Tascam HD-P2 12-10-2005

[CQBert]

My new toy arrived today...           

Pictures are posted...

I will do some trials tomorrow and will be recording Splilt Lip Rayfield on Tue and will post my field results then.

CQBert

[paulrennix]

so howd it go?

[Kyle]

I really want one of these so -

couple questions -

regarding file size

I read/heard that the .bwf format is not subject to the 2gb limitation, it can go up to four gb. Is this the case? If not, does it handle the autosplit well?

Thanks

[CQBert]

File size is user selectable and yes you can go over 2gig...  Most programs now do not like these large files and since they mesh seamlessly 2gig seems solid for now..

my 2 cents.

CQBert

[paulrennix]

how about the power.

I found the owners manual here:
http://www.tascam.com/Products/HDP2/HD-P2_Eng_1_00.pdf

I'm kinda bummed there isn't a 4 pin xlr power in on it. Is the AC in at least LOCKING like the v3?

5.5 hours on 8 AA's... w/good batteries (assuming 2000 mAh/ea) the would mean this thing draws 2910 mA/hr.

AND a 12 amp hour SLA would power it for just a few minutes over 4 hours. Seems like a pretty heavy duty draw for writing to compact flash!

Lets see... that would mean to power this and a v3 at a fest (assume 11hr/day) I'd need 4 SLAs a day. thats a little heavy.

It sure looks nice though, and the price is much more in my range than the 722.

[Brian Skalinder]

5.5 hours on 8 AA's... w/good batteries (assuming 2000 mAh/ea) the would mean this thing draws 2910 mA/hr.

AND a 12 amp hour SLA would power it for just a few minutes over 4 hours. Seems like a pretty heavy duty draw for writing to compact flash!

Lets see... that would mean to power this and a v3 at a fest (assume 11hr/day) I'd need 4 SLAs a day. thats a little heavy.

Keep in mind they've probably rated the power based on phantom/pre/ADC all running.  Running strictly as a bit-bucket, it should achieve better run-times.  'Course, manufacturers consistently over-report the run-time, so...maybe the bit-bucket run-times are close to the specs, while running full phantom/pre/ADC are even shorter than spec'd.  Time will tell...

[paulrennix]

yea, I was thinking about that...

the v3 pulls less than an 1000 ma/hr and it does all that. If we could knock 1000ma/hr off the draw on this thing it would be good to go for 6 hrs per 12 Ah SLA.

[Kyle]

File size is user selectable and yes you can go over 2gig...  Most programs now do not like these large files and since they mesh seamlessly 2gig seems solid for now..

my 2 cents.

CQBert

thanks

[oleg]

how about the power.

I found the owners manual here:
http://www.tascam.com/Products/HDP2/HD-P2_Eng_1_00.pdf

I'm kinda bummed there isn't a 4 pin xlr power in on it. Is the AC in at least LOCKING like the v3?

5.5 hours on 8 AA's... w/good batteries (assuming 2000 mAh/ea) the would mean this thing draws 2910 mA/hr.

AND a 12 amp hour SLA would power it for just a few minutes over 4 hours. Seems like a pretty heavy duty draw for writing to compact flash!

Lets see... that would mean to power this and a v3 at a fest (assume 11hr/day) I'd need 4 SLAs a day. thats a little heavy.

It sure looks nice though, and the price is much more in my range than the 722.

the power consumption is 600ma in 12 v maximum external , what bring it for 7w
so the 12 amp 12 v battery will be good for 20 hours at least

the internal battery calculations seems like relative to 2000ma , so with 2500-2700 batteries you already have today, you might go almost 7 hours of recording .
keep in mind that usually the power specification are for non powered mics with back light off so if you are running schoepses which pull 4 ma each ,that's another half watt per hour , the earthworks double this figure , what could take about 20% of your running time
what is not so bad anyway .
for long run time , you can use lithium cells which might bring you to double  the time

[kgreener]

forget the powering for now y'all.....what's the HD-P2 like CQBert?!?  do ya like it?  how does it sound??  are the preamps worth a darn? 

we'd love a full report as inquiring minds want to know! 

[CQBert]

OK - some more preliminary...

Ease of operation.... A

Initial Set-up.... A

Size.... basically same as DAP-1

Weight... Light  (722 is metal tank > this is very light)

Pre-amp...  B  (looking for Oade Mod early 2006)

A/D...  I have had no issues, solid but still early

CF Writing...  A no issues with 4 gig  45x card at 24/96  //  they say it will take a microdrive and work ok but they seem to easily skipped with the slightest shocks... sticking with CF

Transfer...  Firewire (included cable, nice touch) fast

Quirks - The manual is adamant about uning the eject commands on the screen when removing the CF card... similarly the fire wire seems to like to be connected and unplugged in the same fashion... I am not a super computer operator and sometime if forget to do things like this... hopefully it is precautionary and when I forget it will not cost me (if it does I will learn the hard way - like most things)

FYI for the group... people have asked me why I sold the 722 and purchased this... simple.. at the time I had planned to move to a HBB  Porta Drive / Foxtes or DEVA Multi track system but life through me a curve ball > My girlfriend and I are expecting and that type of cost did not make sense.  Tascam has these set up with timecode ability and I am considering, if the moon and stars align picking up a second, a timecode generator and be able to have solid state 4 ch, time matched recording under $2800... only time will tell on that.

Simply put - a nice machine - for the money, if you do not stealth exclusively not much is in its class.  IMO it is a little large to stealth with on a regular basis but I know people who would so there it is.

CQBert

[sleepypedro]

Quirks - The manual is adamant about uning the eject commands on the screen when removing the CF card... similarly the fire wire seems to like to be connected and unplugged in the same fashion... I am not a super computer operator and sometime if forget to do things like this... hopefully it is precautionary and when I forget it will not cost me (if it does I will learn the hard way - like most things)

this isn't a quirk of the tascam unit -- it's absolutely mandatory for any CF device.  follow those instructions or you can and WILL fry your CF card.

[kgreener]

thanks for the report bro, and congrats to you and the little lady on the pending addition!!  +t

[CQBert]

Thanks Pedro... I will heed the advice..

[kevin p]

File size is user selectable and yes you can go over 2gig...  Most programs now do not like these large files and since they mesh seamlessly 2gig seems solid for now..

my 2 cents.

CQBert

Just got mine today, and I could only scroll to a max of 2GB. Could you get more than that in the settings? This thing is the tits, so easy to use.

EDIT: Have upgraded software to v1.03 and 2GB is the max file size. And in playing around with it, it's not recording in .bwf. Regular ol' .WAV files is what I am getting.