Tascam has introduced its Portastudio application for the Apple iPad, available from the iTunes App Store for $9.99, which brings 30 years of easy-to-use home recording experience to the popular device. Portastudio is based on—and also has nearly the same dimensions as—the 4-track TASCAM Porta One cassette recorder that revolutionized recording in 1984.
The Portastudio app records four tracks, one at a time, with VU meters and a cassette transport that contributes a vintage vibe. When a production is complete, the app can mix your recording to a stereo track that appears in iTunes.
A four-position selector switch assigns which track Portastudio records to, and input trim and limiting are applied to the input before recording. Audio can be recorded form the iPad’s built-in microphone or a microphone plugged into the headset jack. The iPad will record from the built-in microphone if standard headphones are plugged into the jack. Pan, level, high- and low-shelving EQ are available for mixing, and mixes are saved as CD-quality WAV files inside iTunes.
