So what do we think of our Tascam DR60Ds?

NiMH should work a bit better but be sure and go for 2400 or 2500 mAH ones. I ordered one of these:

50,000mAh one here

At $18 it seemed like a no brainer. Not much testing yet, but it did power the DR60D with the charge it had when delivered, and it took a complete charge in several hours. I have a small bag to hold it, just need a strap to hang it on the tripod.
 
That figures, which is why you had the DR-60D drop down to $149 recently (which is when I bought mine). However. While I appreciate superior preamps definitely, and the smooth gain is not bad (do you really adjust gain so often while recording??), this alone would not push me to buy the upgrade - after all, the preamps in the 60D are "good enough", and I doubt you'll hear a night and day difference to the new ones. What definitely would push me to upgrade is if the new 60DMKII gained another 2 xlr inputs for a total of 4 - after all the Zoom H6 managed to do it, so why not the new 60D? That's what it would take for me.
 
To answer some of the previous questions:

1. Having the recorder under the DSLR does not make it unstable.
2. The 'clicks' are not very noticeable.
3. A mixer would improve the sound quality (which is already better than the competition as it is) and remove the 'clicks' (which, again, are
not noticeable when recording dialogue, and other sounds usually wouldn't require too much gain riding), but is not necessary.
4. The battery power is not that great. Purchase Eneloop rechargeable batteries and you are set. USB power is an option.

If people, myself included, thought the purchase was well worth it at $350, it is a steal at $200 (if built-in microphones are not necessary).

If a new model is indeed being released soon, you could wait a tad longer. The price went back up to $200 from the mentioned $150 price. This makes me think that the newer model will be at the original price of $300-$350.
Thus, if this has what you want and you don't care to wait an indefinite amount of time for the newer model, which may or may not have extra XLR inputs and better preamps, then get this. You won't regret it.
 
iamlance said:
If a new model is indeed being released soon, you could wait a tad longer. The price went back up to $200 from the mentioned $150 price. This makes me think that the newer model will be at the original price of $300-$350.
Thus, if this has what you want and you don't care to wait an indefinite amount of time for the newer model, which may or may not have extra XLR inputs and better preamps, then get this. You won't regret it.
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I've seen it quoted at $199.00, for the new Tascam DR-60DmkII, but don't know if it's reliable information. If it's $199, then that's a great deal. I have the original (which I bought for $150) and so far from reading the spec list I'm not tempted to upgrade, but we'll see once it's tested. Like you say, ideally one could just treat the 60D as a recorder and use the MixPre-D in front of it, but sadly not all of us can spare the $ for the MixPre-D. So, we're stuck with the 60D.
 
As the current one is $199, then of course it will be a good deal! But for that very reason, I doubt they would sell it so cheaply.

It seems the only upgrade was in the preamps, though the overall build quality might have been tweaked to fix some problems. I'm not sure how much better they will be, so I can't say if it would be worth the upgrade (I won't be; mine's fine for what I need right now).

Regardless of whichever one gets, I'm super glad that the prices have gone down. Hopefully this'll lead to a trend, with the more expensive equipment dropping in price over the next couple years.


EDIT:
Another reason for the price drop could be the introduction of some other Tascam products: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/audio/news/announcing-new-recording-and-playback-products-tascam
I can't find anything on the MK2 aside from that article, so it could have been a sham. The poster was the admin, but it could still have been false info. Hope it turns out to be solid info.
 
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The extra protection is nice for the not-so strong Tascam DR-60D, but what has worked for me is simply adding a strap to the bars on the recorder. If that extra small pocket and the dust/rain protection are absolutely necessary, then this would be perfect. As you said, it seems a little pricey for what you get.
 
Now here you could definitely do a smart DIY and hopefully come out ahead $ :)... Aren't you nervous about the straps? I watched a video review of the 60D and one guy said that he didn't even stress the 60D and one of the bars just broke off, because even though the bar is metal, what it's sitting in is plastic. That scared me and I'd be afraid of trusting it with straps :(
 
I never even thought of that.......thanks for freaking me out. To make things worse, I usually allow other STUDENTS (not careful professionals) to use it while I do lighting or camera work. I'll have to test that out when I get the chance in a couple days (lent out the equipment for a film while out of town). If it is a problem, I'll find a cheaper solution. Nice case though.
 
People are saying the DR-60D has a cleaner microphone preamp than the Zoom H6/H5. But the specs for the Zoom H6 are the same for Equivalent Input Noise (-120 dBu). So how is this possible?

(The input gain seems to be +55.5 dB for the Zoom H6/H5, +52 dB for the DR-60D and +64 dB for the DR-60D II)
 
raphb said:
People are saying the DR-60D has a cleaner microphone preamp than the Zoom H6/H5. But the specs for the Zoom H6 are the same for Equivalent Input Noise (-120 dBu). So how is this possible?
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Because 1) lab tests do not reflect real-world use and 2) manufacturer specs are rarely truthfully accurate. Specs can get you in the neighborhood, but not until you hear it for yourself and put it side-by-side with the competition will you get a true image of what's what.
 
You need to read specs with about a half pound of salt.

Unless you know how they got the spec (and they almost never explain that) you don't really know how to compare things.

So if A has the (really) same noise spec as B and B has 8.5 dB more gain than A, B is quieter.

But you would need to know how they tested to know if that is actually true.

And noise is not all equal. So the self noise of the 60D may be less noticeable than the noise of the Zoom.

So those are your basic choices.

One or both fudged and you can't tell.
They are an apple to apple spec and one has 8.5 dB more gain, with no more noise.
The one with more noise has better "shaped" noise and so sounds quieter.

This is why your ears are much better than specs.
 
OldCorpse said:
Now here you could definitely do a smart DIY and hopefully come out ahead $ :)... Aren't you nervous about the straps? I watched a video review of the 60D and one guy said that he didn't even stress the 60D and one of the bars just broke off, because even though the bar is metal, what it's sitting in is plastic. That scared me and I'd be afraid of trusting it with straps :(
Click to expand...

In all my years at this, owning and working with field recorders from DAT to current solid-state, I have never used the included straps. Simply, no matter how high-end your device, the strap connectors are not really made for the abuse of the field. A bag or protective wrap is the only solution I recommend in the field, and for the DR-60D that Strut case you linked is a great place to start.
 
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