Tascam DR-70D 4-channel audio recorder (Part 7)

[voltronic]

Tascam DR-70D Product Page
Reference Manual
Tested Media List (using a card from this list is strongly recommended)

DR-70D FAQ (includes recommended settings, hardware info, list of known issues, etc.)
Modification Discussion Thread

Previous discussion threads:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

[F.O.Bean]

Checking in

[Chomps]

 

[F.O.Bean]

Just got my 7th USB battery for my [2] 70d's Its a PNY AD10400, that I just got for a great deal at Wal-Mart, which is just a nice Naztech-style clone, but only has a capacity of 10,400mah! It should give me about 10 hours on my 70d with all 4 channels@24/96, BWAVs, MIC IN/Phantom on 1/2 and LINE IN on 3/4!

I'll let you know how I like this new PNY battery! It has a nice digital screen that shows power level, just like the Naztech's do! Here's a link to it!
https://www.pny.com/PowerPackAD10400?sku=P-B-10400-24-S02-RB

[F.O.Bean]

Just got my 7th USB battery for my [2] 70d's Its a PNY AD10400, that I just got for a great deal at Wal-Mart, which is just a nice Naztech-style clone, but only has a capacity of 10,400mah! It should give me about 10 hours on my 70d with all 4 channels@24/96, BWAVs, MIC IN/Phantom on 1/2 and LINE IN on 3/4!

I'll let you know how I like this new PNY battery! It has a nice digital screen that shows power level, just like the Naztech's do! Here's a link to it!
https://www.pny.com/PowerPackAD10400?sku=P-B-10400-24-S02-RB

Just wanted to let yinz know that the new PNY AD10400 5v USB battery, runs my 70d for 15 hours on the dot I ran the battery 3 times, and it ALMOST fills up my 64gb SanDisk SD Card, with just 3gb left! It goes 15 hours of the 15hrs:23min:28sec on my SanDisk sd card That's all 4 channels@24/96, Stereo BWAV files, [mk4>PFA>70d]MIC IN/Phantom on 1/2 and [mk41>VMS02IB>70d]LINE IN on 3/4!

That's pretty kickass runtimes for a 10,400mah battery IMO! I got a couple hours MORE than I thought that I would!

[F.O.Bean]

I just bought this exact 64gb SanDisk Extreme Pro from Amazon for $45+shipping a few weeks ago, and now its $10 cheaper! Its only $34.95 right now, which IMO is an incredible deal! Its a "standard" card for the 70d now since its on the Tascam approved list, and is probably the most bought size from us tapers since 64gb seems about perfect, so I would buy now if anyone is looking to get a HQ/Approved 64gb or 128gb SD card for their 70d

How badass is it that our recording medium is now Shock Proof/Water Proof/Dust Proof/X-Ray Proof Let's see a DAT tape do that lol A whole festie worth of 24bit WAVS on a stamp sized 1"x1" flat drive still kinda blows my mind! The equivalent in DAT/Cassette tapes would be about 30-45 DAT tapes per festie, which is quite a bit of bulk and weight, especially compared to the size of an SDXC or MicroSDXC card

Anyway, Just thought I would share the link since this is by far the cheapest I have ever seen this card! The 128gb is about $10 cheaper as well! I linked it below too! And its verified to work with the 70d from someone here on ts.com!

64gb SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Card
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-SDSDXPA-064G-X46-Flash-Memory/dp/B007NDL54C

128gb SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Card
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NP63Y4K/ref=twister_B009RVUYAY

[voltronic]

Amazon has the 70D for $212.06 right now (price shown after you add to cart).

EDIT: B&H also selling for $213 (again, must add to cart to see price).

[Life In Rewind]

I finally updated my firmware - can someone refresh my memory on what the change was regarding the "LOW" input setting.

I know they added another setting...but did anything change with the LOW input value?

I did get burnt this weekend by this decks most tragic flaw - the full off level control...so dumb - why have the knob turn the signal off?!!!

Really a pain when you find yourself nursing the lowside of the control...

[voltronic]

I finally updated my firmware - can someone refresh my memory on what the change was regarding the "LOW" input setting.

I know they added another setting...but did anything change with the LOW input value?

I did get burnt this weekend by this decks most tragic flaw - the full off level control...so dumb - why have the knob turn the signal off?!!!

Really a pain when you find yourself nursing the lowside of the control...

See the FAQ where I have the max of each gain range listed from Tascam's specs, and my measurements of the lower limits.  I did this for both the old and new firmware where they changed the gain settings.

The dead zone at the bottom of the pot is very annoying, and has been on the firmware update request for a while.  As usual, no response from Tascam when I've emailed about it.  Maybe others here would be willing to contact them also regarding this and the other things on the list that they could easily fix.  Unless they hear from multiple people about an issue, I don't think the 70D is going to get much attention with the 701-D out now.

[Life In Rewind]

I finally updated my firmware - can someone refresh my memory on what the change was regarding the "LOW" input setting.

I know they added another setting...but did anything change with the LOW input value?

I did get burnt this weekend by this decks most tragic flaw - the full off level control...so dumb - why have the knob turn the signal off?!!!

Really a pain when you find yourself nursing the lowside of the control...

See the FAQ where I have the max of each gain range listed from Tascam's specs, and my measurements of the lower limits.  I did this for both the old and new firmware where they changed the gain settings.

The dead zone at the bottom of the pot is very annoying, and has been on the firmware update request for a while.  As usual, no response from Tascam when I've emailed about it.  Maybe others here would be willing to contact them also regarding this and the other things on the list that they could easily fix.  Unless they hear from multiple people about an issue, I don't think the 70D is going to get much attention with the 701-D out now.

                 1.01 Firmware            1.10+ Firmware

LOW          -21 to +11 dB                -7 to +21 dB

I think that blows...I rather liked the -21 setting...this explains why I was seeing more peaks this weekend...

I dont see why tapers of loud music would want the later version with more gain....

Wish I had stuck with my older firmware...can you back?

[audBall]

^ Personally, I'd rather not attenuate the signal below 0db on the LOW setting, although I do wish the updates began the setting at 0db. Firmware version 1.02 is still on the downloads page. You could try reinstalling it.

[voltronic]

Keep in mind that those lower limits are not official - those are my personal findings and may not be totally accurate.

What I did was take the headphone output of my interface and fed that to channel 1 on the 70D, set to MIC input.  I know that the impedances are all wrong, but I didn't care about the sound quality and I needed a variable level that wouldn't brickwall the 70D when set to MIC input, as that's the input setting I was most interested in measuring.

I played a 1kHz tone with the 70D gain pot to max, set the headphone output from my interface so the 70D was displaying about -3dB, and recorded while slowly adjusting the input gain pot down.  Files were later examined in iZotope RX since that's the program I have with the best metering.

If you want to double-check my math, I attached the text files where I recorded my numbers for this.

[F.O.Bean]

Yea I forgot about that! DEF the one thing I wish was fixed in a FW update! The whole signal OFF thing is a silly option, no matter what field this is geared towards[DSLR crowd]. I haven't gotten burned by it yet, but it did make me unplug/plug everything back in a cpl of times because I didn't realize the knob was all the way to the left Now I just keep my gain pots/knobs at the 9 o'clock position when not in use!

[Life In Rewind]

Yea I forgot about that!

I forgot too - I knew - but so rarely encountered the situation.

But with regard to the level changes on LOW between firmwares...

I was running my Avantone CK1 Omnis - split - about 25-30 feet from the stage - large-ish PA, classic JBL cabinets.

Sounding good - but I wouldn't call it loud.

I was on LOW - but was still getting more peaks than I was comfortable with - and I was already on the max low side of the knob without muting the channel.

Im thinking the older firmwares LOW setting would have handled this just fine...?

This was the first time I have run the Avantones since I got the DR-70D about a year and half ago - so I have no before and after firmware wise.

But this is the first time that I felt I was getting a level that I could NOT CONTROL with any combination of settings - short of engaging the mics 10db pad.

My setup below VVV

[voltronic]

Different strokes...  I always found the old LOW range to have very limited usefulness for what I record because of that huge range below 0dB, and the new MID level has been perfect for me most of the time.  Lately I've been using the upper half of LOW more often, even with all of the classical / acoustic things I record.  It's my go-to for louder instrumental groups or big choirs, especially up close.

I guess I could see how you're missing the old low range, but wasn't it a bit unusual that it went that low in the first place?  Does any other recorder out there allow their input gain to adjust below 0dB without engaging a pad circuit somewhere else?  I would think that if what you're recording is that loud, then you'd expect to need inline pads / attenuators.  Still, a convenience for you that you didn't need them, until they changed the gain.