Topic: Fostex PD-4M

[nsureit]

I just picked this up for a good price.  Will this machine be suitable for recording my rock band at rehearsals and gigs?  I have two nice tube mics for the room, and can pull in vocal and instrument subgroups from the house mixer. 

FOSTEX PD-4M PORTABLE DAT RECORDER

I understand that it is an early-mid 2000's DAT that was used to make films, commercials and TV programs at remote locations. 




Item description:
A few years old, but, never been used.
Originally bought for a movie that was never made.
Taken out of the box for the first time to photograph.
Mint condition.
Comes with Porta Pack.
Two 16-bit digital audio channels.
Four-head design allows confidence monitoring (simultaneous recording and playback) of audio data.
Record and playback capabilities of SMPTE/EBU time code, IECC format.
Compatible with all DAT recorders.
Three sample frequencies: 48 kHz, 48.048 kHz, and 44.1 kHz.
The PD-4 generates time code using a crystal clock. This offers improved flexibility in time code applications, allowing independent operation of the unit.
The internal battery can be replaced without interruption of the internal time code synchronization.
Includes a three channel mixer to enable the recording of voice plus a stereo background at a remote location without having to carry an external mixer.
Each channel of the mixer has a L C R panpot switch, 48V DC phantom power, continuously variable high-pass filter, and 20 dB microphone attenuation.
Full-logic transport to prevent errors in operation.
Digital data transfer using either consumer (SPDIF) or professional (AES/EBU) data formats (IEC 958).
Sound monitoring by stereo headphones or the built-in loudspeaker. The headphone jack switches between the two.
Rugged but lightweight portable construction.

[nsureit]

Ours is a 12 piece band.  We have a regular gig at a pub one night a month.  It's a fairly large venue with 15 ft. ceilings with some soundproofing material.  The stage area is 20' x 15':  3 guitars, 1 drum set, 1 percussion section, 2 keyboards, trombone and trumpet, 2 singers, 1 bass player.  The sound guy mics up the amps, and the vocals and horns have separate mics.  From the desk I can access 4 groups: guitars, drums, vocals, horns/bass/keys.  I set up two ambient room mics about 15 ft. from the stage area.

For outdoor venues, we usually have a 20' x 25' elevated stage, same instrumentation and sound set up.

If any of you have experience with the Fostex PD-4M, I would be interested in your experience and advice.  Thank you.

[noahbickart]

Yes.

But good luck finding tapes or someone to repair it when it breaks.

[Colin Liston]

Couldn't it just be used as a preamp and then send a digital or analog signal to another recorder? 

[nsureit]

Yes.

But good luck finding tapes or someone to repair it when it breaks.

I did some advance research before I bought it.  I spoke with Trew Audio in Nashville, and they still see quite a few of these models and can service them.  http://www.trewaudio.com/
Believe it or not, Guitar Center in Dallas has a stock of these tapes.  So, I'm good on service and tapes...not sure how to operate the thing yet! 

Anyway, I have been lurking around this forum for a while, and really enjoy reading about all the cool equipment.  Have learned quite a bit already.

I'm hoping someone on the forum has had experience with this particular Fostex model and can give me some advice regarding its capabilities.  I appreciate the responses so far. 

[Colin Liston]

DAT tapes listed here:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=158859.0

and here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-45-Sony-DDS-Data-Cartridges-DG90P-NEW-/290787507784

Seems like a good deal for you.

[noahbickart]

With only three inputs and the need to mix down to stereo on the fly, imwouldmtry to see if you can spare a pair of aux sends on the board for a dedicated record mix. Plug your room mics into the snake, and into two unused channels on the board (keep those faders all the way down and send them into the two aux sends only) listen to that mix, and add in vocals, horns, drums etc as needed.

The fostex is a good dat recorder. It's just that that technology is 25 years old, and their biggest problem (aside from being limited to 16 bit/48kHz) is all the moving parts that can break.

I was never happier than when taped my last show on dat and moved to a 24bit recorder which uses sdhc cards.

[nsureit]

Noah,  thank you so much for the response.  I will try your setup this weekend.  We are playing a charitable event with our entire ensemble, and hiring a professional sound man.  I will have access to all the aux. outs I need. 

Our band is a non-profit corporation with around 100 members. Everyone in the band is a CEO, CFO or own their company. There are usually 30 musicians at each gig, so we have to do a lot of planning to pull this off. We have a jam session on the last Thursday of each month at a local pub. We also play at two or three charitable events per month - we charge only for the sound guy.

Some of us have been playing for 30-40 years. Many of us played professionally when we were young flat-bellies. Some of the musicians are monster players.

The reason we have 30 folks playing is so we can take turns. Most of us get tired after two or three tunes, and need to go sit at the bar. 

[nsureit]

UPDATE

The machine came as described - new-in-box.  Never been used.  Even came with the $275 PortaBrace bag!  I found a cache of SONY DDS-1 data tape on eBay, too.

I did a simple recording set up with two dynamic mics.  Recorded a couple of minutes of acoustic guitar.  I can't believe my ears!  The fidelity of the recording with high quality preamps, heads and onboard mixing circuits is incredible!  Reckon I got $8,000 worth of gear for $400.  The PD-4M units are still selling for $1,800 used right now.  I should get thousands of hours of use given its condition.  If I ever need service, Trew Audio can fix it.  Since it has some digital outs, I might upload recordings to SONAR to tweak a final mix.

This will certainly meet my needs for recording our band at rehearsals and gigs.

Did I mention I'm happy with my acquisition?     

[Colin Liston]

Just a thought but if I were you I would either get a Sony M10 and record to this using the analog output, or a Tascam DR-100 mkii and record to it by using the digital output.  That way you won't have to use DAT tapes.  You just use the preamps and record to a different recorder that records to SD cards.

[F.O.Bean]

Just a thought but if I were you I would either get a Sony M10 and record to this using the analog output, or a Tascam DR-100 mkii and record to it by using the digital output.  That way you won't have to use DAT tapes.  You just use the preamps and record to a different recorder that records to SD cards.

100% agreed!

[nsureit]

I will probably use the analog and/or digital outs into a modern device later.  But for now, the old school DAT tape thing is fun.  We're just a bunch of old rockers playing for grins & giggles.