Topic: Repairs for TCD-D8 (I searched the forums 1st)

[skydiver44]

Hello everyone, a newbie to the forums here. But not even close to being new to DAT recording. Anyway, I did a search string on "Sony TCD-D8 repairs" to no avail....I'm looking to get mine repaired (I'm getting a 'Load Error' )and cannot find any shops, at least within driving distance. Well there is one and they had my deck for 6 mos! Then told me they could not fix it (it was an authorized Sony dealer/repair place). Now it looks like I'll have to send it off somewhere to be fixed but cannot find anywhere that still works on D-8's. Any suggestions on dealers/ repair shops would be great.

I have lots of Phish, Dead, etc...
Thanks, skydiver44

[achalsey]

No suggestions on help unfortunately, but are you using it to record still?  Might be a good excuse to enter the digital age.

[hi and lo]

Paul Plotnik at Pro Digital can still repair these...

but why on earth would you want to? Either get a solid home deck to transfer existing masters or ditch DAT entirely. Repairing your D8 will cost you as much or more than handheld solid state recorder.

[Massive Dynamic]

Paul Plotnik at Pro Digital can still repair these...

http://www.prodigitalinc.com/

but why on earth would you want to? Either get a solid home deck to transfer existing masters or ditch DAT entirely. Repairing your D8 will cost you as much or more than handheld solid state recorder.

+1

[H₂O]

Pro digital do excellent work and have a pretty quick turnaround - but I have to agree with other comments - DAT is not the ideal mechanism for field recording anymore esp when you can pick up a decent flash recorder for under $250 (which would be close to the cost to repair your D8).

If you still own alot of DAT pick up a home deck as good sony's can be had around $100 or so.

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=155313.0

Time to upgrade to the 21st century???  methinks it will be worth it in the long run...

And if you pick up a home deck to do Transfers of your old DAT(m)s, you can run them into the FR2LE, and then copy the Card onto your PC...  Easy Squeezy...  I do the same: PCM-R500 > SPDIF > HD-P2...

Terry

[jlykos]

I receivEd the dreaded load error on my D8 once. Asked Paul at Pro Digital for a repair quote and he said between $250 and $400. With good digital recorders costing around $200 now, you may want to think about making the switch.

[F.O.Bean]

Switch to a Sony PCM-M10 and buy a home DAT deck or 2 for transferring

[robertmode]

Hello,

professor_magic on ebay do excellent work also.

Yours sincerely.
Robert

[capnhook]

If you DO decide to get a home deck, I'd recommend gettng a full head deck (like a Sony PCM-R500)......I have tapes made by about 5 different D8's, and I have yet to have any problems reading any one of them.  Can't say that about my half-head Tascam da-20mkII.


_{edit - fat fingers}

[morst]

as others have said - Plotnik is good, but it's not worth it.

Go 48kHz, at 24-bit, you'll love it.

[Angstroms]

Hello all,

My first post on this forum, so I'd like to say hello. But also, I am a DAT taper for the past 18 years or so... I am blown away by the vast information here and I am behind the times regarding these new recorders. What are some of the good ones around these days? I didn't want to start another thread, so I hope this is ok to ask here.

But to chime in on the topic, I have been going to prodigital for years. They have serviced all of my decks and the service has always been great.

[fmaderjr]

But to chime in on the topic, I have been going to prodigital for years. They have serviced all of my decks and the service has always been great.

ProDigital does great work, but my DAT (TCD-D100) seemed to need $200 in repairs every 2 years to prevent drop outs (Paul said tiny plastic gears can go even if the deck isn't being used).

Now you can buy an M10 for $200 and it probably won't go bad for years. Then you just buy another deck.

I have had a lot a different flash decks over the past 6 years and not one ever had a problem (except for a Busman FR2-LE that wasn't working right when I received it).

[Angstroms]

But to chime in on the topic, I have been going to prodigital for years. They have serviced all of my decks and the service has always been great.

ProDigital does great work, but my DAT (DCD-D100) seemed to need $200 in repairs every 2 years to prevent drop outs (Paul said tiny plastic gears can go even if the deck isn't being used).

Now you can buy an M10 for $200 and it probably won't go bad for years. Then you just buy another deck.

I have had a lot a different flash decks over the past 6 years and not one ever had a problem (except for a Busman FR2-LE that wasn't working right when I received it).

Very true. I get my 3 D8's serviced every 3 years or so.

I now am interested in the flash decks. As nice as it is to have physical media, I am an old dinosaur basically with this gear. I assume the M10 is the standard nowadays?

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

I'd consider the M10 to be the standard compared to the D8.

The standard "cost is no object" are the Sound Devices decks.

If your really concerned with physical media...it really wouldn't be that outrageous to buy a new card for every show. That being said...hard drives with both on site and off site backups are a hell of a lot easier to keep track of. The flash media for the M10 is about the size of a dime. Sort of hard to write on them.

My process is:

1. Record Show to flash media
2. Xfer flash media to HD (archive the master)
3. Edit and track master
4. Save tracked show to HD
5. Clone my main HD and backup HD.
6. Once every few months (or so) backup entire library to external HD to keep off site.

[fmaderjr]

The flash media for the M10 is about the size of a dime. Sort of hard to write on them.

Also kind of hard to organize them and keep from losing them. I wouldn't use flash drives to save my masters even if I could get them for free.

I would (and do) use a system similar to the one Fatah Ruark describes.

[Angstroms]

I'd consider the M10 to be the standard compared to the D8.

The standard "cost is no object" are the Sound Devices decks.

If your really concerned with physical media...it really wouldn't be that outrageous to buy a new card for every show. That being said...hard drives with both on site and off site backups are a hell of a lot easier to keep track of. The flash media for the M10 is about the size of a dime. Sort of hard to write on them.

My process is:

1. Record Show to flash media
2. Xfer flash media to HD (archive the master)
3. Edit and track master
4. Save tracked show to HD
5. Clone my main HD and backup HD.
6. Once every few months (or so) backup entire library to external HD to keep off site.

I have a lot to learn.... All of this stuff is new to me. Those Sound Device recorders are very big. They wouldn't be good for what type of recording I do, if you know what I mean. I have seen the other flash recorders, the R09 and Microtracker. I assume that the M10 is the benchmark still between these three models?

I will sometime soon, have to transfer all of my DATs, as they are taking up a lot of room. What is the best way to transfer these from DAT to flash?

[Ekib]

I'd consider the M10 to be the standard compared to the D8.

The standard "cost is no object" are the Sound Devices decks.

If your really concerned with physical media...it really wouldn't be that outrageous to buy a new card for every show. That being said...hard drives with both on site and off site backups are a hell of a lot easier to keep track of. The flash media for the M10 is about the size of a dime. Sort of hard to write on them.

My process is:

1. Record Show to flash media
2. Xfer flash media to HD (archive the master)
3. Edit and track master
4. Save tracked show to HD
5. Clone my main HD and backup HD.
6. Once every few months (or so) backup entire library to external HD to keep off site.

How you are listening to your recordings ?

[fmaderjr]

I have a lot to learn.... All of this stuff is new to me. Those Sound Device recorders are very big. They wouldn't be good for what type of recording I do, if you know what I mean. I have seen the other flash recorders, the R09 and Microtracker. I assume that the M10 is the benchmark still between these three models?

I will sometime soon, have to transfer all of my DATs, as they are taking up a lot of room. What is the best way to transfer these from DAT to flash?

The MicroTracks are not as convenient as most for live recording, and many people have had problems with them causing recordings to be lost (usually, I think, when going digi-in). I would use an M10 which has great battery life and good enough pre's that you usually don't need an external preamp.

However, if you can get a used MT 24/96 or MT2 at a good price here or on E-Bay (say $100 or less) that would be a great way to transfer your DAT's since the MT's have a coax digital-in. Other recorders with a digital in are quite a bit more expensive.

[Angstroms]

Thanks for the help. I'll definitely look into this!

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

I'd consider the M10 to be the standard compared to the D8.

The standard "cost is no object" are the Sound Devices decks.

If your really concerned with physical media...it really wouldn't be that outrageous to buy a new card for every show. That being said...hard drives with both on site and off site backups are a hell of a lot easier to keep track of. The flash media for the M10 is about the size of a dime. Sort of hard to write on them.

My process is:

1. Record Show to flash media
2. Xfer flash media to HD (archive the master)
3. Edit and track master
4. Save tracked show to HD
5. Clone my main HD and backup HD.
6. Once every few months (or so) backup entire library to external HD to keep off site.

How you are listening to your recordings ?

Generally straight off my computer to either my speakers or headphones hooked up to my computer.

Also just put together a Raspberry Pi running XMBC hooked up to my stereo in my living room (controlled by my Android phone). It pulls the files off my desktop.

Eventually I'm going to put together a media server. Tried that with the Raspberry Pi...but it's not powerful or reliable enough to do that sort of work.

[F.O.Bean]

Here is my workflow:

1. Record to MicroSDHC Cards
2. xfer them to my INHDD/EXHDD
3. Burn 24-bit DVDRs[both WAVS and FLACS]
4. burn 16 AND 24bit TRACKED copies to DVDR
5. UL what I can to archive.org or bt.etree.org
6. Enjoy listening to them