13 Best 4 Track Cassette Recorder (2022 Updated)

My review is like a lot of others’, so I won’t belabor the same points. Other than that this unit is an AMAZING value – I get more function per $ than any piece of gear I’ve ever owned. I’m a seasoned veteran of the great Tascam PortaStudios.

I’ve been using them since the mid ’00’s, when I graduated from the Fostex MR-8’s to the 2488’s, which I used for over 15 years, until I made the leap to the DP-32. The only reason my DP didn’t get FIVE starts is because in Tascam’s new DP design, they eliminated or changed some features the 2488’s had that I considered very important, and or critical to my workflow.

That said. it’s a brilliant design, a great value, and a joy to use. I’m in the “old school” of preferring purpose-built hardware for recording music to the computer-based DAW methodology. I certainly understand the benefits of the DAW environment.

but maaaany years of dabbling in it made it clear it wasn’t the way I wanted to create music. I’m very happy with my DP, and particularly that I was able to acquire one of the “originals”, that had MIDI capability.

I know you can “add” MIDI capability with currently-available add-ons, but I felt that MIDI – old as it is – is still very much relevant/necessary in the studio environment, and searched for the original.

harder than Ithought, considering they’re not that old. but for every one I found, there’s 100 “DP-xxSD” models available, which suggests they’re not as successful/popular/good as the originals.

Great unit!! Seems to be in perfect shape!! Been learning the functions on it. Already put it to use to record a bass part I’m composing for an a guitarist’s original song for an upcoming recording session at his home studio! I put the tracks he sent me on it, did takes as I developed my part and email it back to him with my bass part for his approval and any further direction!! The unit will be my workhorse for working on cover tunes for gigs, composing bass parts for my friend’s original project and writing my own songs!!! Just bought the footswitch for it so recording and playback will be ever easier!!.

The Tascam DP-32SD is very ergonomic and logical. The instructions are very easy to follow in order to completely learn the machine. It records flawlessly with perfect dynamic range. If you are looking for a quality built product with excellent pods, knobs and buttons then I do highly recommend the Tascam PortaStudio.

I am using the Sennheiser HD-300 PRO headphones which I find perfectly flat and balanced for mixing and mastering. My last PortaStudio was a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder back in 2000. With that machine I did recordings that were radio ready as was described to me and accepted by ASCAP in NYC.

20 years later and with a lot of experience with recording studio Tascam I am confident to get extremely perfect recordings with the PortaStudio. I can assure any desiring musician that is looking to lay down tracks that this Tascam PortaStudio DP-32SD is the best it if not certainly one of the very best professional portable studio and live recording products.

I was looking to replace my Tascam One PortaStudio. (I know, I know, old, cassette, blah, blah, blah). Had no input on Ch 1 and the cassette didn’t work so its usage was relegated to being a 3 channel mixer for my bass when I need to practice, learn songs, etc.

I ran my laptop and my bass thru the PortaStudio so I could play along with the tunes. It was only 4 (3) channels and I needed more inputs as well. It worked for what I had needed it for but it was long overdue for retirement.

Lately friends have been sending me tracks to add bass to and I knew I had to step my recording gear up. I have always been partial to Tascam products, so I began looking for a device that would act as mixer, stand alone recorder but was also a DAW controller for when I wanted to use a bigger monitor and music software.

I wanted to keep it old school as I hate using only a mouse and wanted to use sliders and knobs. The ONLY product that had all of the above features was the Zoom R24. None of the Tascam devices controlled a DAW, which was a deal breaker.

The Zoom has 24 tracks of recording, 8 inputs, 2 built in mics for live/field recording and can control Cubase, Reaper, Studio One, etc. The preamps are quiet, the unit was easy to setup/learn and I was tracking bass within an hour.

I can either record a track by playing a clients stereo track into the R24 or I can import a WAV file into a DAW and use it to record new bass, etc. A fantastic all-in-one device since I did not want to buy a separate mixer, digital interface, preamp, etc.

In addition to adding bass to tracks, last weekend I did a small recording session for a podcast as a favor for a friend and to put the R24 to the test. I recorded the podcast, then added an intro theme, background music, ads, effects, and an interview that was recorded 2 days later.

Used about 12 tracks. Mixed every thing to stereo, then compressed to MP3 file flawlessly. Looks like I have a new client! She now only has to record the weekly audio of the podcast and can reuse everything else or record/sweeten new audio.

The Zoom R24 is a brilliant, powerful piece of musical hardware. Thank you AMS for making it so easy to purchase and for the quick shipment. It is exactly what I was looking for and needed! I have used it for about a month, it has exceeded my expectations and my only wish was that it was larger in size like a true mixing board but that would make it less portable, so I guess that is just me nitpicking.

Oh, AND it also has a drum machine/sequencer built on that I haven’t used yet! Awesome, awesome device. Thank you again, Wayne.

This is my 2nd R16 purchase. My only criticism is the 1/4 jack input sockets. They are very hard to push in and take out. I bought a R16 a few years ago and the jack plug was so tight that when I pulled it out it left the tip in the socket.

It is totally jammed in and cannot be removed thereby rendering an input unusable! The new purchase is the same so I now gently ease the jack plugs out using the blade of a screw driver. I thought the original R16 was a ‘one off’ defect item but this new one is the same so obviously all R16’s suffer from this problem.

The only reason I haven’t returned it is because its such a dam good product!.

I love the looping feature, which really sets it apart from the R16, which not only doesn’t loop, but does not display a waveform for you to manipulate. The sequencer is awesome, easy to use for constructing a rhythm track, or for laying out each segment of your projects.

The built in mics are OUTSTANDING!!!!!! for capturing live performances, given that it is placed in a practical place, they are also great for group, stereo quality vocal tracks, I am always very pleased with the mics.

I take very good care of my device, largely because it feels a little chinsey in your hand, but have not had any issues even living in a car and using it every day in “artistic” / unpredictable, places.

The battery life has not been a wow for me, because at night time the screen backlight drains the batteries pretty fast. Go re-chargable, and be sure to set the device for such. I just use an external light source to use it camping or whatever.

I love it!.

I enjoy playing jazz piano and purchased this in order to record both via mic and line inputs. For both requirements this unit performs admirably. It is well built and easy to navigate and use. I run Kubuntu Linux and upon connecting my Tascam DR-40X unit via its micro-USB socket to my PC, all the folders show up so it is easy to transfer files in either direction without having to remove the SD card.

Sound quality is excellent when recording either via mic or line input (even with TS jacks from my piano noise level is unnoticeable, but XLR is an option). I ordered this on a Sunday evening and delivery was predicted to be the next day.

Frankly I thought it must be a mistake, but the unit was in my hand by 11:30am! Fastest delivery I have ever had! I look forward to many years of enjoyable use.

TASCAM DRX40 – I needed a recording device due to noisy neighbours unfortunately (from within my home i might just add). This is perfect so music buffs and sound buffs no need to read on as this review is not for the technical minded so to speak.

It has great sound. It is easy to set up. Using a power pack of 10,000 mah it has recorded over 30 hours of non stop footage/sound/noise and there was still power left in the pack. It does take 3 AA bateries that came with the product but I haven’t used them yet so cannot comment.

It is easy to set up, record and great for reviewing playback when you are specifically waiting for noise to happen. Just press the record button and leave it on all night. The display on ffwd (hold the ffwd button down) shows the peaks in the sounds and enables a quick review of any loud sounds when required.

It is super sensitive, it even picked up my footsteps when walking in socks on a carpet and even my snoring when asleep in another room :0). Voice playback is very clear when i tested and I also now use it when zooming people.

I will eventually use it on my DSLR when videoing family events and look forward to that. There is plenty of technical guidance on utube for these which are great. I am 50 something lady and not that technical minded but I HAD TO LEARN as I needed to capture noise.

If I can use it I am sure others could too. After a few goes I am now used to finding the files and play back etc. , utube a great help all beit a little too technical music / sound jargon, but good re the settings.

Some of the music/sound buff reviews said the TASCAM was made of cheap plastic but I feel for the price it is of good strong quality and structure. It certainly feels strong to me and not that light weight.

It is a great portable size and fits in my hand well. Now I have used it a few times it seems easy and I am able to easily find my way around the display and features etc. Well what more to say. I am super pleased, it beats any dictaphone I have used in meetings in the past.

Yes there is a little ambient noise (cannot remember the technical term) when you record but for its price and compared to other similar devices on the market, this one beat them all hands down for me.

I did research and review perhaps 6 other devices before purchasing this one. I am very pleased with my TASCAM DR40X.

I only just recently picked one of these up. I have an old Tascam 414 4-track tape recorder and another old Tascam DP-01 8-track digital recorder. Both of these units were and still are great, but I wanted to upgrade to a newer multitrack recorder.

I decided that I needed at least a 24-track recorder, and was looking into the Tascam units, but was very disappointed with the amount of “actual” tracks. I play the instruments myself and don’t need a lot of stereo tracks that are automatically linked.

I came across the Zoom R24 on the internet and began to research the reviews on it. I have used Zoom’s guitar pedals for the past 19 years and have been very pleased with them. I was also interested in the drum machine and sequencer, as I can not play the drums myself, and had been looking into a stand-alone unit.

After my research, I found an R24 for a great price, bought it, and as soon as it was in my hands was up and recording. I was able to find “How-to” videos on YouTube for things that I could not understand in the manual, and have been very pleased with the performance and sound of this unit.

I was a little concerned when I received it, mainly because of how light the unit is. Compared to my DP-01, it must weigh about 5 pounds less, but the DP-01 has an internal hard drive for memory, while the R24 has an SD drive.

With my past knowledge of the Tascam units, there was only a slight learning curve to begin with this. I recorded a whole song in about an hour, using a drum loop that I had already had. I decided to try to sequence a complete song’s worth of drums, and after about 3 hours of compiling and re-working, I had a great-sounding drum part, exactly as I had imagined, that went completely with a song that I was in the process of writing.

I was able to record the entire song in another hour, including 3 guitars, bass, and 3 vocals, and still had another 8 tracks to work with if I needed them. The effects on this unit seem to be great also, right in line with the guitar pedals I already have.

I used 2 different distortions for recording 2 guitars, a bass effect, and different vocal effects also. It is my understanding that most recordings are done dry, but I usually record with the effect on the track, mainly because that is what I’m used to doing.

On this machine, you can record either way. I have not attempted to work with this on the computer, as I have no interest in it. My other recorders are standalone, and this can be also. I am completely happy with the R24, and if someone is out there doing the same research I did,if you are on the fence, pick one of these up.

I also want to give credit to topdazzle on YouTube for assisting me, and I’m sure countless others, with the features that this little machine has and actually explaining and showing how to use them.

The 18-55mm has basically been reviewed till it hurts. Universally this is applauded as a clear lens and can be used in almost any situation. It’s HIGHLY recommended, especially if it’s your first or only lens.

The only downside about this lens is the durability. As an enthusiast photographer who takes care of my equipment, I’m on my second 18-55 after about 100k photos with the last one. Most of my use has been outside, it saw rain and snow, and it’s taken two soft tumbles indoors on carpet.

They’re simply not built like the professional grade lenses, but that’s not a big deal since they cost SIGNIFICANTLY less than the pro grade. Use it till you loose it, then buy another or upgrade. You’ll never be disappointed with the image quality!.

This is a REALLY easy product to use, I have to say the Tascam engineering team did a good job on the UX, which is sadly the part that’s often lacking (most step sequencers, I’m looking at you!). The sound quality is superb, it’s very solidly built and the screen is both informative and clear, as well as colourful.

I use two of these in different locations, one 24 track and the other 32 – the only difference is the number of tracks and sliders, otherwise everything is identical. Use of a mechanically way superior SD card is another good engineering choice, I’d rather have something bigger that’s way most resilient than the great-for-phones, but you never want to take them out MicroSD cards, which are way too fragile for removable storage.

The SD card sits snugly away behind the display and you can’t inadvertently record without the SD card in place unless you intentionally choose to override it. In addition, the good news is that once you’ve recorded your tracks, you can mix them down to a single stereo track, pop out the SD card and easily load them onto a computer for uploading or sending to someone.

If I had to be picky and find a negative for the sake of it, I’d say the sliders are the weakest feature, but not a negative. Like all sliders, they have a little lateral give,but nothing sloppy, and the sliding mechanism itself is silky smooth.

And I’d prefer sliders on a mixing desk anytime over knobs, which admittedly are more solid. All in all a great purchase at the price I bought mine for. Comparisons with a DAW: Sure, you can’t do all of the crazily extendible things a DAW offers, that’s a given and where a DAW wins.

But if you love to record live rather than fiddle with a mouse for hours; or spend weeks wondering how to do something that should be simple but isn’t with a DAW; or if you want an all-in-one recording solution to take on your travels or holidays to let you get down your tracks and mix them to a more than satisfactory level; or, if like me, you don’t want the clutter of a Mac or PC, or just hate staring at small screens getting neck ache, then this is the device for you.

Solidly recommend both the 24 and 32 track versions.

The Olympus Pearlcorder is a great product. I purchased a new one about 6 months ago for approximately $200. 00. I had purchased a new one many years ago and it lasted for many years. I purchase a refurbished one last month and the recording quality is less than I hoped.

It’s not the model but the condition of the actual recorder I purchased. It works “okay” but the sound quality of the recording is, as my paralegal describes it, is “tinny”. I knew it was used when I purchased if for $39.

00 and I have no complaints about the value of it given the low cost. I’ll use it until it dies and then go back to the new one.

i really really love my OLYMPUS PEARL RECORDER S801 ! i’ve could of made a better purchase ! i’ve even used it today ! and it really was worth purchasing ! i love it so much ! i really do cause these micro cassette recorder cost this day and age alot of money.

and i was not going to pay out that much on a micro cassette recorder ! but i found the OLYMPUS PEARL RECORDER S801 ! and i really,really love it so much !.

it works like a charm…like new!! I bought one just like it for more money and it slipped off the table and stopped working!!! it still looks good though.

easy to use. had tascam 4 trk recorder in the *90s so i knew it would be. reverb sounds nice. my eyes are pretty bad these days(will be 70 in may) so i like the layout and the screen is pretty easy to read too.

that may not be important to the younger folks but anyway. recorded 2 duet pieces to multi-trk and one solo guitar piece tonite-everything worked fine for what i do. NOW comes the NEW part for me. need to make wav files to post to internet.

(yikes) been studying the manual think i can do it. will be so nice to avoid using windows laptop to try to make “files” yay.

This is a review for the Tascam DP-O3SD. Had it for a couple of weeks. I was wanting to use this primarily to record parts and practice over them and make some recordings just for fun and this is great for that purpose.

I have made some very decent recordings so far. This may not be on par sound wise with some computer software, but this is easier to use in my opinion and within an hour I was following the book and recording.

I feel like this unit is pretty easy to use the basic functions, but also has some advanced things to improve the final product with mixdown and mastering. The manual was a little unclear in a couple of places, but I was able to figure it out.

The unit is a good size and not too big, but not too small. It is plastic, but seems well made overall. I have seen some videos of more experienced people on youtube using this unit and they made some pretty darn good recordings.

It is a little expensive, but I got on sale. But if you are looking for something easy to learn, easy to use, and easy to make decent recordings on, this may be for you.

I’ve been wanting to get back into recording my work for some time when I finally bought one of these. Having a fair bit of experience with home recording since the old 4-track cassette recorders, I found this recorder to be very intuitive to use.

It didn’t take much to get up and running and whip up a quick 2 minute demo piece myself. I will say this recorder is full of easy to use features that will allow you to make as simple or complex a recording as you like.

Sound quality is excellent as you would expect from Tascam. Be sure to go through the manual to get familiar with the proper way to perform its functions, and you’ll get plenty out of this unit. With its ability to bounce tracks (without losing quality) you really have access to as much flexibility as you need.

Enjoy!.

Delivered next day and a great price. I have just upgraded all of our systems and after a house move many years ago the old cassette collection went into storage. I did have a Rotel all in one that would play them fine but wanted to play through the main amp and speakers.

First I bought an “old” one off the auction site and although it was perfect and worked, it didnt last more than a few days and then it failed in all areas. Now to decide. the W1200 or put them back in the attic? The TEAC arrived perfect and was up and running in minutes.

The machine is good enough or exceeds the quality of my old cassettes. What it has exposed is that of my 70’s, 80’s and 90’s tapes, not all are perfect today which surprised me. The good ones really play well (way better than I thought), especially when cranked up.

OK they hiss when its quiet but as this was my upbringing, not a problem. I would imagine that with a brand new tape, the sound would be very acceptable. Do not compare to a CD, its just not that good.

All in all a good purchase and its a handy machine to have in the system. Shame its not silver to match the rest but I just put it on a different shelf. Also, if you have kids they will be amazed that such a good listen can be had with such a strange mysterious set of gear! Spot on.

Our ancient double cassette deck had been broken for ages but we wanted to keep and listen to our many cassettes and had been considering trying to get it repaired but research identified the Teac W1200 as a good option.

Richer Sounds pricing and, even more importantly, customer service, stood out like a beacon. Being able to discuss the product and availability and refundable guarantee on the phone with such a knowledgeable manager clinched the decision and the deck also arrived much sooner than expected.

The deck was easy to set up and connect to the existing amplifier. The sound quality is outstanding and some of the very old cassettes sound even better than CDs. Although there are a number of features such as recording and karaoke that are available that weren’t on the deck it replaced, there are also a couple of functions that are we used to have which don’t appear to be available on this one (skipping to the start of the next track seems to have to be done manually and the tape has to be manually turned over to play the reverse side) but the sound quality is so good that we have accepted these work rounds.

I had read various online reviews to the effect that the TEAC W-1200 was a fancy bit of kit hiding a fairly cheap cassette mechanism. I had bought from Richer Sounds before and had been impressed, so I sought their advice.

After that, I decided to buy. I’m glad I did. The deck has what looks like a complicated interface, but it works intuitively even for a technophobe like me, and has been producing perfect cassette-to-mp3 transfers that are far better than I expected.

The disappointing results (and there have been a few) have always been down to the quality of the original tape, or ageing cassette pressure pads, or poor storage for 30 years in dampish conditions in a loft.

The litmus test is always: “Would I buy this again?” Yes, I would, and I’d buy it from Richer Sounds.

After doing research on what audio interface to buy, I settled on the Zoom Podtrak P4. While small in size, it has a surprising amount of features that only far more expensive products offer, such as 4x XLR inputs, 4x headphone jacks, 4x programmable sound pads, and support for smartphone connections.

Additionally, the preamps are very good and it offers 70dB of gain for your microphones! So yes, it can support gain-hungry mics! It has 2 USB-C ports (1 for an AC adapter and 1 for connecting to a computer).

What’s nice is that it can be powered from either port, in addition to being used as an audio interface. Other positives include the manual gain and volume dials, use of full-size SD cards (no worrying about small microSD cards & adapters), and compact size.

This product is clearly designed for podcasters in mind and is compact enough for fieldwork. Having used Zoom products before, one of the downsides is that it’s made out of molded plastic. So it doesn’t feel very sturdy, but it’ll be fine as long as you take care of it.

Another drawback is that it only records in 44. 1KHz at 16-bit, so it doesn’t conform to video sound standards. However, for podcasters, that’s acceptable. I do wish it had more sound pads, but that’s a minor issue and probably what the larger P8 is for.

The final downside is that, when used as an audio-interface, it sends data to the computer as a stereo mix only, however, it can simultaneously record each separate input onto an SD card.

Terrific tool for recording podcasts on the go. I do notice a bit of background hum if you have to turn the gain up beyond 5 for your microphone that is not phantom powered. I am using the RODE PodMic with this unit.

It is a nice mic and works well, but is dynamic so it does’t need phantom power. There is a hum if I turn the gain toward 6. It is only noticeable when not talking and could be addressed a bit in post but just a note.

But the feature set, portability, and flexibility of use is really good. I am connecting it to my Mac and using Audacity to record while also having it record to the SD card at the same time. It is really nice to have inline recording as a backup.

This feature alone is worth the price.

This rig overall is great. Very easy to use. Had it up and running 10-15 minutes after opening the box. But the reason for the four stars and not five is due to “write error” messages I kept getting upon some recordings (not all).

I contacted Zoom on this. They had no answers, no known issues. Also no planned firmware updates at this time addressing this issue. I tried two different high quality / high speed SD cards. Still got the error message at various times.

Then I bought a brand new higher quality / higher speed SD card. STILL kept getting the write error message randomly. Finally returned the unit to Best Buy and picked up a replacement (from Best Buy).

This one had a similar issues whereby when I depressed the sound button while I was recording, the sound assigned to the respective button would play for about three seconds and then either loop back to the beginning or jump to another assigned sound to another sound button.

OK, that’s the bad. Now for the good – audio quality is excellent. All the features are truly great and designed with the podcaster in mind. The best feature for me is the ability to do phone interviews or phone cohosting.

I won’t get into HOW it all works. But suffice it to say it’s very easy and sound quality is great doing this. I’d still recommend this unit if for nothing else all the features made for podcasters especially the phone integration (which has mix minus by the way).

I’m confident Zoom will address and fix the aforementioned issues via firmware. All that said, maybe I was just extremely unlucky and got two units that were part of a bad batch. Who knows.

A great purchase for what it is known for schools and the like is the Panasonic rq-2102! Id give it an excellent review, despite the hurricane issues in Florida that it came from. Whats so special about this shoebox-type cassette recorder/player is it can play NLS four-track tapes (only blind people like me can do.

) I know Im visually impaired, and I love the way that it operates. Forget the digital models; it just doesnt sound right. I can even carry it, thanks to the carry handle! Plus, its compact, light-weight, and the sound quality is excellent, thanks to the three-inch speaker located under the slotted silver-painted grille! And a special tape recorder for the blind where nobody will find anywhere else.

LS&S used to sell these, but I luckily bought it for just the right price! So, I again give it an excellence rating on the review! Its a five! Five! Five! Five! Five!.

The Panasonic RQ-2102 portable cassette tape recorder is “old school” but it is superior to any of today’s tiny handheld recorders. The sound quality is very good and it easy to use. I have owned one for 15 years and use it to practice reading aloud to audiences.

I loaned mine to someone and got a second one on eBay.

The tape player is OK, it worked and had all the extras I was looking for. I was looking to replace a heavier, older tape player that was better sounding. If only everything these days wasn’t made of plastic.