Topic: Tascam PR-10

[faninor]

Testing the record time on a fresh charge now!

Got all 3 bars on the battery indicator when I started, 65 minutes later at 24bit / 48kHz it has just begun wavering between 2 and 3 bars.

If all goes well I will have a recording in a few weeks done with this rig:
DPA 4060 > DPA MPS6030 > cable > M-Audio 10dB pad > cable > Tascam PR-10

This rig is tiny... I just wish I could get a custom attenuator cable built to run between the MPS6030 and the PR-10. With the M-audio pad there are extra connections to worry about.

[faninor]

Battery Life Test:

1x Tascam PR-10
2x Eneloop AAA / HR03 800mAh (freshly charged overnight)
1x Kingston 4GB class 4 Micro SD card

Procedure:
1. power on PR-10
2. record at 28bit / 48kHz (stopping only to format card when more space is needed) until battery dies.

Results:

1st format (3 bars left on power indicator):
2:04:13
1:04:13 (getting close to lunch time so I stopped and reformatted the card with 1 hr exactly remaining instead of letting it run to the end)

2nd format (2 bars left on power indicator):
2:04:13
0:29:50

Total record time:
5:42:29



Battery Swapping Test:

I noticed when you connect to a computer via USB and power the unit on, you're prompted with an option either to connect to the PC or to power (to access files on the MicroSD) or to provide power to the PR-10 through the USB. This made me wonder if it would be possible to swap AAAs mid-recording using a USB battery pack.

Procedure:

1. power on PR-10 (from battery power)
2. begin recording at 28 bit / 48kHz
3. connect external power source via USB (in this case, my laptop)
4. open back of PR-10 and remove both AAAs
5. reinsert AAAs
6. disconnect external power source

Results:

The PR-10 continued recording uninterrupted throughout the process.


Therefore, if you are prepared with:
1x Tascam PR-10
1x 32 GB Micro SD card
12x Eneloop or similar AAAs
1x Energi-To-Go microUSB charger (or similar) to power the unit while swapping AAAs
Then it should be possible to create a continuous recording for approximately 32 hours at 24bit / 48kHz.

5 1/2 hours is plenty of time for me though.

[faninor]

DPA 4060 > DPA MPS6030 > M-Audio 10dB pad > Tascam PR-10



Once I'm sure the attenuation will be necessary I'd love to find someone who can build a custom attenuator cable terminated in the right connectors for going straight from the MPS6030 to the PR-10.

[F.O.Bean]

So, whats the consesus/status about how well the ADC is Is it comparable to an R09/R09HR/M10 If so, I'm def getting one. And for $100.00, how could one go wrong?

[faninor]

Is there an easy way to test or compare the ADC quality? I haven't been able to provide feedback since I haven't used the recorder at a show yet.

The best thing I can think to do with the equipment I have, is to use a y-splitter and record from the same source into both the PR-10 and another recorder (either a Tascam DR-07 or a Sony MZ-RH10 Hi-MD) but the y-splitter may degrade the signal on its own so I'm not sure how helpful that would be.

[sunjan]

You don't need the mics/bbox to test the ADC.
Just feed it with an aux signal from your CD player over an RCA>3.5mm stereo plug cable.
If you have another recorder, playback the same track and record it with the other unit.
You can then do an A/B/C comparison, including the source (rip it to WAV with EAC) and you could analyze the three wavs and perhaps put them side by side graphically and look at the spectrograms for noise.

[faninor]

Good idea. I had thought about and discarded that idea because I usually listen to music on my laptop (no high quality output) or on my desktop connected via optical spdif to Roland MA-15D monitors (but the only output is a 1/4" headphone jack and I don't have an appropriate adapter for getting that back down to 1/8" anyway). I should be able to use the DVD or blu-ray player from our media center and test with a CD though.

I'll see if I can test it out using a Nine Inch Nails track from Ghosts I-IV or The Slip. Since those albums were released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license it will be legal to share the files here for anyone who wants to actually hear the results.

[F.O.Bean]

thanks for doing some testing

[faninor]

I'm going to do two tests using each portable recorder that I have at home.

The first test will be valuable to me, but possibly not so valuable for anyone else. The source is a track from Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts III on CD. I have recorded it onto each portable recorder I have at home, and with the PR-10 and DR-03 I added the M-Audio 10db pad on the input since these recorders are too sensitive for the full signal. I just need to compare the results now.

Since the M-Audio pad is also a variable in this test, I won't be able to attribute performance differences to the recorders only (the pad may have some effect on the signal integrity so the recorders alone can't be blamed for anything). This test is valuable for my personal use because I would be attenuating loud sources with this M-Audio pad when using the PR-10 and DR-03 while I wouldn't need to attenuate the input with the other recorders.

For the second test the only variable will be the recorders and I won't use the attenuator pad at all. I'm going to put together a source DVD with 24 bit / 48kHz audio to test with, and I will use a recording that is quiet enough so that all of the test recorders can handle the unattenuated input. So this test should give some good info about the recorder's performance.

[aaronji]

Once I'm sure the attenuation will be necessary I'd love to find someone who can build a custom attenuator cable terminated in the right connectors for going straight from the MPS6030 to the PR-10.

Looks like, with 4060s, you'd be generating enough voltage to overload the PR-10 line input at around 125 dBSPL (and less than 100 dBSPL for mic/low).  Seems like the pad is a good idea for loud shows...Or a recorder that can take a hotter signal or a less sensitive mic.  4061s should be OK up to ~135dBSPL, I think...

[Teen Age Riot]

Once I'm sure the attenuation will be necessary I'd love to find someone who can build a custom attenuator cable terminated in the right connectors for going straight from the MPS6030 to the PR-10.

Looks like, with 4060s, you'd be generating enough voltage to overload the PR-10 line input at around 125 dBSPL (and less than 100 dBSPL for mic/low).  Seems like the pad is a good idea for loud shows...Or a recorder that can take a hotter signal or a less sensitive mic.  4061s should be OK up to ~135dBSPL, I think...

The pad seems like a good idea to me as well. I've had distortion problems with the 4060's, but I never found out whether I overloaded the mics themselves or the line-in of the Sony TCD-D100 I was using at the time.

Slight threadjack here: Has anyone else used the M-Audio inline pad? It does look small and convenient.

[faninor]

moon-pix:

I used the M-audio pad in a previous setup from 2007 to 2009 (Core Sound Binaurals > M-audio pad > Microtrack 24/96 1/8" input).

It was very convenient, but plugging it directly into an input jack on portable equipment would be a bit dangerous in stxxlth situations where the recorder might be in a pocket and might get bumped. It sticks out about an inch, and then the cable connecting to it sticks out even more and the whole thing acts as a lever. Too much sideways pressure and it would stress the input jack and cause some audible noise in my recordings with that setup. It's probably safer to do what you see in my photo. Other than that I never had any problems with it.

aaronji:

Thanks for the info! 4060s and 4061s have a max SPL before clipping of 134 and 144dB respectively, so if your figures are right then the 10dB pad is just enough to capture either microphones' full range without clipping.

[Teen Age Riot]

Thanks! I think I'll get one.

[aaronji]

Thanks for the info! 4060s and 4061s have a max SPL before clipping of 134 and 144dB respectively, so if your figures are right then the 10dB pad is just enough to capture either microphones' full range without clipping.

My pleasure...The numbers came from a table on the Sengpiel Audio site (http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-transferfactor.htm, about halfway down) using the specs listed by DPA and Tascam.  Might not be exact, but probably a pretty reasonable estimate...

[faninor]

I'm done comparing my recorders, you can read, see, and hear all about it here:

http://www.bringbackthesun.com/tascam_comparison/

It seems the PR-10 (and DR-03)'s inputs are noisier than the DR-07, but I'm pretty confident that it can make good recordings if equipped with an external preamp and an attenuator. I'm no expert so I suggest downloading the FLAC files from the page, listening, and making your own decision about these recorders.

I'll have a sample recording of a live show in a couple weeks, but I'll be using a simple power supply with my mics instead of an external preamp so I will only have my 10dB pad to control the signal going into the recorder.