US-based YouTuber and online videography/filmmaking instructor Matt Johnson has adopted Tascam’s Portacapture X8 Multi-track Handheld Recorder as an essential part of his video creation toolkit.

Johnson’s subject matter spans a wide range of topics, encompassing everything from product reviews to audio/video synchronisation to addressing noise. ‘The Portacapture X8 is a remarkably capable tool for capturing high-quality audio,’ he says. ‘I love the fact that this compact, easy to transport recorder can record upward to eight tracks. While most of my projects involve two tracks, or stereo, the fact that it can accommodate eight tracks provides a lot of creative opportunity.

‘I’m a big fan of the touchscreen and how it presents all the info from the recorder,’ he continues. ‘It’s very intuitive and it makes getting around the unit’s many features quick and easy. The Portacapture X8’s Launcher system is terrific. In addition to offering preset configurations for podcasting, field recording, capturing voice and music plus other options, the system lets you create your own presets quickly and easily. You can go full manual, which is how I prefer to work, but you also have the option of using the presets.

‘I also love the combo XLR/quarter-inch jacks, which are great for connecting to various sound boards. This makes it easy to interface the unit with other equipment and the unit’s USB audio interface, which I’m still experimenting with, is yet another way of interfacing with other equipment such as a computer.’

Johnson is also impressed by the Portacapture X8’s support for up to 192kHz/ 32-bit floating-point recording ‘…especially whenever I am recording and don’t have full control over the ambient audio,’ he explains. ‘This makes it much easier to obtain clear, high-quality signal that can easily be refined with a computer. For this, I use the audio effects in Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve’s audio editor known as Fairlight.

‘The Portacapture X8 is such an incredibly powerful and full featured recorder,’ he adds. ‘I know that having it in my bag means I will be prepared for virtually any audio situation I come across, regardless of what I’m filming.’

More: www.tascam.com