Topic: TASCAM DR-100mkIII NEW Unreleased Recorder

[aaronji]

The M210 has a sensitivity of 13 mV/Pa. That would lead to -14 dBu output at about 115.5 dBSPL (if the active set-up doesn't affect the sensitivity). University of Michigan, and a couple of other sites that came up in a quick search, put a loud rock concert at 120 dBSPL. I don't think that is typical, but I live in a country where that is pretty strictly regulated. You might have occasional issues with loud peaks at the recorder, but the mics shouldn't be an issue (max SPL for 0.5% THD is 135 dB, again assuming the specs don't change with the actives).

[Papaphunk]

Bummer, my inside metal bit that holds the USB Charger on the side, fell out / disappeared after coming back from Phish Hershey. I don't see an easy fix unless I depend solely on AA Battery Power. This was a solid unit - ended up splurging on a zoom H6 in the mean time from reverb to replace it.

[jbell]

You get things sorted??  Curious if this deck plays nice with the MG setup.

Appreciate the info. Thanks it's the M21 hyper cap. Can't imagine it's that sensitive.

[vwmule]

I haven't tried again. I'm scrolled through this thread and see others had similar issue with different mics.

Pretty surprising; I've never run a pad on a recorder before. Does it diminish the sound?

[jbell]

I was thinking of getting the DR100 MKiii for a small run and gun rig.  I was think mics > DR100, but might not be a good fit it seems.  I'm not sure about the pad and how it will affect the sound. 

I haven't tried again. I'm scrolled through this thread and see others had similar issue with different mics.

Pretty surprising; I've never run a pad on a recorder before. Does it diminish the sound?

[mepaca]

The pad should be engaged when using condenser mics.

I was thinking of getting the DR100 MKiii for a small run and gun rig.  I was think mics > DR100, but might not be a good fit it seems.  I'm not sure about the pad and how it will affect the sound. 

I haven't tried again. I'm scrolled through this thread and see others had similar issue with different mics.

Pretty surprising; I've never run a pad on a recorder before. Does it diminish the sound?

[voltronic]

The pad should be engaged when using condenser mics.

I was thinking of getting the DR100 MKiii for a small run and gun rig.  I was think mics > DR100, but might not be a good fit it seems.  I'm not sure about the pad and how it will affect the sound. 

I haven't tried again. I'm scrolled through this thread and see others had similar issue with different mics.

Pretty surprising; I've never run a pad on a recorder before. Does it diminish the sound?

I would stop short of recommending an input pad always be used with condenser mics. They are all over the map in terms of sensitivity. That said, I don't think a pad should have any negative effects on sound quality.

vwmule, how loud a source were you recording? The M 21 isn't all that sensitive, so I'm guessing something was putting out some serious levels.

[vwmule]

It was a Baltimore bluegrass band, Smooth Kentucky, featuring Cris Jacobs.

No chance the PA was too loud. I recorded DPA 4023 on stage + SBD so I made a nice capture. (https://archive.org/details/smoothkentucky2021-08-22.vwmule)

But I decided to try the newly-purchased Tascam with the Gefell in the sweet spot, as pictured. Wonder if deck is faulty or if I have a setting off, though I don't think so. It was not loud by any means. Without pad, the levels were extreme.

One other thing: I used the Gefell this past Friday for Drive-By Truckers -- now that was loud -- paired with Sound Devices MP6 and had no issue.

[dallman]

It was a Baltimore bluegrass band, Smooth Kentucky, featuring Cris Jacobs.

No chance the PA was too loud. I recorded DPA 4023 on stage + SBD so I made a nice capture. (https://archive.org/details/smoothkentucky2021-08-22.vwmule)

But I decided to try the newly-purchased Tascam with the Gefell in the sweet spot, as pictured. Wonder if deck is faulty or if I have a setting off, though I don't think so. It was not loud by any means. Without pad, the levels were extreme.

One other thing: I used the Gefell this past Friday for Drive-By Truckers -- now that was loud -- paired with Sound Devices MP6 and had no issue.

Although I use the deck as a bit bucket nowadays, I have never seen a set of XLR mics run on the MKIII that did not require the pad to be used. That said, it in no way affects the quality of the recording, the deck for whatever reason was calibrated to run really hot when using XLR mics.

[vwmule]

Much appreciate the responses. Pad it is!

The deck is pretty slick. I'll try it out again soon.

[jbell]

Anyone have a Oade concert mod DR100 mkiii??  Debating getting one.

[heva]

Their site is down - out of business?

[jbell]

Works fine for me!

Their site is down - out of business?

[voltronic]

I replied to this, but for some reason it was deleted. Trying again...

The Oade mod for the DR-100 mkIII is the Audiophile mod for $175. They say this about it:

The Tascam DR100MKIII Audiophile MOD rebuilds the microphone preamp with state of the art components resulting in true high end sound quality.

I suppose we have to trust them, because they don't say what exactly they are doing, how it impacts runtime, measurements before and after, etc.

The mkIII has excellent stock preamps so I don't know if such a mod is warranted. Consider that with the price of the recorder + mod, you are around $500. That's a LOT for a 2-input recorder, and you might as well just save another $200 to get a Zoom F6, or upgrade your mics. Just my 2 cents.

[Powerage5]

Hope it’s okay to bump this thread - I encountered an error with my DR-100 over the weekend. I’ll admit this recorder doesn’t see much use anymore, only a couple times a year when I’m covering a show which allows for open taping. Over the weekend while using it at one such show, I got a “write error” pop up message. I’m not sure how long it took before this message appeared (I had my gear running on a balcony closed to the public and I was downstairs during the bands), but once it appeared, if you cleared it out it would immediately reappear. At a glance and a spot check, the files all seem fine; the waveform looks normal, the audio sounds continuous, and the file is the right length. Once I start editing it maybe I’ll find some dropouts occasionally but I’m not there yet.

I’m guessing it’s probably something to do with the SD card, but I haven’t been able to test a new one in the unit yet. Any insight from others?