New Tascam recorder

prexdealer said:
damianicus, Thanks so much! Any idea on how long it might last on phantom power? Just one xlr mic. I am curious, that is my one thing I am trying to figure before buying it. I don't want to be swapping batteries all the time, and if I need to start buying a lot of external power then it starts getting closer to the DR 100 in price which as both internal lithium and batteries. Thanks so much for being one of the first to buy one and sharing with us!
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Happy to share my thoughts I hope they've been helpful. I don't have mics that require phantom power so I can't answer this about the DR-40, sorry. I guess I could turn phantom on without a mic and see how long it records? Or maybe someone else can answer this.
 
prexdealer said:
I hope one of you guys can do me a favor and you can let me know how long phantom power lasts for with an XLR mic. :)
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Hard to say. Which mic? Each has it's own power requirements and that predicates battery life.

That's why I use a mic that has it's own power. No need to use phantom from the H4n, and extends battery life.
 
Hopefully there are some furry/windscreens that come out soon. Does anyone think other furries meant for other recorders with xy/ab mics will fit well enough though?
 
Love your screen name, DocIsChief. Don't know why.:Drogar-Happy(DBG):

As to your question, yes, there are. You could actually use a windscreen off many mics that will do the job. A minor bit of tape to hold it on will work. The biggest question is how does it sound? The true goal of any windscreen is to block air movement from impacting the diaphragm and causing unwanted noise.
 
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DocIsChief said:
Does anyone think other furries meant for other recorders with xy/ab mics will fit well enough though?
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Just looking at specs, the DR-40's dimensions are almost - almost - identical to the DR-07mkII. Redhead makes a windscreen for the DR-07mkII, as does Rycote. This is no guarantee that they'll fit the DR-40, but the measurements aren't very far off at all.
 
I might think about that, getting something that's close in dimensions i mean.
Haha, thanks Doc Bernard, and yes, that was one of my worries, allowing air in that shouldn't get in due to the fit. I was thinking about tape or a good snug elastic ban.
 
DocIsChief said:
I might think about that, getting something that's close in dimensions i mean.
Haha, thanks Doc Bernard, and yes, that was one of my worries, allowing air in that shouldn't get in due to the fit. I was thinking about tape or a good snug elastic ban.
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Either will work, as long as you don't impede the venting on the side of the mics. That venting establishes the polar pattern of the mics. If it were me, I would find a large windscreen, if you aren't getting a specific windscreen for the H4n. Something that covers both mics and can be attached to the body of the H4n without touching the mics.
 
I emailed Red Head & Rycote both about products for the DR-40. So maybe they can give me a "soon" or "near future" time frame response
 
Doc Bernard said:
If it were me, I would find a large windscreen, if you aren't getting a specific windscreen for the H4n. Something that covers both mics and can be attached to the body of the H4n without touching the mics.
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You mean "DR-40", right?

And DocIsChief... again, the DR-07mkII is nearly identical in size:

DR-40, mics open: 3.54"x6.1"x1.38"
DR-40, mics closed: 2.76x6.1x1.38

DR-07mkI, mics open: 3.5x6.2x1
DR-07mkII, mics closed: 2.6x6.2x1

The only dimension that has a drastic difference is the depth (1.38" vs. 1"). So you may ask RedHead if their windscreen for the DR-07mkII will work.
 
I may just hold off. Rycote emailed me back this morning: " Rycote is working on a Mini-Windjammer for the DR-40. They should be announcing it in the next week or two. I will update you with price and availability when I receive notice. "
 
Unfortunately, the oktava I have doesn't have it's own power. :( I have an AT835b for exterior shots.
Doc Bernard said:
Hard to say. Which mic? Each has it's own power requirements and that predicates battery life.

That's why I use a mic that has it's own power. No need to use phantom from the H4n, and extends battery life.
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TheWindCutter.com also makes great wind protection for recorders. You may want to shoot them an email. But also Rycote may send you a free one if you make a little video demo of it for them. Try asking.
 
Note that there is no isolation between the recorder body and internal mics so there is a risk of handling noise.
 
It certainly picks up handling noise. I bought a gorillapod for a tabletop type surface to avoid handling much. Sadly the position of the thread mount doesn't allow it to sit balanced and causes some sagging problems with the gorillapod because it's a smaller one.
 
Hi all. I was talking earlier about the DR-40 in conjunction with two Rode mics that I owned. I did a big sound test today and compared my Rodes directly to camera, then Rodes directly to DR-40 and finally Rodes through a FIIO audio amplifier (as recommended by DSLR Film Noob).

My tests concluded that if you try and plug powered 3.5mm mics into the DR-40 you might get crap results. Only the Rode VideoMic Pro with its +20 db gain is usable. Take a listen:

http://damiandodd.com/soundtest/soundtest
 
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