So what's the deal about Fostex DC-R302

KINOKS

KINOKS

Well-known member
Why isn't there any talk about this recorder? It seems perfect to me (except for the lack of XLR outputs)... I can't seem to find any reviews or anything. Is nobody interested in this?

Br
S
 
Since it's still pretty new not many have had a chance to get some hands-on experience with one, but there is certainly a lot of interest - I'm one of those who are looking forward to more news about it. There have been some talk - try a new search and don't limit yourself to just this forum. Anything you learn would be greatfully appreciated if it's shared!
 
Endless delays. This was introduced ages ago and still nothing. My guess is that they were waiting for the new 5D to make sure things are properly synced as that will be the target market for this product.
 
I think they're working on quality-control issues with the LCD screen... or at least with their Photoshop team...
 
I have seen them for sale on uk websites but not sure if they are really shipping or not.

I am patiently waiting for it.........
 
bitcrusher said:
I have seen them for sale on uk websites but not sure if they are really shipping or not.

I am patiently waiting for it.........
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I've seen those sites to. The item is listed as available and ready for shipping. It's on B&H to listed as out of stock...

Has anybody heard their preamps? Or does anybody have any expectations regarding sound quality...?
 
Looks a cool mixer and fostex recorders tend to be very good devices with decent low noise pre amps.

Maybe it is a step too far and they can't make it for a low enough price to compete with the tascam recorders but more likely the threat of a law suit from sound devices to prevent them calling it a 302 like their small eng mixer!

P.S update it is listed for sale here but at £899 it is priced way too high, it needs to be half that price to make it a juiced linked contender: http://www.pinknoise-systems.co.uk/fostex-dcr302-dslr-audio-mixerrecorder-p-811.html
 
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Yes, that's where I've seen it to. It's strange that that's the only (almost only) site that has it listed. It's all little bit fishy to me...

But is it really overpriced? It's basically a 3 channel recorder and with it's 3 separate gain knobs and a what looks like a sturdy field design it promises to be a good field recorder. Provided that it has excellent audio quality offcourse. What are the current options for a field recorder? HD-P2, DR680, R-44, FR2LE anything else worth of mentioning? After my initial research I didn't find any of these recorders to be a great deal. All of them have some basic faults in my opinion.
 
Well for £899 you might as well buy a decent mixer and a cheap recorder with XLR inputs and do it properly, I use Twelco mixers and have two of them that were £400 for the four channel and £500 delivered for the six channel. I also have two mono 6 ch shure M367's I got for around £200 each and a mono ASC 3 ch that was £150. They all have pro features and all you would need for location recording and will be far more flexible as kit than the fostex.

This is my 4 ch style twelco version: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TW-LP4S-4...ultDomain_0&hash=item3cc236314e#ht_2374wt_134

My recorder is an old marantz 670 that I got for £200 as I tend to use my 4 ch camera as my main recorder but a zoom or tascam would be my choice as a low cost add on.

I don't think the fostex is a 3 channel recorder anyway as it is only a 3 ch mixer with a stereo recorder built in it also looks a bit plasticky switch wise and lacks pro features such as XLR outputs so that makes it way overpriced IMO.
 
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Yeah, okey. It's over priced. But we still don't know what's the sound quality going to be.

I to just ordered a tascam DR100 recorder that I'll pair up in the near future with a Sound Devices Mixpre-d mixer... How is that mixer of yours holding up? I've haven't seen it before. Is it good? It's cheaper then mixpre-d...
 
I really like the Twelco mixers and for the money they offer some very pro like features and sound very good. Istvan Wolf the guy who owns the company is an ex sound recordist himself and has designed them very well.

He also gives good prompt service and will do you great deals on the mixers, as said I now have two of them and they both serve me very well and have been used recently on mainstream ITN broadcast news jobs to do interviews with several people all mic'ed up with lav's.

Ok they are quite large but I find that a lot of the switches on sound devices etc are hard to use when you are stood on a cold football ground or location, they also come with a set of rechargeable batteries, a charger and sep mains PSU and case. I made offers inc delivery on both my mixers and they were accepted and delivered within three days.

They are modular inside so it is easy to swap out pre amps and repair them on location too, here is a pic of the inside of the 4 ch version I have:
DSC_0001-2.jpg


DSC_0001-3.jpg
 
Wow. I never knew how modular they are. I used the one we had quite a bit. They are good quality mixers, and I was always amazed at how inexpensive they are for what they do and the high quality they have.
 
Would you fellas rather get this mixer or the SD mixpre-d? I don't really need 4 chanels but you never know... also this mixer comes in about 100€ cheaper. As I understand it the preamps on the mixpre-d are quite good. Does this mixer have better preamps?
 
Dont know as a comparison but all I can say is the pre amps are fine and up to broadcast spec, I think the SD kit is well made but a bit overpriced for us in europe and this mixer does a hell of a lot more for the money as it has lots of options and outputs compared to the mixpre. I use SD mixers at work on OB's and they are very good but I mainly use the 302 which is well over double the price of the LP 4S. The twelco mixers have better meters in my opinion but I am used to PPM style broadcast meters rather than LED's. They also have balanced transformer outs as well as unbalanced and extra mono output for boom or IFB.

Check them all out on the Twelco web site and you can even download the manuals: http://www.twelco.hu/

I would offer him £400 inc delivery for the one on e-bay as that is what I paid for mine and he seems to sell them at around that price.

P.S sorry to hijack the thread but this is a bargain too if you need more headphone feeds on location: http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_ha3d.htm
 
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yoclay said:
Endless delays. This was introduced ages ago and still nothing. My guess is that they were waiting for the new 5D to make sure things are properly synced as that will be the target market for this product.
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Not endless delays. Already in UK. Was not introduced ages ago, but prototype last April.
I got an email from American Musical, Fostex US Distributer, claimed will be shipping in USA this April.
What is there to "sync" with new 5D? Have you ever used a cassette audio recorder? Reel to Reel? Much better quality and less expensive.
Most likely better than Handheld type audio recorders.
 
GaryNattrass said:
I would offer him £400 inc delivery for the one on e-bay as that is what I paid for mine and he seems to sell them at around that price.

P.S sorry to hijack the thread but this is a bargain too if you need more headphone feeds on location: http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_ha3d.htm
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No problem Garry. Thx for the suggestion. I'll get some more opinions on as to which mixer to get. Mixpre-d is expensive for having only 2 channels but I thought it's great quality for the money. Now I see that there are other mixers with more options for the same amount or even less. I must admit I'm a novice when it comes to field sound recording.
 
I've looked at most of the mixers on the market and most of the cheap ones are not very well made, I had a sign video ENG44 for a while but sold it as the switches were not up to the job. That fostex had plastic switches and they tend to break very easily so the twelco is very robust and has very good features and build quality for the money.

Absolute audiophile quality is not required in most location sound recording and unless you are doing pro broadcast work and using the best mics money can buy etc you don't need to spend huge amounts on sound it these days. That said all my kit is budget sourced but is still up to broadcast standards and the twelco mixers are about as good as you can get unless you can afford a sound devices but two channels is very limiting as it three with the 302 so I find having the four and six channel versions covers just about everything, you can also gang some of the channels for stereo which can be very useful at times.
 
GaryNattrass said:
I've looked at most of the mixers on the market and most of the cheap ones are not very well made, I had a sign video ENG44 for a while but sold it as the switches were not up to the job. That fostex had plastic switches and they tend to break very easily so the twelco is very robust and has very good features and build quality for the money.

Absolute audiophile quality is not required in most location sound recording and unless you are doing pro broadcast work and using the best mics money can buy etc you don't need to spend huge amounts on sound it these days. That said all my kit is budget sourced but is still up to broadcast standards and the twelco mixers are about as good as you can get unless you can afford a sound devices but two channels is very limiting as it three with the 302 so I find having the four and six channel versions covers just about everything, you can also gang some of the channels for stereo which can be very useful at times.
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What do you consider cheap when it comes to mixers? 1k€, 0.5k€, 2k€? And what do you consider audiophile quality? How would you rate my future to be audio rig = tascam dr100 + SD mixpre-d ?
 
BRH said:
Not endless delays. Already in UK. Was not introduced ages ago, but prototype last April.
I got an email from American Musical, Fostex US Distributer, claimed will be shipping in USA this April.
What is there to "sync" with new 5D? Have you ever used a cassette audio recorder? Reel to Reel? Much better quality and less expensive.
Most likely better than Handheld type audio recorders.
Click to expand...

Not in the UK, still a pre-order item according to Pinknoise. Proto type was introduced almost a year ago at NAB with the Pix 220/240, they have been out for quite a while, but this has not.
What is to sync? The audio and video can roll simultaneously with the press of one RED button. No more double button manipulations. Which also means that not only is your in-camera backup audio in sync with the image, but also the recorder's, with exact in and out. Further, not everyone will be buying the new 5D, so this is pretty helpful.

Cassetter recorder.? Reel to reel?...not so relevant to this thread I think. But yes, I use to use Nagra's in the old days.
 
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