Topic: Tascam DR-07

[taperwheeler]

Just picked up a DR-07 and thought it'd be good to start it's own thread for users to share info.

Haven't ran it yet outside of some very brief livingroom testing and haven't seen a lot posted on it's performance.  I'm eager to hear about how it's being ran in the field, strengths, short-comings, batt life, external batt options, unity setting?

[Chuck]

Just picked up a DR-07 and thought it'd be good to start it's own thread for users to share info.

Haven't ran it yet outside of some very brief livingroom testing and haven't seen a lot posted on it's performance.  I'm eager to hear about how it's being ran in the field, strengths, short-comings, batt life, external batt options, unity setting?

Looks good, except no digital input, right?

[taperwheeler]

Yeah, no digi in.  Keeping my mt2 for my digi bit bucketing and looking towards using the DR-07 for running a smaller analog setup. 

[mrblister]

Hi -I've recently bought one too....my first foray into digital recorders as I currently use minidiscs.

I've only recorded one gig with it and it seemed to work absolutely fine.  I used Church Audio 11 mics straight into the mic in input and the recording appears clean with no noticeable noise.

It is extremely easy to use, well set out and with intuitive menus.  The screen is nice and big and not too cluttered.  Setting the correct levels is a breeze.
I also use it to record myself practicing guitar using the in-built microphones and it is excellent for that. Plus the ability to loop sections of what I've just recorded is good.



Downsides:

It feels a little plasticky - much more so that it appears in the pictures - although I suppose it is only £160

There is no way to switch off the bright red record light (unless I'm missing something) which flashes in record pause mode then stays on in record mode.

The hold button does what it says except for the dial that sets the record levels - so its a bit of a worry  when you set the levels, push on the hold then put it in your pocket.

Handholding and using the internal mics will give you lots of handling noise.

Overall I like it a lot and I'm sure it will get a lot of use, although I went to a small, intimate (audience of ten) jazz gig at the weekend and I left it at home and took my minidisc instead(small and cute with no flashing lights and a hold button that does exactly what you tell it to)

[taperwheeler]

Finally running some testing...Sunday will be running in the field for first time. 

One thing I don't care for is that when recording, it has a time remaning display that displays time remaining before 2 gig split, not total disk time left.  Would much rather know how much total room is left.

[danzz1234]

im on a budget and really interested in the results with this recorder

please let us know about your recordings and stuff 

[Craig T]

I have one as well and will be testing it out at Delfest this weekend.  Should be a few other rigs there, so hopefully some comps will come out of it.  I have used it once already and so far it looks like a promising compact recorder.

Things I don't like - recording level dial can't be "locked", no overall margin indicator (it refreshes every 5 seconds or so), level meters are OK but not great, recording dial is sensitive (you have to be gentle or you'll really hear the adjustments - not noise, but drastic level changes), no digital input.

Things I like - 7+ hrs recording on a single set of alkaline AA's, sound (need some comps vs. known references), size (slightly larger than the R09HR), location of the line input doesn't interfere with level adjustment (unlike the R09HR), doesn't seem to have the "clip before peak overload" problem exhibited by the R09HR (needs more testing to confirm).

[danzz1234]

nice to see some owners posting.. despite noone here used it 'on the field', do you guys feel its a good unit for the money?

i mean, it seems much better the H2, with more features etc, for just $200, isnt it?

[taperwheeler]

nice to see some owners posting.. despite noone here used it 'on the field', do you guys feel its a good unit for the money?

i mean, it seems much better the H2, with more features etc, for just $200, isnt it?

Yes...I am pretty impressed so far.  And it has the same preamp, adc as the dr-100.  Can't wait to run it Sunday...running a sbd patch for a matrix.

[bigu2fan]

I have one of these and have used it to tape two shows. One an acoustic gig in a small theater and the other a May Jane's Addiction show. I am very new to taping, and found this DR-07 fairly straightforward and easy to use. The comment about the recording level setting wheel not locking is slightly annoying but not a deal breaker IMHO. For the acoustic gig I used SP-CMC-2 mics in the mic in. For Jane's, where I was very close to the stage, I used a battery box and line in. I am very please with the quality of the records considering the price I paid for all this stuff.

I agree that it has kind of a plastic-y feel, but, again, not a deal breaker. It is very small, small enough to fit in your back pocket. I am very please with the DR-07, but this is my first recording rig so I have nothing to compare it to.

[taperwheeler]

Ran my dr-07 Sunday night for a sbd feed and came out great running straight line-in with no pad.  Unit seems to get 5+ hours on my energizer rechargables and has also run fine feeding it 4.5v dc by my old eco-charge batteries and walwart.  Next weekend will give it it's first analog run.

[crazifyngers]

I also purchased a dr-07 and have been happy with it thus far.  I did read in another thread that the 24bit recording is not actually doing anything because the snr of the dr-07 is 87db.  is this correct?

[taperwheeler]

I also purchased a dr-07 and have been happy with it thus far.  I did read in another thread that the 24bit recording is not actually doing anything because the snr of the dr-07 is 87db.  is this correct?

Where did you hear that the snr is 87db?  I can't imagine that could be correct on a tascam.  The DR-07 reportedly has the same preamp and adc as the dr-100.  I don't think even the mt has an snr at that level.  Was that snr listed at a certain gain stage as the unit has the 3?

I'm no expert here, but seems best practice for me to plug in my gear, record in as quiet a setting as possible testing the recorders preamp gain to find it's highest point of gain without background noise, then note that as my happy place.  Any gain above that, use my external pre.  Haven't tested my dr-07 yet for it's "happy place".

[illconditioned]

I also purchased a dr-07 and have been happy with it thus far.  I did read in another thread that the 24bit recording is not actually doing anything because the snr of the dr-07 is 87db.  is this correct?

Where did you hear that the snr is 87db?  I can't imagine that could be correct on a tascam.  The DR-07 reportedly has the same preamp and adc as the dr-100.  I don't think even the mt has an snr at that level.  Was that snr listed at a certain gain stage as the unit has the 3?

I'm no expert here, but seems best practice for me to plug in my gear, record in as quiet a setting as possible testing the recorders preamp gain to find it's highest point of gain without background noise, then note that as my happy place.  Any gain above that, use my external pre.  Haven't tested my dr-07 yet for it's "happy place".

Exactly.  Just get a miniplug and solder a 1k or so load resistor on each channel.  Measure noise level (or even noise spectrum) with various gain settings, and with and without plug in power enabled.

  Richard

[Chuck]

http://www.tascam.com/products/dr-07;9,12,3715,19.html

The manual says: S/N ratio (LINE IN>/LINE OUT) 87 dB or more