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Author Topic: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control  (Read 69062 times)

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Offline dallman

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2014, 09:51:07 PM »
I cannot get through on that link. And I have tried at work and home and on my phone. Strange?
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Offline 2manyrocks

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2014, 10:07:52 PM »
I don't see a download link on Tascam's website where you'd think it would be if it were ready.  http://tascam.com/product/dr_control/downloads/


Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #17 on: November 08, 2014, 05:34:12 PM »
The link is on this page -

http://tascam.com/product/dr-22wl/overview/

but for some reason you guys aren't getting it to work.  Maybe some region locking thing?

Offline dallman

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #18 on: November 13, 2014, 06:05:22 PM »
The link is on this page -

http://tascam.com/product/dr-22wl/overview/

but for some reason you guys aren't getting it to work.  Maybe some region locking thing?

Received this message today:
2014-11-13 13:52:36

Thank you for contacting TASCAM.
Our customer support representative, NFaison, has written the following response to your message:

There was a problem discovered with the Android version of the app so it was removed.
An updated version should be available within the next 30 days.
 
Thank you for your interest in TASCAM products.
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Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #19 on: November 13, 2014, 09:33:53 PM »
Thanks for that info (at least you got a reply, I didn't).  Here, the app is still accessible from the Tascam site and from the Play store, but perhaps that's because I'd already downloaded it.

Meanwhile I've tried a USB extension cable (3 metres?) for powering (imagining the scenario of power back at the bottom of a tallish mic stand) and the possible voltage drop doesn't seem to matter to the DR-22.

All I need now is a fully functioning Android app...

Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #20 on: November 20, 2014, 12:46:10 AM »
Well, by accident I came across the new version of the "DR Control" app, released a couple of days ago.  Because they have put it up as if it were a new app, users of the original app will not see it as an update.  I can't help feeling for that and for other reasons, that Tascam have no understanding of the Android ecosystem.  Sigh...

Anyway, having got over the excitement of the good news, the bad news is that this new version, on which they have lavished at least 6 weeks of effort, adds none of the missing features and they still describe it as a beta.  I'd describe it as a proof-of-concept, not even an alpha.  They have managed to introduce at least two new bugs and all things considered, I think I'd rather stick with the previous version (which at least for me still shows up on the earlier links I posted).

Bugs include

- an error message only in Japanese if you start the app without first connecting the recorder to the phone by wifi.  This is confusing other users who seem (by their app reviews) to think that the app only displays that message and nothing else.  If they'd read the manual they wouldn't see the message, but how hard would it have been for the message to display in English as well (and for that matter, in several other languages)?

- on my 7" tablet, the meters etc are squashed into the upper half of the display, an aspect ratio problem which didn't happen with the previous version

- pressing the "back" button used to take one out of the app, which is quite safe to do as the recorder carries on regardless.  Now it simply displays a developer's test page graphic (like the normal page except it's static and non-functional) and the only way to exit the app is to kill it.

Really this is a pathetic effort by Tascam and it shakes my confidence in the brand.  How they have the nerve to continue to advertise both the app and the device as if the Android app was as functional as the iOS one (and I believe even that isn't feature-complete) I do not know.  Completely out of order under the terms of most nation's consumer protection legislation.

Meanwhile, Amazon continue to include this line in their description of the recorder -

"XLR inputs w/Phantom Power"

and refused to amend it when I reported the error.  Wow, who do you trust these days when buying on the net?

 I'm attending a gig on the 18th Dec where using the DR-22 on wifi would be ideal, but most of the point will be lost unless they fix the app.  Hey Tascam, why not send me a free iPhone to run the iOS app on as your promises re Android are so far from true?

And here endeth the rant.  Watch this space for further news.

Offline 2manyrocks

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2014, 10:39:32 AM »
Restraining myself, I won't link to the five or six glowing reviews of this unit at one retailer, none of whom address the Android control app issues.  There still doesn't seem to be much what I would deem "independent" feedback on this unit apart from your posts here on TS.

And it seems unlike Tascam to have brought the unit to market with these issues unresolved.  One might ask whether without working WIFI control, is it really worth $149 or is it another $99 recorder?


Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #22 on: November 27, 2014, 05:31:59 PM »
Here's my Google Play Store review of the latest version of the remote control app -

"I'll try to be positive

Well, version 1.1.1 gets rid of the obvious bugs - the error message if you try to use the app without connecting to the device is now in English, and the action of the "back" button is now correct. The graphics of the meter still look squashed on my 7" tablet but I can live with that. The metering lag has been corrected so it is more like looking at the meter on the device itself, I am currently doing a soak test to see how the app holds up over a long period. All in all, it now seems that such functions as are provided are working well, and with only a week between releases, development is active. So now we chiefly need the missing features. Three stars (five for what we have, 1 for what we don't have!) "

I'm starting to feel a bit more hopeful about this.  If we can have level control before the gig I want to use it for on 18th Dec, then I'll be quite happy.

Offline 2manyrocks

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #23 on: November 27, 2014, 06:14:03 PM »
Since you have other recorders available, what is it about the 22wl that you would find useful to use on Dec 11th instead of your other recorders?

The 22wl doesn't seem to have attracted the level of interest here that one might have thought.  Here we have a wifi controlled recorder for $149 that could be placed right down front at the stage and most of the attention based on the number of posts seems to be headed towards the 70d released at roughly the same time.   


Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #24 on: November 28, 2014, 12:01:41 AM »
I don't think that there is enough evidence of its actual recording quality, yet, for people to get too excited - not to mention the problems with the remote app (in Android at least).  The camera-like easy settings wheel gives it the air of a down-market device too, although if you set the wheel to "M" it's then as if it wasn't there.  And actually the other settings are quite handy for quickly setting the device up for certain situations.

The gig I have in mind will be in a crowded jazz club and the only way to record may be to use a mini stand on one of the tables set out in front of the band - and I may not be able to secure a seat at the best table!  So if the occupants* of that table don't mind I'll put the device there and operate it from elsewhere.  But I will almost certainly need to be able to set levels remotely in that situation, as well as operate the transport.  Cables (or even a floor stand) will be out of the question.

*Hopefully those close to the device won't make rude comments about the band...

The new 70D is clearly intended for the more sophisticated user, such as we find here!  Now if they brought out a version of that with wifi control it would be pretty cool.  I think that in about 12 months wifi control will be a pretty standard feature on new devices.

Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #25 on: November 28, 2014, 06:33:32 PM »
Just mentioning that when I ran a soak test with the latest Android app, the display of time and level was updated perfectly for at least 3 hours - the original version seemed to lose second-by-second contact with the recorder after a while and only update the phone display every few seconds.

I forgot to put fresh batteries in the device itself so when the external power ran out, the device shut down abruptly and the current file was lost.  You really need to keep fresh batteries in the device to avoid this.

Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #26 on: November 30, 2014, 03:21:05 AM »
At last - a live music sample. 

I recorded this very off-the-cuff at someone's house last night where the piano tuner was noodling on a brand new five foot grand prior to tuning it (with a group of people talking in the next room, to the left, and the tuner talking to someone in between playing, likewise on the left).  Recorded close, pointing under the lid from the curve of the frame, hand held.  Listen for the musical joke...

Two versions - one flat, the other with a slight lift in the 2500kHz area (for 1.5 octaves) of 3dB, which my previous tests indicated might be required.  I think that version is closest to what I heard at the time, but the differences are subtle.  Generally I'm quite pleased with how the device sounds.  It seems pretty low noise, as well as having a non-edgy frequency response with good coverage of the lower frequencies (no LF cut was used).  None of the piano notes seem to stick out (which would indicate a seriously unflat frequency response).

Any views on the sound? (Don't shoot the pianist, he was an innocent victim!)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByTVNpxnwA3DZUkwTHZaMGJtLW8/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByTVNpxnwA3DRTM1MXE4VkFtNGc/view?usp=sharing
« Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 03:28:31 AM by Ozpeter »

Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #27 on: December 05, 2014, 05:25:30 PM »
There has been another update to the Android app, and now we have the essential input menu.  That provides...

Low cut at 40, 80, 120, and 220Hz
Level control off, limiter, and "peak" (= auto level control)
Input level slider, from 0 to 90

The level slider should ideally have nudge buttons at each end for fine control, but as it is it's not too bad, and it allows instant correction of input level from one end of the scale to the other.

There's a bug affecting the "peak" setting - it only works if you engage "peak" on the app when in the totally stopped state, not when in record pause or record (on the device itself, it can only be set during record pause).  Currently the actual state of "peak" and "limiter" is not shown on the app above the display - hopefully this will be provided in due course.

The menu features still missing relate to basic device setup which you wouldn't normally vary during a recording - eg recording format - and the new menu provides the settings that you would more likely need on the fly during recording.  As it is, the device is ready for the jazz club gig I mentioned earlier.

I guess the next most important features which would be good to see would be "mark" and file split (both of which are needed when recording).  Hopefully the feature set should extend fairly quickly now as the principles of operation of the app have now been established.  I would guess that remote streamed playback may take a little while longer to provide as that's rather more complex compared with simply providing buttons on the interface to send commands.

Apart from the usefulness of being able to control the device at a distance, comprehensive remote control even when standing right next to the device means complete avoidance of handling noise.

All in all, this is becoming more and more promising.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2014, 06:06:53 PM by Ozpeter »

Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #28 on: December 12, 2014, 07:25:23 PM »
Android app version 1.1.3 now has menu control of record and record-auto functions. So you can turn on the device, press the wifi button, clamp it to the top of a tall mic stand, and retire to a safe distance to complete all aspects of the recording setup remotely (eg recording format, any auto-mark or auto-record functions, etc etc, plus the auto level control functions and low cut filter functions provided in the previous version).  Chief function that is missing that you'd probably find important when actually recording is the manual "mark" function.  And of course remote playback to check that the recording is ok is still not there, but in reality for most situations, that's a comfort-factor thing rather than a key requirement, in my view.


But - there are some bugs and "design limitations".  The app is likely to crash if you access menus when in any setting other than "M" (manual settings) of the preset control knob. Most serious users will not be using that knob anyway, and if the app crashes the recorder keeps going, but down the track this will need fixing.

More seriously - settings for "Low Cut" and "Lvl Ctrl" ONLY take effect if the device is fully stopped, regardless of what the display says. The settings do not work if recording, or if in record-pause state, even though the display changes. In essence you must do all your setting up before putting the device into record-pause or record mode. If you want to (say) turn on the limiter, or apply a low cut filter, you must press "stop" first, then make your changes. You can't do it on the fly.  That's ok, but the app appears to allow you to do that, changing displays on the device and on the app, but actually no change is happening.   When recording the controls that do not work should not be shown, or, if operated, indications should not appear that are incorrect.   Still, if you know how to avoid problems, the app works well and it does at last enable a recorder's built in mics to be fully used when the recorder is not being hand held.  That's quite a revolution in audio recording in my view.

Offline 2manyrocks

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Re: Tascam DR-22WL 2ch recorder with Wifi app remote control
« Reply #29 on: December 12, 2014, 11:33:04 PM »
Are you going to record with the internal mics or try some external mics on 12/18?

 

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