Tascam’s Portacapture X8 is a beefy portable recorder with a smartphone-like interface
Most portable recorders come with various physical buttons, switches and turn off. It’s part of what makes them practical and charming to use. But with the new PortaCapture X8, Tascam wants to make a case for the touch screen interface.
X8 is not the first portable recorder to get down the smartphone route. H8 Zoom has a touch screen display too, but smaller and a no modern interface offered by Tascam. X8 software has an emphasis on presets which according to the company help simplify the process of choosing optimal settings for certain situations. You can also control devices remotely with your smartphone if you buy a BLUETOOTH AK-BT1 TASCAM adapter.
PortaCapture X8 displays two 14.6mm condenser microphones that support 32-bit float point recording. Because you can release the microphone of the device, there is a possibility that the Tascam will release the optional capsule at the end of the road. It is possible to reposition the microphone in the orientation of A / B or X / Y. With four inputs of XLR / TRS (and two mixed tracks), you can use X8 to record up to eight tracks simultaneously. You will also find special headphone jack on the device, besides external and line-out connections. The default USB-C port also allows you to use the device as an audio interface.
Tascam has not said how much the X8 costs will be charged. But as a competitor H8, we imagine it will fall somewhere in the range of $ 400. It’s a lot to spend on portable recorders, but for prosumer, it comes with many desired features.