Topic: TASCAM DR-2d - announced at NAMM

[eric66]

Thank you very much for the quick response.
I was afraid for it, not that it is a big issue at all but very bad that a device bought in may 2011
has no firmware updates at all while the most important update (battery life) is from september 2010.
For me the only explanation is that the device is manufactured before september 2010.

[genesisoh]

Hi all!

I have read nearly EVERY post in this thread - really fascinating info.  I just got the DR-2d a few weeks ago.  A neat recorder!  I did have an unusual thing happen the first show I recorded (although I now know it is a known issue).  I recorded the opening act with no problems and then shut it off until the main act came on.  I then started recording the main act setting the levels before putting the recorder away.  We were right in front of the left stack and even though I was recording in dual mode, I wanted to be sure the levels were not off the charts. 

At about 55 mins into the show, the red lights were blinking and I checked to see what was going on.  I had the dreaded FILE ERROR message!    Started recording again and the recorder completely shut off after about 8.5 mins.  When I tried to start recording again, the message said CARD ERROR (or something along those lines). 

When I got home I transferred all three files (well 6 actually in dual mode) to my computer.  The opening act came out fine (files 1/2).  I only had 8.5 mins of the main act (files 5/6).  The files that contained the 55+ mins of the show (right before the FILE ERROR message) were 0 byte files!  This completely baffled me, so I started searching to see if there was any info on why/how this happened.  This took me to this thread where I learned that, since the recorder gets fairly warm, the Transcend 16GB card has been known to cause problems like the one I encountered.  I have a Kingston 16GB class 4 card coming very soon (thanks gutbucket!).  BTW, when I did the quick format on the Transcend it went fine, but the full (long) format came back with an error message (BAD CARD).  I should mention that this card functioned flawlessly in an H2 previously. 

I hope the new card resolves the errors I was getting.  Is anyone else still getting these errors even after switching cards?  It's a great little recorder and I hope to get a good capture at the next show.  Thanks!

[TimeBandit]

Youl should have try to do this:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=72936.0

but looks like you tried to format the card, so the recordings are finally lost...

[techgui]

Hi all!

I have read nearly EVERY post in this thread - really fascinating info.  I just got the DR-2d a few weeks ago.  A neat recorder!  I did have an unusual thing happen the first show I recorded (although I now know it is a known issue).  I recorded the opening act with no problems and then shut it off until the main act came on.  I then started recording the main act setting the levels before putting the recorder away.  We were right in front of the left stack and even though I was recording in dual mode, I wanted to be sure the levels were not off the charts. 

At about 55 mins into the show, the red lights were blinking and I checked to see what was going on.  I had the dreaded FILE ERROR message!    Started recording again and the recorder completely shut off after about 8.5 mins.  When I tried to start recording again, the message said CARD ERROR (or something along those lines). 

When I got home I transferred all three files (well 6 actually in dual mode) to my computer.  The opening act came out fine (files 1/2).  I only had 8.5 mins of the main act (files 5/6).  The files that contained the 55+ mins of the show (right before the FILE ERROR message) were 0 byte files!  This completely baffled me, so I started searching to see if there was any info on why/how this happened.  This took me to this thread where I learned that, since the recorder gets fairly warm, the Transcend 16GB card has been known to cause problems like the one I encountered.  I have a Kingston 16GB class 4 card coming very soon (thanks gutbucket!).  BTW, when I did the quick format on the Transcend it went fine, but the full (long) format came back with an error message (BAD CARD).  I should mention that this card functioned flawlessly in an H2 previously. 

I hope the new card resolves the errors I was getting.  Is anyone else still getting these errors even after switching cards?  It's a great little recorder and I hope to get a good capture at the next show.  Thanks!

Funny you should mention it, but I purchased several 16gb Transcend SDHC cards for a digital signage project at work and had to return all of them.  They check out good with windows, but if you check out the cards with Linux there are faults.  Had nothing but problems with them, apparently that whole batch made by Transcend is bad.

I also recently bought a DR-2d special edition white.  And, I too was surprised that the firmware update for the battery was not yet installed. 

Overall, I'm very happy with my DR-2d.  Unless you need super long battery life, I think think it brings much more capability to the table than the M10. 

[aaronji]

Overall, I'm very happy with my DR-2d.  Unless you need super long battery life, I think think it brings much more capability to the table than the M10.

Can you please elaborate on this a bit?  I have thought about selling my M10 and getting a DR-2d so that I could have the four track feature.  I don't need four track very often, though, and the impression I have is that the M10 is better as a stereo recorder (quieter, more overload resistant, etc.)...Are there other features where the DR-2d outshines the Sony?

[Will_S]

To me, having 4 tracks is huge so the DR2D wins hands down, but in terms of a 2 track recorder it doesn't offer much over the M10, however it does offer a wireLESS remote and the recording levels can be locked, no wheel.  Of course no wheel has its plusses and minuses.  From avisoft's tests, it looks like the M10 has a substantal advantage in noise at max gain, but I don't know how relevant that is to a lot of taping situations.

[techgui]

The DR-2d's internal mics are cards and the 4 channel recording capabilities.  Both are biggies for me.  Usually I'm only recording one song from a show and do not have the luxury of sound checks.  So the 2nd track at -12db option is really good for me.  I also need to use the internals frequently, so having cards is great. 

The m10 can take a hotter signal from a sound board, but an 15db attenuator cable can fix that.  Also, the M10 is said to have a slightly quieter preamp (based upon the assumption that the DR-2d has the same pre as the DR-100), However, that's more important to people recording recording nature.  Lastly, the M10 has great battery life.  The DR-2d's 5+ hrs is way more than I need, so thats a none issue for me.   

Your choice should be based upon your needs.  My needs as as follows;

1.  My daughters live performances - wireless lav mic w/preamp plus internals or sound board plus internals and sometimes just internals.
2.  Live performance video's - Mount the DR-2d to my camcorder and use the internals.  Glad I have the second track -12bd option, it saved the day a few weeks ago.
3.  Audition tapes - Wireless lav mic plus internals.  Mix with accompiant track in post. 

If you don't use the internals and do not have a need for 4 tracks,  then there is no need to buy the DR-2d. 

[genesisoh]

The DR-2d's internal mics are cards and the 4 channel recording capabilities.  Both are biggies for me.  Usually I'm only recording one song from a show and do not have the luxury of sound checks.  So the 2nd track at -12db option is really good for me.  I also need to use the internals frequently, so having cards is great. 

The m10 can take a hotter signal from a sound board, but an 15db attenuator cable can fix that.  Also, the M10 is said to have a slightly quieter preamp (based upon the assumption that the DR-2d has the same pre as the DR-100), However, that's more important to people recording recording nature.  Lastly, the M10 has great battery life.  The DR-2d's 5+ hrs is way more than I need, so thats a none issue for me.   

Your choice should be based upon your needs.  My needs as as follows;

1.  My daughters live performances - wireless lav mic w/preamp plus internals or sound board plus internals and sometimes just internals.
2.  Live performance video's - Mount the DR-2d to my camcorder and use the internals.  Glad I have the second track -12bd option, it saved the day a few weeks ago.
3.  Audition tapes - Wireless lav mic plus internals.  Mix with accompiant track in post. 

If you don't use the internals and do not have a need for 4 tracks,  then there is no need to buy the DR-2d. 

The clincher for me was dual recording.  The lower dB track would save the day for some loud shows where setting levels may be difficult/impossible. 

[aaronji]

To me, having 4 tracks is huge so the DR2D wins hands down, but in terms of a 2 track recorder it doesn't offer much over the M10, however it does offer a wireLESS remote and the recording levels can be locked, no wheel.  Of course no wheel has its plusses and minuses.  From avisoft's tests, it looks like the M10 has a substantal advantage in noise at max gain, but I don't know how relevant that is to a lot of taping situations.

Thanks, Will.  I have a friend who has been using both; he says that the Sony's noise floor is ~10 or 12 dB lower than the Tascam at "normal" levels.  Not sure how he measured that, but he is pretty technically oriented (mechanical engineer), so I think it is probably reasonable.  He has said a couple of times that I should stick with the Sony for the situations in which I tape (mostly jazz, some very quiet).  That being said, though, the DR-2d is his go-to recorder (he loves the four track feature)...

The DR-2d's internal mics are cards and the 4 channel recording capabilities.  Both are biggies for me.  Usually I'm only recording one song from a show and do not have the luxury of sound checks.  So the 2nd track at -12db option is really good for me.  I also need to use the internals frequently, so having cards is great. 

I really don't care much about the internals.  For those rare situations in which I can envision using them, I am not sure that cards would necessarily be better than omnis anyway...

Well, thanks for the reponses!  Solidifies what I was already thinking.  Since my opportunities for four track recording are few and far between, I am going to stick with the Sony due to it's being quieter and having those robust inputs (I prefer not to deal with attenuators).  I sort of like the long battery times and having the built-in memory as a backup too.  Four track is tempting, though!!!

[Gutbucket]

Since I've been using an external batterypack with the DR2d that will go for days on end, I haven't revisited the recording time using only internal AAs now that it has been improved with an firmware update last fall. So I finally ran a test today out of curiosity.

DR2d recording 4 channels total, using dual (line) mode (ie: writing two 24bit/48kHz stereo files).
AA batteries used were freshly charged 2400mAh Maha Imedion low self discharge NiMh (~equivalent to Sanyo Eneloop).
Total recording time was just over 7 hrs. Confirmed by checking the resulting file properties in Foobar- Duration : 7:01:30.528 (1213945344 samples)

[darby]

I'm anxious to try the Energizer XP 8000 pack you suggested Lee
but with run times like that I may not need an external pack
we all know (now) how crappy the battery life was on the original firmware

[Gutbucket]

There is a definite peace of mind using the XP8000 in that I don't ever need to think of power, even for a multi-day festival.. similar to using a big 32GB card with so much extra space that I needn't worry about runing out all day. There are plenty of other distractions that I can fill that free mindspace with.

But it does mean that I now feel confident in running the DR2d without the external battery for pocketed gigs without worry. Now if I can get the custom 4 channel preamp built which I have in mind, I can streamline things even more.

[genesisoh]

This may be slightly off topic, but I have a pair of Core Sound Cardioid Stealthy Mics (with battery box) coming very soon and I am going to use it with the DR-2d.  I'll be recording fairly loud rock music.  Should I use MIC IN or LINE IN?  I will be using the battery box.  If I do use MIC IN, do I set POWER ON on the DR-2d?  Thanks for any and all information! :-)

PS: The Kingston 16GB card arrived today and long formatted with no problems (vs Transcend which had errors). 

[eric66]

DR2d recording 4 channels total, using dual (line) mode (ie: writing two 24bit/48kHz stereo files).
AA batteries used were freshly charged 2400mAh Maha Imedion low self discharge NiMh (~equivalent to Sanyo Eneloop).
Total recording time was just over 7 hrs. Confirmed by checking the resulting file properties in Foobar- Duration : 7:01:30.528 (1213945344 samples)

Thanks for testing this Gutbucket, it's about an hour more than the Eneloops (over 6 hours) which is also an excellent choice.
But I will also buy a set of Imedions 2400mAh, a good choice for festivals.
With 4 AA low self discharche batteries you can run a festivalday taping all bands, so batterylife isn't an issue anymore!

@genesisoh: The Transcend SDHC's work well for me and more people using these cards with succes. With one Sandisk SDHC card I also had problems with my Tascam DR-07,
I think if the recorder will get very hot (and it did when I got the error), especially on hot summer days and wearing it on your body or in your pants
there's a chance of card errors, try to avoid that and wear the recorder in a sleeve case on a belt or in a backpack.
Also good advice is start running recording 30 minutes before the show starts and check after 10 or 15 minutes if the recorder is still running without errors.

[Teen Age Riot]

I think if the recorder will get very hot (and it did when I got the error), especially on hot summer days and wearing it on your body or in your pants
there's a chance of card errors, try to avoid that and wear the recorder in a sleeve case on a belt or in a backpack.

FWIW, my DR-2d never gets hot, not even warm really. I've never had any problems running it in my pocket for 3+ hours. Maybe you're confusing cause and effect?