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

[fobstl]

Any idea what would happen if you used a Deneke AD-20 to feed channels 7 & 8?  It's 20 bit, so I wonder if the Dr-680 would add 4 blank bits to the signal, or if everything syncs to the AD-20 and everything ends up 20 bit?

-jay

That is a good question since the unit only allows you to select 16 or 24 bit wav in the menu. On the sample rate side, I can tell you that if you have the unit set for 24/96 and try to feed it a 24/48 digital signal it will not lock on - so will not record the digital input.  I'll give it a try with a 20 bit Apogee AD1000 and report back.

[hummat]

awesome!  Can't wait for results.  If it works, I would be thrilled and my load would be lightened.

-j

[kirk97132]

I have an AD1K, It will lock and just add zero's. You need to have the sample rates set right to get it to lock but the bit rate does not matter.  I don't know about the AD-20.  Is it 44.1, 48 or 96?

[hummat]

D'oh!  44.1.  There goes that idea.

[NOLAfishwater]

D'oh!  44.1.  There goes that idea.

looks like you will be lugging the R-4 too

[yltfan]

I discovered something pretty cool about the DR-680 the other night. I was recording a mono SBD feed, AUD mics, and an onstage pair. I wanted to do a mix of the SBD and onstage mics, but figured the mono board feed would mess it up, until I remembered the mix pan feature. I centered the one SBD channel, cut the other one, mixed on the onstage mics, and voila! Thank you DR-680!

This probably would have been more obvious to most folks, but I had never thought of doing that before, and felt like I made some big discovery.

[kirk97132]

I discovered something pretty cool about the DR-680 the other night. I was recording a mono SBD feed, AUD mics, and an onstage pair. I wanted to do a mix of the SBD and onstage mics, but figured the mono board feed would mess it up, until I remembered the mix pan feature. I centered the one SBD channel, cut the other one, mixed on the onstage mics, and voila! Thank you DR-680!

This probably would have been more obvious to most folks, but I had never thought of doing that before, and felt like I made some big discovery.

I can see doing it to try it out but for mixing purposes it seems a bad idea.  But, if you are looking to peel off a down and dirty mix for someone before you do the real mix in post then it's a nice advantage. 

Has anyone tried to send a mix out on a pair of rca's?  am I missing something because it seems as if you cannot do that.  IE: do a mix like chris did but send the stereo mix out on a pair of rca's. 

[yltfan]

^ Yeah, I was just doing it as an experiment, I didn't need the channels, and had the space, so....
But it turned out pretty nice, and was way easier then mixing in post.

[Gutbucket]

Thanks for the confirmation on my Ch 2 problem. The unit is waiting to be replaced.

I've also contacted Tascam's development guys here in the UK about the possibility of ganging input gain controls. For my work, which is mostly in A and B-Format surround, every channel has to be gain-matched, so a single control to affect all input gains (selectable, of course) would be an invaluable addition. From the reply I got, it seems that it's an increasingly common request as these things get out into the wild, so who know, we may yet see a firmware upgrade that reflects this.

Regards,

John

This is what I'm looking for as well and will stick with my R-44 until something else comparable offers a ganged gain option (preferably with individual channel trims as well)

[groovon]

I've read here somewhere a reference to using an Edirol UA-5 for going mic in on the 680's dig. ins, which is strange as I see on the Core Audio site they state the UA-5 does not perform A/D in stand-alone mode. Is this wrong?: http://www.core-sound.com/ua5-duo-usbpre-comparison.html#STANDALONE

BTW, has anyone tried the (also discontinued) M-Audio Duo as a stand-alone pre-D/A for the 680's S/PDIF inputs?

Any other ideas, short of selling the car to buy a V3?

[Chuck]

I've read here somewhere a reference to using an Edirol UA-5 for going mic in on the 680's dig. ins, which is strange as I see on the Core Audio site they state the UA-5 does not perform A/D in stand-alone mode. Is this wrong?: http://www.core-sound.com/ua5-duo-usbpre-comparison.html#STANDALONE

BTW, has anyone tried the (also discontinued) M-Audio Duo as a stand-alone pre-D/A for the 680's S/PDIF inputs?

Any other ideas, short of selling the car to buy a V3?

I have a Busman modified UA-5 that I use to go S/PDIF in on the DR-680.
The "digi-mod" is what makes that possible.

[jbell]

If anyone is interested when some new gear shows up I am going to unload my Dmod UA-5.  I will sell the box for $80 and for another $10 I will throw in a Gak DVD power cable. 

[Chuck]

That's a heck of a deal!

[groovon]

I've read here somewhere a reference to using an Edirol UA-5 for going mic in on the 680's dig. ins, which is strange as I see on the Core Audio site they state the UA-5 does not perform A/D in stand-alone mode. Is this wrong?: http://www.core-sound.com/ua5-duo-usbpre-comparison.html#STANDALONE

BTW, has anyone tried the (also discontinued) M-Audio Duo as a stand-alone pre-D/A for the 680's S/PDIF inputs?

Any other ideas, short of selling the car to buy a V3?

I have a Busman modified UA-5 that I use to go S/PDIF in on the DR-680.
The "digi-mod" is what makes that possible.

Ah thanks, Chuck. I guess that answers that puzzle.

[flipp]

Any idea what would happen if you used a Deneke AD-20 to feed channels 7 & 8?  It's 20 bit, so I wonder if the Dr-680 would add 4 blank bits to the signal, or if everything syncs to the AD-20 and everything ends up 20 bit?

-jay

Curious bystander (read non 680 owner) wondering what would happen if someone with a 48k version of a GP DMIC-20 used it instead of the AD-20 to feed channels 7&8? Or am I missing something obvious?