Topic: Tascam DR1

[spyder9]

Side-by-side comparison with the R09.  I went to a local Guitar Center for these pictures.  Played around with the DR1 in the store. 

Some thoughts:

The Bad:

1)  The onboard mics are weak, IMO.  Heavy sound produced crunchy, distorted recording.
2)  Had to run at High gain w/ onboard mics to get any kind of levels.  Even in loud situations.
3)  A little too big for the shirt pocket.  Comparable size to the Sony PCM-D50.
4)  No adjusting of Line-In whatsoever.  Low gain or High gain, that's all you get.
5)  Menus a bit cumbersome.  Not as easy to navigate as R09.  Will take some time getting used to.


The Good:

1)   Important:  Noise is not that bad on this unit.  Onboard mics are a little hissy, but not obvious.  Need further testing with Line-In to be conclusive.
2)   Big ass screen.
3)   Scroll wheel is cool.
4)   Formatted a 4GB card in 6 seconds.
5)   Well built.  Felt like a solid TV Remote, as opposed to a Fisher-Price toy (like most in its class).

Jury's Still Out:

1)  Line In
2) (removable) Lithium battery.  Where can I get more?  How much?

[blewnote1]

The Bad:

2)  Had to run at High gain w/ onboard mics to get any kind of levels.  Even in loud situations.


The Good:

1)   Important:  Noise is not that bad on this unit.  Onboard mics are a little hissy, but not obvious.  Need further testing with Line-In to be conclusive.

Perhaps it's because the patch hasn't been installed on the in-store model, but I have no problem getting acceptable levels with the gain set to low and the input knob set to around 6-7 (max is 10, I think).  I recorded my jazz quartet with this on Sunday thought it did a fine job.  Didn't notice any hiss from the recording, even when our pianist's sister (a singer) sat in and sang without a microphone and the dynamic levels dropped a lot (everyone was playing much much softer). 

[spyder9]

Its does have a little bit of hiss, but you have to squint.  Which is good.  I'd be very interested to hear a recording of a quiet room, with gain set to high, with phantom powered mics run through the Line In.  That would tell a story.  My bet is the DR-1 is as quiet as the R09 with Line In recordings.   

[exileded]

Here's a quiet and a louder track recorded with the low gain setting, mic 1 input, input adjusted to 10 and Giant Squid cards with battery box.
I was actually wondering if the gain shuld have been medium as to whole show only peaked a couple of times.

The Good, very Quiet when it was quiet. I was worried about the higher noise floor using mic 1 rather than line in, didn't end up being an issue at all.

The bad, How do you get the the screen to light up if you want to check the levels, battery etc once it's recording? I was just turning the scroll wheel a bit, was worried it would move the recording forward but it didn't seem to. Would be happier knowing a fail safe option.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QR86VX65
Sunken Treasure  ( the rattly noise that comes through at places is people walking on a steel walkway in front of the mid crowd barrier. The Buzz towards the end was over the P.A not unit noise.)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PZCBA6V5
Hate it Here  (only adjustment is fade in after the encore.)

I will torrent the whole show uncompressed in the next week or so for anyone who would like to hear more  

[spyder9]

How do you download from megaupload.com?  Need software?

[exileded]

How do you download from megaupload.com?  Need software?

No, when you open the page from the link it has Megaupload in biggish font near the top of the page. to the right of that are some letters that you type into the empty box (case sensitive) then click download.

It will take you to a page which has premium or free options, wait till the clock counts down on the free option (a few seconds) then click on free download.

Hope this helps

I am interested in hearing any feedback on the recording, I know the mic's have an effect on the finished product but in my opinion the DR1 did a really good job. Unfortunatly im to much of a newby to tell what technical Audio qualities the unit may be showing or lacking. Smashing Pumpkins next week should give it a test in a louder environment.

[Church-Audio]

Anyone that wants to send me one for testing I have an r-09 Here and I can do a detailed analysis of the two preamps..

Chris

[digifish_music]

DR-1 Vid (first item)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgEyFSmxm7A

digifish.

[tgakidis]

Here are a recording using c4s > ua-5 > dr-1.

http://bt.etree.org/download.php/514309/WBT2008-03-29%20%5B16-48%5D.torrent

[exileded]

And another one...
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=191172

Im loving this unit more and more every time I use it, Wilco (the torrent above) turned out good, Smashing Pumpkins the next week came out great, and Duran Duran last weekend sounds fantastic as well! (Noisy crowd though...)

Now all I need is my church mic's and pre to arrive and I'll be a very happy camper

[Ozpeter]

A serious bug in the Tascam DR1 is described at http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=20674&view=findpost&p=133344 - in some modes,  when the waveform peaks, it inverts, which gives a very unpleasant result!

[guysonic]

A serious bug in the Tascam DR1 is described at http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=20674&view=findpost&p=133344 - in some modes,  when the waveform peaks, it inverts, which gives a very unpleasant result!

If true this ONLY happens in 16 bit recording modes, and not in 24 bit modes as reported, then does seem a firmware addressable fault needing fixing.

Please let us know if this problem is fixed by Tascam, or is it destined to be a DR1 permanent feature?

Time will tell.

[PeterE]

A serious bug in the Tascam DR1 is described at http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=20674&view=findpost&p=133344 - in some modes,  when the waveform peaks, it inverts, which gives a very unpleasant result!

If true this ONLY happens in 16 bit recording modes, and not in 24 bit modes as reported, then does seem a firmware addressable fault needing fixing.

Please let us know if this problem is fixed by Tascam, or is it destined to be a DR1 permanent feature?

Time will tell.

I've run into this exact problem myself, recording recently in 16 bit mode(@44.1K). It is a serious firmware issue as it does cause an otherwise unnoticable tiny overload sound really crappy! I've yet to report it to Tascam but will asap.

[flintstone]

I'd appreciate it if someone who owns the DR-1 can tell me about mono recording.  Is it true mono, where just one channel is recorded, or does the DR-1 send the mono input to both left and right channels?

One way to tell is if the file of a mono recording is half the size, or the same size as a stereo recording of the same duration.

Prices for the DR-1 are coming down. Buy.com has it for $229, shipping included
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=206831692&listingid=20930719&dcaid=17902

Flintstone

[flintstone]

This morning that link to Buy.com shows the R-44 at $226 plus $13 shipping.  I guess the free shipping comes and goes away at the whim of the retailer.