Topic: Tascam DR-70D 4-channel audio recorder (Part 7)

[F.O.Bean]

I've been using the DR-44WL for the last year, it has many of the same issues as the 70D. The 44WL is just as picky about what cards you feed it- write errors and glitchy recordings. I've been using an approved 32G card in the 44WL with no problems. The same card appears on the 70D list so I moved it from the 44WL to the 70D, performed the Erase Format and let it write until it was full-- 24/96, 4 channels @P48 with no discrepancies noted. I always backed-up the 44WL with an M10 and will likely do the same with the 70D, at least until my confidence is higher.

Still saving for an F8 though...

I ran an M10 as backup to my VMS>70d, but stopped doing so after a YEAR of never needing to use then M10 source So I sold my last M10 and bought a 2nd 70d. No issues at all with either of my 70d's, and I've owned the one for over 1.5 years Plus they have XLR INS w Phantom Power and the M10 doesn't! I do miss the super small size of the M10, but I only record openly these days, so the bigger size of the 70d isn't an issue for me at all! You'll hopefully relax a little like I did and see that you don't need the M10 as a backup since v1.13/1.14 FW came out, and you have an "Approved" SD Card

I do love the F8's much nicer screen and layout and build, but IMO it doesn't sound any better than the 70d/701d! As always, YMMV! That said, I still think the F8 has HQ preamps and sounds great and is a great deck, especially for having 8 x XLR INS w Phantom, the ability to do a "Safety Track" like the Tascam's do, where it writes another file at a -db level of your choice to avoid clipping, and all of that plus a kickass screen with many options for UNDER $1k, so best of luck saving up for it I'm sure you'll be very happy with it! Just don't forget to run a backup SD card with your F8, since Ive heard of other tapers having issues where it had a write error to the 1st/Main SD card, but wrote fine to the backup SD card? Maybe they fixed it or that's fixable through a FW update tho? Still a badass deck overall! If I didn't need [2] separate decks, Id probably have an F8 right now, instead of [2] 70D's

[F.O.Bean]

As long as you can deal with the quirks, I think you'll be very happy with the 70D.  As I've said several times, I'm sticking with mine until I can afford a 788, or maybe the F8 if it proves to be worthy for classical recording over the long term.

Yeah, Id save up for an SD788 or all-in-one something like that, that has ultra quiet preamps and stuff built in! Just caps/mics>HQ deck w low-noise pres. But I am perfectly happy with my 70D's at the moment, and for once I'm happy with my rig and how it sounds, and don't feel like I need to "upgrade" to another 2nd external preamp! I even want to get [2] new 60v/Low Noise PFAs made this fall, so that I can run 4 channel w just the PFA's for an even smaller setup, since I don't record quiet stuff and the 70D preamps are more than adequate for most things! That said, my VMS02IB still isn't going anywhere, yet anyway lol But if Schoeps ever came out with a 4 channel all-in-one deck, Id probably sell everything[except for one 70d haha] and save up for it

[F.O.Bean]

Here's a few recent recordings I made! I ran 4 channels! mk4>VMS02IB>dr70d and mk41>PFA>dr70d if anyone wants to hear the 70d preamps compared to the Schoeps preamp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dumpstaphunk 8.6.16 mk4>vms>dr70d
16Bit
https://archive.org/details/dumpstaphunk2016-08-06.mk4.vms02ib.dr70d.flac16
24Bit
https://archive.org/details/dumpstaphunk2016-08-06.mk4.vms02ib.dr70d.flac24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dumpstaphunk 8.6.16 mk41>pfa>dr70d
16Bit
https://archive.org/details/dumpstaphunk2016-08-06.mk41.pfa.dr70d.flac16
24Bit
https://archive.org/details/dumpstaphunk2016-08-06.mk41.pfa.dr70d.flac24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Turkuaz 8.6.16 mk4>vms>dr70d
16Bit
https://archive.org/details/turkuaz2016-08-06.mk4.vms02ib.dr70d.flac16
24Bit
https://archive.org/details/turkuaz2016-08-06.mk4.vms02ib.dr70d.flac24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Turkuaz 8.6.16 mk41>pfa>dr70d
16Bit
https://archive.org/details/turkuaz2016-08-06.mk41.pfa.dr70d.flac16
24Bit
https://archive.org/details/turkuaz2016-08-06.mk41.pfa.dr70d.flac24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy!

[Chris K]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331541674213?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=540700709758&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

A few of us have purchased this external.  Works great and blends in seamlessly with the recorder.

Thanks for the tip! Grabbed two of these.

So after 2 years of fairly consistent use, I finally updated firmware from 1.01 to version 1.14.  Wonder if I will even notice a difference. 

[voltronic]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331541674213?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=540700709758&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

A few of us have purchased this external.  Works great and blends in seamlessly with the recorder.

Thanks for the tip! Grabbed two of these.

So after 2 years of fairly consistent use, I finally updated firmware from 1.01 to version 1.14.  Wonder if I will even notice a difference. 

The biggest and best difference for the newer firmware is the addition of the MID gain range.  If you only record really loud concerts then you may not use it much, but it's definitely the sweet spot for me.

Menu items are also slightly changed (though still a bit nonsensical), and pretty much everyone here reports 1.13 and 1.14 firmware as very stable and reliable.

The big negative in newer firmware is the several degrees of "dead zone" at the bottom of the gain pots (see Known Issues #9 in the FAQ).  This change was made a while back when Tomuo was on the board, and I remember asking him about it over PM.  I seem to remember him saying that they made that change on purpose after users complained about not being able to quickly kill a channel, such as an off-camera lav mic. 

So if that's true (and my memory may be suspect), the "dead zone" functions as a poor man's channel mute button.  Frustrating for music recording, but maybe more convenient for sound-for-film people.  IMO, they could have made everyone happy by having full-counterclockwise mute the input, with just a slight clockwise movement activating the channel.

EDIT: Now I'm doubting my memory even further.  Does anyone know if the original firmware had that dead zone also, or did it come in with FW 1.10 or 1.11?  In any case, it's annoying and I wish they'd fix it.

[voltronic]

OK, I found the statement from Tomuo about this - not in a PM, but in a public post.

Re: Tascam DR-70D 4-channel audio recorder (Part 4)
« Reply #65 on: July 23, 2015, 02:41:00 PM »
Quote from: Life In Rewind on July 23, 2015, 09:24:45 AM


    The gain should just stop being reduced when the knobs hit minimum. Isn't that the whole point of the 4 gain ranges!?

    That feeling that the knob has stopped is a valuable physical index - we need that!

    TASCAM please fix this!!!


Oh man, on the DR-60D we had someone say we were going to get sued because it worked that way. (full anti-clockwise = minimum gain, not off).
The thinking is that input might be from a wireless microphone receiver, and the person at the mic end might be off-camera or off-set. (bathroom break, private phone call),
and the DR-60D would still record some of that channel, creating a privacy problem because the recordist can't instantly turn off the input.

I believe the DR-70D works the same way as many high end field recorders in this area.

[audBall]

IMO, they could have made everyone happy by having full-counterclockwise mute the input, with just a slight clockwise movement activating the channel.

Or simply just made it a menu option like many of the other settings on the recorder.

I believe the DR-70D works the same way as many high end field recorders in this area.

What other recorders do this? I don't have much experience outside of the DR70D, M10, PMD-661, and the JB3 (from my Pleistocene taping days).

[voltronic]

IMO, they could have made everyone happy by having full-counterclockwise mute the input, with just a slight clockwise movement activating the channel.

Or simply just made it a menu option like many of the other settings on the recorder.

Maybe, but the last thing this thing needs is even more functions buried in the menu.

I believe the DR-70D works the same way as many high end field recorders in this area.

What other recorders do this? I don't have much experience outside of the DR70D, M10, PMD-661, and the JB3 (from my Pleistocene taping days).

I don't think professional field recorders actually work that way either.  I know on SD recorders, for example, you can selectively mute inputs while still keeping them at their set trim levels.  That just seems like the logical way to do it.  It would be a major PITA to do it the "Tascam" way to keep re-setting levels between takes on a film set.  Tascam could in theory do this on the 70D with a two-button shortcut, such as pressing the data knob along with the corresponding channel button.

[F.O.Bean]

IMO, the menu isn't confusing at all! The M10's menu was more confusing to me personally! But yeah, the dead zone is annoying for sure, but thankfully, it hasn't affected me yet

And Volt, I agree, Pressing the Menu knob + plus corresponding channel, would be a quick and easy fix! An even easier fix would be for Tascam to change the LOW Gain range, to allow for hotter signals, just like they did with adding the MID Gain option! Just lower the Low Gain range a little bit to allow for hotter signals and DONE, right?!!!!

[Life In Rewind]

Anyone else starting to have trouble removing XLRs? - my channel 4 has felt "stuck" on my last 2 outings...

Both times were with the same set of cables - so I haven't eliminated the possibility of it being related to a cable.

Didn't really take note of it the first time - but the second time it got my attention.

Required a good tug to free it...

[Perry]

Anyone else starting to have trouble removing XLRs? - my channel 4 has felt "stuck" on my last 2 outings...

Both times were with the same set of cables - so I haven't eliminated the possibility of it being related to a cable.

Didn't really take note of it the first time - but the second time it got my attention.

Required a good tug to free it...

I had that problem too- it turned out to be the connectors on the cheap cables I was using. I had to struggle with them for 5 - 10 seconds to remove them every time. Last week I built two cables using chopped Neutrik connectors, no problems now.

[ButchAlmberg]

I've been having an issue disconnecting cables as well. Not sure if it's the cable or the connector on the recorder.

[voltronic]

Never a problem for me, all my cables have Neutrik connectors.  If this happens with other cables / connectors, maybe you could try lubricating the release switch?

[Life In Rewind]

In my case its a pair of SHURE XLR cables that came with their cheaper PG-48 vocal mics. I guess they would fall into the category of "cheap" - even though they seem to have decent connectors (better than most Switchcraft knockoffs). They were unused - so I figured they'd be ok for a board feed. (and I leave them setup at the theatre in question)

[F.O.Bean]

I ONLY use Rt Angle Stubby XLR's from DarkTrain on both of my DR-70D's[I have Rt Angle Stubbies for ALL 8 XLR INS on both of my 70D's ], and they are ALL Neutrik connectors! I haven't had that problem at ALL using the Neutriks, so it might be worth the $$ to upgrade to some better or custom cables, with HQ connectors I had to rip an XLR out of an Aerco MP2 NYE/2007, and the XLR connector on the Aerco MP2 had to be replaced. But I was using HQ Audio Magic cables, so the Aerco was the problem on that one! Anyway, what I'm getting at, is to use some quality connectors, and hopefully your issues go away