Topic: Tascam DR-40?

[fendrin]

So I'm brand spanking new to taping, and I just want to see what peoples' opinions are on this particular model.
Is it worth buying? Is there a cheaper alternative that has xlr inputs? Would the on-board microphones offer good enough quality, or should I get some mics to put in?

[Sonus Captor]

As far as I know the DR-40 is the cheapest recorder on the market with xlr inputs. It's a solid performer for the price, but the DR-60 (no built-in mics) and the DR-70 (built-in omnidirectional mics) have much quieter mic preamps than the DR-40 or the Zoom H4n. Here's an audio test of the Tascam DR-70D vs. Zoom H4n vs. Tascam DR-40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5tGpKlNxhI
Hope this helps.

[aaronji]

Maybe I am missing something, but why would you want a deck with XLRs if you intend to use internal mics?  Kind of opposite ends of the spectrum.  Generally, I think the mics are the most important (gear) choice as far as quality goes, so I would think about that before trying to figure out the recorder...

Personally, I would also avoid the DR-70D, as there have been some issues (see the DR-70D thread).

[acidjack]

I owned a DR-40. Unlike other Trashcan products it generally worked well, though it seemed a bit finicky about formatting the card (it would do it, but sometimes it wouldn't exit the format process correctly). I recorded a couple shows with the internals - the "Busy Bee" show is with them. http://www.nyctaper.com/2012/09/william-tyler-september-6-and-7-2012-hopscotch-festival-2-performances-flac-mp3-streaming/

It really depends on your application. The main issue with internal mics is often placement. If you can optimally place the recorder so that those mics are at the appropriate height, centered to the source, etc, they aren't bad. The DR-40 also lets you adjust the angle of the mics, which is nice.

The XLR inputs work perfectly well, though I found them a little "hot" -- meaning if you plan to record a lot of very loud sources, you may need outboard attenuators (a $15 part) to prevent it from overloading.

[fendrin]

Thanks for the feedback, all. Just to confirm, for less than 4 hours at a time of recording at max quality (96 kHz/24 bit), judging from the chart, I'll need at least an 8 gb card (i'll probably get a 16 gig to be safe)

[acidjack]

Thanks for the feedback, all. Just to confirm, for less than 4 hours at a time of recording at max quality (96 kHz/24 bit), judging from the chart, I'll need at least an 8 gb card (i'll probably get a 16 gig to be safe)

Why on earth would you record at 24/96 ever, but especially with a DR-40, and even more especially with its internal mics?

24/48 is the standard of most people here for a reason, and IMHO it is overkill. There are plenty of longer threads about this topic that can be located without us rehashing them here, but for the kinds of ultra-pro applications where 24/96 is even defensible (recording hummingbird wings flapping for a Hollywood film? transferring high-value old analog recordings for official release?) you'd first of all not be using a budget Tascam recorder, and second, you probably wouldn't be in need of advice from this forum...

[2manyrocks]

16g Sdhc cards are so cheap that it doesn't make sense to buy 8g

[lsd2525]

16g Sdhc cards are so cheap that it doesn't make sense to buy 8g

It's about to the point that 32g cards are so cheap that it doesn't make sense to buy 16g 

[2manyrocks]

I agree, especially if you leave a lot of stuff on your card.

[billydee]

I owned a DR-40. Unlike other Trashcan products it generally worked well, though it seemed a bit finicky about formatting the card (it would do it, but sometimes it wouldn't exit the format process correctly). I recorded a couple shows with the internals - the "Busy Bee" show is with them. http://www.nyctaper.com/2012/09/william-tyler-september-6-and-7-2012-hopscotch-festival-2-performances-flac-mp3-streaming/

It really depends on your application. The main issue with internal mics is often placement. If you can optimally place the recorder so that those mics are at the appropriate height, centered to the source, etc, they aren't bad. The DR-40 also lets you adjust the angle of the mics, which is nice.

The XLR inputs work perfectly well, though I found them a little "hot" -- meaning if you plan to record a lot of very loud sources, you may need outboard attenuators (a $15 part) to prevent it from overloading.

I now own the DR-40 referenced above by acidjack and can back up what he's mentioned word for word. It's not my go to deck but has worked flawlessly when I've needed it and I have made several excellent sounding matrix recordings with it when I was able to get a soundboard feed and get the deck/internals setup in the right spot.

Here's a link to one of them on LMA- https://archive.org/details/grantfarm2015-03-28.matrix.flac16

And for what it's worth, I only record at 16/44 with this deck and at the same rate 95% of the time for my primary deck.