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Author
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Topic: Opinion of TASCAM CD-GT1 var spd CD player
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Gary Ulinskas
Member From: San Diego, California, USA
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posted 22 February 2004 01:03 PM
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Back in January of 2003 I posted a topic requesting info on slowing down CD speed to permit practice at beginner's speed. One of the sugggestions was the TASCAM CD-GT1. Saved my nickles and got one from Musician's
Friend @ $149.95. + $ for the AC adapter.Here's my review.
1. The manual leaves much to be desired. It appears to have been written by one of the engineers who designed the thing and knew it inside out. It should have been written by a musician who picked the thing up cold and had to start from scratch.
2. The main feature control function is a tilting button in the center of the control panel. By pushing at the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 o'clock positions various options appear in the menu window. To do what I wanted (slow speed audition) here's what I had to do.
A. Press the 3:00 o'clock side of the control until "PITCH" appears in the window.
B. Press the 9:00 o'clock side until SSA:OFF appears in the window.
C. Press the 12:00 oclock side and "SSA:ON" will appear in the window and "SSA" will appear in the "MODE" portion of the window.
D. Press the 3:00 o'clock side until "PITCH" appears in window again. When in SSA mode, this slows down SPEED without changing PITCH. Very confusing. (When SSA mode is NOT on, you can actually change the pitch of the music, or the KEY for that matter) by pressing the 3:00 o'clock side.
E. Press the 6:00 o'clock side and this will slow speed by 8%, 16%, 32% or 50% as shown in the window. At -32% fidelity is
just a little wobbely. At -50%, it sounds like the musicians had too much to drink. To raise speed back up' press the 12:00 o'clock side.
Once you have the speed where you want it, it works great.
3. The loop function is wonderful.
A. Press the LOOP button and "LOOP" appears in the mode window.
B. When you get to the part the song you want to start looping press the I/O button.
C. When you want to end the loop press the I/O button again and the song portion will loop over and over again until you stop it.
4. ADDED BONUS.You can plug your guitar (or output from your volume pedal) into the 1/4" GUITAR jack provided and listen thru headphones while playing your backup track CD. I also direct the output of my BAND IN A BOX rythm tracks into the "LINE IN" port.
A nice quiet way to practice. Of course the sound is not the greatest since there is no reverb or other goodies you are used to when playing with your amp.
WARNING - do not have a CD on the turntable while using BAND IN A BOX. If the CD starts playing, the feedback will make your
BAND IN A BOX act crazy.
Its been a big help to me.------------------
Gary Ulinskas
MSA S-12 + Walker mono [This message was edited by Gary Ulinskas on 22 February 2004 at 01:15 PM.]
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Gene Jones
Member From: Oklahoma City, OK USA
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posted 22 February 2004 02:20 PM
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I bought one of these units when they first became available, but returned it because it was defective. If you can find it, there is an old Forum thread about this unit.I liked the concept, but I never bought another one, so I have no experience with the unit.[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 22 February 2004 at 02:24 PM.] |
Mark Switzer
Member From: Norwalk, California, USA
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posted 22 February 2004 08:51 PM
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I got a defective one too, but I took it back and exchanged it,and now I use it all the time. The manual could be better I agree,but once you get going with it, you won`t need to scroll much through the menus. You might find a sampler or computer program that sounds better at slow speed, but this one is better than any other similar unit I`ve tried.
It DOES have reverb,BTW, as well as Distortion, compression, delay and a bunch of other stuff you might not use. You may have to edit and write your own preset to get a sound you like. Mark |
erik
Member From:
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posted 23 February 2004 04:15 PM
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How does it sound straight up? Could it also be used as a player tying into your home stereo?-johnson[This message was edited by erik on 23 February 2004 at 04:15 PM.] |
Gary Ulinskas
Member From: San Diego, California, USA
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posted 23 February 2004 05:15 PM
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Erik
I don't know about stereo, but when I am not
practicing with headphones on, here is what I do.
I have a Logitech X220 auxiliary set of speakers for my computer to make Band In A
Box sound better. (It DOES!) Normally this feeds off the speaker port of my computer's Soundblaster card.
When playing along with a CD rythm track, I feed my foot pedal cord into the 1/4" guitar port, and plug the stereo mini jack of the Logitech X220 into the "Line Out" port of of the TASCAM CD-GT1 and it works great. You can slow it down, change keys, or adjust the pitch of the CD to match the tuning of your guitar. ------------------
Gary Ulinskas
MSA S-12 + Walker mono |
Steve Hitsman
Member From: Waterloo, IL
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posted 23 February 2004 05:46 PM
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I plug mine into the auxiliary jack and play it through my stereo. I love this thing! |
b0b
Sysop From: Cloverdale, California, USA
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posted 23 February 2004 10:13 PM
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Moved to 'Electronics' section of the Forum. | |
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