Topic: Tascam DR-70D 4-channel audio recorder (Part 2)

[Cheesecadet]

I went with straight chopped XLRs from Darktrain as well. They are perfect.

[voltronic]

Voltronic, how do you plan to use the 70d for choir recording?  Figure you have something in mind to move up from your m10.

Great question - you've got me pegged.  I really want to try out the Tony Faulkner 4-mic phased array that uses a center pair of subcards (my CM3s obviously) with omnis spaced a bit further out and with all 4 capsules aligned horizontally.  I've been following these two threads on GS as well as a few others, and I think that might be a good starting point for me.  You'll see that in the "Three Mixes" thread I just posted a couple questions to Tony because his recommended spacings (47cm subcards; 67cm omnis) seem confusing to me like they would leave a bit of a hole in the center image just by going from the SRA of each array, but clearly there is more going on here and Tony's results speak for themselves.
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/remote-possibilities-acoustic-music-location-recording/997189-tony-faulkner-lso-abbey-rd-shostakovich.html
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/remote-possibilities-acoustic-music-location-recording/930912-three-mixes-boojum-jnorman-case-study.html#post10948090

If the 70D preamps wind up being low-noise enough for my purposes, at some point I may sell the FP24 which will give me the cash to upgrade to a pair of Line Audio OM1s, but for now I'm quite happy with my little Naiant omnis that just keep on truckin'.

[2manyrocks]

Hmm…had briefly thought about the same array but may try dpa 4061s.  Thought they could also be low profile and would also be use able as under lid piano spots.  Definitely interested in your thoughts on keeping the fp24 once you see how the 70d works out.

[Rally_AK]

Shameless plug for the matrix I ran Friday night. https://archive.org/details/kw2015-04-03.matrix.flac16

I had to keep my mics down in the mix because the crowd was more interested in BS'ing then listening to the show. Saturday night was a little better...

This was the first voyage with the 70D, like voltronic I really wish there was a way to monitor the 1/2 & 3/4 channels independently, fingers crossed Tascam adds that in a future firmware update. It'd also be great to have access to the advanced settings while recording, as the only thing you can adjust while recording are the gain knobs.

[picklemic]

I can also report the RAVPower 12000mAh battery works seamlessly with the 70D.  I also picked up a little right-angle microUSB cable which works nicely in the bag.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0SC-000Y-00068
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200860&cm_re=right_angle_micro_usb-_-12-200-860-_-Product

So I just ordered a dr 70r and one of these batterys too. What output do you use 1 amp or 2.1 amp? thanks, excited to have this for Jazzfest.

[Rally_AK]

I can also report the RAVPower 12000mAh battery works seamlessly with the 70D.  I also picked up a little right-angle microUSB cable which works nicely in the bag.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0SC-000Y-00068
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200860&cm_re=right_angle_micro_usb-_-12-200-860-_-Product

So I just ordered a dr 70r and one of these batterys too. What output do you use 1 amp or 2.1 amp? thanks, excited to have this for Jazzfest.

I haven't used this particular battery but a 1A iPhone charger works just fine powering the 70D under full load.

[F.O.Bean]

Shameless plug for the matrix I ran Friday night. https://archive.org/details/kw2015-04-03.matrix.flac16

I had to keep my mics down in the mix because the crowd was more interested in BS'ing then listening to the show. Saturday night was a little better...

This was the first voyage with the 70D, like voltronic I really wish there was a way to monitor the 1/2 & 3/4 channels independently, fingers crossed Tascam adds that in a future firmware update. It'd also be great to have access to the advanced settings while recording, as the only thing you can adjust while recording are the gain knobs.

Sounds great thanks for the link

[F.O.Bean]

Did I miss if 404 Not Found ever got his 70D repaired and returned? Or is he still waiting to get it repaired and back to him? And whats up with the noise when adding gain issue?

[F.O.Bean]

And when the "DUAL" light is ON, what does that exactly mean? I cant find anything specific about it in the online manual I understand I want Stereo files, but what does the "DUAL" light mean? Is that when you actually do the reduced level file[-6?] on channels 3/4?

[Rally_AK]

And when the "DUAL" light is ON, what does that exactly mean? I cant find anything specific about it in the online manual I understand I want Stereo files, but what does the "DUAL" light mean? Is that when you actually do the reduced level file[-6?] on channels 3/4?

Yep, when DUAL is lit you're recording a second stereo file to channels 3/4 at reduced level. You can adjust the level between -1 and -12dB. Check page 25 of the reference manual.

http://tascam.com/content/downloads/products/867/e_dr-70d_rm_va.pdf

[voltronic]

I can also report the RAVPower 12000mAh battery works seamlessly with the 70D.  I also picked up a little right-angle microUSB cable which works nicely in the bag.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0SC-000Y-00068
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200860&cm_re=right_angle_micro_usb-_-12-200-860-_-Product

So I just ordered a dr 70r and one of these batterys too. What output do you use 1 amp or 2.1 amp? thanks, excited to have this for Jazzfest.

I've only tried the 1A output so far and it worked fine with 48V going to 4 mics.  As I posted in the thread about the similar 10400mAh battery, I'm not sure if the higher amp output on batteries like this is useful for these kind of things, or if it's only of benefit for "fast charging" things like phones and tablets. 

[phil_er_up]

Ran this with my camera. You can not set the output level for the camera once you start recording. So you need to do this before the show starts or hope you get the right setting. Also I would get static from the recording going from the camera out to the video camera input. I tried multiple setting and could not get rid of the static. Think it is the camera. Bummer!!! This is one thing I bought the recorder for.

I tried setting of -30 DB all the way to 0 DB and then the same setting on the camera and no difference- still a lot of static. Unless I can figure this out I would not record to the camera this way...and you can not adjust output volume when you hit the record button.

Could tascam do a firmware update where you could you select either the the headphone dial for headphone or for the camera output?

PS: All the screens are not covered in the manual. arg...

[2manyrocks]

.......thanks for the warning.  Not being able to adjust the camera out during a recording is a negative.  It's no problem on the 60d.

Might try another cable and see if it clears up the static. 

[Life In Rewind]

.......thanks for the warning.  Not being able to adjust the camera out during a recording is a negative.  It's no problem on the 60d.

How is it different on the 60D? just curious...

[Gutbucket]

Someone mentioned the lack of a per-channel phase invert, but this is in fact an option if you hunt through the menus.

Good.  I was hoping for that, a function along with EQ and delay I really wish the new DR-680mkII had been given as well.