Topic: tascam hd-p2 pad

[panther65]

When patching from a soundboard into the analog rca ins of the Tascam HD-P2 deck will I generally need to attenuate the incoming signal? If so, can I use the -20db pads on the deck, or are they just for mic in? Also, how is the quality of the mic ins for an analog input other than mic in?

[OOK]

The pads are only for the mic inputs.  They are not for line level inputs. It would have no affect on the RCA inputs.

[JasonSobel]

you can also go "line in" on the XLR inputs.  and then you probably can use the pad.
from page 9 of the manual:

XLR input jacks for either line level or mic level (selected by switch on top) input. A separate switch controls phantom power to the XLR inputs.

[olafnoise]

you can also go "line in" on the XLR inputs.  and then you probably can use the pad.
from page 9 of the manual:

XLR input jacks for either line level or mic level (selected by switch on top) input. A separate switch controls phantom power to the XLR inputs.

Hi, I just received my hdp2 and it seems to be impossible to use the XLR input as line input (as stated in the manual). When you switch to "line", only the RCA receive signal.

BTW, higher in page 9 of the manual, you can read

 "The input switches (LINE/MIC) switch between the XLR and RCA jack inputs."

which states the opposite of your quote.

But may be I'm missing something.. Any idea?

Ølaf

[J.T.L]

you can also go "line in" on the XLR inputs.  and then you probably can use the pad.
from page 9 of the manual:

XLR input jacks for either line level or mic level (selected by switch on top) input. A separate switch controls phantom power to the XLR inputs.

Hi, I just received my hdp2 and it seems to be impossible to use the XLR input as line input (as stated in the manual). When you switch to "line", only the RCA receive signal.

BTW, higher in page 9 of the manual, you can read

 "The input switches (LINE/MIC) switch between the XLR and RCA jack inputs."

which states the opposite of your quote.

But may be I'm missing something.. Any idea?

Ølaf

...bump for this question. I was wanting to run line in from my PSP-2 into the HDP2 (not bought yet) XLRs and not the RCAs. It does say mic/line above the XLR inputs though. Does anyone run xlr line in on their Tascam?

[olafnoise]

...bump for this question. I was wanting to run line in from my PSP-2 into the HDP2 (not bought yet) XLRs and not the RCAs. It does say mic/line above the XLR inputs though. Does anyone run xlr line in on their Tascam?

Hi J.T.L

I'm exactly in the same situation as you with my PSP2...except I already bought the HDP2.

Actually, after some searches on the web, the answer is NO. The only real line input is the unbalanced one. The XLR and the switches are IMHA mislabeled. The switches are only there to switch between RCA an XLR.

If you want to use a line balanced input the only solution is to use the -20dB PAD and use the Mic input.

Ølaf

[Kyle]

If you are going to use this box line in from a pre I highly recommend Doug Oade's (if you bought it from him) basic mod. It cleans up the rca line- in stage and the adc. Sounds really, really nice. Smooth and very quiet with a deep and wide soundstage. $149 for it, which I thought to be reasonable. Go for it!!!!

[KenH]

Yes, you can record line in via XLR/mic.line-in on the Tascam HD-P2.
The manual is confusing. And I'm told it was the same w/ the DA-P1.

"XLR input jacks for either line level or mic level (selected by switch on top) input"
"The input switches (LINE/MIC) switch between the XLR and RCA jack inputs."

Says either RCA (line) or XLR (MIC) jack input and definitely seems ambiguous.

When I record The Radiators, who provide a soundboard patch bay w/ RCA and XLR outs,
plug the other end to XLR in on the P2, the mic/line switch to MIC and set the pad at -20db. 
I've dont this several times, and it works great. And others I know have done it this way too.

I called Tascam on this, and they confirmed that XLR line-in is via:
- input to MIC input
- -20db pad

You're set to go.

Last night's show in Westport, CT, came out great this way...

Plenty of examples on archive.org as well.

/Ken

[J.T.L]

...+Ts to yall.

[macdaddy]

so you must have the pad engaged, and the selector switch set to line or line-in to work via the xlr inputs..?

[olafnoise]

I called Tascam on this, and they confirmed that XLR line-in is via:
- input to MIC input
- -20db pad

You're set to go.

Ok, but with that method, the signal is passing through the mics preamp, thing we precisely want to avoid with a killer mic preamp...

my 2c

Ølaf

[panther65]

Aside from going line-in from a soundboard to the mic inputs on the P2 and padding on the deck there, would one need to use an attenuator cable to pad the signal when going line-in using rcas? Or digital coax?

[KenH]

Aside from going line-in from a soundboard to the mic inputs on the P2 and padding on the deck there, would one need to use an attenuator cable to pad the signal when going line-in using rcas? Or digital coax?

No, I don't think so.  I'm not sure if the pad works for RCA's or not since I've just used the P2's XLR line-in. For digital in, I don't think it would matter as the levels are irrelevant when using an external ADC sending a bit stream which would be recorded as is, I believe.

I always use XLR line-in on the P2 when soundboard XLR outs are available like w/ The Radiators.  It works great and I'm still blown away at how good 24 bit recording sounds.

Recent example: http://www.archive.org/details/rads2006-10-22.rads2006-10-22.sbd.hdp2.flac

Now if I could only figure out how to burn 24-but audio DVDs for playback, I'd be in heaven...

/Ken

[spyder9]

Ken,

Do you always use the -20 pad for SBD recordings?

[KenH]

Ken,

Do you always use the -20 pad for SBD recordings?

Yes.  Sorry for the delay, was out for a while...

Another observation about the -20db pad.  I recorded Max Creek the other night, 30' from stage, using my KM184's ORTF.  I left the -20db pad engaged, and recorded the first set w/ levels around 8 on the dial.

2nd set, I turned off the -20db pad, and recorded w/ levels around 4. 

Set 2 sounds noticably better than Set 1.   Besides the possibility that the PA was adjusted better, the only difference was not decreasing input and then increasing levels.  Seems to make sense that the Set II method would be better.

Any comments ?

/Ken