Topic: DA-3000 question

[Chase Smith]

when recording one long continuous track, in 24b/96k mode, input is SPIDF, i have noticed my DA-3000 splits the track at 2G (exactly 2,097,148). the auto mark is off.  is there a setting that will allow me to use the entire 32G of my card? i would like to be able to record without splitting the track. my 680MKII does not break tracks in this fashion. any help appreciated!


(UPDATE): there is an internal setting for gapless playback that resolved the issue. thank you!

[aaronji]

Are you sure the 680 doesn't automatically split files? I don't have one, so no personal experience, but most recorders automatically split files at 2 GB (sometimes 4 GB). The maximum size of a wav file is 4 GB, but a lot of recorders split at 2 GB because of old FAT16 limitations.

[Gutbucket]

^ It does.  I don't know the DR-3000 intimately either but as Aaron notes, its maximum file size limitation is likely to be 2GB and if not I would be very surprised if it can write WAV files larger than 4GB.  Here's a potential work around: If DA-3000 provides the option to write two mono WAVs (one Left ch, one Right ch) rather than a single interleaved stereo WAV, setting it to do that will double the recording time between file splits.


Specifics-
Tascam 680 (Mk1 and MK2) automatically closes the current file and starts recording to a new one once reaching the file size limitation and I presume the DA-3000 does the same.  There is no data lost in doing so. The files may be joined again in editing without any drop out or glitch between them, as with most recorders.  Its been a few years since I used the 680, but if I recall correctly its maximum filesize limitation is 2GB as is common on many recorders, and there may be an option in the menu for auto-splitting at increments smaller than 2GB if desired, which is also a generally standard feature on most recorders.  Most tapers leave that set to the maximum length available. 

In addition to the maximum file size limit, what changes the actual recording time available are the recording settings: file format, bit-depth, sampling rate, and the number of channels stored in each file.  For example when set to record individual mono WAVE files (one for each channel) auto splits will occur half often in comparison to recording 2-channel stereo WAVE files which contain twice the data.  If set to write a single 6channel WAV file, the file contains 6 times the data for the same amount of recording time, so the splits happen 6 times as often in comparison to recording mono WAVs at the same bit and sample rate.

When I was recording 6 channels using the 680 I generally preferred to write 3 stereo files for easier listening to the stereo pairs.  Yet as a way to make file management easier at some festival recording scenarios where the recorder was left running unattended for a long periods of time, I'd sometimes set it to record 6 mono files so that I was less likely to get a file-split mid-set.  That way, recording at 24/48 produces a split approximately every 4 hrs rather than every 2.  If I'd set it to write a single six channel file it would've produced a split every 38 min or so.