Topic: Tascam HD-P2 Bypassing Internal Preamp's with XLR In's

[H₂O]

Did a search and can't find anything specific to this.
 
Is it possible to bypass the internal pre's of the HD-P2 when using the XLR's?
 
The only way I can figure out how to get the XLR's to "appear" line level is set it to mic in and turn on the -20 PADs on - I would assume the inputs are still routing through the preamp's though
 
One other item - not a biggie - Can the P2 autosense the incoming SPDIF clock rate?  It seems I have to set the clock to match the source for it to lock - I have never seen it where you have to manually match clock.

[kirk97132]

I had always felt that the way they labeled the P2 inputs was misleading.  instead if mic it should say XLR.  It's been a long time since I ran a P2 but I believe that you have to manually set the digital info. 

[macdaddy]

Yeah. The labelling is screwy. I do NOT think you can bypass he xlr preamps, and yes, you have to run the pads at -20 to take. Line signal via xlr. Line in is RCA only. And, yes, you have to
manually set the word length and sample rate to sync to an external spdif.

Hth

[DSatz]

I don't know the input circuit of this recorder, but with many recorders, switching from mike to line level is done intelligently (by adjusting the feedback around the circuit stage), such that the input noise level in the line input setting is much lower than when the same inputs are set for microphone-level signals. In that case you would have nothing to fear from using the line-level inputs; "bypassing" the mike preamps would not be a relevant concept.

On the other hand some recorders, when you switch them to line level input, simply pad down the signal to microphone level and then amplify it with a high-gain input stage. Recorders like that should be avoided, or should be fed only with digital signals, but they are relatively rare as far as I've seen; the only example I've come across in many years is the Sony TCD-D10 Pro portable DAT recorder, whose analog inputs are almost unusable with professional microphones OR line-level equipment because of this stupid design approach.

--best regards