Tascam DR-70D 4-channel audio recorder (Part 4)

[Life In Rewind]

And just a random thought about "Fresh Formatting"

If you Fresh Format your card - and go out and record - and then go home. Not bothering with the recording right away - and then record again a few days later.

I think those both count as "fresh format" condition.

But if you take the card out - and allow another machine to access files, transfer etc...the next recording will NOT count under the "fresh format" idea.

Ok that's it.

[greenmtnsrider]

Thanks for putting that survey together. I submitted 2 responses as I used 2 different cards.

[voltronic]

Making all those fields required might limit your responses.

I don't remember if I fresh formatted...

Also - seems like the last question should be first.

Maybe you really need 2 surveys.

A simple one for successes - and a 2nd, more thorough questioning for failed cards/recordings.

I make these kind of surveys all the time for my department at work, and in my experience if you don't make a question required, people will miss it and you'll have incomplete data.

That said, maybe "fresh format" should instead say "recently formatted" and then I can include a "don't know" response.  I don't think accessing the card on the computer will affect the card performance.  The purpose of that question was to see if it's a card you've been using for quite a while without formatting or not.

No need for two surveys; that's more cumbersome, I think.  If you answer "no" to the problems question it ends the survey.  Otherwise it continues and asks you further questions.  Not only that, 2 surveys would generate two separate results spreadsheets and then I'd have to merge them later.

[flipp]

  I don't think accessing the card on the computer will affect the card performance. 

Some SD* users running W10 will disagree with you. While the card's performance may not have been "technically" affected there certainly were some catastrophic consequences by just accessing the card with W10.

< Sound Devices, not SD cards - edited for clarification >

[voltronic]

  I don't think accessing the card on the computer will affect the card performance. 

Some SD* users running W10 will disagree with you. While the card's performance may not have been "technically" affected there certainly were some catastrophic consequences by just accessing the card with W10.

< Sound Devices, not SD cards - edited for clarification >

Yes, but it was found to be a problem with Sound Devices recorders writing to a bit that was reserved by Microsoft, although not used until W10.  It's a pretty unique situation, but one that has already been discussed at length on this board, Gearslutz, or JWSound.

[flipp]

  I don't think accessing the card on the computer will affect the card performance. 

Some SD* users running W10 will disagree with you. While the card's performance may not have been "technically" affected there certainly were some catastrophic consequences by just accessing the card with W10.

< Sound Devices, not SD cards - edited for clarification >

Yes, but it was found to be a problem with Sound Devices recorders writing to a bit that was reserved by Microsoft, although not used until W10.  It's a pretty unique situation, but one that has already been discussed at length on this board, Gearslutz, or JWSound.

All true. But it was fixed with a firmware upgrade and the SD engineers got right on the problem, no dallying around. From what I've read in this thread those experiencing the write problems with the 70D wish Tascam's engineers were as responsive as Sound Devices' were when that problem cropped up. The problem was solved because of user input; maybe your survey will provide the common link that allows Tascam's engineers to isolate the cause and provide a fix via a firmware upgrade - dunno. I have no horse in this race but am just an interested observer. If and how fast a resolution is found will be taken into account when I finally decide to go four channel.

[voltronic]

  I don't think accessing the card on the computer will affect the card performance. 

Some SD* users running W10 will disagree with you. While the card's performance may not have been "technically" affected there certainly were some catastrophic consequences by just accessing the card with W10.

< Sound Devices, not SD cards - edited for clarification >

Yes, but it was found to be a problem with Sound Devices recorders writing to a bit that was reserved by Microsoft, although not used until W10.  It's a pretty unique situation, but one that has already been discussed at length on this board, Gearslutz, or JWSound.

All true. But it was fixed with a firmware upgrade and the SD engineers got right on the problem, no dallying around. From what I've read in this thread those experiencing the write problems with the 70D wish Tascam's engineers were as responsive as Sound Devices' were when that problem cropped up. The problem was solved because of user input; maybe your survey will provide the common link that allows Tascam's engineers to isolate the cause and provide a fix via a firmware upgrade - dunno. I have no horse in this race but am just an interested observer. If and how fast a resolution is found will be taken into account when I finally decide to go four channel.

We can certainly hope so, although I never would expect Tascam's service to be anywhere comparable to that of Sound Devices.

[morst]

We can certainly hope so, although I never would expect Tascam's service to be anywhere comparable to that of Sound Devices.

why not?

[goodcooker]

We can certainly hope so, although I never would expect Tascam's service to be anywhere comparable to that of Sound Devices.

why not?

In a perfect world, yes, every company's support service would be excellent but in the real world-

Tascam manufactures mostly consumer level, inexpensive products - Sound Devices manufactures exclusively professional level, expensive products

Tascam deals with consumers - Sound Devices deals with professionals (some exeptions here but you prob get what I'm saying )

Tascam's product line is enormous and stretches across several platforms - Sound Devices' product line is relatively small and focuses primarily on audio/video professionals, a very niche market

So it makes perfect sense that SD's customer service and product support is better - you pay for it up front.

[jbell]

This!!!

Complaining that cards that are not on the list are causing problems can only get one reply, why aren't you using cards on the list

Check the PDF list here:
http://tascam.com/content/downloads/products/867/dr-70d_tested_media_list_r1_20150224.pdf

Note: Cards added to the tested list will always be cards that you can buy new now.

The DR-680mkII added SDXC support as well, but 32GB SD cards will be the sweet spot for price and performance going forward I think though.

It's not the end user's responsibility to see what media functions with the recorder. If you want me to be a beta tester, send me a free deck to test. I paid for mine with the expectation it functions to the stated specs printed in the manual. Tascam advertises the deck works with SD cards (64 MB to 2 GB), SDHC cards (4 to 32 GB) and SDXC cards (48 to 128 GB). I expect my recorder to function with name-brand, non generic cards that meet the minimum specs that are needed to write four channels at 24/96, which is at minimum a true class four card and most assuredly a true class 10. According to Tascam directly and their approved media list, it obviously doesn't work with all of these cards so can I return it to Tascam under warranty and request a refund since it isn't functioning to spec?

Also, I have some comments about the cards Tascam is recommending. Instructing us to buy anything under 16gb to couple with a four channel, 24 bit, 96 khz recorder is laughable and let's just pretend 4, 8 and 16gb cards aren't on the list because quite simply, that's insulting in the year 2015 and not realistic for the majority of applications that this deck is being used for.

So, that leaves us with two 32gb cards that are approved by Tascam and here's their current cost as of 9/22/15 at B&H Photo.

$74.95  -  32gb SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC™ UHS-Ⅱ  Part # SDSDXPB-032G-A46
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1030992-REG/sandisk_sdsdxpb_032g_a46_32gb_extreme_pro_sdhc_uhs_ii.html

Discontinued  -  32gb Panasonic SDHC UHS-I (CLASS 10) R:90MB/s   Part # RP-SDUC32GAK
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1044453-REG/panasonic_rp_sduc32gak_32gb_sdhc_uhs_i_u3_card.html

Therefore, in reality your recommended list of cards for us real world users of this machine consists of solely one card, that costs $2.34 per gb. Does that sound reasonable to you when the street price of the 70d is $200 and the average name brand, class 10, 32gb card is selling for less than $0.50 per gb?

The solution is simple, instead of jerking us around have the engineers use some precious man hours and update the firmware so the recorder, ya know, records.

[tomuo]

Discontinued  -  32gb Panasonic SDHC UHS-I (CLASS 10) R:90MB/s   Part # RP-SDUC32GAK
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1044453-REG/panasonic_rp_sduc32gak_32gb_sdhc_uhs_i_u3_card.html

Amazon, Adorama, Newegg and Panasonic direct show the card as in stock. 

[voltronic]

To those doing the SD card survey:

Please put the actual model number; not the product line (ex. Ultra Plus, Extreme Pro, etc.)  The product line names aren't useful for this; only the actual model number.  This will be printed on the card itself, usually on the back.  It will be fainter than the main branding and will look like it was put on with a dot matrix or thermal transfer printer.

Here's a guide from SanDisk on where to look.  If there are multiple codes printed on the card, the one you want will contain the card's capacity somewhere in the string.  For example, one respondent to the survey entered SDSDUN-064G-G46 which indicates a 64GB card.

Once again, you can view the survey results here.  I updated the FAQ page to include links to both the survey and the results.

[aaronji]

^ I would still like to know why recording four channels to an SD card is so difficult.  There are quite a number of recorders that can do it, some of which can record many more than four channels, and some of which are Tascam products.  Just seems like what the Dutch call a "smoesje", which is some sort of lame excuse...

[vanark]

That isn't threatening legal language. That is a pretty standard email disclaimer.

[noahbickart]

Folks:

Why do some of you care more about being right than happy?

My sense is that most people are happy with the feature set, size, and sound of the 70d.

If it only worked with larger, cheaper sd media, everyone would be happy.

Can we please think constructively? Fill out the survey. Communicate nicely with the reps.

It's just like at the venue. They don't have to be nice to tapers. We aren't enough of the market for them to really care.