I own several portable digital audio recorders, and when I need to make a recording I usually grab my old Tascam DR-40. Why? I like how it sounds, and the controls are easy to use. I also occasionally record line-level audio, and the DR-40 has a simple switch that adjusts the input levels for that kind of signal. It’s been my go-to recorder for many years, but it was recently discontinued. Thankfully, the DR-40 was replaced by a very similar device: the new DR-40X. Tascam sent me one to try out, and I wanted to share my impressions of it.
But first, a bit of history…
To fully appreciate the significance of the DR-40X, you need to understand its role in history of portable digital audio recorders. I’ve been deeply involved with field equipment before recorders like this existed. In the old days, people used portable DAT cassette and Minidisc recorders for field recording. They were somewhat large, had many moving parts (making them more likely to break), and transferring their files to a computer took a lot of time and effort.
Then in 2005, M-Audio came out with the MicroTrack, which was the first handheld device that could record great sounding audio directly to a card that you could just pop into a computer. It wasn’t a prefect machine, but it was a big leap forward. Several more of these types of recorders were released shortly afterward.
Everyone loved the new recorders, but we all wanted the same thing: a small device that had XLR inputs and delivered excellent sound at an affordable price. The Sony PCM-D1 was the first model that came close to filling this need, but it lacked XLR inputs and the price was too high. But the PCM-D1 was innovative and influential. It created a design language that many popular recorders echo to this day.
The world is an extremely competitive place, and every company tried their hardest to make a portable audio recorder that was inexpensive, yet gave you everything you needed. It took years for the dust to settle in this race, but in my opinion, Tascam was the clear winner with the original DR-40, and I think the new DR-40X will continue this lead.
When it was first announced in 2012, the original DR-40 was $100 less expensive than the next portable recorder that offered dual XLR inputs and built-in mics, which was Zoom H4n. Today you can get the Zoom H4n Pro for $50 more than the DR-40X, which costs around $170 USD. While the savings is half of what it used to be, $50 is still a significant amount of money.
The Zoom H4n Pro and the Tascam DR-40X are similar, but there are several attributes and capabilities that make them rather different from one another. I think there’s room in the market for both devices to do well, but for my needs I usually prefer using the DR-40X. One of my main problems with the Zoom H4n Pro is that it does not accept line-level signals in its XLR inputs. The easy-to-use line-level switch on the DR-40X is very useful to me, and one of the main reasons I gravitate toward using it.
To hear how the DR-40X handles external microphones, and how the built-in mics sound, check out my video review:
What’s different about the DR-40X?
Because the DR-40X is so visually similar to the original DR-40, you might assume that Tascam just threw on a couple of different parts and gave it a new model name. While the similarities do run deep, the differences stand out a bit more when you take a closer look. Here’s a quick list of all of the differences:
The biggest change between the DR-40 and the new DR-40X is that it now has the ability to act as a USB audio interface for a computer. What does this mean? You can set up your computer to use the DR-40X as its sound card. This gives you the ability to use the two XLR inputs on the device to plug in professional microphones in order to record voice-overs into video production software, or to record voices and musical instruments. You can also use its built-in condenser microphones as a USB mic for your computer.
Without much trouble, I was able to set up Ableton Live to use the DR-40X as an audio interface. I plugged in an SE Electronics 1X large diaphragm condenser microphone, fed it phantom power from the DR-40X, and recorded excellent sounding audio into the software. Then I set up a second mic, and was able to record two independent tracks through the device into the computer. This makes it a good unit to record a 2-person podcast with condenser microphones.
Now, if you don’t know what you’re doing, there’s a little bit of a learning curve here. If you just plug the DR-40X into a USB port on your computer and hope your software automatically sees it and connects with it, you will be disappointed. You need to go into the preferences in your software and tell it to use the DR-40X as your audio source. It isn’t difficult, but it also isn’t automatic.
The old DR-40 never had the ability to act as an audio interface, but the Zoom H4n and H4n Pro have always could. This strips away one of the main differences between the two products.
This new feature highlights another difference between the DR-40 and DR-40X: they have different kinds of USB ports. The old DR-40 had a “Mini-B” port and the new DR-40X has a “Micro-B 2.0” port. A cable is not included in the box, so if you want to plug the DR-40X into a computer, you need to purchase a cable separately. If you have a computer with full-sized USB-A ports, this is the cable you need. If you have a more modern computer with smaller USB-C ports, this is the cable you need.
The backlit display of the DR-40X has been changed to light blue and gray, as opposed to the yellow and black display of the DR-40. While not a big change, I prefer the look of the new display. As you start digging into the menus, you will see that the layout and look of the menus has been updated. These changes make the already easy-to-use device even easier. The text is larger and easier to read, and some items in the menus have been logically reorganized.
The microphones on the DR-40X appear to have a slight cosmetic update. They are more of a gun-metal gray color, the grills are now silver instead of black, and the protective metal bars are black instead of chrome. The mics on the DR-40X also have a red ring around them. Woo.
A more meaningful change is that the DR-40X now has a built-in tone generator. When you turn this feature on, a 1-second BEEP sounds as soon as you start recording. You can configure it to put a beep at the beginning and end of your recordings, if you like, and you can change the volume and length of the beeps.
These beeps show up as completely square waves in the waveforms of your audio recordings. They make it easy to see where your recordings begin and end in your software. They can help you line up the audio if you’re trying to sync externally recorded audio with video footage. When you’re using this feature, you get used to hearing the beep after you press Record, so it helps remind you that you’re actually recording, which can be helpful.
The now discontinued Tascam DR-40 was a very popular field recorder for 7 years, and after testing the new DR-40X, it’s clear that its reputation will remain intact. In the past, I mostly used the DR-40 with condenser microphones and line-level signals. It sounds great when used with my wireless lavalier microphone systems, my shotgun microphones, and the 4053b hypercardioid condenser mic I use for indoor dialog recording.
Keeping in mind that the DR-40X is one of the least expensive portable recorders with XLR inputs, I think the sonic performance is excellent. Does a $680 USD Sound Devices Mix-Pre 3 II sound better? I don’t own one, but I’m willing to believe it does. You can never leave price out of the discussion of the DR-40X, and for the money I think it does a great job.
For critical listening, I used Tascam TH-07 High Definition Studio headphones. They are fairly comfortable, and the 50mm drivers (headphone speakers) deliver a flat frequency response. When I was using a condenser microphone to record myself speaking, the microphone picked up a few moments of distracting low-bass noise from moving air. When I would move my hands a certain way while I spoke, the microphone would get hit with noise from the moving air. Because I was using the TH-07 headphones, I could hear that this was an issue, because the headphones have the ability to let me hear deep bass sounds. I was able to correct this problem with EQ. If I had been using lower-quality headphones, I likely wouldn’t have realized this issue was there, and I would have published the video with the distracting flaws.
The DR-40X performed equally well with professional condenser microphones and line-level sources. The built-in microphones sound good, and their ability to flip between the XY and A-B configuration is useful. XY is better when recording stereo sounds that can be mixed more successfully to mono, without resulting in phase issues. A-B is better for wider stereo recordings of live music performances and ambient environmental sounds.
The built-in mics are extremely sensitive to wind noise when used outdoors, noise from moving air indoors, and plosive sounds from mouths, so using a windscreen accessory like the Tascam WS-11 is highly recommended. The DR-40X doesn’t come with any wind-protection accessories, so if you plan on using the built-in mics at all, getting a WS-11 is a necessity.
Sonic performance with dynamic microphones
I also tested the DR-40X with dynamic microphones, and unfortunately, it didn’t perform nearly as well as it did with condenser microphones. The DR-40X has a noise floor that is audible, and when you mix sound in post and boost the levels up for delivery, the noise is present. I also tested dynamic microphones with the older DR-40, and it had a very similar noise floor. I tested the same dynamic microphones with the Zoom H4n Pro, and it also had a noise floor that I could hear, but it was a bit quieter than the two Tascam units.
This noise floor issue can easily be solved by using an in-line preamp, like the $95 USD Triton Audio FetHed or the $150 USD Cloudlifter CL-1. There is also a $29 USD model sold at B&H called the Klark Teknic Mic Boost CT-1. Obviously, this is an unwanted expense and an inconvenience, and not very appealing. But, you could then use these in-line devices every single time you use your dynamic mics, and they will help them sound better in almost every situation, not just when using the DR-40X.
Why does the DR-40X have a noise issue with dynamic mics? These kinds of microphones require more gain than condenser mics, and when you turn up the gain, you tend to hear more noise. The in-line adapters I linked to in the last paragraph add around 25 dB of gain to the signal, so this issue goes away. Not all preamps struggle with noise when used with dynamic mics, but the ones in the DR-40X do. Years ago I borrowed a Shure SM7B, which is an old dynamic broadcasting microphone that some people use for music production (all of Michael Jackson’s vocals for Thriller were recorded with an SM7B). When I used it, I was surprised at how noisy it was, even with my good preamps. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a Fethead or a Cloudlifter to use with it.
What makes the noise floor issue with the DR-40X perplexing is that it isn’t present on other Tascam recorders. The more affordable Tascam DR-10X handles dynamic microphones very cleanly, so does the Tascam DR-60DmkII. I own the Tascam DR-70D and I did a test with a dynamic mic, and when I compared it to the DR-40X, it was clear that the DR-40X had a higher noise floor.
Sound test: DR-40X compared to the DR-70D with an Audix OM2 dynamic mic
Many people who review the DR-40X criticize the tilt foot. They say it’s useless and will easily get lost. At first I didn’t think much of it, but then I read the manual, and it points out that there are little arms inside the battery door that were designed to hold the tilt foot when not in use. Suddenly I liked the tilt foot. It doesn’t do much, but it does do one thing, and it has a place to live inside the device. I’m a tilt foot fan. Fun fact: the same tilt foot and battery cap holder came with the original DR-40.
The story of the DR-40X always comes down to price. If you want great performance at a low price for condenser mics and line-level signals, this is the recorder to buy. If you want a recorder to use primarily with dynamic microphones, you should look elsewhere.
Remember your history. Many companies tried to make the most affordable portable audio recorder with XLR inputs and good built-in mics, and after all of these years, the Tascam DR-40 and now the DR-40X is the model that occupies this spot. Many others tried to unseat it, but the Tascam was too good to beat. It isn’t perfect, but for video production, music recording, journalism and podcasting with condenser microphones, it offers the best bang for the buck.
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