ABOUT 15 years ago, I bought what was at the time one of the coolest cassette-based multitrack home-recorders -- the Tascam 244 Portastudio.
It was an updated version of the revolutionary Tascam 144 (good enough for Bruce Springsteen to record his stark masterpiece 'Nebraska'), the ministudio that gave many impoverished singer-songwriters a chance to create decent demo sketches of their music.
Although I never ceased to marvel at its capabilities, the 244's severe limitations became obvious in no time. There was only so much you could do with four tracks, and though 'bouncing' allowed you to layer several parts, the resulting audio degradation made it a process not worth repeating more than a couple of times.
Finally, after months of constant use bordering on zealous abuse, the machine literally fell apart. And when the tape section failed to function and proved beyond repair, I felt like I had lost a life-saving soul-mate.
I never replaced the Portastudio, holding out the hope that someday Tascam or some other big electronics company would come out with an abuse-proof wonder machine about the size of the 244 but with pro-level features.
Well, I think I finally found it. The Korg D1600 Digital Recording Studio, a hard disk-based 16-track recorder, is not only a miraculously-engineered machine. It's also the ideal studio-in-a-box for anyone who has ever dreamed of a multitrack home recorder that approximates the capabilities of a pro studio.
The market does seem a bit crowded and vigorously competitive in this area now, with equally powerful portable digital multitrackers from the likes of Akai (DPS16) and Roland (VS1880). But even though this is my first hands-on experience with a hard disk-based recorder, I can tell you that the engineers who designed the D1600 have put together a mighty powerful tool, one that should immensely satisfy the creative and technical needs of any musician with serious recording ambitions.
Hi-Ho Silver!
The review unit came with Version 2.0 operating system, a 40-gig (upgradable) hard drive and a CD-RW installed. Anyone familiar with multitrack portables would have no problems getting the initial hang of the panel layout on the sleek silver chassis.
Input trim controls, with tiny LED three-colour (green, orange, red) level indicators, and the monitor output control line the top edge.
Then there's the fairly generous-sized back-lit TouchView LCD screen which neatly eliminates the need for another confusing array of controls and cuts down on tedious knob-twisting by allowing you to touch-change settings.
Below the LCD is a row of 16 three-colour (green, orange, red) lighted track-status buttons. Flanking these buttons are pan knobs, and directly below them are the channel faders and the master fader.
On the right are transport controls (green for all except the 'Record' button which goes red when on), various lighted (red when engaged) input/editing/effects function keys, and a jog dial for fast parameter changes.
At the rear are four (1-4) XLR mic/line inputs with switchable +48V panthom power that also accept unbalanced phone jacks, and four more (5-8) for balanced/unbalanced 1/4" TRS phone jacks.
There're also connections that allow the use of a start/stop, punch in/out footswitch (PS-1), and an expression pedal (EXP-2 or XVP-10) for controlling inbuilt effects like wah-wah).
Two sets of stereo outputs let you connect to powered monitors and a headphone amp at the same time.
There's also a 50-pin SCSI connector that allows you to use an external hard disk drive, MIDI in and out, optical S/P DIF digital input and output, and an LCD contrast knob.
The recorder section offers 128 tracks (including virtual tracks), with uncompressed 16-track simultaneous playback and eight track simultaneous recording at 16-bit, or eight-track simultaneous playback and four-track simultaneous recording at 24-bit.
On top of that, you get what's essentially a high-grade digital signal processing unit built in, offering a wide palette of effects (128 presets and 128 user programmes), including reverb, gating, compression, chorusing, flanging, wah-wah, pitch-shifting, phasing, and "special effects" that offer a sonic trip to the world of the weird.
There's also a decent drum machine (with patterns grouped into various styles) inside offering 215 pre-programmed patterns, plus a guitar tuner that does double duty as a pitch-measuring device.
Besides letting you make disc copies of your music, the CD-R/RW drive also allows you to listen to or duplicate standard audio CDs.
Crisp & Clean
When you turn it on, the D1600 goes into standby mode. Once you power up, there's a delay of about 15 seconds as the system software is loaded. The machine is ready for use when all the track status buttons light up in green.
To get an instant idea of what the D1600 is capable of, just load up the supplied demo disc featuring 'Let The Sister Dance', a funky tune by Mumbo Jumbo Band. You can actually isolate the individual parts of the songs for a quick reference on pro-style mixing, though I found the recording a bit too ersatz and clinical for my taste.
Then, once you've hooked up your own instruments and assigned inputs for the various tracks, you're ready to go.
You can either work to a click track or dial up a pattern from the rhythm bank and start recording. Even once you've laid down the rhythm track(s), you don't have to worry about being stuck with a particular drum beat you've chosen as you can replace it later with a better-programmed pattern from an external device via MIDI.
You don't have to be apprehensive about accidentally erased parts either as the 'Undo' function lets you restore previously recorded parts, while 'Redo' brings back the latest version.
Using a footswitch for punch in/out and start/stop functions is a cinch. And to give you an idea of how incredibly compatible Korg's ancillary devices are, the pedal switch recommended is the PS-1, the very same unit that I bought 15 years ago for my trusty old Korg SQD-1 MIDI Recorder.
Once you've laid down the basic tracks, overdubbing gets intuitive, though constant reference to the manual becomes a necessity to understand and access the D1600 incredible array of recording/editing intricacies.
You can choose to record in 24-bit with eight tracks for crisper dynamics or the standard 16-bit with 16 tracks. After recording songs in both modes, I can tell you that you'd probably want to opt for the latter as the difference is subtle and barely distinguishable, at least for rock music anyway.
Each of the 16 tracks also has eight virtual tracks that not only let you store multiple takes (of a guitar solo, for example) but can also be premixed and bounced to free up more actual tracks. That means you can actually create music of orchestral density or go wild and layer up Phil Spectorish wall-of-sound surges.
Punching in/out, via footswitch or auto mode, to correct mistakes is also as seamless as you'd expect.
The effects, including some nice valve-amp simulations for guitar, can be engaged during recording or playback.
There're also a bank of final effects ('TwoMix 60's', 'DigitalRock', 'TwoMixHipHop' etc), to punch up the eventual stereo mix during mastering.
The nifty scene memory lets you store up to 100 scenes per song, which means you can store status readings like fader level, pan, EQ, and effects send for automated mixer settings. It's such a great relief not to have to twist dozens of knobs everytime you play back a recorded song.
DJs can also have loads of fun with this machine as WAV files can be imported from CD for all kinds of cut-and-paste and remixing experiments.
As for MIDI implementation, though the manual only explains how to control external effects units or synch with a sequencer or another D1600, you can also use the D1600 as a master for substituting recorded parts, like I did, replacing the limited internal ryhthm patterns with drum sequences programmed on a 15-year-old Roland TR-707 (the magic of MIDI, which is almost two decades old, never ceases to amaze).
With 40GB of hard-disk space, you can theoretically record up to eight hours of music in 16-bit on 16 tracks. That's like a lifetime's worth of song sketches, assuming that you'd want to keep it all stored there permanently.
Otherwise, you can always burn the songs to CD-RW or dump the data to an external storage unit. Yes, apart from being packed with every high-zoot studio feature imaginable, this machine also lets you go on and on with all the music you can ever create, though the plastic controls, which aren't all that confidence-inspiring, might not endure the rigours of brutish petting and pawing in the long term.
Don't go home without it!
You could write a whole book on the D1600 (I'm sure some home-recording genius is already onto it). That's how technically and functionally sophisticated this machine is.
And while this review may highlight many of the fabulous features on the D1600, it hardly does the machine justice as I only managed to tap about 70 per cent of its potential in the month or so I used it, recording more than half a dozen original songs.
Unsurprisingly, the sound quality is top-drawer, and it's such a thrill to enjoy recordings that offer uncompressed digital clarity and retain their high resolution through countless playbacks. This degree of definition can be dauntingly revealing -- you can't hide fluffed notes and off-tune instruments, and if you record rubbish, it's mercilessly shown up as rubbish -- but that's the price you should be prepared to pay for a recording experience of this exalted level.
There's a certain amount of audible mechanical noise (an initially unsettling whirr that you eventually get used to) from the hard disk and the internal fan, though the latter stops during recording. You could also niggle about the inflexibility of the drum patterns (they're not as extensively editable as the effects).
But considering what you're getting for the money, these issues are minor and inconsequential.
The all-important question is: Can you make a pro-quality album on this portable studio?
Yes you can, provided you have the help of an experienced sound engineer, and maybe an independent producer who can provide unbiased creative input.
However, if you just need a machine that can serve as a dependable and expandable sketchbook for songs, or if you happen to be in the jingle business and need a reliable all-in-one machine that can help you to produce broadcast-quality work, the D1600 could just be your workhorse. Even club DJs thinking of creating original remixes would find it a marvellous sound-building aid.
And, if like me, your head is always brimming with ideas for songs that just can't wait to be put to bed immediately, you'll probably start treating the D1600 like a surrogate girlfriend, one you wouldn't want to stay apart from for long. She might act up once in a while, and may even demand a bit of patience when you're trying to coax her into performing a tricky move. But you'd immeasurably appreciate the fact that she always delivers on her promise and doesn't talk or bite back.
Pros: Terrific sound quality, great inbuilt effects, process-easing touch-screen interface, up to 11 effects at a time, tracks can be copied between songs, cool MIDI functions.
Cons: Plasticky chassis seems a bit flimsy, scene memory a bit tedious to operate, no pitch correction, operating manual could be clearer.