I haven't posted much here in the past few years but I thought I'd give a summary of my experiences with the DP-008 through to my current DP24-SD using modest equipment.
I was gifted a DP008 in 12/2009 and I'd never used a digital multitrack device at that point. So there was a learning curve for me. I'm a big believer in learning a few basics and just using the device as quickly as possible guided by me ears and a bit of patience. So after a few years of not using it much, I started recording vocals for a few singers and adding my acoustic/electric guitar/bass parts ... really just 6 to 8 tracks max.
In 2015, I started a Beatles recording project with a singer I had performed with live as a duet for a few years. The intent was to record our favourite Beatles songs with our vocals (maybe 4 tracks for all the harmonies) and all the instruments (that I played to my ability). Much of that was done on the basic DP-008 .. using the build-in reverb for vocals, and recording the guitar parts via mic'd amps. What was initially supposed to be just 25 songs ballooned into FAB50% (we recorded about half of the Beatles songbook!). In 2018, having the backtracks recorded for ~ 110 songs, I decided to attempt a "FabFem" project with vocals covered by all women singers (of various skill levels). This worked out nicely. At that time I wanted to improve some of the tracks and add more so I purchased a DP24-SD and since then, I've used it extensively, using again just the basic features (no bouncing, no Dynamic effects, just Send reverb on vocals). Since then I think I've home recorded over 250 full songs with various singers in the Ottawa area and instrumentals. I love this DP-24SD. Recently (past year), I'm starting to experiment with using external Send2 effects and bouncing which I think I understand and can use (based on viewing the excellent articles here, particularly Mark and Phil's articles and videos).
Currently, for my live duo, we use mixed-down backtracks of the DP-24SD songs, without vocals and a guitar track muted. This has worked out very well (with lots of rehearsal for audible synching to the backtracks in live performance). For this, I use a Tascam DR-40 recorder to play back these backtracks through our PA system.
I'm thinking of 2026 and pondering the Tascam 12 or 16 and have read the several excellent comments on the pros/cons. I've only dabbled with DAW recently (Reaper with a Focusrite 2i2 interface) and understand the learning curve.
At any rate, I'd like to share some recorded results from the DP24-SD over the past several years.
My own instrumental covers:
https://www.jensign.com/SansVoix/
and vocal covers:
I was gifted a DP008 in 12/2009 and I'd never used a digital multitrack device at that point. So there was a learning curve for me. I'm a big believer in learning a few basics and just using the device as quickly as possible guided by me ears and a bit of patience. So after a few years of not using it much, I started recording vocals for a few singers and adding my acoustic/electric guitar/bass parts ... really just 6 to 8 tracks max.
In 2015, I started a Beatles recording project with a singer I had performed with live as a duet for a few years. The intent was to record our favourite Beatles songs with our vocals (maybe 4 tracks for all the harmonies) and all the instruments (that I played to my ability). Much of that was done on the basic DP-008 .. using the build-in reverb for vocals, and recording the guitar parts via mic'd amps. What was initially supposed to be just 25 songs ballooned into FAB50% (we recorded about half of the Beatles songbook!). In 2018, having the backtracks recorded for ~ 110 songs, I decided to attempt a "FabFem" project with vocals covered by all women singers (of various skill levels). This worked out nicely. At that time I wanted to improve some of the tracks and add more so I purchased a DP24-SD and since then, I've used it extensively, using again just the basic features (no bouncing, no Dynamic effects, just Send reverb on vocals). Since then I think I've home recorded over 250 full songs with various singers in the Ottawa area and instrumentals. I love this DP-24SD. Recently (past year), I'm starting to experiment with using external Send2 effects and bouncing which I think I understand and can use (based on viewing the excellent articles here, particularly Mark and Phil's articles and videos).
Currently, for my live duo, we use mixed-down backtracks of the DP-24SD songs, without vocals and a guitar track muted. This has worked out very well (with lots of rehearsal for audible synching to the backtracks in live performance). For this, I use a Tascam DR-40 recorder to play back these backtracks through our PA system.
I'm thinking of 2026 and pondering the Tascam 12 or 16 and have read the several excellent comments on the pros/cons. I've only dabbled with DAW recently (Reaper with a Focusrite 2i2 interface) and understand the learning curve.
At any rate, I'd like to share some recorded results from the DP24-SD over the past several years.
My own instrumental covers:
https://www.jensign.com/SansVoix/
and vocal covers:
