TASCAM Portacapture X8 32-bit 8-Channel Multitrack Field Recorder

I have had the Tascam X8 for about a year and I would like to correct some false criticisms in the reviews.1. The X8 is very quiet. You will not hear ANY noise from the unit in your recordings. Reviews that state otherwise are not accurate.2. The touchscreen works flawlessly. I have never had it "freeze up," nor are there "lines in the display." Now it's not going to have as great a display as a Galaxy S23 Ultra - that's a silly expectation. However, it does have good resolution and color. It is sharp, clear and easy to see.3. The touchscreen is very quick and responsive. I own a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which is a very powerful smartphone, and I have been pleasantly surprised at how quick and responsive the touchscreen is. It is very quick and it never slows you down. It's not quite smartphone quick, but it's damn close.4. The Bluetooth control is freaking amazing. You have access to ALL of the recorder's controls using wireless Bluetooth. When connected to my S22 Ultra, the response is nearly instantaneous - there are no delays. Keep in mind that no other audio recorder in this ranges offers you full control of the recorder wirelessly (to my knowledge). It is very convenient to be able to mount the recorder where I am going to play guitar and record my songs and then control the recorder with my phone. Also having Bluetooth control of the recorder eliminates handling noise that accompanies all handheld recorders. Definitely spend the $50.00 on the optional Bluetooth module.5. The audio quality of the recordings I have made has bee excellent. The X8 has been compared to the MixPre 6II audio recorder which costs twice as much. I don't own the MixPre 6II, but according to one review by a professional, the MixPre 6II has slightly better dynamic range, meaning it supposedly records more of the sound spectrum. However, I am not sure if you played a recording made by the X8 side by side with the same recording made on the MixPre 6II that you would able to hear an actual difference. However, considering that the X8 costs half the price as the MixPre 6II, and it has an excellent touchscreen interface, and it has superb Bluetooth control, there really is no comparison. The UI on the MixPre 6II is knobs - which is practically caveman in comparison. Professionals who review audio recorders are now saying that even $150.00 recorders produce high fidelity recordings, and that there is very little difference, if any, between a $5000 recorder and a $500 recorder.6. I just updated the unit to the latest firmware version V1.32 and I had no problems. Tascam provides step by step directions. If you follow the directions, it is easy to do firmware updates. I had some apprehensions about this because updating firmware on a device like this can brick the device if it is done wrong. But Tascam's instructions worked the first time.7. Tascam provides new features on the X8 for free with its firmware updates. This is just superb. After I updated to the latest version, the device boots in about 5 seconds, which is much faster than before the update. The X8 turns on very quickly with a slider switch and boots quickly.8. You can connect the X8 directly to your laptop and your audio "DAW" (digital audio workstation) via a USB cable.9. The X8 can be used as an SD card reader. So after you have made audio recordings, instead of having to remove the micro SD card, you can simply plug the unit into your laptop and select the card reader function. The X8 will show up in Windows Explorer as a separate drive (it's Drive F: on my laptop). Then you can open up the file with your audio recordings and drag and drop them onto your laptop. This is simple and easy. You can also rename the Wave files whatever you want after you transfer them to your laptop. I record original songs and then transfer to my laptop and rename them.10. The X8 is pretty much bug free. Everything works as it is designed to work. Functions are very fast and work quickly.11. The touchscreen UI on the X8 is FAR easier to learn and use than the the UIs on the Zoom H6 and Zoom H8.12. For long recording sessions, you can plug the X8 into a rechargeable portable battery pack. I have a small 26 Amp hour Anker battery pack that is compact and will run the X8 for days.13. The X8 will provide phantom power for condenser mics. I have a Rode NT1 condenser mic (which is an excellent mic BTW) and the X8 powers it with no problems. The X8 also works well with dynamic mics.14. The X8 has very good sensitivity - better than the Zoom recorders I have owned. The unit will pick up sound much better than Zoom recorders I have owned.15. The X8 is FAR easier to set up for recording than the Zoom recorders I have owned. It is easy to set the gain and the mix settings for your recordings.16. The X8 allows you to add digital effects like reverb for vocal recordings. This is excellent. You can add this enhancements in your DAW, but for recording songs and vocals, it is much more convenient to add them into the original recording. Either way, it is a great feature to have.17. There are several presets on the X8 for various recording modes. For example, there is a music setting for recording instrumentals and vocals. This is very convenient and for most applications, it has enough features. If you have a more complicated recording like recording two instruments and two vocalists in a band, you can use the Manual app on the unit.18. The portable X-Y mics that come with the unit make excellent recordings. They can be set in A-B configuration if you need to create a more narrow soundstage. The only downside of the included mics is that they are made out of plastic.19. The X8 has a headphone out jack that powers studio headphones. I have not purchased headphones yet, but different reviews state that the headphone jack powers headphones very well. It has a separate chip on the motherboard dedicated to powering the headphones.20. The onboard speaker does not work well, but you will never use it anyway. You will either use headphones or connect it to your computer to play it on your sound system. It records in Wave files which are easy to transfer and play.21. The guitar tune feature did not work for me. I am not sure why, possibly I don't know how to use it. Regardless, I would never use it to tune my guitar anyway. Most guitarists and musicians have specialized tuners for their instruments. Again, let me emphasize that it probably works and I don't know how to use it. I did not spend much time trying to learn how to use it.22. You can record at 24 Bit, 96 Htz and get excellent recordings, that don't take up as much storage as 32 Bit recordings. Also, the gain is very easy to set on 24 Bit recordings. You can guess at the gain settings and you probably won't have any problems. For very difficult recordings with very "high" sounds or notes and very low sounds, you can use 32 Bit recordings. My original songs have a very wide dynamic range and I can easily record them in 24 Bit, 96 Htz settings.23. You can power this unit with a plug-in power brick you can buy from Tascam. The Zoom power bricks will also power this unit.24. It has four XLR inputs that work very well. It also has three 3.5 mm plug in inputs for lavalier mics (one is plugs into your camera).For the money, I believe this is the best audio recorder available. The MixPre recorders MAY have a little better audio quality, but they cost twice as much. I doubt if most people would be able to notice the difference between the X8 and the MixPre recorders, but keep in mind, I don't own a MixPre recorder.This unit is easy to learn and use by beginners and it has the quality and features that advanced audio recorders will want. I highly recommend it. Nothing in the $500 - $1200 price range competes with it.

So fun, and easy. Leave your engineer at the studio. You got this. Podcasting, recording gigs. Voice over work. Event loud recordings, the X8 is there. Configure XLR to line level, or mics. Condenser, and some dynamics. Though a Shure SM7B is pushing it I think. Made of a plastic chassis. So be nice to it. Not a metal thing like my Sound Devices or similar. Aimed as a Prosumer product. It scores well on sound.I mostly record 24 bit 48Khz. For video work. Marry in post. The 32 bit float is great for very loud events where clipping distortion would otherwise occur. Can be used as a USB interface in your DAW. Be sure to Match bit rate and sampling frequency though. I love the sound. The specs measure are average for the genre of recorder. The mics that come with are quite good for some meeting captures, but on your gigs, use the mics you use in your studio, or location. For investigation work this is a natural too. Small light, the LCD display and navigation menus are a treat. Best So far Tascam has done the Portacapture series. The DR family is less polished IMHO. Easy to select your record inputs, phantom power, and so on. The touch screen makes level setting easy. Everything is well thought out. Also a good mass storage device, look for your gigs under the "sound" folder. Transfer your stuff where you want. Be sure to use a dat USB C to type A cable though. You need a power adapter able to power the X8 long term. Battery life is okay. I use Lithium recharge batteries. But the AC to USB adapter is cheap and a must. Check out the manual for specifics. Compatibility is great. Go to the Tascam website and download your Windows driver. Haven't this on IOS, or Android OTG, so no comment there. The microphones are removable and fragile, so if you travel and using external mics anyway. Leave the stock X8 ones at home in a safe place. The form factor is smaller without the stock mics too. I like the X8 allot. I think my DR100 mk.3 is made better, but for sound, interface, Compatibility, and portability, it scores very well. Zoom recorders compete directly with this here. Similar build, and similar features give or take. Buy the X8 for all it does. Don't need all those channels. Save money and get the X6. Same goodness for even less. Recommended.