Topic: NEW: Tascam DR-100mkii

[Cheesecadet]

wow looks very cool. I just wish they would have included dual recording.

Maybe they would be able to include dual recording as some sort of firmware update down the line???

[tgakidis]

Who's in for a whole new wave of "DIN Unlock" posts?!! 

 

[bhadella]

This unit + USBPre2 = Giant Killer

[spyder9]

Official web page at Tascam:

http://tascam.com/product/dr-100mkii/

[spyder9]

The first version of the Tascam 100 suffered from horrible battery life.  A lemon for Tascam.  Let's hope they learned from it.  I always liked their recorders.  You can't beat the price on this puppy.     

[hi and lo]

This unit + USBPre2 = Giant Killer

For that price you could have an R44 or 680 and certainly there would a wide variety of better options than an unproven tascam.

[JD]

Ni-MH batteries(eneloop）Built-in mics（UNI／OMNI） About 4 hours（Recording WAV, 44.1kHz, 16 bit）

So I would guess that with the 48 phantom on and a higher bit rate, it would halve that run time.
That would be cutting a little too close for most shows I do.
Too bad if that is the case, this and a pair of Nevaton MCE400's would have the potential to make a nice, compact undercover rig.

[bhadella]

This unit + USBPre2 = Giant Killer

For that price you could have an R44 or 680 and certainly there would a wide variety of better options than an unproven tascam.

While I love my R44 (and the additional channels) this unit is priced at 1/3 of the going price of an R44 or 680.  Damn attractive price.

[stevetoney]

Ni-MH batteries(eneloop）Built-in mics（UNI／OMNI） About 4 hours（Recording WAV, 44.1kHz, 16 bit）

So I would guess that with the 48 phantom on and a higher bit rate, it would halve that run time.
That would be cutting a little too close for most shows I do.
Too bad if that is the case, this and a pair of Nevaton MCE400's would have the potential to make a nice, compact undercover rig.

If you read the manual more closely, I think you'll find that this isn't a valid conclusion. 
 
You're missing the point that this unit has BOTH a built in Li-Ion battery and a slot for a pair of AAs and that you can hot-swap the AAs.  The user specifies in the menu which batteries you want to run down first, but obviously you'd want to run out the AAs first. 

The point here is that you run AAs first and then the unit switches over seamlessly to the Li-ion internal while you swap AAs.  Once you swap AAs, you're back on AA power and that process continues forever.

The manual says the Li-ion lasts 5 hours, so if you do nothing you have 9hours of on-board power.  The manual also shows that there's no difference in power consumption between the different bit rates, although I'm sure you're right that if you're running 48V phantom your run-times will be a little shorter, but DEFinitely not half.

The bottom line though is that this unit REALLY has a cool feature that with dual power sources, it can theoretially run for days without ever shutting off as long as you hot swap two AAs every 4 hours or so.

[JD]

Ni-MH batteries(eneloop）Built-in mics（UNI／OMNI） About 4 hours（Recording WAV, 44.1kHz, 16 bit）

So I would guess that with the 48 phantom on and a higher bit rate, it would halve that run time.
That would be cutting a little too close for most shows I do.
Too bad if that is the case, this and a pair of Nevaton MCE400's would have the potential to make a nice, compact undercover rig.

This isn't a good conclusion.  Run time on this unit is infinite as long as you have batteries to put into it.

You're missing the point that this unit has BOTH a built in Li-Ion battery and a slot for a pair of AAs and that you can hot-swap the AAs.  The user specifies in the menu which batteries you want to run down first, but obviously you'd want to run out the AAs first. 

The point here is that you run AAs first and then the unit switches over seamlessly to the Li-ion internal while you swap AAs.  Once you swap AAs, you're back on AA power and that process continues forever.

The manual says the Li-ion lasts 5 hours, so if you do nothing you have 9hours of on-board power.  The manual also shows that there's no difference in power consumption between the different bit rates, although I'm sure you're right that if you're running 48V phantom your run-times will be a little shorter, but DEFinitely not half.

Didn't see that there was a Li-ion battery as well. Could be doable if the combination of batteries will run with 48p on for at least 4 hours. I can't be swapping batteries at most stealth shows I record. 
Looking forward to seeing some field testing results of this unit.

[Gutbucket]

The user specifies in the menu which batteries you want to run down first, but obviously you'd want to run out the AAs first.

Unless you had more than one LiIon pack, it is removable just like the AAs, not fixed. 

The bottom line though is that this unit REALLY has a cool feature that with dual power sources, it can theoretially run for days without ever shutting off as long as you hot swap two AAs every 4 hours or so.

Or just use a big enough external battery.

[stevetoney]

Ni-MH batteries(eneloop）Built-in mics（UNI／OMNI） About 4 hours（Recording WAV, 44.1kHz, 16 bit）

So I would guess that with the 48 phantom on and a higher bit rate, it would halve that run time.
That would be cutting a little too close for most shows I do.
Too bad if that is the case, this and a pair of Nevaton MCE400's would have the potential to make a nice, compact undercover rig.

This isn't a good conclusion.  Run time on this unit is infinite as long as you have batteries to put into it.

You're missing the point that this unit has BOTH a built in Li-Ion battery and a slot for a pair of AAs and that you can hot-swap the AAs.  The user specifies in the menu which batteries you want to run down first, but obviously you'd want to run out the AAs first. 

The point here is that you run AAs first and then the unit switches over seamlessly to the Li-ion internal while you swap AAs.  Once you swap AAs, you're back on AA power and that process continues forever.

The manual says the Li-ion lasts 5 hours, so if you do nothing you have 9hours of on-board power.  The manual also shows that there's no difference in power consumption between the different bit rates, although I'm sure you're right that if you're running 48V phantom your run-times will be a little shorter, but DEFinitely not half.

Didn't see that there was a Li-ion battery as well. Could be doable if the combination of batteries will run with 48p on for at least 4 hours. I can't be swapping batteries at most stealth shows I record. 
Looking forward to seeing some field testing results of this unit.

I don't remember exactly what my setup was, but when I recorded with an m248 I remember getting 4 hour run-times, but I'd get between 5 and 5 1/2 hours if I wasn't powering my mics with the preamp battery.  You mics might not draw the same as whatever I was powering, but seems pretty likely that this unit would get you through a show without needing to swap batteries since 9hours seems to be what it specs out at in the manual.

I wonder when they start shipping.  Thinking strongly about pre-ordering one.

[stevetoney]

Or just use a big enough external battery.

That's how I'd run it, assuming it doesn't suffer the same issues as the 680.

[Todd R]

This looks like a nice recorder, especially if it doesn't have any problems using a digital input (personally though, I never had any problems on my DR680 with a digi-in).

Hard for me to call it a giant killer though.  Partially since there already are so many options out there for killing giants -- for example a littlebox preamp that really set the bar for price/performance ratio IME.  Partially since the giant-killing option has already been there.

I've never run or even heard recordings from a USBPre, but assuming it is just like a 722/702 in sound:  we've already had the option for USBPre> Sony D50 since the USBPre came out (as it provides an optical digital out).  The D50 is only $130 more new than this new DR100mkII, so not a big change really.  Plus I'd much rather have Lunatec V3>D50, which can be had (used) for just a couple hundred bucks than a USBPre>DR100mkII combo.

To me, the DR100mkII seems like it has a lot going for it though:  low cost, small recorder; lockable XLR inputs, that take a hot line in signal (+24dbu); good internal battery management as discussed above; digital input (!!!!); can function as a good all-in-one option if the need arises or the user is happy enough with the sound; ability to be paired with high-end preamps and A/Ds.

The other good thing is that it really lowers the cost of a digital-input recorder, down from the 661 (about half the price?) -- particularly if the A/D doesn't have an optical out (like I said, the USBPre and opti-V3 users have already had the D50, but now there is a low cost recorder for those with stock V3's, AD2k+'s, Mytek, Minime's, etc).  That is, meaning if it is reliable -- I know the Microtrack fits that bill, but I can't deal with its unreliability and general finicky-ness.

[Gutbucket]

..assuming it doesn't suffer the same issues as the 680.

Just make sure it gets the right voltage. 

I used the battery below with the DR2d until the firmware update got the run time up to 5+ hrs on AAs.  Ran it all day for a few fests and it only dropped a few bars on the charge indicator (maybe 25%) recording 4 channels but no phantom load of course.  Haven't needed to use it since the update, but it would probably now run it for days.    Smaller than a DVD battery:
http://www.energizerpowerpacks.com/us/products/xp8000/