Topic: tascam hd-p2 and edirol r-4 pro

[panther65]

I currently have a Tascam HD-P2 recorder that has been extremely reliable and has made some great recordings. I bought it from Doug Oade with the Advanced Concert Mod. I was considering getting the Edirol R-09 (which is cheap enough) as a 3rd and 4th track recorder for the audience tracks, to make matrix recordings. However, the Edirol R-4 pro is a consideration as it already had the capability to record 4 tracks. How would these two decks compare sonically?

[flintstone]

If you need a multi-track machine with preamps for all four mic inputs, the R-4 with Oade upgrade is a tremendous bargain.   Compared to the unmodified R-4, the HD-P2 has the superior preamp. 

The R-4 Pro has a wide range of improvements over the R-4.  Oade is thinking about a mod for the R-4 Pro, but does not offer one today.

None of these machines are suitable for stealth recording.  All are big and bulky, and all require external power to run for more than an hour or two.

Flintstone

[panther65]

Thanks for the reply. If I were to keep the Tascam, how and what piece of equipment would enable me to record 4 tracks ie 2 for soundboard feed, 2 for mic feed? A portable mixer like a Behringer?

[Brian Skalinder]

Thanks for the reply. If I were to keep the Tascam, how and what piece of equipment would enable me to record 4 tracks ie 2 for soundboard feed, 2 for mic feed? A portable mixer like a Behringer?

A mixer would do the trick, but mixing 4-ch in a live environment isn't always easy or best.  Alternatively, you could get a stock HD-P2 (or other recorder with S/PDIF output), sync the clocks, and mix in post.

[flintstone]

I stand corrected.  Thanks.

What's the mAh rating of the rechargeables you use?

Flintstone

edit: 

Looking around this forum, I found a report of 2 hours using cheap Radio Shack batteries, and 4+ hours using 2500mAh rechargeables.  Elsewhere on the web, reviewers generally report 4+ hours.  Tascam says 5.5 hours with alkaline AAs, but that may be with phantom power turned off.

Because the R-4 uses a hard disc rather than flash memory like the HD-P2, it gets shorter life from its 8 AA batteries.

[macdaddy]

What's the mAh rating of the rechargeables you use?

2500

and i think you are right about the hd recorders using more juice than those that right to solid state memory...