Tascam DR-100 MKII on sale at Amazon

B

BillStrehl

Active member
I hope it is okay to post this. There is a 15% off sale today (no idea how long the sale lasts). The regular price is currently $270.00. The 15% off equals $40.50. Free shipping is included. I also got the AC power adapter (PSP520) for $22.10 at the same time to take advantage of the free shipping.
 
Yes, it's an exceptional price for this unit, especially after the current 15% discount. Cheapest I've seen. The sale has been going on for some time now, I bought it in February during the same sale, though I don't know when it will end.

Link for the lazy: http://amzn.to/dr100mk2

Note that there are many other products also eligible for the audio sale, but that you need to purchase the items directly from Amazon to get the discount.
 
djmfoxtrot said:
Thanks for making the post announcing the sale. Just bought one now just 16 left.
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Your welcome. I've been scouring as many websites as I can to get more info on the recorder and for what it's worth a couple additional thoughts.

If you are going to be feeding the line out of the recorder into a camera Sescom makes 2 devices to attentuate the signal to the proper level. One is a cable: http://www.sescom.com/product.asp?item=LN2MIC-TASDR100 and the other is a stereo volume control: SES-MKP-27; http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._27_SES_MKP_27_Professional_Stereo_3_5mm.html
The cable attentuates the output by 35db. The volume control gives you the flexibility of allowing you to adjust the attentuation. It also requires you to supply two cables and it's possible to bump the knob.
I think I am going to try the volume control.

The other thing to know is that if you use mikes requiring phantom power your battery time will be quite short. Tascam makes a separate add on battery source using 6 AA batteries: http://tascam.com/product/bp-6aa/ (Cost about $28, not including batteries)
Based upon my calculations, this device can supply 17/18 Watt-Hours of power (1.2volts x 6 [batteries] x 2400mAh/2500mAh).
From what I read on taperssection.com the best choice in AA batteries are those that are rechargeable.

I started looking around at other solutions in rechargeble batteries from Tekkeon. They can provide a lot more watt hours, but at a higher price. For instance the MP3450i R2 provides 58 watt hours. With this unit, from what I can determine, you can use the USB 5 volt port to hook to the Tascam. It also looks like it might be possible to hook it up to the 5 volt DC in on the side. (Cost about $145)
 
Many Thanks for posting this. I've been procrastinating on a new field recorder for a while now, this post finally got me to pull the trigger. Looks like an awesome unit for the price.

Am a little concerned over the phantom power issue though. As I understand it, as long as I can feed it 5vdc from an external source I'm good to go ??
 
pixelated said:
Many Thanks for posting this. I've been procrastinating on a new field recorder for a while now, this post finally got me to pull the trigger. Looks like an awesome unit for the price.

Am a little concerned over the phantom power issue though. As I understand it, as long as I can feed it 5vdc from an external source I'm good to go ??
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The short answer is yes.

I should be getting my recorder on Monday and will do some tests to better answer the question. I have both a Rode NTG-2 and a Rode NTG-3 so I'll try each one and use only the internal Lithium Ion battery along with some fresh Duracell AA's to determine how much external power I will want. I haven't done a lot to learn about battery architecture but I can say that you will want to use rechargeable AA's for the two internal batteries.

Here is the best overall review I have found and it discusses the results of selecting either the Lithium Ion or the AA batteries as your primary voltage source: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=152321.0
He also discusses what happens if you only have one battery installed and what happens if the unit has external power.

What he doesn't cover is the run time with phantom powered mikes as he appears to not own any. You can start at this point in the forum where other people start discussing battery life when using phantom power: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=152321.105

So the long answer is that if you supply 5 volts with the proper amount of current and you've selected the correct battery sequence you should be good to go.

Hope this helps.
 
My recorder arrived today and after reading the manual (pg 49/50), you have to choose between Alkaline or Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries for the 2 AA internal batteries. So I figured, just get some Ni-MH batteries. I read that Sanyo Eneloops are good. Searched on that and found that there are different types. The Sanyo Eneloops XX have the highest mAh rating (milli-amp-hour). Somehow I found another brand with even higher ratings than the Sanyo Eneloop XX batteries. OH MY TOTO! So I did another search and found that there are a great deal of differences in batteries and depending on the particular use, you select a battery for that need. Here is a website I just found that discusses batteries in detail: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?298090-The-AA-NiMH-Performance-Test-Thread

I'll try and tackle that topic tomorrow.
 
After reading the candlepowerforums post about AA batteries it seems as though the Sanyo Eneloops is highly regarded because it retains its charge for long periods of time. There are currently 3/4 lines; eneloop. eneloop lite, eneleloop pro (XX) and and eneloop plus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eneloop but the eneloops website only list 3: http://www.eneloop.info/products/batteries.html The eneloop has a 1900/2000 mAh rating and can be recharged 1500 times. The eneloop pro (XX) has a 2400/2500 mAh rating but can only be recharged 500 times. The XX version also looks like it will begin to diminish in its' ability to retain a charge after one year.

I thought it would be interesting to know what the rating was for a Duracell MN1500 AA Alkaline battery, but the charts on the Duracell website don't provide a set number. Both it and the Energizer provide capacity based upon milliamp draw with a range or ratings from 1500 to 2850 mAh. http://www.duracell.com/media/en-US/pdf/gtcl/Product_Data_Sheet/NA_DATASHEETS/MN1500_US_CT.pdf
 
I tested the recorder today with my Rode NTG-3 which, according to Rode's website, draws 5mA: http://www.rodemic.com/mics/ntg-3

I set the unit at 16 bit, 48KHz and gain to high. I tried to keep the gain set so the signal was about -12dB which required the recorder to be set at between 3 and 5 out of 10 depending on what video I was watching. I held the mike to about 3 to 4 inches of the speaker. I recorded continuously until the recorder automatically stopped at about 44 minutes.

I removed the Li-Ion battery and ran from a pair of new Duracell MN1500 AAs.

I am not sure when the 1st bar on the battery indicator disappeared but I think that happened fairly quickly. The next bar disappeared at about 23 minutes leaving just one bar. The unit automatically stopped recording at about 44 minutes with a low battery indicator warning on the screen. The file was saved and appears to be fine.

In turning the unit off and then back on, the battery is showing 2 bars for the battery life display.

As an aside, I believe I could have doen the recording at mdeium gain abut at a higher setting.

Hopes this info is of some use to readers.
 
Mark Stevens said:
Oh no the price is up to $330 everywhere! Darn it that is even higher than before the amazon sale. Why did I wait? Facepalm.
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I just checked and the discount is still available. Try going directly to amazon. The other thing to know is that the discount is not applied until you login and select a form of payment
 
Mine arrived today! Very pleased with the apparent build quality, hope to put some miles on it this weekend. Many thanks for the battery info - it's very helpful. I'll be using this primarily behind a mixer that'll provide the phantom power for most work but still may occasionally use it direct behind my akg blue lines - will pass on any info as it occurs. Wouldn't you know that Marantz showed up in the for sale section right after I pulled the pin but I'm still happy with my decision.

Best wishes and Thanks again!
 
Mark Stevens said:
Oh no the price is up to $330 everywhere! Darn it that is even higher than before the amazon sale. Why did I wait? Facepalm.
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BillStrehl said:
I just checked and the discount is still available. Try going directly to amazon. The other thing to know is that the discount is not applied until you login and select a form of payment
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You're both right! Such is the reality of shopping on Amazon-- prices can fluctuate quite a bit.
To avoid buyers remorse as much as possible at the hands of Amazon's price jumps, I use CamelCamelCamel to check the pricing history of an item as well as to set alerts so I will know when the price drops at or below a desired price point.
 
Jive said:
You're both right! Such is the reality of shopping on Amazon-- prices can fluctuate quite a bit.
To avoid buyers remorse as much as possible at the hands of Amazon's price jumps, I use CamelCamelCamel to check the pricing history of an item as well as to set alerts so I will know when the price drops at or below a desired price point.
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Thanks for sharing. I was not aware of the site you mentioned. Any down side you know of if you use CamelCamelCamel?
 
BillStrehl said:
Thanks for sharing. I was not aware of the site you mentioned. Any down side you know of if you use CamelCamelCamel?
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The main downside is that it's free. Wait, that's not right. The real downside is that they track price changes so that you don't have to. Hmm, that's not right either... Aha! You can also track prices at other stores like Best Buy and Newegg-- that's gotta be a dowside, right? ;)
 
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