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Update
For those thinking about buying this keyboard-
There is already an update to this product. The Casio PX-330 has more sounds, better action, more realistic samples, a lettered display instead of just numbers, and is the same price.
From my experience the PX-330 is an excellent keyboard.

Best keyboard in this price range
I bought this keyboard about 2 months ago and I have really enjoyed it so far. The piano tones sound great and about a thrid of the other tones are very usable. The others sound decent too, I just have no use for them. The action seemed a little heavy (slower) at first but I have gotten use to it now and it doesn't affect my playing at all. As some other reviewers mentioned, it is kind of a pain to scroll through the tones becasue you have to hold a button on the right side of the keyboard and hit 'yes' or 'no' to scroll up or down through the tones on the left side. But as they also said, the memory registers allows you to store the tones you like for very simple access. I spent a couple of days listening to each sound and storing them as I like and now I get get any sound I need with about 3 button presses. Overall I think this is a great product for this price, the only issues that I have run into so far is this: First, some of the lower bass notes become muddled if you play in the lowest 2 octives. Sometimes it's not so bad but it can be depending on the song. Second, the included pedal is ok but not great. But this can easily be solved by just buying a better pedal. Both of these issues are probably related to the price range but the pros outway the cons by far regarding this. I have not been playing piano very long but I have had people play this keyboard that have been playing for years and they had no complaints. I would definitely suggest this product to anyone intereted in a keyboard in the 0 range, although I think Casio just released PX-330 which has a pitch bend wheel, more tones, and a different sound source - none of which really mattered to me. But maybe that just means that you can get this great keyboard even cheaper.

comparison of px-320 versus yamaha p-85
I have a px-320 and a yamaha p-85 sitting right next to each other. I couldn't decide which to get so I got both and plan on returning one of them. I'm not a concert pianist, but I've played many pianos in my time, and I can honestly say that both of them feel, gloriously, like real pianos. And if you're going to try them out, you have to do it with the sound on - contrary to intuition, the feel of a piano is very much dependent on its sound.

It was a hard decision, but ultimately I decided on keeping the Casio, the main reason being because it gave me a greater library of sounds and output options. However, they are both excellent products as they feel and sound like real pianos. I've spent some time at the stores trying keyboards out and nothing comes close to Casio or Yamaha in the same price range.

The Yamaha feels a tad better IMO and has a tad more dynamic range, but playing the Yamaha through its speakers, it sounded too bass-ey and muddled. I don't like the idea that I only have two piano sounds to choose from when the Casio has a number of them, plus ways to brighten or darken the tone. Plus, the Casio's speakers just sound better. I actually think I could play at a low-key place with the Casio's speakers, where the Yamaha's speakers are just worthless.

The keys on the Casio are a tad harder to push, and that makes it harder to play softly and limits the dynamic range. Also, sometimes there are bizarre tonality issues, like the some keys sound just a little off tune - but I can't nail this down as they seem completely fine at other times. But unless you're super anal, this probably won't be an issue. Overall, I'd say the Yamaha is more dark and the Casio is more bright.

Ultimately I went with the Casio because the only good sound on the Yamaha is the piano while the Casio has a wealth of decent stuff. I don't want to get stuck with a dark piano tone when I'm looking for something else.

One other thing...it annoys me that the p-85 only has stereo 1/4" outs - meaning you have to split its stereo out into two lines. That's just not right on a keyboard I'm spending so much money on. The Casio has two 1/4" Ins and Outs. It might be silly and overkill, but that makes me happy - like Casio is taking me seriously.

Buyer Beware - PX-320 faulty mechanical keyboard module?
I purchased the PX-320 in January, 2009 in Japan thinking to revive my skills having grown up playing on an upright. I was overwhelmed by the sound, feel and overall functionality of the keyboard. The onboard speakers weren't great unless you crank up the volume but with the earphones - AMAZING!! The keyboard also included everything else I needed - pc connectivity for MIDI, learning mode, recording, accompaniment - you name it, it had it. It's also portable with a very low footprint which was just perfect for a small apartment.
Once ordered, I probably got one of the first batch manufactured. With that in mind, I made sure to spend a little extra and get an extended warranty which was probably one of my better decisions.
Keyboard arrived, I unpacked and assembled all and started going to work. My prime goal was to exercise my fingers so I started with the Hanon exercises pretty much everyday. If you know these exercises then you'll know that the keyboard will get used extensively!
After approximately four or five months of Hanon, the keys started giving a rattling sound like something was loose inside. With more playing, more keys got worse. The problem seemed to occur principally on E & F, followed by C keys. I called Casio and got a service engineer whom proceeded to `grease up' the inside of the keys which reduced the problem for a short time until I started with Hanon again after which the keys went really bad. Another call and they replaced the mechanical keys component.
All was fine until E & F keys started failing again. Same problem, same symptoms and same gradual degeneration as the piano gets played more which is really sad given that Casio have worked hard on developing the sound system and the mechanical feel and they advertise this as a selling point.
Anyway, to cut a long story short I called Casio again and they now refuse - yes, REFUSE - to service the item stating that the same problem will happen again so why fix it!?! They also refuse to refund my money. It's ok. I still have a five year guarantee. They're under contract!
My point to this whole posting is to notify you, a possible purchaser, that I believe the manufacturing process for the mechanical parts in this keyboard is flawed and they do not test the keyboards rigorously under a strict quality control program. Otherwise, they would certainly have found the issue and fixed it. This problem will not surface under normal non-repetitive leisure playing 10 minutes a day - at least until the guarantee has well expired. The key module may also be used in other Privia models including the 700 series. Buyer beware!

A Real Sleeper from...Casio!
The Casio PX-320 is the best keyboard out there under 0, bar none. I have demo'd them all, I mean all of them. The PX-320 has the best grand piano sound period, and the Rhodes EP is excellent as well. I know, you think of Casio as a major player amongst the Rolands and Yamaha's and most snicker. STOP! The engineers at Casio really put their soul into this one. Another VERY important feature here is keyboard action. No thunk here! Keyboard action is far superior to the Yamaha CP-33 and even the Motifs. Again, the grand piano sound is excellent. My HighSierraBassPlayer top choices for Digital Piano under 00 is indeed the Casio PX-320. It's light, the piano sounds are perfect for jazz, classical, rock, and yes, my fave, the blues! Over 00, definitely get the Roland RD-300GX. That, friends, is the best digital keyboard today.

Quite Simply, Close But No Cigar.
The problem with this model is that it has no tone control. It sounds way too bright unless you compensate with your amplifier, which can be a pain if you want to switch guitars. All PRS would have had done was put in ONE stacked pot that controlled BOTH tone and volume and the problem would be solved. Even a one P90 pickup Gibson Les Paul Jr has a tone pot. I sent mine back. Save your money and get something with two pickups or at least a tone control.

Quite simply, it rocks. Simply.
Most guitars are laden with two or three pickups and a bevy of knobs and tone controls, and that's great. But this PRS is greater, at least for players like me who don't alter sound that much because in the studio we use other gear, and when we jam we just need one knob: volume. Hell, they could have gotten rid of that too when you think about. Who actually turns DOWN their electric. Plus it's a PRS--great construction and styling, flawless sound and action. I only wish they had it in black, but at this price, beggars can't be choosers.

Not recommended for novice home recorders (like myself)
My cassette four-track recorder (analog) had seen better days and I was looking to expand to an 8-track digital recorder with more tracks and, presumably, better sound. I bought the Tascam DP-02 a year ago and I have to say, in that time, I've chalked this purchase up as a real loss.

While the controls are easy to use and the unit is very portable, this is not a good for novice home recorders who want to quickly capture a "good enough" sound. If, being a novice like myself, you plug a mic directly into the machine without a pre-amp or mixing board or any other such gear and then start recording vocals, you'll notice the digital distortion right away in headphones-- especially a really, really irritating high-pitched sound. That sound will render many vocals either too quiet to hear or painful to listen to for extended amounts of time. I don't know if this is typical of digital recorders or not, but it made me not want to waste time with this unit. Honestly, I can plug a mic into my computer and get better sound. Maybe Pro-Tools beckons, or maybe I just need to get back to analog...

On a related note, the mixing controls are not intuitive and can often leave tracks buried in the mud sonically, with no way to boost them into audible range without crunchy digital distortion or a tunnel-like sound.

The crashing of the system, as another reviewer pointed out, can be annoying too. It can delete a great track-- that is, if you're lucky enough to coax one out of this machine in the first place.

Do Your Homework
This is a fantastic recorder, but there is a learning curve. If you know next to nothing about how recording in a studio works like me, heed my advice. First, download and print out the maunual, (several sites have it in PDF form),next, put it into a three ring binder and study it by reading it at least three or four times. Concentrate on the sections entitled: "Song Creation" and "Recording a Song". Then take your binder to a Guitar Center where they have them set up and plugged in. Spend an hour or so working all the menus, sliders and dials. I was there an hour and a half and nobody ever said one word to me. As to the price, If you do your research you can get it for half of average retail. Hint: the best price on the net is from an Amazon Reseller.

Grade A- for home recording!
I am a multi-instrumentalist who creates atmospheric soundscapes that integrate electronic music with American folk instruments, woodwinds, and world percussion. I am a strong advocate for the *process* of recording music (which I liken with cooking) as opposed to mechanically generating beats and tones (which I liken with microwaving).

After some ambivalence over the transition from an analog to a digital Portastudio, I decided to go with this 8-track to replace my cassette 4-track when recording electronic music. (I still use the analog machine for recording guitar-bass-drums material which I then mix and master on computer, but to capture the fuller range of direct-input synths and drum machines it really is necessary to use a digital machine.)

With the DP-02, I have been more than impressed with the fact that I can combine analog and digital recordings on an album without differences in tonal quality becoming a distraction.

I would agree with other reviewers that the machine holds up quite well. It has frozen up only once, and that was at the end of a very long session (7 hours) on a summer afternoon in a stuffy attic studio.

I have discovered only four major drawbacks with this machine:

First, whereas my dynamic mics worked like a charm with my analog machine, this model does require a preamp to drive acoustic instruments into the mix. (On the other hand, the preamp does help generate a sense of warmth that I miss from the analog recorder!) With the DP-02, it is VERY important to keep an ear on the input level (for both mic and line in). When set too high it will pick up the sound of the internal hard drive, which has stained the recordings of some very good spontaneous moments with a high-pitched whizzing sound (thankfully I was able to restore them via computer software, but it took some work and some of the clarity became dulled). My advice, therefore, is to set the input level lower and to crank the output on your instrument/amp and/or to close-mic (just try to avoid clipping from the preamp by adjusting its volume level as needed). I have found that the balance *will* come out in the wash during the mixing/editing phase.

Second, the DP-02's EQ and effects are good (though I really only use reverb - any other effects I tend to introduce at the instrument/amp level), and the hardware durability is outstanding (I've had this machine for about a year now and it has definitely withstood the test of time). However, I have found that the on-board mixes on this machine are muddier than those made via software. I find this disappointing because I would much prefer to use my hands to operate the sliders and pots than to sit before a computer screen pointing and clicking a mouse. On the other hand, two advantages to doing mixes by computer are: (a) the difference between 0 and 1, between 1 and 1.5, between 1.5 and 2, etc. on the DP-02 volume sliders is substantial, which makes it difficult to make subtle adjustments without affecting the entire mix, and (b) whereas software has an "undo" button, one mistake during a stereo mixdown on the DP-02 and one has to start over. All that said, I would say that the SmartCard model may be better than the CD model because it is about 0 cheaper!

Third, I love the fact that I can upload each song track by track to a computer via USB cable and then mix/edit/master/burn to CD or upload to internet from there. However, the transfer to computer process does take a while (between 5 and 25 minutes for a 2:30 song, depending on the number of tracks used and how involved the wave forms are). Uploading only can occur one song at a time, and the USB cable must be disconnected between uploads. In turn, I cannot set the DP-02 to upload 8-10 songs at a time and then leave the machine running while I do something else for a while. So bring a book during the transfer process.

Fourth, I concur with the other reviewers that the manual is a mess. However, don't let this discourage you. The procedures are actually quite simple, and I was able to get them all down after about two (or at most three) times around. (Meantime, simply writing out my own set of step-by-step instructions was a good enough reminder when need be.)

Now to the positives. In addition to those I mentioned above, I would say that the DP-02 serves as an outstanding blank canvas. What goes in is what comes out - which is not something I can always say for recording equipment (digital or analog). It works just fine with a 0 stereo receiver and some good speakers for a monitor system (e.g., no need for a fancy mixing set-up). And again, it is very well constructed and should hold up for several good years (assuming that one cares for equipment).

Overall, for home recording I'd give this an A-. (In comparison, I would give my old 4-track cassette Portastudio the full A, and my old 1970s TEAC open reel a C+.) Comparisons and preferences are always subjective, and no one piece of equipment will ever receive a perfect score. But for what the DP-02 is designed for, it gets the job done.

Tascam DP-02 Digital Portastudio - 8 Track
This Portastudio is great, and exactly what I have been looking for. I have had no problems whatsoever with it, and it has worked like a charm. As far as other people, I'm sure they have gotten bad units. It happens with all electronics. Sometimes a bad batch of units gets sent out, or one out of ten has a defect, or sometimes they fix the problems but older versions are still being sent from store inventory. Whatever the case may be, it works amazing, unless you are one of the unlucky ones who gets a defective one.

I am a heavy metal guitarist, and I use this to write my own tracks, and lay down drums and all. This works great if you want to finalize the track and burn it to a cd, but most of the time I will send it to my computer for final mastering. Why don't I do it all through my computer, you may ask? This is hassle free, it has no lag in the sound, and I can start it up and start recording when I have an idea, rather than get my computer turned on and all set up. Plus this unit has great sound quality. Before this, I have recorded directly to my computer for a few years. I enjoy this a lot more.

The guitar effects are decent on it, and can be used by themselves without a preamp, but they do sound weak. Being a metal guitarist, the built in effects don't quite have the sound I need, such as heavy distortion, gain, and harmonics. It does have some metal tones on it, but believe me, not what I need. It would work well for acoustic stuff though, and for some light rock. So basically I still use a preamp in front of it, even while using built in effects, putting a preamp in front of it helps immensely.

This unit is only an 8 track, and you can only record 2 tracks ata time, but this shouldn't be a problem if you're the only one doing all of the recording, or if you're taking turns laying down your parts, like you should during studio recording. But if you wanted to record all 8 tracks, say as a live performance, it won't work. I use two tracks for rhuthm guitar, two tracks for lead guitar, two more for the second lead guitar, and two more for drums. Works great in that recording aspect. If you run out of tracks, just send them to your computer (for final mastering later) and then just delete them off of the unit to make more room.

Ok, to sum it all up, here are my final thoughts on everything:

* This unit works great, whether it be used as a standalone unit or mastered on your computer,
either way it IS COMPLETELY worth it.
* Although the amp effects in this are a little weak sounding for metal, you simply just add a
preamp in front of this and it sounds great. Plus the effects for acoustic or lighter
sounding guitar work great, since you don't need to use pinch harmonics or gain, etc.
* Works great for self recording, laying down ideas, or self creating entire tracks or albums.
I lay down my drum tracks, my rhythm tracks, then my lead tracks.
* Even though there is not a ton of final track mastering features, or barely any at all, what
it has works very nice. You CAN silence parts of tracks, such as in between where the guitar
is not being played, so you can take out all that unnecessary bad noise.
* You can hook it up to your computer and transfer all your tracks, so you can do final
mastering on your computer, back-up tracks, etc.

And most of all, it IS really easy to use. don't let everyone else convince you otherwise. Within one single weekend, you should easily be accustomed to it and be fairly familiar with it. Within a couple days, recording really is that simple. If you use built in effects, just remember what they are, so you can dial them in in the future easily. Just to give you a run down of my everyday operation, I want you to see how easy and fast it is. I plug it in, I start it up, I create a new track, I assign the guitar input to the tracks I want it to record on, I set my effects, and I record! Then whe nswitching to different tracks, you simply deselect the current ones, and select the new ones. It's that simple, and takes two seconds! What's better than this, is the fact that if you had a recording session going the previous session, and saved it (always save your session or you will lose it), then upon startup, it will load your previous used session, so all you have to do is turn it on and record! That simple!

So all in all, this IS completely worth purchasing, if you plan on using it the ways that I have mentioned. It really is an amazing piece of equitment, and I have looked at many many others before deciding upon this one.

The soft case for this DP-02 is well worth checking out, as I have also wrote a review on that to help out. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, and I will respond and answer them for you to help as much as I can!

100% Happy with this recorder.
This is an outstanding system for demo recording and I am sure it would also be useful for live recordings with some added components.

After much research, I purchased the Tascam DP02 Portastudio instead of the Boss BR900CD. I had previously used the BR900 with much success and had my mind set on it for quiet some time. I kept my options open and the DP02 seemed to be the most comparable system. Despite some reviews stating the DP02 did not allow you to hear the effects while recording, I decided on it due to the on-board high, low, and reverb adjustment options. (I did not want to transfer to a computer for mastering) I was going to add an effects processor and pre-amp for the mic, but found all effects do play through recording.

The system has a lot of built in guitar (acoustic and electric), drum, bass, and vocal effects. It took me only a few hours to record several tracks, master them, and burn them to disk. Only being able to record to 2 tracks at once is a small drawback, but if you are doing all of your own recording shouldn't be a problem.

READ THE MANUAL!
Although it is not the easiest to follow page to page, if you know how to find what your looking for it's in the manual. For those of you that want to sit down, push record, and be on your way, you may want to look for a simpler system. Once you get it down, the DP02 is quite easy to use, but not something you can just turn on and go without some instruction. The trickiest part would would be mastering, but it is by no means difficult if you follow the directions.

All around this is a great system for a home studio and possibly more.

P.S. Thanks to Amazon for having the lowest price, and quick delivery.


Just a quick update. May 29, 2010. I have put many hours onto this Portastudio and can say it has absolutely been worth it. The volume on the final track can be a little tricky, but nothing some time and patience cannot overcome. It has not given me any trouble and has never locked up as some people have said. Great piece of equipment for a very fair price.

Nice Try, but no Cigar
Hmmm ---- very enticing..... wifi-based control scheme; network sourced media: DLNA, some Internet; amplified speaker device so you don't have to run speaker wires around the house; possible use as a Universal Remote in lieu of a bolt-on RF solution

Major drawbacks, besides outrageous pricing

1/ No Pandora.com
2/ No sirius.com
3/ Requires another 0 'unitasking' device, the RC100 Commander ..... will someone PLEASE write an inexpensive ITouch app that does this remote control function over Wi-Fi? .... I would actually consider buying one of the players were it not for the unitasker - total waste of hardware & money.