Topic: TASCAM DR-2d - announced at NAMM

[Will_S]

Basically, yes.  It does not have all the functionality of a true 4 track recorder, but you can simultaneously record the mic inputs and line inputs to separate stereo files. 

I am assuming both inputs / ADCs share the same clock so mixing in post should be straightforward, with maybe a single time shift for mics vs board.  But does anyone know if it's possible the two ADCs could be on separate clocks?

[OOK]

Basically, yes.  It does not have all the functionality of a true 4 track recorder, but you can simultaneously record the mic inputs and line inputs to separate stereo files. 

I am assuming both inputs / ADCs share the same clock so mixing in post should be straightforward, with maybe a single time shift for mics vs board.  But does anyone know if it's possible the two ADCs could be on separate clocks?

wow that's pretty cool....

[Ozpeter]

But does anyone know if it's possible the two ADCs could be on separate clocks?

Highly unlikely as that would defeat the purpose.  It's probably a single chip.

[Will_S]

But does anyone know if it's possible the two ADCs could be on separate clocks?

Highly unlikely as that would defeat the purpose.  It's probably a single chip.

I hope you are right, my only concern is that if the target audience is just going to be recording a song or two at a time, clock drift isn't a real concern.   This weekend I'll do a long dual recording on mic in to see if there's any drift...

[Will_S]

Another test with 2000 mah pre-charged NiMHs: 4 hrs 50 minutes recording mic in, plug in power on, not dual mode.  Should be a bit better with regular high capacity NiMHs.

[Will_S]

A couple mic-in samples from the field.  Not the best location, but you can compare with Audix M1290 hypers > FR2LE in the same location.

Microphone Madness version Sennheiser MKE40s > 9V BBox > DR2d mic in:
http://homepage.mac.com/satterwill/DeepElemMKE40.flac
Microphone Madness version Sennheiser MKE40s > DR2d mic in (plug in power, no battery box):
http://homepage.mac.com/satterwill/MoonManMKE40.flac
Audix > FR2LE from the same location:
http://www.archive.org/details/isd2010-03-20.m1290hc.flac16f

[manamana]

what's disappointing is you can't use dual mode from the line in alone. Would be nice to run things a little bit hotter on the pre and not worry about clipping in stealth situations (as long as the input could handle it)

hmmm. I might just be going sony. Any comparisons of sound quality between the M10 and DR-2d?

[spyder9]

I just scored one.  Gonna give it its maiden voyage at Wanee.   

[Will_S]

Something funky with the 2 gig autosplit last night.  New, untested SD card may have been the culprit, haven't been able to reproduce it.  But I was in dual recording mode and when the recorder hit the 2 gig limit, the timer froze at 2:15:xx (whatever 2 gigabytes is at 24/44.1) with 0:00 remaining, but the record icon was still displayed, the levels behaved as normally in response to the input sound, and the record light stayed lit.  No response to any button pressing.  Eventually, over an hour later, it displayed a "file error" message and became responsive again, but could not play back the files.  They display on my computer as 0 kb files, although the remaining disk space seems about right for 2 x 3 hours of 24/44.1 audio being present.  No luck with any recovery tools tried to date, or opening the files in Sound Studio or Audacity. 

Kind of a bummer.  Will try to manually start new files before the 2 gig limit whenever possible in the future, just in case.  But will do more testing at home seeing if I can reproduce this weird error.

[daspyknows]

what's disappointing is you can't use dual mode from the line in alone. Would be nice to run things a little bit hotter on the pre and not worry about clipping in stealth situations (as long as the input could handle it)

That and batteries are my two questions. Battery is fine but line n on dual mode is a disappointment.  I have a DR-100 which I like but for a smaller unit I am considering.

[daspyknows]

Something funky with the 2 gig autosplit last night.  New, untested SD card may have been the culprit, haven't been able to reproduce it.  But I was in dual recording mode and when the recorder hit the 2 gig limit, the timer froze at 2:15:xx (whatever 2 gigabytes is at 24/44.1) with 0:00 remaining, but the record icon was still displayed, the levels behaved as normally in response to the input sound, and the record light stayed lit.  No response to any button pressing.  Eventually, over an hour later, it displayed a "file error" message and became responsive again, but could not play back the files.  They display on my computer as 0 kb files, although the remaining disk space seems about right for 2 x 3 hours of 24/44.1 audio being present.  No luck with any recovery tools tried to date, or opening the files in Sound Studio or Audacity. 

Kind of a bummer.  Will try to manually start new files before the 2 gig limit whenever possible in the future, just in case.  But will do more testing at home seeing if I can reproduce this weird error.

I had this happen to me with the DR100.  Pissed me off. New untested SD card too.

[Will_S]

Something funky with the 2 gig autosplit last night.  New, untested SD card may have been the culprit, haven't been able to reproduce it.  But I was in dual recording mode and when the recorder hit the 2 gig limit, the timer froze at 2:15:xx (whatever 2 gigabytes is at 24/44.1) with 0:00 remaining, but the record icon was still displayed, the levels behaved as normally in response to the input sound, and the record light stayed lit.  No response to any button pressing.  Eventually, over an hour later, it displayed a "file error" message and became responsive again, but could not play back the files.  They display on my computer as 0 kb files, although the remaining disk space seems about right for 2 x 3 hours of 24/44.1 audio being present.  No luck with any recovery tools tried to date, or opening the files in Sound Studio or Audacity. 

Kind of a bummer.  Will try to manually start new files before the 2 gig limit whenever possible in the future, just in case.  But will do more testing at home seeing if I can reproduce this weird error.

I had this happen to me with the DR100.  Pissed me off. New untested SD card too.

Several auto splits went off without a hitch today, same card that gave me problems Tuesday night.      That night I had the recorder covered up with a sweater and it got rather hot,

[bgalizio]

Looks like previous post in this thread was lost. But, I ordered one of these for 4 track recording. Should be very nice for my AT822 + SBD.

[crazifyngers]

just got mine in the mail today.  feels much more sturdy than the dr-07 i had first.  it is plastic and metal not just plastic.  nice touch.  buttons feel nice.  i don't like the SD slot.  the cover is difficult to get off.  i was unsure if i was going to break the door with the amount of force i had to use.  may just be my unit or it may just be because it's new.  I don't change cards often and transfer from the device so it's not that big of a deal. I am looking forward to running the dual mode.i just have to read about it and test at home before i take this to a show unprepared.

[Gutbucket]

Potentially cool hand-held recorder.

I'm interested solely for the dual-channel recording feature.  Lack of gain control on the line-input is somewhat of a bummer though.  I'd be using two CA-UGLY preamps in front of the DR-2D, which are clumsy to gain-adjust channel by channel while recording.  I'd far prefer that the gain for both mic and line inputs be controlled simultaneously to keep the relative gains matched between channel pairs. 

As it is I pocket two R-09s and sync in post, so the attraction for me is obvious.  Please let me know how use of the dual channel feature pans out in use.

Battery life could be better, but I could live with that.  I have a pile of large capacity Kingston class 4 cards for the R-09s and R-44, so I hope those turn out to work alright.  TIA for real world usage reports.