Topic: TASCAM DR-680 portable 8-track #3

[Chuck]

I'll let you know when it arrives if it's a new recorder. I talked to two different people over there. The second guy thought I was getting a new one according to the paper work. But, the first guy was still saying the main board was getting replaced.

[Chuck]

My DR-680 arrived. They sent me a brand new one.

[kirk97132]

See they DID replace the mainboard..........and everything else attached to it

[Chuck]

See they DID replace the mainboard..........and everything else attached to it

Yeah, FWIW the invoice said this:


NO PARTS AVAILABLE
EXCHANGE

Defect Code FS-B2 
Process For Exchange
Repair Code FS-AV   
Exchange Program


It came with firmware 1.11 build 50 on it.
I just updated the firmware to 1.20 build 59. I plan to test everything later tonight.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Good news Chuck! Hopefully this one is in it for the long haul.

[Chuck]

Good news Chuck! Hopefully this one is in it for the long haul.

Me too.
There's lots of shows coming up in February.

[Sockan]

I have an external battery for my DR-680 that can provide it with either 12v or 9v.
What voltage would YOU use and why?
Can DR-680 provide full 48v phantom on 6 channels if you're using 9v on the external battery?
I know that DR-680 works with 9v but are there any advantages or disadvantages?

[Chuck]

I have an external battery for my DR-680 that can provide it with either 12v or 9v.
What voltage would YOU use and why?
Can DR-680 provide full 48v phantom on 6 channels if you're using 9v on the external battery?
I know that DR-680 works with 9v but are there any advantages or disadvantages?

It's spec'd for 12v DC, so I'd use that. 9v is on the low end of what it can run on.
Yes, it can provide phantom power to 6 microphones on 9v DC.

[kirk97132]

I can't speak to the 12 volt differences.  I've only run it on 9 volt because that is what I already owned.  But on 9 volts it was able to provide phantom power to mics that not only are spec'ed at 48 volts but also at 10mA which is high for mics.  What did it actually put out?  I don't know for sure.  I had never put a meter on it.  I also know that Tascam tech support will not recommend anything other than 12 volts, but in real world experiences a lot of people do run it at 9 volts.  Is there a difference in run times, probably.  But I don't know if a lower voltage will give you a longer or shorter run time. 

[Chuck]

When using an external pre-amp and A/D in front of the DR-680 going digital in on inputs 7 & 8...
Does the DR-680 use it's own clock or the outboard unit's clock (via the S/PDIF input)? I thought this was covered before, but I can not find it.

[kirk97132]

The only insight I can offer is that when I used A USBPre2 to input the digi signal into a second 680.  For that, the two decks were synced so it must have been using the clocking signal that was being input into it.  So it seems that the 680 clocks off of the spdif signal when it is present.

[Chuck]

I did do a test when I first got the recorder. I sent a digital signal from a UA-5 to tracks 7 & 8. I pulled the dig cable out and it kept recording (the other channels) on the 680...
So, I wonder if it just switched to the internal clock when the S/PDIF outboard is pulled? My only worry is that if the UA-5 lost power while recording I would hope it wouldn't screw up the recordings on the other channels.

[kirk97132]

Well....I'm not sure.  When I had the issue of the USBPre2 dropping signal for a brief instant, I sometimes got a sort of ripple that went through ever track, but yet it did not happen every time.  It could be the unlock/lock of the digi signal that caused it.  And these dropouts were so quick that even when watching the deck it never showed a DIN unlock screen, only a DIN lock screen.  I can't say that I have ever tried killing the digi signal during recording in order to see if there was a seamless transition.   And fwiw I have narrowed down that particular problem to the preamps power side of the equation. 

[thekittycatt]

I finally joined the team.  I was wondering about battery power.  I know that tascam says to run off of 12v battery, but people here run them off of 9v dvd batteries.  Does running off of the 9v battery lower the dynamic range of the 680?  The reason I ask is because of the sonosax pre can run off of a battery from 12v-24v.  With the 24v battery, the pre has full dynamic range and if you use a lesser voltage battery the dynamic range is smaller.

[kirk97132]

Don't think it has an effect.  I even run mics that require a full 10ma of phantom power and the 9v dvd batteries work great.