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

[rastasean]

I haven't used the Zoom device, so...

The Tascam looks like a field recorder. The Zoom looks more like a studio device, though it does run on batteries. I know that the Tascam sounds good and is reliable. The Zoom only provides phantom power to two mics at a time. The DR-680 is smaller and appears easier to transport.

The Zoom would be pretty cool if it had 16 channels with good pre-amps and phantom power, but it sounds like the pre-amps aren't all that great...

http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-R16-Multitrack-Controller-Interface/dp/B002I7TJNW

I feel better already!!

When you say the dr-680 is smaller, that must mean the r16 is bigger and perhaps heavier. I haven't held the dr680 yet but i can say the r16 is no more in weight than a couple computer keyboards.


All in all, I believe both are capable of recording a band in a studio. If you want to take your laptop and feel the need for extra phantom power, perhaps the dr-680 is for you. If you plan on recording drums, vocals, and using a lot of dynamic and condenser mics, perhaps the r16 is for you since only two inputs are phantom. Don't need the laptop and want to try recording out in a field (for whatever reason), just take the r16, cables, headphones, and your guitars.

When Chuck says the dr680 is reliable I hope he does not mean the r16, therefore, is NOT reliable. I have found no issues with it working just as I told it to.

I feel the amazon review under values the recorder. here's a thread on gear slutz about it:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/366508-zoom-r16-any-experience-opinions.html

I haven't read all 21 pages but prior to buying it and shortly after getting it, I did read a lot about it.

personally I don't think can replace a professional studio or the mastering process. I think of the r16 as something as a scratch pad. bands and musicians would benefit from it while making songs and riffs so they are not burning studio time for silly tasks.

/end of r16 input

[Chuck]

Everything I know about the Zoom is what I posted. I know nothing about it's reliability.
The price is very attractive. If I wanted to do some live band multi-track recording, I'd buy a couple of them.

[bgreen]

^^

Can you link two or more together to combine the number of recordable channels or would you have to manually start/stop individual recorders?

I finally used a few of these linked together, the slave machine does auto start with the master.

Really enjoying these.

Heres a pic of two in action



Have I mentioned that I really like these units

[Chuck]

nice

[yert33]

Hey, bgreen, you said "autostart"... did you mean using the "auto-record" function? Or just that when you press the REC button, both decks start simultaneously? BTW, I like your picture especially with the audio-assisting-can-of-lager on the left. ;-)

Can you describe your signal paths/hookup as seen in the photo? What's the laptop running, e.g.?

[bgreen]

Hey, bgreen, you said "autostart"... did you mean using the "auto-record" function? Or just that when you press the REC button, both decks start simultaneously? BTW, I like your picture especially with the audio-assisting-can-of-lager on the left. ;-)

just that when you press the REC button, both decks start

This recording was

6 mics at stage lip > 150' snake > 1st tascam chnls 1 - 6
2 aud mics at my tent > 2nd tascam 1/2
House mix from the board > 2nd tascam 3/4

or something close. number of channels varied at times but ya get the idea.

The laptop is just for some quick done and dirty alignment, panning, and normalization to give the band something to listen to on the way home, it's not being used for recording, just to give a rough mix sample after the show.

The lager is my best asset at times. keeps me from blowing a fuse lol.

[yert33]

Thanks, bgreen! And the lager makes the mix sweeter! Ha.

Do you adjust for time differences between the board mix / stage mics / audience mics in your post-mixdown? If so, what's your method? 

[bgreen]

I use wavelab, I open all the files in montage, find a well defined common peak, line em up and off I go.

[Chuck]

I use wavelab, I open all the files in montage, find a well defined common peak, line em up and off I go.

I've had good luck finding and using a place where the drummer clicks the sticks together to count off the beginning of the song.

[Ozpeter]

Bump... Two 680's linked are less confusing than two threads unlinked...

[Todd R]

A late reporting of my first outing with the 680:

Summary:  not good.   I was plagued with all kinds of problems due to a slow card (I think).  I got the same error messages Chuck had, and the recording shut down with nothing saved.  I was running 6ch in, plus the mix track, so a total of 8 channels.  Recording at 24/44.1k onto a -- I think -- class 6 a-data card.  I keep forgetting to pull it out and double check, but pretty sure it was a class 6 adata card that I had been previously using with my R44 with no problems.  I changed down to 8ch 16/44 and still had the slow card write errors, then finally changed down to 6ch at 16/44 and everything worked fine.  Unfortunately, I had to shut down 2ch that I really preferred recording since I couldn't figure out how to stop the mix track.

So questions from all this:

- Has anyone been running 32gb cards?  If so, what class/speed?

- What 16gb cards have people been running?  I think from what I remember reading people have used Transcend, PNY/HP, and Kingston.  I'm particularly interested in knowing if class 4 Kingston cards have been working (or alternatively if the PNY cards seem like reputable cards, after the problems with my adata card, I'm thinking I'd like to keep with a more reputable brand).

- Can you shut down the mix track and if so how? 

I'm not figuring it out from the manual, and I wasn't figuring it out in the field though I keep forgetting to try at home.  As I recall, you couldn't just turn off the channels from recording like you can with the regular channels.  Does the mix track get turned off in some menu?  Otherwise, it seems like you would have to choose to record the digital-in rather than the mix track in the menu, and then once chosen I'm thinking you should then have access to turn off those channels like you do the normal ones.  Seems hard to believe it is that complicated, but I don't think I was able to just de-select the mix channels like you can the normal recording channels.

[bgreen]

I use the transcend TS16GSDHC6 class 6 from the tested media list and have yet to have an error recording 6 channels plus the mix at 24/96

The only 32 gig card I see on the approved list

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

is Panasonic, as soon as I find a good deal on one, I'll check it out.

There are a few class 4's from hagiwara,Toshiba, and Panasonic but the rest are class 6 or better. I stuck to the list to avoid problems.

I didn't find anywhere to turn off the mix either. I turned down all the channels on the mix levels to save space, not sure if that would do anything for performance or not though. Lemme know if you find it.

[kirk97132]

I don't have my deck in front of me but I am pretty sure you can enable/disabale the mix track the same way you do it for the other six tracks.  On the front of the unit where you arm tracks for recording there is a mix button also. 

As for card issues....I have not had any.  I run class 4, 6, and 10 cards.  I recorded 24/48 mono times 6 or eight tracks.  I use a 16GB PNY/Polaroid class4, A 16GB Patriot calss 6, 16GB Patriot LX series class10, 4GB OCZ class6, never had an issue at all.  I do format before use EVERYTIME.   I'm eyeing up the 32GB cards and would probably buy the Patriot LX series class10 card.  besides being very fast it has a 5 year warranty.   

[Todd R]

Thanks for the feedback guys, keep it coming!

The tascam media list says class 4 (only) is needed for cards >2GB.  I'm not sure if for some reason you went beyond 16gb whether you'd need > class 4 for some reason (eg, class 6 or more).

BTW, I should've noted:  when I had problems I was running 4x stereo tracks (3x stereo + stereo mix), not mono tracks.

I really feel like if I'm getting a new card anyway, that I should get a 32GB card.  At 8ch of 24/44.1k, 16GB only gives you 4hrs or so of recording, which isn't enough to reliably record an opening act and a 2-set main act.  I'd rather have one card in there rather than switching around cards, but I'd prefer the $75 option for a Class 4 32GB kingston card over the 32gb panasonic card on the tascam list that's like $250.

[ajcourtney]

I've been using the Kingston 32GB class 4 with ZERO issues running all eight tracks or as few as one mono track and I never format before each use.  and kirkd is correct - to disable the stereo mix input simply press the round button to disarm the two tracks.

I use the same 32GB cards in my Canon DSLRs to shoot 1080/24P video and I have only once experienced a buffer overrun error evidently due to cardspeed problems.  (The DSLR manuals clearly state these cams require class 6 cards, yet these Kingston class 4 cards have sufficient bandwidth to accomodate some serious bitrates.)  Multichannel audio is a breeze compared to 50Mb/s video...