Topic: NEW: Tascam DR-100mkii

[page]

I'm with Todd, it looks like it has potential for a budget recorder, but it's not revolutionary over some other offerings plus Tascam's track record as of late hasn't been sterling...

Whoever buys one first; don't forget to test whether it's bitperfect and if it does truely seemless splits.

[stevetoney]

..assuming it doesn't suffer the same issues as the 680.

Just make sure it gets the right voltage. 

I used the battery below with the DR2d until the firmware update got the run time up to 5+ hrs on AAs.  Ran it all day for a few fests and it only dropped a few bars on the charge indicator (maybe 25%) recording 4 channels but no phantom load of course.  Haven't needed to use it since the update, but it would probably now run it for days.    Smaller than a DVD battery:
http://www.energizerpowerpacks.com/us/products/xp8000/

Nice.  I actually have a battery that's my dedicated recorder battery.  It's a powerrunner (the highest capacity one) and it's been my 'old faithful' now for ever.  It's flea bitten and the outer case has been broken, taped up, broken again and retaped.   It's like that piece of clothing that you have that's totally worn out but works better and looks better than ANYTHING you could possibly get new.  The powerrunner is actually the predecessor of the Tekkeon.  My powerrunner will power any 5V recorder I've owned for almost an entire 4 day festival and it WILL power most that I've owned.

[stevetoney]

The other good thing is that it really lowers the cost of a digital-input recorder, down from the 661 (about half the price?) -- particularly if the A/D doesn't have an optical out (like I said, the USBPre and opti-V3 users have already had the D50, but now there is a low cost recorder for those with stock V3's, AD2k+'s, Mytek, Minime's, etc).  That is, meaning if it is reliable -- I know the Microtrack fits that bill, but I can't deal with its unreliability and general finicky-ness.

^ This is the key right here. 

For the last 3 or 4 years, whenever anyone has put out a 'wish list' for hand-held recorder features, the No. 1 request is by far a digital input on a reliable, low cost recorder.  The D50 moved in that direction, but the price point is still up there and it's limited by providing optical input only and the SPDIF standard limits the number of devices it's compatible with.

So, I'm actually pretty psyched about this because I've been waiting for a hand-held with this feature set, with the added bonus of the innovative dual battery design. 

I also love that there are dual XLRs that are switchable between mic and line levels, just like a 661 and a SD-7xx.

[bhadella]

At $150 less than the D50 (and with non-optical in) it's a great additon to the market.  Add on the fact that it can provide P48 across a xlr and it's a great addition to ther arsenal.

[spyder9]

Ni-MH batteries(eneloop）Built-in mics（UNI／OMNI） About 4 hours（Recording WAV, 44.1kHz, 16 bit）

So I would guess that with the 48 phantom on and a higher bit rate, it would halve that run time.
That would be cutting a little too close for most shows I do.
Too bad if that is the case, this and a pair of Nevaton MCE400's would have the potential to make a nice, compact undercover rig.

If you read the manual more closely, I think you'll find that this isn't a valid conclusion. 
 
You're missing the point that this unit has BOTH a built in Li-Ion battery and a slot for a pair of AAs and that you can hot-swap the AAs.  The user specifies in the menu which batteries you want to run down first, but obviously you'd want to run out the AAs first. 

The point here is that you run AAs first and then the unit switches over seamlessly to the Li-ion internal while you swap AAs.  Once you swap AAs, you're back on AA power and that process continues forever.

The manual says the Li-ion lasts 5 hours, so if you do nothing you have 9hours of on-board power.  The manual also shows that there's no difference in power consumption between the different bit rates, although I'm sure you're right that if you're running 48V phantom your run-times will be a little shorter, but DEFinitely not half.

The bottom line though is that this unit REALLY has a cool feature that with dual power sources, it can theoretially run for days without ever shutting off as long as you hot swap two AAs every 4 hours or so.

NOTE:  Battery powering is a MAJOR redesign for this recorder.  The Lithium battery for this unit is the EXACT SAME BATTERY used in the Tascam DR-1 and 100 recorders.  What they did was add the AA's to the Sled.  That's it.  I bet the MKII will get at least 5 hours of battery life (lithium + AA's), P48 at 24 bit wav.  Also, Hot swaps is a fantastic new feature too. 

[spyder9]

I'm with Todd, it looks like it has potential for a budget recorder, but it's not revolutionary over some other offerings plus Tascam's track record as of late hasn't been sterling...

Whoever buys one first; don't forget to test whether it's bitperfect and if it does truely seemless splits.

I've owned the HDP2, DR-1, DR07, DR08, and  DR2D.  Always had seamless splits.  Even at festies.  Never failed me. 

Where are you reading this?  680 thread?  Link please?  Thanks. 

[stevetoney]

These are shipping now from B&H.  I'll have one in hand on Friday.  I'll do a review of the unit when it arrives.

Assuming everything works as billed, I'll have a 661 for sale this weekend. 

[jbell]

I'm intereted in finding out what you think!!  Keep us posted

These are shipping now from B&H.  I'll have one in hand on Friday.  I'll do a review of the unit when it arrives.

Assuming everything works as billed, I'll have a 661 for sale this weekend.

[Massive Dynamic]

I'm intereted in finding out what you think!!  Keep us posted

These are shipping now from B&H.  I'll have one in hand on Friday.  I'll do a review of the unit when it arrives.

Assuming everything works as billed, I'll have a 661 for sale this weekend.

I wonder if one of these would send a signal to a UA-5?
And if that coax adapter cable comes standard.

[stevetoney]

I'm intereted in finding out what you think!!  Keep us posted

These are shipping now from B&H.  I'll have one in hand on Friday.  I'll do a review of the unit when it arrives.

Assuming everything works as billed, I'll have a 661 for sale this weekend.

I wonder if one of these would send a signal to a UA-5?
And if that coax adapter cable comes standard.

I'll let you know about the coax adapter.  The manual says it's included.

As far as the first question, don't you mean that you wonder if this will accept a digi-signal from a UA-5?  If not, explain what you're trying to do and I'll see if I can tell if it does that when I get my hands on it on Friday.

[Massive Dynamic]

As far as the first question, don't you mean that you wonder if this will accept a digi-signal from a UA-5?  If not, explain what you're trying to do and I'll see if I can tell if it does that when I get my hands on it on Friday.

Yeah, still looking for an affordable, reliable 24-bit bucket. If you could get hold of a UA-5 and test, I think there may be others who would be interested. Thanks!

[Gil]

Steve, don't forget Team Pittsburgh first. I might be interested.

[datbrad]

Checking the manual, looks like the breakout cable for digi in is included. Strange design choice, IMO. Why have practically a proprietary mini-mini jack to an RCA breakout when a regular RCA coax would fit? The Microtrac is similar in size and has a full size coax. I don't see anything about this unit that would drive me to sell my 661 for it. Steve does not need a real reason to switch up gear, so don't go by his rationalizations for why he wants to try this Tascam out.
* Merry Christmas Steve, btw * 

[page]

I'm with Todd, it looks like it has potential for a budget recorder, but it's not revolutionary over some other offerings plus Tascam's track record as of late hasn't been sterling...

Whoever buys one first; don't forget to test whether it's bitperfect and if it does truely seemless splits.

I've owned the HDP2, DR-1, DR07, DR08, and  DR2D.  Always had seamless splits.  Even at festies.  Never failed me. 

Where are you reading this?  680 thread?  Link please?  Thanks.

Just thinking out loud. I'd like to assume it does seemless splits based on past performance, but checking is always nice. Thats all.

[stevetoney]

Checking the manual, looks like the breakout cable for digi in is included. Strange design choice, IMO. Why have practically a proprietary mini-mini jack to an RCA breakout when a regular RCA coax would fit? The Microtrac is similar in size and has a full size coax. I don't see anything about this unit that would drive me to sell my 661 for it. Steve does not need a real reason to switch up gear, so don't go by his rationalizations for why he wants to try this Tascam out.
* Merry Christmas Steve, btw *

Brad, I'm thinking that their reasoning was that they saved one jack with this design since that's a dual purpose jack (digi-in and remote control input).  Perhaps they needed the space on the inside. 

I can't speak to why they used a mini-jack, but I didn't see that as a real big deal.  I guess people say that digi-cables should be a different impedence than others, but I've used  'normal' el-cheapo RCA cables for between my SPDIF connections in the past and they seemed to work just fine.  Maybe I just got lucky, but my thinking was that any ole RCA > mini-jack cable could be used even if I don't have the short cable that's supplied with the unit.

As far as my rationalizations for trying out new gear, you got me!

Merry Christmas back at-cha! 

PS:  I'll be in Richmond for the holidays...if I can get it past the boss, since she'll be spending it with her sisters, I might try to escape on NYE and catch Brothers Past at Canal Club.