Still though, the 70D & 701D are like the PERFECT 4 channel decks for a tapir like me! I'm going to sell one of my 70D's and get either a 701D or a DR680mkii as my main deck! Yeah, our small niche of tapirs asked for YEARS for a SMALL, 4 channel deck with 4x XLR INs, that was easy to power[5v], had good sounding preamps stock, could take a hot Line In signal from a preamp/SBD, sounded great overall, and was cheap as hell! Well, IMO, we definitely got it with the 70D/701D! I like my 70D's so much, that I'll probably get the 701D over the 680ii just because of its size, specs, and ease of powering compared to the 680ii!!! However, the 680ii has my eye for those extra 2 channels on 5/6 vs the 701D! But, since I get a SBD patch RARELY if ever, I don't NEED the extra 2 channels honestly!! And when I DO get a SBD patch, I can just run 2 channels of my DAUD mics and the other 2 channels the SBD! No reason or need to run 4 channels of DAUD mics + 2 SBD channels if it's not necessary! I also like the 701D's blue screen, metal chassis and extra monitoring and the 2 channel stereo mixdown of all 4 channels to tracks 5/6!
So, if someone actually reads my posts, what do you think? 701D or DR680mkii? I'm keeping one of my 70D's regardless because I need 2 decks to record at 2 stages during festivals! FWIW, the 701D or 680ii will be my main deck! My only and biggest cons to me of the 680ii are the single knob to do everything, including dial in the gain, as well as the shitty 12v DC barrel plug design they used for the 12v external powering The ONLY Con to the 701D for ME is it's inability to do those extra 2 channels on 5/6 like the dr680ii can do with the 1/4" INs. A good tapir friend of mine has a dr680 & 701D and took side by side pics for me recently, and the 701D is quite a bit smaller, although the 680 isn't huge by any means either, at least to me! But as of right now, I am leaning towards the 701D and its fancy blue screen lol Like I said above, it also has better specs than the 70D, as well as better monitoring options, the ability to do a 2 channel mixdown to tracks 5/6 so I don't have to do the matrix in post if I chose to, add in the magnesium alloy metal chassis, and its smaller size, and the 701D is in the lead right now haha I already think that the stock 70D preamps sound kickass and that's why I got the 2nd +60v PFA made awhile back, so I think I'd be more than happy with the supposedly slightly better specs/preamps of the 701D! So whatcha think? DR680ii or 701D? What would you buy? And sorry for the super long post! I need to get onto ts.com from my phone instead of my PC, because I type quick posts from my phone, and freakin' marathon posts from my PC
As much as I like the 701D, which is much nicer than the 70d
, I like the 680MKII more. It's really just personal preferences though. I like to run 4 mics plus 2 digital through my SD USB Pre2. That is just easy and gives me a chance to compare the different patterns after all is done. It gives me the freedom to run at least something geared to the room or unusual and often the results of that extra recording is a positive surprise. Ultimately that is what it's all about, trying to grab the best recording, so I give that a great deal of weight in what I take with me on a given night.
I find it easy to adjust the levels from my ganged channels, the one knob feature I find easy and quick
. A huge improvement IMO over the original 680 is that the menu is a continuous turn of the dial, versus many submenus. It saves a lot of time especially when you get comfortable running the deck. I'd say with the exception of understanding or learning how to run the digi in on tracks 5 and 6 or on the mix track
(which I like to refer to as 7 and 8 even though that is technically not correct as it is the mix track) , the running of the deck is very intuitive and easy. It took me a while to learn how to correctly go digi onto the mix track which I prefer as I do not use the mix track for anything else and then I still have 2 analog channels left if I want to really get crazy with mics. Once I learned how to go to the mix track or 5 and 6 digitally it became easy and it is documented on TS under the DR680MKII thread. I really like the black case that is sold at B and H. It's a shame it has gone up in price, but it does a great job of keeping the deck new like and for me, I keep the 12v barrel plug, permanently connected and the case holds it in without issue. It is easy to access all the controls too. I like the size of the 701D, but they both fit in my bag, so it is a non issue for me.