a built-in condenser mic, a headset mic, an AC power supply and a 32MB Compact Flash card
Up to 9 songs per card

[64Guitars]

2) It seems that you can only use compact flash cards up to 128mb, does anyone know if that was ever upgraded?

I don't think so. I had a quick look at the release notes for the updates and didn't see any mention of a change in the memory capacity.

http://tascam.com/product/pocketstudio5/downloads/

3) how much music/time does 128mb allow?

It depend on the number of tracks used and whether you mix down on the Pocketstudio 5 or not. If you use all 4 tracks and mix down to a stereo MP3 file on the Pocketstudio 5, a 128 MB card can record up to 44.1 minutes. If you don't mix down on the Pocketstudio 5 (ie; you record its Line Out to another recorder instead), you can record up to 66.1 minutes on a 128 MB card.

See the FAQ for more info:

http://tascam.com/content/downloads/products/347/ps5_faq.pdf

4) do you think the boss br 900, 128mb card would work in the machine?

Sure, I don't see any reason why not. Of course, you'd have to format it in the Pocketstudio before using it.

Internal synthesizer module for playback of MIDI sequence files

That's a cool feature. MIDI files take up hardly any room and there are lots of them available on the internet. You can play these in the Pocketstudio as backing tracks without using any of the available recording time.

It also has a standard 5-pin MIDI In connector so you can connect a MIDI keyboard controller to play the Pocketstudio's internal synth. I don't think you can record the synth as MIDI or to an audio track but you can record it as part of the mix when bouncing or on final mixdown.

[Hook]

I'm so ticked, I crashed and missed the auction. I was waiting to bid a few minutes before it ended but I fell asleep like 2 hours before What a dumbass I am! It sold for $27 + 7 shipping which would have been right where I wanted to be, under $40 with shipping.

Thanks for all the responses, I'm not giving up on the 5 yet as I think it looks like the perfect starter 4 track for pan.
64- Thanks brother! I had come up with the same conclusion about the upgraded cards but I think your search abilities are more perceptive than mine, thanks for checking. As Pan splits her time writing 2 novels (novella? we'll see), acting with a local kids company, reading alot, painting, sulking, sleeping & songwriting I think that 128mb will be plenty of space for a while.

It looks nice, but I think it is very difficult find Compact Flash cards, anymore. What about second hand Micro BR for a first recorder?

Yea, I thought about that but since I really can record her myself anytime I can't really justify spending more than $40 including any shipping so that eliminates the mbr. I also would like for her to have a slightly more visual introduction to recording. I dig those faders & as pointed out it has a lot of features for her to try out. There are a few more on ebay ranging from $50 to $100, one says OBO so who knows?

My other thought was Tascams im2

She has an iphone4 that here grandfather gave here and with GarageBand & her laptop, I guess she would have all she needs? I've used garageband as instruments but never to record onto, but some of you have....? Are there any good tutorial videos out there. Perhaps I should lead Pan into the future & not the distant past I so like to reside in!
As always, it's great to have place to go for help & opinions to the important aspects of life!
Rock on my friends!

[Hook]

Well I made an offer on another auction for a tascam pocketstudio 5 & she excepted the $40 price to include shipping. The problem is she has sipping charges of $50 on her listing (she claims it was a mistake) and she can't take them off without re-listing. I'll probably have to send her a money order & hope she mails it to me. I got burned this way years ago when I tried to by a Br564 on ebay. Sent the guy a money order & never got the unit. I unfortunately lost the receipt for the money order and didn't have a case for their recovery process. If it actually goes down I will be more careful.

Pan is super excited about the machine & very eager to learn...........sorry I had to wipe the tear from my eye!
Rock On!

[Speed Demon]

If you are having difficulty finding Compact Flash cards where you live, search on Amazon.
They have a number of them from several different manufacturers, and in small to large capacity.
The only limit is how much money you are prepared to spend for one.

[Hook]

Well it's paid for and now we wait, I think she'll have it by Friday. Pan's super psyched and of course I can't wait to help her learn to use it.  It comes with a card (32mb I think) and I have the 128 boss card so I think that will be good enough now to start. Since it has a usb connection & Pan has a laptop ( an audacity download is in her future also) I think one card should be plenty for a while. Once she really starts tracking out her tunes we might need another.
Thanks for those links peterp, for $22 bucks I think I i'll get another, in a few weeks, just to be on the safe side. Assuming I can figure it out, I think this will be a really great machine for Pan to learn on.
Track On!

[Hook]

We finally got it yesterday & I find it to be really cool. It's the 4 track I never new existed & I wish I would have had 10 years ago. It's was like $450 then though, I'm happy with my price of $40.
It's a little bigger than I expected, pocket size only if you wear a trench coat, but very portable. I like how it's set up, kinda like a book or pad & the menu's are very intuitive. In fact it has a lot of similarities to the boss BR's. The panning screen is almost identical, the eq is much like the 900 & the effects are called TASM...hmmmm??? I wish they had not completely abandoned the xtras because I would love them in my DP008.

Pan & I sat down yesterday and listened to all the vocal effects & did some test tracks. The mic is really nice, very clear & pics up everything. I like having the lights that show the armed tracks and the faders of course are a plus. I took pan through the menu & explained most of the features & she then quickly packed it up grabbed her (mine!) uke & went to friends. She told me she got a bit confused trying to show her friend but they did record some thing & accidentally record over it. Tried again nothing was there...all the things that always happen but they had fun & are excited. I love that Pan doesn't seem the least bit intimidated by the machine so I imagine she will be comfortable with it pretty quickly. I don't see my self getting any time with it .
Haven't tested the battery life yet but have read it's only 2 hours & it uses 6 AA's but Pan love's that she at least has the option & we haven't tried the usb connection but so far I'm really impressed with this multi-tracker.

Pan however does have a choice in her future, I just purchased a Korg D4 (in addition to the D12 I should get today ) for $35 bucks & it looks really nice.

 Effects, drums, V-tracks, simultaneous 2 track, very few menus & it uses 1g compact flash, which I have a few. I don't think it runs on batteries though. I should get that next week & whichever one she picks I have to sell the other but that shouldn't be a problem, in fact I think I'll double my money at least on either of them selling it locally.
There you have for anyone with interest.
Rock On!