Topic: TASCAM DR-680 portable 8-track - announced at NAMM

[Ozpeter]

Heh, blindingly obvious now you come to mention it - but I'm not alone in not having thought of that!

[floop]

So if i understand this thread correctly...

The dr-680 has surprisingly clean preamps, approaching the "great" status?  A stable, easy to use interface. Intelligent power management when hooked to external sources.  "Decent" life off of AA batteries and a Rugged-enough build.

So, overall, its a great device and aside from making sure your memory cards are formatted correctly, there isnt any reason not to rush out and pick one up?

Does that seem accurate?

My main use will be indy-film dialog.  I have a SD mix-pre that i feed line level into a r09 and am very happy with the sound.  Anybody think I'll be losing anything substantial moving to a dr-680 direct to the mics?  (my main dialog mic is a schoeps, but i have oktava and sanken lavaliers that I'd like to be able to multitrack at times)

Thanks for any input!  (i'm in rural New Zealand, so i have zero chance of test driving anything before i buy... i am forced to trust the thoughts of opinionated strangers on the internet.  doh!)

[kpmontano]

Hello,

New member here as well as a new owner of the dr680.  I picked up this recorder about a week ago and finally got a chance to use it for a short film.  So far it held up being inside my petrol bag in the Texas heat and for the most part functioned prefectly.

I was wondering if anyone had encountered a weird problem where the battery status indicator is replaced by the AC power icon even when it's only running on internal batteries?  The unit still preformed fine, but it was basically a guessing game as to how much power I had left.  Additionally I have not updated the firmware yet, but I didn't see anything in the notes that addressed this problem specifically.

[JM Charcot]

So if i understand this thread correctly...

The dr-680 has surprisingly clean preamps, approaching the "great" status?  A stable, easy to use interface. Intelligent power management when hooked to external sources.  "Decent" life off of AA batteries and a Rugged-enough build.

So, overall, its a great device and aside from making sure your memory cards are formatted correctly, there isnt any reason not to rush out and pick one up?

Does that seem accurate?

My main use will be indy-film dialog.  I have a SD mix-pre that i feed line level into a r09 and am very happy with the sound.  Anybody think I'll be losing anything substantial moving to a dr-680 direct to the mics?  (my main dialog mic is a schoeps, but i have oktava and sanken lavaliers that I'd like to be able to multitrack at times)

Thanks for any input!  (i'm in rural New Zealand, so i have zero chance of test driving anything before i buy... i am forced to trust the thoughts of opinionated strangers on the internet.  doh!)

I have approximately the same setup and would also be interested by some feedback on the dr-680 compared to mixpre+r09/d50.

Kind regards,

JM.

[darby]

Hello,

New member here as well as a new owner of the dr680.  I picked up this recorder about a week ago and finally got a chance to use it for a short film.  So far it held up being inside my petrol bag in the Texas heat and for the most part functioned prefectly.

I was wondering if anyone had encountered a weird problem where the battery status indicator is replaced by the AC power icon even when it's only running on internal batteries?  The unit still preformed fine, but it was basically a guessing game as to how much power I had left.  Additionally I have not updated the firmware yet, but I didn't see anything in the notes that addressed this problem specifically.

I had that happen the only time I ran internal NiMH "AA"s
and ended up losing the second set of the show when that set of batteries died after less than 2 hours of use
I ran 2 sets that evening and the same thing happened on the first set but I was able to get it before the batteries died
when I went back thru the menu I had the battery indicator set for Alkaline instead of NiMH
which meant the indicator was looking for higher voltage than the NiMH were capable of giving
I have been using mostly AC power since, but did run DVD batteries the other night for the first time
and ran 1 set that was 2 hours and only dropped 1 bar on the battery indicator

[Chuck]

I have been using mostly AC power since, but did run DVD batteries the other night for the first time
and ran 1 set that was 2 hours and only dropped 1 bar on the battery indicator

Yeah, the DVD batteries will run the DR-680 for a while.

[datbrad]

Don't know if anyone compared Nakguy's recordings from WSP in Tulsa, but here is my take. He ran Milab VM-44 Links split between a V2>line in, and directly mic in using the DR-680's internal stock preamps. IMO, while the internal preamps are clear and present sounding, my ears liked the V2 in front a tad better. The bass and mid-range sounded fuller, and the highs were not a harsh with the V2.

[philper]

So if i understand this thread correctly...

The dr-680 has surprisingly clean preamps, approaching the "great" status?  A stable, easy to use interface. Intelligent power management when hooked to external sources.  "Decent" life off of AA batteries and a Rugged-enough build.

So, overall, its a great device and aside from making sure your memory cards are formatted correctly, there isnt any reason not to rush out and pick one up?

Does that seem accurate?

My main use will be indy-film dialog.  I have a SD mix-pre that i feed line level into a r09 and am very happy with the sound.  Anybody think I'll be losing anything substantial moving to a dr-680 direct to the mics?  (my main dialog mic is a schoeps, but i have oktava and sanken lavaliers that I'd like to be able to multitrack at times)

Thanks for any input!  (i'm in rural New Zealand, so i have zero chance of test driving anything before i buy... i am forced to trust the thoughts of opinionated strangers on the internet.  doh!)

I have approximately the same setup and would also be interested by some feedback on the dr-680 compared to mixpre+r09/d50.

Kind regards,

JM.

I think the DR680 will be fine for indie dialog work.  No, it doesn't have preamps that will work as well as those in the MixPre for dialog--the MixPre has Lundahl input transformers and one of the best input limiters available in a DC-powered device.  I think the COMBO of the MixPre (maybe feeding inputs 5/6) and the DR680 could work really well--use the MixPre for your boom mics and the other DR680 channels for secondary mics and wireless RX.   I'd advise figuring out an external battery supply to power all your stuff at once.  The lack of real TC will be an issue on some jobs, but probably not on indie drama anymore (as you already know).   Do some sync tests w/ the cameras they'll be using, and figure out a workflow that works best for your situation.   The free Sound Devices "Wave Agent" app will allow you to make all kinds of changes to file names, TC flags, etc etc after the fact on your DR680 files, if you need to.

Philip Perkins (CAS)

[kirk97132]

Funny I was just thinking about this thread yesterday.  As for a comp between Mixpre/r09(d50) set up.  I think Phil skipped over a glaring point.  I took it as should I use the Mixpre/r09 set up OR should I use the DR-680.  Seeing as used mixpres are about $550 and I'm guessing that the R09 would be $250 or less, the price point is nearly the same.  If those were you're choices I'd get the DR-680. You get six channels of analog input and the pre amps have plenty of clean gain.    It also means that you only need to power one device and there will not be any sync issues.  Then there is also the fact that you can do a mix on the fly and send it out on the rca's to feed heaphones of boom mic op's.  and you can do that while recording that mix down too.   I have run a V2, UA-5 BM2p+, and Sound Devices MP-2 in front of this unit.  While there may be a slight difference in quality between the stock pre's and the outboard pre's, it is not some huge chasm.  I be willing to bet that side by side you would be hard pressed to pick out which was which among the four of them.  The Tascam unit is using a transformer coupled output on it's pre amps and while the might not be as high end as a V2 or MP-2 they are a new design and are standing up well all on their own.  These are not the same preamps as other lower end Tascam units and are even a tad better than the HD-P2 preamps.  And between the sensitivity settings and gain control you have around 60db of gain available on the DR-680.  I can't speak for the limiter functions or for any of the built in functions because I don't use them.  But then again I don't do much film work and none of it is dialog, only music for video shoots.  So if your question is a mixpre/r09 combo OR the DR-680...BUY the DR-680.

[ArchivalAudio]

Funny I was just thinking about this thread yesterday.  As for a comp between Mixpre/r09(d50) set up.  I think Phil skipped over a glaring point.  I took it as should I use the Mixpre/r09 set up OR should I use the DR-680.  Seeing as used mixpres are about $550 and I'm guessing that the R09 would be $250 or less, the price point is nearly the same.  If those were you're choices I'd get the DR-680. You get six channels of analog input and the pre amps have plenty of clean gain.    It also means that you only need to power one device and there will not be any sync issues.  Then there is also the fact that you can do a mix on the fly and send it out on the rca's to feed heaphones of boom mic op's.  and you can do that while recording that mix down too.   I have run a V2, UA-5 BM2p+, and Sound Devices MP-2 in front of this unit.  While there may be a slight difference in quality between the stock pre's and the outboard pre's, it is not some huge chasm.  I be willing to bet that side by side you would be hard pressed to pick out which was which among the four of them.  The Tascam unit is using a transformer coupled output on it's pre amps and while the might not be as high end as a V2 or MP-2 they are a new design and are standing up well all on their own.  These are not the same preamps as other lower end Tascam units and are even a tad better than the HD-P2 preamps.  And between the sensitivity settings and gain control you have around 60db of gain available on the DR-680.  I can't speak for the limiter functions or for any of the built in functions because I don't use them.  But then again I don't do much film work and none of it is dialog, only music for video shoots.  So if your question is a mixpre/r09 combo OR the DR-680...BUY the DR-680.

Kirk,
well Said!
sounds logical...
I would love to get a DR-680... may be some time after the baby is born..


--Ian

[Kevin Straker]

So if i understand this thread correctly...

The dr-680 has surprisingly clean preamps, approaching the "great" status?  A stable, easy to use interface. Intelligent power management when hooked to external sources.  "Decent" life off of AA batteries and a Rugged-enough build.

So, overall, its a great device and aside from making sure your memory cards are formatted correctly, there isnt any reason not to rush out and pick one up?

Does that seem accurate?

My main use will be indy-film dialog.  I have a SD mix-pre that i feed line level into a r09 and am very happy with the sound.  Anybody think I'll be losing anything substantial moving to a dr-680 direct to the mics?  (my main dialog mic is a schoeps, but i have oktava and sanken lavaliers that I'd like to be able to multitrack at times)

Thanks for any input!  (i'm in rural New Zealand, so i have zero chance of test driving anything before i buy... i am forced to trust the thoughts of opinionated strangers on the internet.  doh!)

I have approximately the same setup and would also be interested by some feedback on the dr-680 compared to mixpre+r09/d50.

Kind regards,

JM.

I think the DR680 will be fine for indie dialog work.  No, it doesn't have preamps that will work as well as those in the MixPre for dialog--the MixPre has Lundahl input transformers and one of the best input limiters available in a DC-powered device. 

Lundahl schumndahl! I always thought my MP2 sounded bloated and very loose in the low end. Those Lundahl transformers ain't all that. It's Definitely no jensen or cinemag transformer, which blow it out of the water, IMO. For dialog, I'm sure the tascam box sounds fine. 

[Todd R]

Agreed on the MP2 -- though I might only say somewhat bloated and a bit loose, but that's what I felt when I owned mine as well.  I don't know what transformers the PSP2 has, but it sounds leagues better IME.

I got with Chuck and we did a Gefell m210 > PSP2 > 680 recording.  It sounds very good to me -- nice pairing.

My 680 has finally shipped, and should be here next Wednesday.

[Chuck]

Congrats

[Kevin Straker]

Agreed on the MP2 -- though I might only say somewhat bloated and a bit loose, but that's what I felt when I owned mine as well.  I don't know what transformers the PSP2 has, but it sounds leagues better IME.

I got with Chuck and we did a Gefell m210 > PSP2 > 680 recording.  It sounds very good to me -- nice pairing.

My 680 has finally shipped, and should be here next Wednesday.

I'm pretty sure the PSP2 uses a Jensen transformer.

[kirk97132]

One of these non critical shows I want to try a 4 way comp V2/MP2/BM2p+/DR-680 and see what shakes out of that.  Wish I had 4 sets of the same mics but just switching them up will have to do for now.  Although I think I could get two sets of 480's without too much trouble.  Could do one channel of each?

I have run it on just the stock pres and was plenty satisfied with the results.