My issue last night was one of pilot error. Stopped between songs, corrected it and continued recording before flying into a metaphorical mountain.
My biggest complaint with the 680 is definitely the limitations surrounding the digital input. Offhand:
- The meters for the stereo track mirror what is being monitored aurally. That is, even if you're recording the digital in to the stereo track, if you're listening to a mix of the analog inputs, the meters will show the mix, not the digital input. I'm not sure why it would be necessary to visually monitor the mix when it isn't being recorded.
Well, that can be helpful to confirm that the recorded the stereo mix is not clipping. And I'm not certain, but I think that mix is being output from the digital out (in addition to the headphone jack) even if it isn't being recorded. Since multiple channels are being summed in the mix, the 2-channel mix can clip even though your individual channels are peaking below clipping, and if that is happening the visual stereo channel meter will indicate it, in which case you'd want to reduce either the mix level of the stereo channel or the mix levels of the individual channel levels feeding it (instead of having to lower the individual channel input trims, although that would accomplish the same goal of not clipping the mix).
What I was supprised to find was that there seems to be no way to monitor the digital input through headphones, at least in muti-channel mode with the digital input going to the stereo channel. I agree that capability would be very useful. I would have used that last night, and trying to do that is what made me to realize my pilot error. Might be possible with the digital-in routed to 5/6 or with the machine in stereo recording mode, but I haven't tried that.
- While recording, you have to go into the menu to switch between monitoring the mix and the digital input, but during playback it's the STEREO/MULTI button on top. It's too bad the button on top can't be used during recording as well.
As you are aware, before recording that switch changes between 2-channel stereo mode and multi-channel mode. The only reason I can see to use 2-channel recording mode is if your either want to record at 192kHz or record only the digital input and not any of the analog inputs. But I agree, it would be nice to be able to push that button
while recording to switch headphone monitoring between the stereo mix buss and the digital input. It's nice that one can switch back and forth that way on playback without stoping playback or losing the playback position. In contrast, switching between the two simultaneously recorded stereo files during playback on a DR2d reverts back to the begining of the files, which reduces it's usefulness.
- There's no way to play back all 8 tracks at once, even when using a DAC.
Not directly from the machine, which I'd like to do as well. Obviously you can do so once the files are transfered to a computer, which is how most people here will do it. But for that reason it sometimes influences whether I choose to record certain pairs into the analog inputs verses the digital input, just so I can play them back simultaneously with the other anlog channels.
I usually don't use the digital input or record on all 8 tracks, but it would still be nice if some of those things had been thought out a bit more.
It might help to consider that this was not designed as an 8 channel recorder but a 6 channel one with an 'extra' mix-down or digital-input stereo channel. Thinking of it as an 8 channel machine will lead to dissapointment, think of it instead as capable of 6 with the ability to record 8 in limited circumstances.
