New 8 ch Recorder! I have high hopes: Tascam DR-680

Chadfish

Chadfish

Veteran
If this baby is clean, and we can get an Oade Brothers mod on it, this baby looks pretty nice. I caught a little preview in Mix Magazine, but it's not quite out yet.

Tascam DR-680
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...0_DR_680_8_Track_Portable_Field.html#features

8 Tracks (4 x XLR, 2 x Mic/Line, 1 x Stereo S/Pdif)


* Records 8 Tracks at up to 24-bit/96kHz
* Records to SD/SDHC Flash Cards
* 6 Mic Inputs with Phantom Power
* Digital S/PDIF Input
* USB 2.0
* Integrated Speaker
* Backlit LCD
* Onboard Mixing
* Battery Powered (8 x AA)

You can string 2 of them together too!
 
I guess it is, just not at B&H. And in this month's Mix magazine it said the price is "TBA" so I figured it wasn't out, but I did see you can get it other places.

I want some real reviews...
 
Very nice. I just bought the DR-100 and love it. But maybe should have waited a bit and looked at this. Hopefully it takes the path of the DR-100, with actual switches for most used functions, instead of menus to run through.
 
Hey Chadfish,

I have been looking at this one too. Do you know if it records 8 tracks on separate channels? I would rather be able to mix in post than on set, being a one man band.

I have been shooting live music recently and realize that I need to have some control over who gets heard and who doesn't in post. Sometimes you don't realize until its too late and being able to edit a performance is paramount.

Thanks to anyone who can answer this.
 
Yes it records 8 separate channels. 4 x xlr, 2 x mic/line, and 2 s/pdif

It says that the 2 1/4" inputs are phantom powered, but I don't understand how that works with a 1/4" input.

Realistically you can plug in 4 XLR cables into the unit. But if you have a keyboard with stereo 1/4" outs coming out of an on-stage mixer or amp you can put that into the recorder. However you get the instruments into the unit you will have 8 separate channels, and even 8 separate RCA outs - one for each channel.
 
Hey thanks Chad!

That is an uber-sweet temptation! I can't stand when there are bad harmonies that need to go....its killin' me in post (also being a musician.) I also recently had a client who wanted me to kill said harmonies and I couldn't do it (being fed from a single line on a board.)

I see a lot of talk around needing time code, yet I seem to do pretty well with synching in FCP. Is there a major need to have timecode, or do you think this unit is just fine for the indie?
 
b&h said they would have it shortly after the passover holiday ends. so give it maybe 3 weeks before its in some hands of testers hopefully.

chad, i thought it was 6 inputs, 6 iso's and the other 2 tracks were the mix? maybe i'm wrong, i hope i am! but on the mixer face it has buttons 1-6 for track level adjustment.

spiral, you can always use a dencke timecode generator and plug it in to one of the audio inputs. timecode track panned right, everything else panned left.

one thing i've seen a lot of people complain about is the lack of dedicated pots for each input. its not that big of deal for me as i'll be using my mixer to control that stuff. from the pics looks like you have to press one of the track buttons, 1-6, to then adjust it. but once i've set tone on my recorder i usually don't adjust it after that.

and yes, def an r44 killer from my view. some may like the r44 because of the dedicated pots, but thats not an issue for me.

and with this recorder i'll have to step up to a new mixer. i really like the sd552 but its way out of my ball park. been leaning more towards getting a psc 6 channel and getting psc to mod the iso's to be post fader, if they even can. i know they can with the alpha mix. we'll see tho...

here is the link on tascam's page, with higher res photos.
http://www.tascam.com/products/dr-680.html
 
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Meh,

I want THIS bad boy:

657379.jpg
 
Spiral you can sync up audio/video with this: http://www.singularsoftware.com/pluraleyes.html

Mangler, the "other 2 tracks" are s/pdif. That is a digital stereo input. Spdif is line level, and doesn't need an input level knob because it's digital and just takes the output of whatever digital device the signal is coming from - no preamps to add noise. Some guitar modelers have s/pdif output, and you could go straight in that way. Just read the specs. it's all in the specs.

The only thing I don't understand is how phantom power is used for the 2 1/4" inputs. Could one use a 1/4" to XLR converter, and get phantom to a condenser mic that way?
 
chad, 1/4" can have phantom with the tip ring sleeve sort of deal. the microtrack recorders have it and a lot of the guys at my news paper use those with shotguns.

also, chad, if you look at the face of the unit it only has level indicators for 1-6 on the readout and then L & R. would the spdif be the L & R?
 
Hey BMX, thanks for the note on timecode generating. A couple of questions:

*Do I absolutely need the timecode or can I get close "enough for Government work" in post?
* Also, the DR-680 says it can mix onboard. Does one need a separate mixer?

...I've got all the video I need for now, moving into audio and questioning what I need and what I don't.

Thanks again!
 
manglerBMX said:
also, chad, if you look at the face of the unit it only has level indicators for 1-6 on the readout and then L & R. would the spdif be the L & R?
Click to expand...

Can't confirm that... You don't need to see the levels on s/pdif though because there are no adjustments to make, so seeing the level does nothing.
 
Chadfish said:
It says that the 2 1/4" inputs are phantom powered, but I don't understand how that works with a 1/4" input.
Click to expand...

I'd assume it's just like the Microtrack, balanced 1/4" connections are 3 conductors, just like an XLR, so phantom works just fine, you just use a TRS-XLR cable to connect to a mic.
 
Hey Chad, thanks for the link to Singular. That is some nice technology. I am assuming you have used it, how accurate is it, especially in noisy environs?
 
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