Topic: Tascam Portacapture X8 on the way!

[Melanie]

X8 is ordered and on the way, looking forward to using it to mix two decks down from Pigs on the wing from last week , audience recording Schoeps V4s > Shoeps VMS 5U >Tascam DR 100MKIII, Board recording > Tascam DR 40. Hopefully last time I have to sync two decks. Also have Sony A10 coming for super stealth recordings. Will post impressions of both units soon. Bob

[Ozpeter]

Sounds good!  Well, I'm sure it will. Your experiences are awaited.

[Niels]

Me too.
Not my exact usage scenario, but there isn’t much taper related knowledge sharing on the X8 deck.

[VibrationOfLife]

I really don't know how you would do that.  I've got a couple hundred recordings at least with the X8.  Curious.  Kangfirmed, many hundreds.  And when I say recordings, I mean full recordings, not just a couple minutes of stuff.  It can mix down inputs, say 3/4 to mix, and 5/6 to a mix, but I have no knowledge of you being able to use it to import tracks to mix.  Like I said, many hundreds on my X8 in every possible configuration.  From cell phone calls, mixminus, many matrix shows, boards, etc.  Thanks to a member here who passed it off to me right when it came out.  Upgrade the firmware and I can say it just works so hard for me.  I've taken it to ridiculous environments and taped some amazing things with it, but a mix down unit it is not.  YMMV.  But I don't think so.  I highly recommend the big dead cat if you are using internal mics which has saved me butt and also let me be spontaneous with it as well for weird field recordings.  Enjoy it, and if you have any questions about it, please ask, I've pretty much mastered it and would be glad to be a resource to anyone.

To know how much I bond with it, I was actually mugged one night coming out of a show.  It was a horrible scene.  I got tackled, punched and got really messed up.  I went back the next day and found it in the gutter.  It was still recording and I heard the whole thing and the after talk about what happened and the ditching.  Yes, I bond with my X8 a lot.  It's been through so much more than even that.

[Melanie]

I really don't know how you would do that.  I've got a couple hundred recordings at least with the X8.  Curious.  Kangfirmed, many hundreds.  And when I say recordings, I mean full recordings, not just a couple minutes of stuff.  It can mix down inputs, say 3/4 to mix, and 5/6 to a mix, but I have no knowledge of you being able to use it to import tracks to mix.

I just synced and transferred two recordings from a Tascam DR40 which recorded the output of the board feed and a Tascam DR 100mklll which ran a recording of shoeps 4vs into the new X8,  and mixed it down to a quite nice combination. It's ready for equalization. I was able to adjust levels after the transfer which is just what I wanted to do. Since I didn't have the X8 for the show I ran the DR 40 and the DR 100mklll as stated above. Now you have new "knowledge" of something else you can do with your X8. And this from a newbie to this machine! And this show was 2 sets, total 2.5 hours. Not just "a few minutes"!!! Bob

[TheJez]

I really don't know how you would do that.  I've got a couple hundred recordings at least with the X8.  Curious.  Kangfirmed, many hundreds.  And when I say recordings, I mean full recordings, not just a couple minutes of stuff.  It can mix down inputs, say 3/4 to mix, and 5/6 to a mix, but I have no knowledge of you being able to use it to import tracks to mix.

I just synced and transferred two recordings from a Tascam DR40 which recorded the output of the board feed and a Tascam DR 100mklll which ran a recording of shoeps 4vs into the new X8,  and mixed it down to a quite nice combination. It's ready for equalization. I was able to adjust levels after the transfer which is just what I wanted to do. Since I didn't have the X8 for the show I ran the DR 40 and the DR 100mklll as stated above. Now you have new "knowledge" of something else you can do with your X8. And this from a newbie to this machine! And this show was 2 sets, total 2.5 hours. Not just "a few minutes"!!! Bob

I’m so confused. Isn’t this something you’d do by loading the two recordings onto a pc and than sync and mix them with some software program?

[Melanie]

I really don't know how you would do that.  I've got a couple hundred recordings at least with the X8.  Curious.  Kangfirmed, many hundreds.  And when I say recordings, I mean full recordings, not just a couple minutes of stuff.  It can mix down inputs, say 3/4 to mix, and 5/6 to a mix, but I have no knowledge of you being able to use it to import tracks to mix.

I just synced and transferred two recordings from a Tascam DR40 which recorded the output of the board feed and a Tascam DR 100mklll which ran a recording of shoeps 4vs into the new X8,  and mixed it down to a quite nice combination. It's ready for equalization. I was able to adjust levels after the transfer which is just what I wanted to do. Since I didn't have the X8 for the show I ran the DR 40 and the DR 100mklll as stated above. Now you have new "knowledge" of something else you can do with your X8. And this from a newbie to this machine! And this show was 2 sets, total 2.5 hours. Not just "a few minutes"!!! Bob

I'm 72, not interested in learning how to use programs on a PC to do something I have standalone equipment that will work. I bought this for the obvios use of recording both board feed and audience recordings without having to run two decks and sync them.

I’m so confused. Isn’t this something you’d do by loading the two recordings onto a pc and than sync and mix them with some software program?

'm 72, not interested in learning how to use programs on a PC to do something I have standalone equipment that will work. I bought this for the obvious use of recording both board feed and audience recordings without having to run two decks and sync them after the fact. I've only had board access for the last couple of shows, haven't had to sync two sources in years. In the '90s until the changes in access came after 9/11, I ran a s-vhs camcorder and soundboard on a sony D3DAT synced with board feed, Camcorder was always close to stage so linking the two onsite was not an option. Years of Merl Saunders, Toots Hibbard, Zero, Country Joe McDonald, etc. I prefer to spend my last few years outside gardening, fishing on our boat, going to shows. Lots of newer bands willing to give board feed, Folks Im interested in recording ,generally not so much ,pretty picky about what I see and record. Bob

[capnhook]

X8 is ordered and on the way, looking forward to using it to mix two decks down from Pigs on the wing from last week , audience recording Schoeps V4s > Shoeps VMS 5U >Tascam DR 100MKIII, Board recording > Tascam DR 40. Hopefully last time I have to sync two decks. Also have Sony A10 coming for super stealth recordings. Will post impressions of both units soon. Bob

There's something I'm missing, Bob

Though you can sync and mix them at the start, how will you correct for clock drift between the two recordings after 3 hours?

[Gutbucket]

Manual alignment by ear of the two separate playback recorders at the start of playback (or perhaps alignment of the filesets beforehand), followed by a real-time analog dub of both over the X8? 

If that's the case, using the same deck to both record and playback (with it's digital clock running freely each time) eliminates most if not all drift.  If one of the two recorders runs a bit faster than the other when recording, it will also tend to run faster by exactly the same amount upon playback as well.  The end result is each recorder automatically compensating for its own inaccuracy, which will tend to result in no appreciable drift between the analog outputs.  I used to do this regularly 20 years ago.  Recordings made on separate recorders that would require drift compensation in the DAW would stay in sync for the entire performance when manually aligned at the start and left to run freely.  One recorder can even be set to record and playback at 44.1kHz while the other was running at 96kHz or whatever. Never did that but could have.

[Melanie]

Manual alignment by ear of the two separate playback recorders at the start of playback (or perhaps alignment of the filesets beforehand), followed by a real-time analog dub of both over the X8? 

If that's the case, using the same deck to both record and playback (with it's digital clock running freely each time) eliminates most if not all drift.  If one of the two recorders runs a bit faster than the other when recording, it will also tend to run faster by exactly the same amount upon playback as well.  The end result is each recorder automatically compensating for its own inaccuracy, which will tend to result in no appreciable drift between the analog outputs.  I used to do this regularly 20 years ago.  Recordings made on separate recorders that would require drift compensation in the DAW would stay in sync for the entire performance when manually aligned at the start and left to run freely.  One recorder can even be set to record and playback at 44.1kHz while the other was running at 96kHz or whatever. Never did that but could have.

I believe that the DR40 and DR100mklll have  the same timing chip as there is no drift timewise even in a 2 hour plus recording. I was lucky in the 90s using a Quasar S-vhs and my Sony D3 DAT to sync up and timing did not drift. Other S-VHS recorders (Panasonic being one) would drift and were unusable. I eventually bought a Studio designs 4 channel mixer that would have switchable either Mic level output for plugging into a mic input on camcorders or normal line output and that gave me better quality audio on the vid but still inferior to the DAT so still was syncing.
 

[Melanie]

X8 is ordered and on the way, looking forward to using it to mix two decks down from Pigs on the wing from last week , audience recording Schoeps V4s > Shoeps VMS 5U >Tascam DR 100MKIII, Board recording > Tascam DR 40. Hopefully last time I have to sync two decks. Also have Sony A10 coming for super stealth recordings. Will post impressions of both units soon. Bob

There's something I'm missing, Bob

Though you can sync and mix them at the start, how will you correct for clock drift between the two recordings after 3 hours?

Didn't Have clock drift after two hours, vid tapes were not longer then that. At least the ones I used.

[capnhook]

X8 is ordered and on the way, looking forward to using it to mix two decks down from Pigs on the wing from last week , audience recording Schoeps V4s > Shoeps VMS 5U >Tascam DR 100MKIII, Board recording > Tascam DR 40. Hopefully last time I have to sync two decks. Also have Sony A10 coming for super stealth recordings. Will post impressions of both units soon. Bob

There's something I'm missing, Bob

Though you can sync and mix them at the start, how will you correct for clock drift between the two recordings after 3 hours?

Didn't Have clock drift after two hours, vid tapes were not longer then that. At least the ones I used.

Excellent, make great tapes Bob 

[Melanie]

X8 is ordered and on the way, looking forward to using it to mix two decks down from Pigs on the wing from last week , audience recording Schoeps V4s > Shoeps VMS 5U >Tascam DR 100MKIII, Board recording > Tascam DR 40. Hopefully last time I have to sync two decks. Also have Sony A10 coming for super stealth recordings. Will post impressions of both units soon. Bob

There's something I'm missing, Bob

Though you can sync and mix them at the start, how will you correct for clock drift between the two recordings after 3 hours?

Didn't Have clock drift after two hours, vid tapes were not longer then that. At least the ones I used.

Excellent, make great tapes Bob 

Thanks for encouragement , I was lucky not to have more time drift issues than most. I found that Hi-8 units drifted in comparison to other camcorders so we got two GL2 Mini DV Cannons which also had adjustable line inputs which put out decent sound although still synced board feed from DAT unit as it was better. They did not have time drift in relation to the Sony D3 so that was a blessing. I found that the GL2s with 750 lines of resolution had superior quality vid compared to 1080 lines of resolution from newer Pro/consumer units available after that due to 3 chip sensors in the cannons having better performance in low light situations then  camcorders which came out in years following, but not having any moving parts certainly made our recorders and cameras hassle free and more reliable. Edited two camera shoots through a Videonic system which kept two cameras synced once original sync was made. Still have all that gear, but access has disappeared for folks we want to shoot (and it was a LOT of work!) I probably should try to sell all gear but one camera. If I was to shoot now I'd use my Nikon D300S which the new Potacapture has a dedicated output for input to a DSLR. bob