Topic: Edirol R44/4 VS. Tascam DR680

[Phil Zone]

What is everyones opinion on each of these? whats better? pros and cons of each? this is both in stock condition, no mods...
also whats easier to power? dependability? ease of use? anything!

thanks for the opinions or facts
cam

[kirk97132]

So is the DR80 two DR-40's strapped together

[Phil Zone]

So is the DR80 two DR-40's strapped together

What a joke sorry for the typo it's the 680

[cashandkerouac]

the R-44 is a rock solid, no frills 4-channel workhorse of a recorder.  it plays well will external power supplies and the stock pre-amps aren't too bad.  the DR-680 has up to 8 channels i believe, it has more bells and whistles and it costs less.  in terms of size and portability it's a draw.  the R-44 gets my vote, but there really is no wrong answer.  i think it comes down to personal choice.       

[yltfan]

I traded in my R-44 for a 680 (and some cash!) because I do a lot of 6 and 8 channel stuff. Both good machines, but if you ever want to do more than 4 tracks--like throwing an onstage pair in with the SBD and AUD--it should be an easy decision.

[capnhook]

......but if you ever want to do more than 4 tracks--like throwing an onstage pair in with the SBD and AUD--it should be an easy decision.

Yep, easy decision.......link two r-44 machines to get 8 channels   

[kirk97132]

......but if you ever want to do more than 4 tracks--like throwing an onstage pair in with the SBD and AUD--it should be an easy decision.

Yep, easy decision.......link two r-44 machines to get 8 channels   

I know this opens up an old disagreement(not between us two captains).  My real world experience using two R-44's in 2009 was the clocks were not locked together by the sync cable.  It only controlled the transports start and stop functions.  Something that at the time was confirmed by a tech at Edirol(now roland).  I also know others have had luck using two units together.  now if that was pure luck that they matched, or if in fact Edirol had made changes I cannot say.  The tech at Edirol basically said well DUH, of course the two clocks didn't match, there is no guarantee that two of the exact same machines clock will match.  AND I have also seen a Marantz CD burner run dead on with my Tascam DR-680 with no sync cord or clocking interface.  I only bring this up in light of the fact you mentioned using two R-44's. Because when I did that it left me with hours of time stretching work.  I also cite the year since the view on the fact the sync cable does lock the clocks came over a year after that outing...ymmv

I can chime in on reliability.  I have never had an issue although there are others that have.  One of the smoking guns in the failure of the 680 seemed to center around the AUTO sensing voltage of a Tekkeon battery pack.  And I also seem to recal that running the deck over 12 volts can fry things too. The 680 claim for 8 tracks is a bit misleading as you will need a preamp that has spdif output to get channels 7&8. AND IT MUST be compatible with the 680.  not all preamps are. I feeel the preamps on the 680 to be a little better than the R-44 which felt a little grainy to my ears.  for ease of use the R-44 is a no brainer, if you can hit record on a cassette deck you can run an R-44. 

[page]

What kirk said.

You can get 6ch out of 2 r44s that are clocked by sending 2 spdif from one to the other (so you get 4 analog on the first one, and 2 on the second), and you can increase that to a full 8 if you are creative and use a usbpre2 between the two.

[capnhook]

Is it something as weird as people not using a 1/8 TRS to sync the r-44's?  I mean, are people trying to sync with a TS?  There has to be a use for that third conductor.....two for start mode sensing, one for clock pulses...?

There's a slight time shift in the start times of the .wav files between my two machines, but you can believe me, these files are all running the same clock.

[H₂O]

I would have to think's it's luck that the clocks are in sync

You may be able to test this by getting two decks with clocks that seem to be synced (or are probably better matched in reality) and sync the first deck to an external AD that is not "matched"; connect the second deck via an "approved" sync cable and see if the second deck drifts - if it is drifting then the clocks absolutely do not sync via the sync cable

[Gutbucket]

Easier test requiring no extra equipment:

Run both machines in record mode simultaneously but seperately for a signifcantly extended time (like over night for 12 hrs), with a clap at the start and end of the test recording.  File splits shouldn't matter.

Do the same again with them linked/slaved together.

Align the files and check for drift.  Unless the clocks are actually locked, there is no way you would see zero drift down at the sample level over the course of a 12hr recording even if the clocks were so closely matched that the difference isn't detectible with a typical ~2 hour music recording.

[edit- a beter solution than linking R-44s is an R-88.  ]

[capnhook]

mmmm, r-88 

[cashandkerouac]

mmmm, r-88 

i don't think we've received any "real world" feedback about the new R-88.  who's gonna be the guinnea pig?  hopefully Edirol did not release the R-88 with known bugs or potential operational issues in the field.  it could be a great machine, but for the price i would need to know that it's rock solid before i would even consider buying one.  the R-44 gives me everything that i need for my taping needs, so i doubt that i'll ever make the jump to a R-88 regardless of reliability and/or performance. 

[page]

just wait.... you can always use the channels if you try... 

[Ultfris101]

mmmm, r-88 

i don't think we've received any "real world" feedback about the new R-88.  who's gonna be the guinnea pig?  hopefully Edirol did not release the R-88 with known bugs or potential operational issues in the field.  it could be a great machine, but for the price i would need to know that it's rock solid before i would even consider buying one.  the R-44 gives me everything that i need for my taping needs, so i doubt that i'll ever make the jump to a R-88 regardless of reliability and/or performance.

Nobody here on TS apparently has one as far as I can tell but a couple people on Gearslutz have them and seem to be saying positive things. But very limited usage so far.