Topic: TASCAM DR-680 portable 8-track Part 2

[Big Perm]

Is it considered slutty to buy a Portabrace for a recorder you don't own yet? 

if it is, then I'm slutty too 

I'm tempted to go for the Portabrace, but it looks too small for an external battery, extra cables, mics, etc.

I need to find something to use my expiring Ebay bucks...

you can always add one of the various model RM-Multi to the AR-DR680 for additional storage

That's like asking if its slutty to save money for your kids college tuition....HELL NO, it the responsible thing to do...


love this machine!!!

[yert33]

Does your DR-680's internal clock seem to work?

[groovon]

Is it considered slutty to buy a Portabrace for a recorder you don't own yet? 

Sure it is!  wait ...that's a good thing, right? 

[listener2]

Hi y'all, I was looking at getting a mixer of sorts to mix my various mics in order to do closer comparisons of my mics sonic characteristics and instead of going for the Mackie Onyx 8 or 12 channel mixers, I came upon this Tascam DR-680 8 channel recorder which will allow me to mix mic channels or compare the separate channels.  After reading through the forums and comments it seems to me that this is one nice unit.  And for the price it is an unbeatable bargain.  So I ordered one!  Should have it delivered today.
In another thread asking about preamp noise level comparisons of the various recorders, someone posted this link showing the test results someone did to compare various popular recorders on a more equal level measurement basis.  I was surprised to see that they rated this Tascam DR-680 having quieter preamp noise than the already excellent Sony PCM-D50 !!! Can this be?
And it is not far behind the highly rated Sound Devices 7xx series! Yikes!  I hope those measurements are really true and accurate as I have now invested money into getting one of these babies!  See this link for the measured noise levels:  http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm

Wow! Can't wait to get and use and check this unit out for myself! :-)

Updated 07-24-2010: I just noticed that the noise level comparisons link was already mentioned in the first Part 1 Tascam DR-680 thread.  Sorry!  But I guess that rementioning it here is worth while also for new comers since that info is buried so deep in Part 1, that it could be easily missed (like I missed it!).  Anyway, I am liking this DR-680 very much~! I got it for the sale price of $699.99  when it was on special too so it makes it even a greater bargain!  Excellent unit folks, except remember its mic input jacks are XLR and TRS, so can't use your regular 3.5mm stereo plugs.

[listener2]

Got my unit in hand and did some preliminary testing using a pair of DPA 4060 mics in stereo channels 1 and 2, and with Countryman B3 mics on stereo channels 3 and 4.   Adjusted levels to match using the level meters and made a couple of test recordings recording a stereo mix.  Resulting stereo mix file sounded thin and phasey.  All out of phase.  So now I don't know which mic set is the one that is out of phase and have to figure out a way around this.  There is no way to reverse wiring inside any of these XLR phantom powered connectors attached to either set of mics.  So one glaring ommission on this Tascam DR-680 with its mixer is the lack of input signal "phase" reversal switch or "adjustable phase" knobs per channel.   Anyway, I know with post processing you can fix that... but I am not one to spend extra time in post processsing on a PC to always have to adjust my recordings!  I wish that they would add individual phase reversal setting in next firmware update!

As for my mic preamp noise observations so far, the preamps do seem quiet enough for most mics.  I tried several mics with the unit so far briefly to asssess the hiss level.  The only mic that had very much noticable hissy levels is the Countryman B3 low sensitivity model mics.  That's because it was much lower sensitivity than the DPA 4060's and MXL V67Q stereo and Audio Technica AT8022 stereo condenser mics I tested with.  I had the mic gain on high, set record level trim to "9" for the Countryman B3's and the hiss level is audible higher at that level setting.
The DPA 4060's needed only to be set at record trim level of -6 so preamp noise was totally inaudible.  The AT-8022 needed record trim level set to "1" and the MXL-V67Q mic needed to be set at "0".  Preamp noise was a non-factor with those last 3 mics. Only the Countryman low-sensitivity B3 mics had a noticable background noise level here.  But I was not recording concert loud levels.  So I would venture to say that if used to record a loud live band or concert, that the trim level would be set much lower than "9" and thus the noise hiss would also be inaudible.

[Chuck]

Got my unit in hand and did some preliminary testing using a pair of DPA 4060 mics in stereo channels 1 and 2, and with Countryman B3 mics on stereo channels 3 and 4.   Adjusted levels to match using the level meters and made a couple of test recordings recording a stereo mix.  Resulting stereo mix file sounded thin and phasey.  All out of phase.  So now I don't know which mic set is the one that is out of phase and have to figure out a way around this.  There is no way to reverse wiring inside any of these XLR phantom powered connectors attached to either set of mics.  So one glaring ommission on this Tascam DR-680 with its mixer is the lack of input signal "phase" reversal switch or "adjustable phase" knobs per channel.   Anyway, I know with post processing you can fix that... but I am not one to spend extra time in post processsing on a PC to always have to adjust my recordings!  I wish that they would add individual phase reversal setting in next firmware update!

As for my mic preamp noise observations so far, the preamps do seem quiet enough for most mics.  I tried several mics with the unit so far briefly to asssess the hiss level.  The only mic that had very much noticable hissy levels is the Countryman B3 low sensitivity model mics.  That's because it was much lower sensitivity than the DPA 4060's and MXL V67Q stereo and Audio Technica AT8022 stereo condenser mics I tested with.  I had the mic gain on high, set record level trim to "9" for the Countryman B3's and the hiss level is audible higher at that level setting.
The DPA 4060's needed only to be set at record trim level of -6 so preamp noise was totally inaudible.  The AT-8022 needed record trim level set to "1" and the MXL-V67Q mic needed to be set at "0".  Preamp noise was a non-factor with those last 3 mics. Only the Countryman low-sensitivity B3 mics had a noticable background noise level here.  But I was not recording concert loud levels.  So I would venture to say that if used to record a loud live band or concert, that the trim level would be set much lower than "9" and thus the noise hiss would also be inaudible.

I'd make some phase reversed cables (swap Pin2 & Pin3 on one end) for the pair of mics that are out of phase.

[listener2]

Yes, indeed, I've just finished making myself a pair of TRS to female XLR balanced adapter cables so I can use my XLR mics on channels 5 and 6 of this DR-680.  I ordered more mic cable and bought some extra XLR female connectors and extra TRS phone plugs and will be making phase reversal adapter cable for my Countryman B3 mics.  Yes, it was the Countryman B3 mics going through their own XLR phantom power adapters that was "phase reversed".  All my other mics are "in phase" with each other.  I compared them against my referecnce set of AKG C-414BXLS mics and all of them were in same phase as the AKG C414's except for the Countryman B3 mics. fyi.

[Chuck]

I've checked all of my mics in the past and have noticed that all my AKGs are phased the same. My Franken-Naks are out of phase compared to the AKG's and most of my other mics are matched in phase to the AKG's.

FWIW, I find recording a 100Hz sine wave played through one speaker (all mics lined up, capsules same distance from the speaker) makes it very easy to see any phase discrepancies.

[kirk97132]

I'm kicking around the idea of not using any outboard pre amps with my 680.  I have not done any side by side comps, but anytime I have only used the stock preamp it has sounded just fine.  I currently have a V2, SD-MP2, and a BM2p+ UA-5.  I can't say I notice any great differences.  Differences yes but not sure if it's that big a difference.  Anybody else deciding on only using the stock pre's?  I am going to sell the UA-5 and get an Apogee AD1K for the digital input.  And am currently trying to sell the V2 also.  How are y'all liking the box on it's own.  I will be out taping with Busman next weekend so maybe we can do a side by side comp of stock VS his mod. 

[soundmanjohn]

Hi,

New member here - joined so as to come in on this discussion

I've purchased a DR-680 and find two things that are worrying. Before I return the unit, can someone give me a reality check?

1) With phantom power enabled, but no microphone connected, there's a huge amount of noise generated on input 2. I know this is a situation that should never arise, but it worries me slightly.
2) The headphone amplifier (with Sony MDR 7506 connected) seems very noisy. The noise doesn't print, but when trying to record low-level material, I find this very distracting.

I'm assuming that the noise on channel 2 problem is not usual, but would be pleased if someone could check that for me on their machine. It only happens on channel 2 on mine. I really want to like this recorder, so I'm keen to make sure these problems are specific to this machine and not generic.

Thanks for any information.

Regards,

John Leonard
http://www.johnleonard.co.uk

[groovon]

Hi John - I just tried monitoring my 680's channel 1 and 2 inputs (Sony MDR-V6 'phones) w/ no mics/phantom power on, and can hear no noise at all at normal gain settings (up to 10 on the dial). Also, no undue noise from the headphone amp, unless turned up full. Both channels the same.
I'd definitely return the unit ASAP just based on your channel 2 anomaly.
cheers
Dave

[darby]

I have recorded several shows so far using the stock preamps as well as my V3
mainly to use as my AUD source for SBD/AUD mtx sources
but a few I used on their own and didn't mind the results compared to my V3
I recently acquired a Littlebox and plan to use it more instead of the stock preamps
because it is small enough and I prefer the sound over the stocks

it's all a matter of taste and how much stuff you want to carry in and setup
and of course... how much money do you want to spend?


EDIT:
it sounds like you have an issue with your channel 2 soundmanjohn

[kirk97132]

Well, for me, I'm already carrying a bunch anyway....SD MP-2, V2, BM2p+.  But I am going to switch from the Ua-5 to an apogee Ad1000.  Even though it is a 20 bit pre, I'm guessing/hoping/figuring that the real 20 bits of Apogee bit depth coupled with the quality of the pres and A/D conversion will be an upgrade from the UA-5.  I have been looking around at other A/d preamp options and while a V3 is a solid choice there are some that have caught my eye for the use of tracks 7 & 8 spdif inputs. 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/634313-REG/RDL_HR_ADC1_HR_ADC1_Analog_to.html#features

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/686615-REG/Whirlwind_AESAD_AESAD_Portable_Analog.html#features

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/316598.html

All of which can be bought new for about the same price as a V3.  Of course, if the Little box/big box came out with Spdif, I'd jump on that. 

[Todd R]

If people are looking for new preamps with A/D for the digi-in channels, I've heard good things about the Audient Mico ($660 street):

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/372095.html

[ArchivalAudio]

If people are looking for new preamps with A/D for the digi-in channels, I've heard good things about the Audient Mico ($660 street):

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/372095.html

thanx Todd
looks cool and promising
and any time you actually talk to a Full Compass rep on the phone you can usually get a lower price then posted on the web mines Ron V and he's been there  many years an is a good guy.
--Ian