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Author Topic: Tascam DR100mkii Review  (Read 135064 times)

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runonce

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #90 on: December 27, 2011, 02:30:22 PM »
Ran mine last night 24/96, p48 off, xlr in coming out of a V2. First of all, love the layout and size over my 661. My only qualm with the design is that its easy to bump the level adjustment wheel. Of course, if i pay attention it wont matter, but after a bottle of wine last night.....you get the picture.

I got about 2 hours with the internal battery. Did not bring AAs. There was one bare left, so probably another 30next minutes. I had the back light set on 30 seconds, and did a bit of adjustment. So you can probably get some more time of you lower the timer. I was hoping for a longer battery life ......however, its a great little recorder.

As far as noise coming from the machine....since i had p48 off there was none. Quiet as could be...

Would battery life be longer at 24/48?

stevetoney

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #91 on: December 27, 2011, 06:58:18 PM »
My only qualm with the design is that its easy to bump the level adjustment wheel. Of course, if i pay attention it wont matter, but after a bottle of wine last night.....you get the picture.

This comment surprises me a bit.  The wheel is recessed in both planes and only about 30 degrees is exposed at the top...I kinda felt one needed a deliberate thumb push/pull to move it, whereas most level knobs aren't recessed.  Course the best level knobs are on the Sound Devices units where you push them and they pop out and push them again and they recess so they can't be twisted at all on purpose or by accident.  Obviously Mark, I understand though how, with the assistance of alcohol, anything is possible.  ;)

Regardless, I hope you're getting the goods on the final few shows, Mark!

Offline dogmusic

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #92 on: December 27, 2011, 07:33:30 PM »
Some better battery life news.

I ran my Beyerdynamic 930's into the XLR of the DR100mkii, using rechargeable Eneloop AA's, with phantom power on, 24/96, and got just under 1 hr 40 min recording time.

Is that with or without the Li-ion internal battery?

That is without the Li-ion battery. That is using the AA's alone.

When I tested the Li-ion alone I got about 3 1/4 hours with phantom on.

I think about 5 hours on the combination of internal batteries with phantom power is not too shabby.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2011, 08:55:38 PM by dogmusic »
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Offline Gutbucket

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #93 on: December 27, 2011, 07:36:14 PM »
The best recording level controls to my mind are simple increase/decrease buttons for two reasons-

They lock with the hold switch.
The adjustment is incremental (you can count the number of pushes and know exactly by how much you changed the gain) but usually not audible.
They take less room on the machine.
The knob can't come off by accident and roll off somewhere on the floor.

OK that's four, and the last may not apply here.  But really I think level knobs are more about marketing than actual functionality.  People like knobs.  I know I really dislike car stereos which have buttons instead of a volume knob.

[edit- one more came to mind, the ability to adjust input gain via remote is more common with buttons]
« Last Edit: December 27, 2011, 08:43:10 PM by Gutbucket »
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stevetoney

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #94 on: December 27, 2011, 10:46:48 PM »
The best recording level controls to my mind are simple increase/decrease buttons for two reasons-

They lock with the hold switch.
The adjustment is incremental (you can count the number of pushes and know exactly by how much you changed the gain) but usually not audible.
They take less room on the machine.
The knob can't come off by accident and roll off somewhere on the floor.

OK that's four, and the last may not apply here.  But really I think level knobs are more about marketing than actual functionality.  People like knobs.  I know I really dislike car stereos which have buttons instead of a volume knob.

[edit- one more came to mind, the ability to adjust input gain via remote is more common with buttons]

Not the we record with internals, but knobs would be less noisy than a button if you're recording from the internals, especially if the button makes any type of clicking sound.  That said, I assume a knob means a pot and I've heard pots can be the most vulnerable part of any electronic device...I know that's true of hearing aids I've had in the past where the volume control was always the weak link and needing to be worked on.

Locking with the hold switch is a nice feature.  Actually, it would be great to have a menu selectable option of whether the user wanted the level buttons locked or not when hold is selected because there are times when I like to have access to levels also.

Offline Sebastian

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #95 on: December 28, 2011, 03:30:22 AM »
That is without the Li-ion battery. That is using the AA's alone.

When I tested the Li-ion alone I got about 3 1/4 hours with phantom on.

I think about 5 hours on the combination of internal batteries with phantom power is not too shabby.

Thanks for the clarification. That's the answer I needed to justify buying this recorder. The MBHOs directly into the DR100mkII should make for a very nice stealth rig. And 5 hours is the same run time I'm getting from my current setup.

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Offline dogmusic

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #97 on: December 28, 2011, 10:06:10 AM »
Fantastic review Steve.

+1

Thanks again here as well. Having easy access to those photos of the digital cable plug really helped me out at the computer trying to figure a way of making a custom digital cable to go from the USBPre2 SPDIF out into the DR100mkii.

Any idea how the wiring would work from this peculiar 2.5 mm plug to an RCA plug?

ADDED:

I found this: 2.5mm TRRS plug to RCA female adaptor for GPS Video Input

here:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-5mm-TRS-plug-RCA-female-adaptor-GPS-Video-Input-/330611669636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf9fdba84

Looks like the same adapter. Probably could just replace the RCA jack with an RCA plug.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2011, 10:50:16 AM by dogmusic »
"The ear is much more than a mere appendage on the side of the head." - Catherine Parker Anthony, Structure and Function of the Human Body (1972)

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Offline aaronji

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #98 on: December 28, 2011, 10:58:05 AM »
I think about 5 hours on the combination of internal batteries with phantom power is not too shabby.

I think so too.  Actually, I almost never go past the 3+ hours you got with the Li-ion, so the AAs would be there mostly as a backup...

Offline BMillz

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #99 on: December 29, 2011, 10:18:25 AM »
I am contemplating returning my DR-40 and paying a few more bucks for this.  There's a weird "helicopter noise" problem with that model, documented here on BH:http://goo.gl/cklQE
Does the MK have any problems with this? 

Offline dogmusic

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #100 on: December 29, 2011, 11:10:08 AM »
I am contemplating returning my DR-40 and paying a few more bucks for this.  There's a weird "helicopter noise" problem with that model, documented here on BH:http://goo.gl/cklQE
Does the MK have any problems with this?

Is it only when running on batteries, or do you get the noise when using an AC adapter as well?
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"That's metaphysically absurd, man! How can I know what you hear?" - Firesign Theatre

Offline rastasean

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #101 on: December 29, 2011, 04:50:56 PM »
Well after reading this very complete review, its no wonder you decided to let go of the 661.
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=152538.0

It looks like this recorder is bridging the gap between the m10 and 661.

Enjoy the recorder!
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stevetoney

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #102 on: December 29, 2011, 09:17:04 PM »
Well after reading this very complete review, its no wonder you decided to let go of the 661.
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=152538.0

It looks like this recorder is bridging the gap between the m10 and 661.

That's right.  All-in-all, I think it's mostly a toss-up between the 661 and this Tascam on features, but the price and size make the Tascam the keeper between the two in my own decision process.

stevetoney

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #103 on: December 29, 2011, 09:33:08 PM »
Any idea how the wiring would work from this peculiar 2.5 mm plug to an RCA plug?

If you have a multi-meter or for that matter any continuity testing device, all you need to do is take the cable that came with our recorder and reverse engineer it.  The only issue I think you might have is finding a 2.5mm plug with the three connectors to make a replacement cable from, but I'd think that RCA connectors should be available at Radio Shack.  Obviously, you'd wire it up with a female RCA if you want to replicate the cable we already have...maybe make it longer or just to have a redundant cable.  Alternatively, as you mention below, you could eliminate the connection in the middle if you just put a male RCA on the other end using consistent wiring scheme.  The second option is what I plan to do.

 
I found this: 2.5mm TRRS plug to RCA female adaptor for GPS Video Input

here:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-5mm-TRS-plug-RCA-female-adaptor-GPS-Video-Input-/330611669636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf9fdba84

Looks like the same adapter. Probably could just replace the RCA jack with an RCA plug.

Yup, this looks exactly like what came with the unit.  If you decide to order this, when you get it I'd just check the wiring on it to make sure it's consistent with the wiring on the cable that came with our unit.

Offline Todd R

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Re: Tascam DR100mkii Review
« Reply #104 on: December 30, 2011, 11:22:32 AM »


I found this: 2.5mm TRRS plug to RCA female adaptor for GPS Video Input

here:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-5mm-TRS-plug-RCA-female-adaptor-GPS-Video-Input-/330611669636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf9fdba84


Really just finally checking in, since this looks like a good recorder option.  Thanks for the detailed review Steve!

On the cable, is the included cable a TRRS cable?  The Tascam website lists the digital input jack as a 2.5mm TRS jack, not a TRRS jack. ???
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