TEAC GT-R1 GT-R1 Review in Guitar World Magazine, July 2009

GUITAR-ORIENTED

PORTABLE RECORDER;

GREAT SOUND QUALITY;

BUILT-IN EFFECTS AND

DRUM PATTERNS

DISTORTION EFFECTS

SOUND ARTIFICIAL; NO

MULTITRACK FUNCTION

PRO

CON

sion, chorus, reverb, delay, flanger,

phaser, auto wah, pitch shifting, trem-

olo and an enhancer, and multiple

parameter settings allow you to edit

effects to your preference.

In addition to the drum patterns,

the GT-R1 has several features that

make the unit a helpful practice tool.

After transferring an MP3 track to

the GT-R1, you can loop individual

sections of a song and decrease the

speed of playback without changing

pitch. The Part Cancel function lets

you reduce the level of pre-recorded

guitar or bass tracks so you can hear

how your own performance sounds

in its place. A built-in tuner helps

you tune your instrument or adjust

the pitch of a pre-recorded track to

concert pitch.

PERFORMANCE

THE GT-R1 IS

exceptionally easy to use,

with most basic functions accessible

from buttons on the unit’s front panel.

The built-in stereo mics provide excel-

lent detail, with minimal noise leakage

from the unit’s mic preamps. However,

the effects can add noise, which be-

comes noticeable if you’ve overdubbed

several tracks that have processing.

The sound quality of the effects is

good, although many of the distorted

guitar presets have an artificial-

sounding midrange that’s about what

you would expect from a low-cost

digital effect processor. The drum

presets are nice and punchy, but the

rhythm section’s patterns aren’t go-

ing to fool anyone into thinking a real

drummer performed them. Still, these

are useful extras to have in a handheld

recorder, and if you want to lay down

demos before your inspiration evapo-

rates, the GT-R1 is hard to beat when

it comes to choosing patterns and

tones quickly.

THE BOTTOM LINE

IT MAY NOT

be as full featured as Tas-

cam’s Portastudio line, but the GT-R1

is still much more than the average

handheld recorder. It’s a helpful tool

that can let you capture your ideas

quickly, build basic demos and improve

your playing chops—and let you do it all

wherever, and whenever you choose.

✺

BY CHRIS GILL

I

T SEEMS

that the smaller hand-

held devices become these days,

the more designers try to cram

into them. From the iPhone, which

lets you pay bills and track live weath-

er reports, to GPS units that provide

movie listings and let you listen to

audio books, portable electronics are

becoming all-in-one tools for your

information and entertainment needs.

The new Tascam GT-R1 Portable

Guitar Recorder is a perfect example

of this trend. Unlike other compact

handheld recorders, the GT-R1 does

more than allow you to simply record

pristine stereo digital audio in the un-

tamed wilderness (like the New York

City subway). With the GT-R1, you can

pretty much make an entire demo. The

recorder has multieffects and rhythm

patterns, and includes several “guitar

trainer” functions found on products

like Tascam’s MP-GT1. While the

GT-R1 doesn’t have the multitracking

functionality of Tascam’s Portastudio

recorders, its guitar-oriented features

make it an all-in-one demo and practice

powerhouse.

FEATURES

LIKE MOST DIGITAL

handheld record-

ers these days, the GT-R1 features

built-in stereo condenser microphones.

The mics rotate 90 degrees for optimal

positioning, no matter if the GT-R1

is vertical or horizontal. Recording

formats include WAV (48/44.1kHz,

24/16 bits) and MP3 (48/44.1kHz, 320–

32kbps), and audio is recorded directly

to an SD card, which can range in size

from 64 MB to 32GB (a 1GB card is

included to get you started). You can

also transfer audio files directly to

your computer via the GT-R1’s USB

port, which is also used to recharge the

unit’s lithium-ion battery. Inputs in-

clude a 1/4-inch guitar input and mini

mic and line inputs.

Although the GT-R1 is not a multi-

track recorder, it has a convenient

overdubbing feature that lets you

record a new live performance over

a prerecorded track in one pass, with

both parts mixed to a new track (time

to hone those track-bouncing skills).

Lacking editing and punch in/out

features, the GT-R1 is better for laying

down ideas and rough demos than for

crafting finished songs. The rhythm

machine section has 88 preset pat-

terns and basic functions like tempo

control and a count-in function. You

can’t program songs or create your

own patterns, but the rhythm sounds

can be changed by processing the

whole kit with the GT-R1’s effect sec-

tion, which has 55 presets that can

feature up to three effects at once.

The effects can also be used to process

the guitar input and entire recordings.

Effects include amp models, compres-

AUDIO FILE

AUDIO FILE

studio time

HOT POCKET

Tascam GT-R1 portable guitar and bass recorder

LIST PRICE:

$469.00

MANUFACTURER:

Tascam, tascam.com

AUDIO FORMAT:

WAV (48/44.1kHz,

24- or 16-bit), MP3

(48/44.1kHz, 320-

32kbps)

RECORDING MEDIUM:

SD (64MB–2GB) or SD

HC (4GB–32GB) card

INPUTS:

Guitar (1/4

inch), mic (mini), line

(mini)

OUTPUTS:

Headphone/

line (mini)

BATTERY:

Rechargeable

lithium ion, seven hours

per charge

OTHER:

Built-in effect

processor (55 presets, 5

banks), Rhythm mode

(88 patterns), tuner,

loop function, VSA

(changes speed without

affecting pitch, changes

pitch without affecting

speed), Guitar or Bass

Part Cancel function

COMPUTER:

USB

connection; supports

Windows (2000, XP and

Vista) and Mac OS X

(10.2 or later)

TASCAM GT-R1

ON

DISC

ON

DISC

The loop function lets you repeat a specified

section of a prerecorded song.

The built-in stereo

condenser mics

rotate 90 degrees for

vertical or horizontal

positioning.

148

GUITAR WORLD

TEAC GT-R1 GT-R1 Review in Guitar World Magazine, July 2009

TEAC GT-R1 Manual

TEAC GT-R1 manual content summary: