Topic: Tascam DR100MKii and SD MIX PRE D

[matjinks]

Hi Tapers, I am a newbie with a couple of questions. I have a Tascam DR100MKii in the mail, that I would like to use with a prospective Sound Devices Mix Pre D. I want to use the Tascam as a Bitbucket, my question is, will it lock with the SD through its AES XLR? I have a Canare BCJ-XJ-TRB IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMER, and I am planning to solder in a 18db attenuator to bring down the voltage to .5v for the SPDIF input to be happy will this work?
will they be happy and communicate nicely, does anyone have real experience with these two units playing nice though digital?
My plans are to travel with a Canon 5D MKii the Tascam and the SD Mix Pre D with a Senn MKH416 (which I already own), shooting a documentary.
I think the system will work out great as I can use the Tascam for handheld interviews then mount it onto the side of the tripod with the Mix Pre and 5D mounted on top to shoot the video.

Many Thanks,

Mathew.

[dogmusic]

I have tested the Tascam DR100mkii with an SD USBPre 2 through the SPDIF coax out, and they play nice. As to your set-up using AES XLR out, perhaps someone else has some experience with this.

[stevetoney]

If you check out the spec sheet for the DR100MKII closely, you'll see that the digital input is spec'ed to the SPDIF standard only.  That said, please check out the review I wrote on the DR100MKII here...

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=152321.0

Quite a ways into the review, I wrote a section that is entitled 'DIGITAL INPUT TEST'.  In that section I wrote the following...

I did do a test of the unit through the AES/EBU output of the mini-me and the unit locked in at the 24/44.1 setting.  However, the manual says that this unit outputs SPDIF, so apparently this isn't going to be a unit for people that need to interface with AES/EBU connectors.

What the review didn't say (I think I'll update this sentence of the review a little bit after posting this message) is that the DR100MKII would NOT lock on the AES/EBU signal of the mini-me at 24/48, 16/44.1 or 16/48.  The photo that I took with the error message was taken when I was trying to get AES to lock at one of those three settings.  (I'm not savvy about this stuff so I have no clue why the unit would lock on one setting and not the others.)

Conclusion:  Based on my experience with the mini-me and the spec sheet for the Tascam, I wouldn't count on the Tascam accepting an AES/EBU signal.

[noahbickart]

try something like this:

http://www.mercenary.com/reauaexspr1.html

[stevetoney]

Sweet!  Nice and thanks!

[matjinks]

Awesome, Thanks! I wonder if that cable is an attenuator too or just an ohm converter? either way I am changing my mind about the SD USB PRE D and think I will go for the USB Pre 2 instead, its a cheaper option and will talk nicely with the Tascam, you can USB power it as a DAW and USB power it in the field, it is not as tidy as the Mix Pre D....but hey if SD made the mix pre D with USB powering and optional SPDIF I would be there...strange choice putting AES on a field mixer marketed towards budget DSLR image makers when seems like all smaller field recorders are SPDIF input only!

Thanks for the input!

[dogmusic]

I don't think you'll regret choosing the SD USBPre2. It has a lot of options and sounds great.

[matjinks]

I did have one question about the SD USB Pre though, how does it handle tape return to monitor from the Tascam, can you send a return from the Tascam headphone out to the line in of the SD and monitor it whilst still recording through the XLR inputs? Just wondering how you would monitor in the field?

[bhadella]

I did have one question about the SD USB Pre though, how does it handle tape return to monitor from the Tascam, can you send a return from the Tascam headphone out to the line in of the SD and monitor it whilst still recording through the XLR inputs? Just wondering how you would monitor in the field?

I use the headphone jack on the USBPre 2.   

[Popmarter]

Not too hijack the subject, but I too have a Mixpre-D and i'm looking for a bitbucket too. That is, just to check....., if you connect a mixpre-d digital to a recorder unit, the levels from the recorder do not need to be set. They are the same, right? (in other words, i don't have to check that, just keep eyes on the mixpre).

Are DR100MKii, PMD661 and Microtrack 2496 the only 'smaller' units on the market (doing 24/96)?

[kirk97132]

Not too hijack the subject, but I too have a Mixpre-D and i'm looking for a bitbucket too. That is, just to check....., if you connect a mixpre-d digital to a recorder unit, the levels from the recorder do not need to be set. They are the same, right? (in other words, i don't have to check that, just keep eyes on the mixpre).

Are DR100MKii, PMD661 and Microtrack 2496 the only 'smaller' units on the market (doing 24/96)?

The Mix Pre-D is AES output only.  The decks you are listing are SPDIF  input which is not the same as AES.   Besides the SD 7xx series I know the Tasccam HD-P2 & DR-680 accepts AES input.  There might be more but off the top of my head they are the only two I know of.  You can get AES > SPDIF converters too.

[Popmarter]

Not too hijack the subject, but I too have a Mixpre-D and i'm looking for a bitbucket too. That is, just to check....., if you connect a mixpre-d digital to a recorder unit, the levels from the recorder do not need to be set. They are the same, right? (in other words, i don't have to check that, just keep eyes on the mixpre).

Are DR100MKii, PMD661 and Microtrack 2496 the only 'smaller' units on the market (doing 24/96)?

The Mix Pre-D is AES output only.  The decks you are listing are SPDIF  input which is not the same as AES.   Besides the SD 7xx series I know the Tasccam HD-P2 & DR-680 accepts AES input.  There might be more but off the top of my head they are the only two I know of.  You can get AES > SPDIF converters too.

Yes, i noticed you need a converter inbetween but they are integrated in special cables (saw a picture somewhere here), so that does not really have to be a problem (in keeping things small/compact). Does it? I was hoping for something the size of a M10. Nothing fancy, just plain simple record.

[kirk97132]

I am not up on the converters but I thought there was a link somewhere on TS about it....sticky section?.  Buying one, building one I can't remember.

[hi and lo]

I am not up on the converters but I thought there was a link somewhere on TS about it....sticky section?.  Buying one, building one I can't remember.

Here's the link to the archived thread.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=7676.0

[mcirrus]

I too can't get my Tascam DR100 MkII to play nice with the SD Mix PreD. I am using the Mercenary audio AES/SPDIF cable with limited luck. I can only lock the 2 units at 44.1/16, nothing higher. I guess I will have to try a converter, but I hate the bulk...