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

[asobriquet]

Hoping to hear more anecdotal feedback from owners about the built in preamps.....specifically those going mics straight in.....any signs of premature overloading at higher spl's to report? 
Good thread, so far.

[Chuck]

Hoping to hear more anecdotal feedback from owners about the built in preamps.....specifically those going mics straight in.....any signs of premature overloading at higher spl's to report? 
Good thread, so far.

There is no problem with running typical condenser microphones directly into the DR-680. I've used AKG C-460, C-480 & Nakamichi CM300 with good results . Even with concert sound levels the DR-680 pre-amps don't overload in the low mic setting.

[kirk97132]

Well, 1st outing with the 680 last night.  Can't report on the sound yet pulling the files off ow.  I can report on the ease of use.  IN fact, my mothers flight was delayed getting in so I had to leave the show just before the band came on.  My wife took the 5 minute tutorial about setting levels.  Now that's not a big deal for us but this is a woman who after 23 years of marriage to me has NEVER even hit the pause button on any of my decks.   The huge irony of this situation is that one of my taper buddies showed up just in time to get it rolling and set levels....but my wife went and checked to make sure they where where I told her to set them.  If she can run this deck then anyone can.  Very easy, very intuitive.  and while I thought the meters were lacking they layout actually works just fine. 

[willndmb]

Well, 1st outing with the 680 last night.  Can't report on the sound yet pulling the files off ow.  I can report on the ease of use.  IN fact, my mothers flight was delayed getting in so I had to leave the show just before the band came on.  My wife took the 5 minute tutorial about setting levels.  Now that's not a big deal for us but this is a woman who after 23 years of marriage to me has NEVER even hit the pause button on any of my decks.   The huge irony of this situation is that one of my taper buddies showed up just in time to get it rolling and set levels....but my wife went and checked to make sure they where where I told her to set them.  If she can run this deck then anyone can.  Very easy, very intuitive.  and while I thought the meters were lacking they layout actually works just fine.

nice
but i would have sent her to the airport and watched the levels myself 

[kirk97132]

Gotta pick your battles...she played the Mothers day card and I couldn't trump that one. 

[stevetoney]

Gotta pick your battles...she played the Mothers day card and I couldn't trump that one.

Wow...you better defend the sanctity and honor of the male gender and flip out the pay-back card on Father's Day.

[kirk97132]

Add these to the list of working SDHC cards:
16GB Polaroid/PNY class 4
16GB Transcend Class 6
Both performed flawlessly

[Chuck]

New firmware out today:

http://www.tascam.com/products/dr-680;9,12,3868,19.html

[Ozpeter]

Adds mp3 recording on up to 4 tracks at once, some bug fixes, some operation procedure alterations.  Battery monitoring / shutdown method changed, NB.  There's a pdf of the release notes in the download.

[dgale]

So what vendor has the best $$ deal on one of these?  I haven't seen much discussion about how much they are going for.  I can't really afford one any which way but I'm never beyond the notion of taxing a credit card as so far all the reports have been very positive on this recorder.

[fobstl]

I have one of these in hand. Planning to test it out this Thursday at the Bottle Rockets. Seems pretty sweet after playing with it for about an hour.

[Todd R]

So what vendor has the best $$ deal on one of these?  I haven't seen much discussion about how much they are going for.  I can't really afford one any which way but I'm never beyond the notion of taxing a credit card as so far all the reports have been very positive on this recorder.

Fullcompass has them for $812 shipped, which is the cheapest I found, but they are back-ordered.  I'm not sure what the cheapest price is for vendors that actually have stock. 

[dgale]

$812 is a pretty amazing price for an 8-track recorder that so far gets good marks. 

[MattH]

Here is my first show running Milabs straight into the DR-680. I did use XLR splitters to also run a V2 comparison which I will add a link to soon. The DR-680 had phanton on, low gain setting, and gain at 0 (unity). I had to boost levels about 5dB in post.

The Tascam held its own even better than I expected.

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=534839

Widespread Panic
BOK Center
Tulsa, OK
May 1, 2010


Source: Milab VM-44 Link -> XLR Splitter -> Tascam DR-680 (24/48)
Location: FOB/DFC/7 ft high
Transfer: SDHC Card > AudioGate (Normalize/Dither/Resample/Fades) > CD Wave > FLAC Frontend (Level 6)


Set 1:

01. Glory
02. Holden Oversoul >
03. Stop/Go >
04. Weak Brain, Narrow Mind >
05. Hatfield
06. Papa Johnny Road
07. Old Neighborhood >
08. Big Wooly Mammoth >
09. Who Do You Belong To?

Set 2:

01. Chilly Water
02. Time Zones
03. 1 X 1
04. Flicker >
05. Jam >
06. Surprise Valley >
07. Drums >
08. Papa Legba >
09. Surprise Valley >
10. Let's Get The Show On The Road
11. Conrad the Caterpillar
ENCORE:
12. Impossible >
13. Makes Sense To Me

Here is the comparison using the V2 as preamp:
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=534975

[leehookem]

Matt, I downloaded Glory, Holden, and Stop Go from the 680 pre.  Sounds damn good.