Topic: Tascam DR-70D 4-channel audio recorder (Part 4)

[voltronic]

I know it's late in the game for this suggestion, but would it be out of line to request that discussion of mods to the DR70 be moved to another thread?  Frankly this discussion only pertains to a small number of you that are either interested in the mod or have the mod.

For the 30 or 40 of us that don't have the mod or aren't interested, all this discussion is wasted space and its getting a little bit frustrating sorting through the mod discussion to find the new posts that deal with our unmodded units.

That's probably a good idea.  This has been sucking a lot of the space here lately.

[2manyrocks]

Well, if you 30 to 40 other guys would post something, problem solved.   .

[MakersMarc]

I don't mean to throw this off track, but I'm fascinated by the old ears vs. bench debate. To Jons point, I've generally preferred gear that is most likely technically inferior to gear I've ultimately not preferred, like a v2, ad2k, v3, in favor of psp2, adk, 148, mme, modsbm1, warm mod 661. And knowing that I was probably going against the conventional wisdom when running dpas by trying for a warm, fat, smooth sound. Not technical terms. But I do hear what I hear. As for modded units, I definitely could hear the difference between a modded sbm1 and stock. I'm as far from technically savvy as you can get......I'm a throw em up and point em guy. 

I'd suggest that all that ultimately matters is whether you like the mod and can hear a pleasing difference when playing back on whatever you own.

[Ozpeter]

Hang on, I've not had my two pennyworth yet!

The results of the mod will be a smoother midrange and better high end detail.

Well, I copied that before I saw that Jon already commented on it - I would translate that to mean a flatter midrange frequency response and some high frequency boost - in the case of the first, I doubt whether it's other than effectively flat already, and if you want high frequency boost, do that in post production if necessary and to your own taste.

If the results of the mod are that the recordings I make sound better than they did before, I'll consider my money well spent.

Your money is well spent if you believe that you've got a better device for it.  Whether it is or isn't is immaterial.  I very much hope you will enjoy it in that way.

Many on this board have purchased mods from others builders who do not tell you much at all about what they are doing, and I find it interesting that they are not subject to the same scrutiny.

I'm not about to bother to dig out examples but I've verged on making myself unpopular with some comments on what I see as the dubious merits - or to be more precise, the unproven merits - of mods before, I think on these boards, and Mr Oade and I once exchanged some sharp words, as I recall it.   But at the end of the day, each to his own.  Like I said, it's about enjoyment - and perhaps some of the enjoyment lies in the discussion?

And now, back to our scheduled programming...

[Sonus Captor]

DR-70 wishlist to Tascam

The DR-70 is hard to beat when is comes to value for money, especially with the new firmware installed. But in my point of view there is still room for improvement (apart from the things mentioned in the DR-70 FAQ):
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=172795.0

Issues:

- The headphone output voltage/power (20mW) is too low for some headphones which makes monitoring difficult. -  I use a Sennheiser HD-25 for live monitoring and an AKG K702 for checking the recording later. With the Sennheiser the volume is okay but with the AKG it is certainly too low. Usually you leave 12-16dB of headroom when recording. So the unnormalised file is a lot quieter than the edited one. With the given voltage of 4.8-6V of the four batteries it would be no problem to provide a little more power at the phone output. Quite a few high quality headphones have a lowish sensitivity.

- Slate tone cannot be disabled. - The slate button has a delay to prevent accidental operation, but it would be even better if you could disable it in the menu.

- You have to slide and hold the switch for full 3.5 sec to power up the device. -  Only a very minor flaw, but those 3.5 seconds do feel too long.

Firmware update requests:

- Increase headphone output power/voltage if possible.
- Allow slate tone to be disabled.
- Let the device power up when sliding/holding the switch for 2 sec.

What do you think?

[groovon]

DR-70 wishlist to Tascam

The DR-70 is hard to beat when is comes to value for money, especially with the new firmware installed. But in my point of view there is still room for improvement (apart from the things mentioned in the DR-70 FAQ):
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=172795.0

Issues:

- The headphone output voltage/power (20mW) is too low for some headphones which makes monitoring difficult. -  I use a Sennheiser HD-25 for live monitoring and an AKG K702 for checking the recording later. With the Sennheiser the volume is okay but with the AKG it is certainly too low. Usually you leave 12-16dB of headroom when recording. So the unnormalised file is a lot quieter than the edited one. With the given voltage of 4.8-6V of the four batteries it would be no problem to provide a little more power at the phone output. Quite a few high quality headphones have a lowish sensitivity.

- Slate tone cannot be disabled. - The slate button has a delay to prevent accidental operation, but it would be even better if you could disable it in the menu.

- You have to slide and hold the switch for full 3.5 sec to power up the device. -  Only a very minor flaw, but those 3.5 seconds do feel too long.

Firmware update requests:

- Increase headphone output power/voltage if possible.
- Allow slate tone to be disabled.
- Let the device power up when sliding/holding the switch for 2 sec.

What do you think?

Those changes sound reasonable.
IMO a more annoying/possibly serious one is the issue of the input level pots suddenly shutting off input at around the 8 o'clock(?) knob position. Can it be changed in firmware? Otherwise I'm making some rotation-limiting knob stops

Dave

[stevetoney]

Well, if you 30 to 40 other guys would post something, problem solved.   .

The reason I mentioned it is that a year from now, some people might want to read the discussions about about the mod but they'll have to wade through X times 25 pages of DR70D posts to find the detailed discussion.  Similarly, for the people that have a general question on the DR70D and someone says 'it's already been discussed in the DR70D thread' well if the thread is occupied by lots of discussion about mods, then that's all the more information someone has to sift through to find specifics about a general issue they might want answered. 

[jagraham]

Firmware update requests:

- Increase headphone output power/voltage if possible.
- Allow slate tone to be disabled.
- Let the device power up when sliding/holding the switch for 2 sec.

What do you think?

The 3.5 sec power up is annoying but not a huge deal. 2 sec would be better.

How impossible would it be to turn this into a 6ch recorder utilizing the ext in? I know that's a pipe dream at this price point, and I don't even know if I could have much practical use for that. But, the question is, is it possible via firmware update?

Surely this has been discussed, but what about a digital mechanism to measure differences in the channels? This would be amazing with unbalanced mics. I'm imagining a way to check the file after the opener or between sets that tells the differences in dbs between the channels. I know, not likely, but just throwing around ideas here. Maybe it's more likely there could be some kind of designation on the display that I've "matched" the channels.

Been using mine in the field some recently at pretty loud shows, WSP and DMB. I've had success so far. Been using the mid gain level for my Naks and I prefer that to the low gain. I've found that even with mid I have to be careful with levels, typically having the "louder" mic around 12 o clock and the other about 2hrs lower or so. I've gotten pretty good at matching the levels but I've been normalizing in post because there's still a 1 or 2 db difference. It's annoying, but I can get the levels much closer than running the same mics into the DR-2d.

[voltronic]

DR-70 wishlist to Tascam

The DR-70 is hard to beat when is comes to value for money, especially with the new firmware installed. But in my point of view there is still room for improvement (apart from the things mentioned in the DR-70 FAQ):
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=172795.0

Issues:

- The headphone output voltage/power (20mW) is too low for some headphones which makes monitoring difficult. -  I use a Sennheiser HD-25 for live monitoring and an AKG K702 for checking the recording later. With the Sennheiser the volume is okay but with the AKG it is certainly too low. Usually you leave 12-16dB of headroom when recording. So the unnormalised file is a lot quieter than the edited one. With the given voltage of 4.8-6V of the four batteries it would be no problem to provide a little more power at the phone output. Quite a few high quality headphones have a lowish sensitivity.

- Slate tone cannot be disabled. - The slate button has a delay to prevent accidental operation, but it would be even better if you could disable it in the menu.

- You have to slide and hold the switch for full 3.5 sec to power up the device. -  Only a very minor flaw, but those 3.5 seconds do feel too long.

Firmware update requests:

- Increase headphone output power/voltage if possible.
- Allow slate tone to be disabled.
- Let the device power up when sliding/holding the switch for 2 sec.

What do you think?

Those changes sound reasonable.
IMO a more annoying/possibly serious one is the issue of the input level pots suddenly shutting off input at around the 8 o'clock(?) knob position. Can it be changed in firmware? Otherwise I'm making some rotation-limiting knob stops

Dave

That one really caught me off guard when I first started using it also.  I would have to think that's a limitation of the actual rotary switch rather than the software, because to have usable range down there that the software isn't registering just seems stupid.  Either way, I think that qualifies as an issue for the FAQ, but not one that I imagine could be fixed.

Same thing goes for the headphone level - you're just going to have to use higher impedance / more sensitive headphones or get a small portable headphone amp to run off the line out.  From what I can tell, the headphone out has nothing to do with the digital gain control for the line and mic inputs.  What tells me this is that the headphone level is controlled by your typical analog headphone dial control.

There's already an item in the request lists for the slate tone, but not for it to be disabled - to allow it to be used when you're not recording.  I don't see the point of disabling it.  If you're worried you're going to bump it, that's what the HOLD switch is for.

Power up time could potentially be improved with a software update, I guess.  This never bothered me, but I'll put it there if it bugs others.

I can't get anyone from Tascam to take a look at these things anyway... but the list of issues is still useful for new users.

[audBall]

The Petrol PS617 (one of the recommended bags on the FAQ page) is currently selling for $79 at B&H and qualifies for free shipping. It normally sells for about $270.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/902128-REG/Petrol_ps617_Lightweight_Audio_Bag_Large.html

[voltronic]

The Petrol PS617 (one of the recommended bags on the FAQ page) is currently selling for $79 at B&H and qualifies for free shipping. It normally sells for about $270.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/902128-REG/Petrol_ps617_Lightweight_Audio_Bag_Large.html

It went on that same sale a few months back.  I almost bought it then, but I don't like the fact that the top doesn't close like all their other bags of this style.  I wish their Deca Doctor bags would go on a sale like this.

You should definitely post this on the 3rd Party Sales board though - someone here probably wants one of these, especially at that price!

[audBall]

Cross-posted.

Yeah, the flap not completely covering the top is a bit of a concern for me as well. I decided to try one out since my current bag doesn't allow for side connections. If it doesn't work out for me, it'll get offered here or the yard.

[tim in jersey]

The Petrol PS617 (one of the recommended bags on the FAQ page) is currently selling for $79 at B&H and qualifies for free shipping. It normally sells for about $270.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/902128-REG/Petrol_ps617_Lightweight_Audio_Bag_Large.html

Still haven't worked out a bag yet. Anyone running one of these with the 70D?

[groovon]

The Petrol PS617 (one of the recommended bags on the FAQ page) is currently selling for $79 at B&H and qualifies for free shipping. It normally sells for about $270.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/902128-REG/Petrol_ps617_Lightweight_Audio_Bag_Large.html

Still haven't worked out a bag yet. Anyone running one of these with the 70D?

I use an earlier version of this one: http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/speed-changer-v2.aspx

Top shelf quality, just enough padding, and a nice fit for the DR-70 with enough room for spare batteries, etc. Top access only, so if you want to operate the unit while in the bag you'll need right-angle XLRs. New only $50+, or used on fleabay for $20-30.

Dave

[morst]

...
Firmware update requests:
...
- Allow slate tone to be disabled.

YES! I would not like to break off the button, but if I get one recording ruined by a slate tone, and there's not a firmware fix, I can pretty much tell you what's gonna happen...