The Tascam 2488 Mk2 comes with a factory-installed internal 80 GB hard drive, as opposed to the 40 GB drive that comes with the original Mk1. The disk is a standard 5.25-inch model with an IDE/PATA interface. Each gigabyte of hard drive space holds just under four hours of 16-bit audio.
The Tascam 2488 divides its hard drive into five partitions. It uses a dedicated 8 GB partition for exchanging files with a computer. The record uses one to four additional partitions of 4, 8, 16 or 32 GB each for recording audio. While the factory hard drive cannot support the full amount of space of which the system is capable, you can upgrade to a 160 GB drive.
The Tascam 2488 records digital audio onto the hard drive in the standard uncompressed WAV file format. You can transfer WAV files from the 2488's hard drive directly to a computer. In addition, the 2488 can import Standard MIDI Files (SMF), letting you manage and locate musical passages in terms of bars and beats.