Topic: Tascam DR-05

[splumer]

So my  recorder, an Edirol R-1 has taken a poo and no one seems to be able to help me, so I started looking at other small recorders for  -ing. I don't have a lot to spend, and I don't  all that often, so I was looking at the Tascam DR-05:
http://tascam.com/product/dr-05/

It retails for $100 and my local Guitar Center has it in stock. What do folks think? I need something by next Thursday.

Edit: I tried searching for it yesterday, but got no results for some reason. Today I searched again, and got several hits, so if you don't feel like re-visiting this topic, don't bother.

[Phil Zone]

I have one and its not bad at all. Pretty reliable and never have had an issue. A few issues I've had

The input is very hot, at zero its a very high input level.
Also if you use it with a bat box if you pass more that 35-40 on the gain it is very noisy, like destroys recordings noisy. But at zero its perfectly fine.

Other than that its fine

Check out my lma link in my signature and find my recordings with the tascam.

Good luck

[splumer]

Check out my lma link in my signature and find my recordings with the tascam.

Good luck

I checked out the Dupree's show from June 8. Sounds pretty good!

[LikeASong]

I have one... and I would get another one straight away if it was stolen or lost. Reliable, sturdy and convenient as no other recorder for that money.

[Phil Zone]

Check out my lma link in my signature and find my recordings with the tascam.

Good luck

I checked out the Dupree's show from June 8. Sounds pretty good!

Thanks! Check out the ones of duprees in late June , those were even better!

[jagraham]

The input is very hot, at zero its a very high input level.
Also if you use it with a bat box if you pass more that 35-40 on the gain it is very noisy, like destroys recordings noisy. But at zero its perfectly fine.

^ Are you referring to the volume control on the DR-05? I actually thought that was just volume control, not gain. The gain is in the menu and only has options for Low, Med and High. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[colinw]

The input is very hot, at zero its a very high input level.
Also if you use it with a bat box if you pass more that 35-40 on the gain it is very noisy, like destroys recordings noisy. But at zero its perfectly fine.

^ Are you referring to the volume control on the DR-05? I actually thought that was just volume control, not gain. The gain is in the menu and only has options for Low, Med and High. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Not sure about the DR-05, but the DR-07 mkii (dr05's big brother) has settings for the gain internally as you suggest, and also adjustable gain using the volume control.
The input level on the DR-07mkii is also hot, but I haven't had any trouble using the mic in except when trying to feed it a SBD signal, which was obviously way too hot!

[2manyrocks]

Clicking thru the menu on the DR-05, I do not see any internal gain settings.  The gain is set by the + and - buttons on the face of the unit.  I have had no problems recording off a sound board. 

The battery life is pretty good.  Much, much, much better than the 2d.   

Mine was something like $50 at a Black Friday sale.  I see them for $79 every so often. I'd hate to pay $99, but I could see $50-$80.   

edit:  MF has it for $99, but has a $20.00 off sale right now that should bring it down to $79 with free shipping.

[splumer]

Just got one tonight, and I'm playing with it now. With the manual in front of me, it says it has three settings in addition to manual: peak reduction, ALC and limiter. One thing that's kind of weird is that you have to turn on mic power to have any sort of external mic work, apparently. I have a Sony ECM-DS70p mic, which, being a condenser, obviously needs power, but I also have an M-Audio mic that came with a Microtrack II that needs it as well. I've used the M-Audio mic with my MD and it didn't need external power. It says that you only need to run the power if you're not using the internals or a dynamic mic. I thought the M-Audio one was dynamic.   

Edit: As it turns out, that M-Audio is a condenser!

[2manyrocks]

I suppose Tascam put the option there to turn off mic power to conserve battery life if you're recording off a soundboard.  I saw something on a Tascam brochure that claimed 17 hours of battery life.     

The 2d has the option of setting three levels of gain (lo,med, high)  via the menu with fine adjustment by a rocker switch.  The 05 only has the +/- buttons to set the gain, but it has worked fine for me. 

The front controls are laid out very well, IMO. It's easy to hold in your hand, look at the levels and make any gain adjustments.   

[splumer]

I'm just now finishing a test. I video-record classes at a med school for work, and to test my DR-05 I set it up to record with my  mic. I record from a booth, and the PA has a speaker in the booth that is really loud and not adjustable, so it seemed like a good test environment. Over two hours, and the battery meter is still at full. The other thing I was concerned about is if it had to pause to write to the memory card after a certain period of time, but it doesn't seem to have done so. At the two hour mark it just kept going. I think we have a keeper!

[LikeASong]

I think we have a keeper!

Told ya Glad you like it.