Tascam DR-60D : How Many Settings Is Enough? :-)

Ricky1974 - That is a real shame that Tascam won't honor the warranty. If it wasn't available in Australia at the time you purchased it, why penalize you for purchasing it elsewhere? Silly and inexcusable.

Could you mail the unit to someone in the US to get it repaired under warranty? Maybe the repair is something you could pay for locally in Australia at lower cost, but it still seems wrong that you'd have to pay at all.

Best of luck to ya.
 
Typically the cost of warrranty repair is included in the cut of profit that the distributor gets. That is why the Australian distributor doesn't want to do it, because they don't bet paid for it, and few of us work for free.

It sounds to me like the US distributor didn't refuse to repair it, they just won't cover international shipping/customs, etc. which seems reasonable to me also. They are not an international distributor and have not build that kind of expense into their budget for selling price.

I am no apologist for Tascam and I have no relationship to them, but I think Tascam is getting a bad rap here. I think you guys have unreasonable expectations of companies who are in business to make a profit for their investors (else you wouldn't have any gear to use). This is quite typical of consumer products and has been the business model for decades.

Sorry to disappoint, but that Tascam DR60D is NOT "professional equipment" in the sense that you seem to seek. If you had paid $5000 for a piece of gear like that from Sound Devices or Nagra or Aaton, et.al. then you could expect "professional-level support" likely around the world. But that is "prosumer" gear at best and it is a consumer-level commodity item with a lot of technology packed into a small piece of gear at a very attractive price for the functionality.

Repairing or replacing that XLR connector is not rocket surgery. Any competent repair person should be able to remove and replace it. I would probably do it myself if this happened to me.
 
Richard - Thanks for your insight on this.

I realize Tascam doesn't currently offer the DR-40 at Ricky's location, so expecting Tascam to cover shipping cost is unrealistic. I imagine this is one of those "gray market" issues, where "buyer beware" could apply.

I agree that the XLR repair is probably not difficult to do, but what if the repair was more beyond the ability of the user, or required a unique replacement part? I don't think any sub-$5000 product should be deemed unworthy of warranty support just because it isn't "pro" gear.
 
davidp158 said:
I don't think any sub-$5000 product should be deemed unworthy of warranty support just because it isn't "pro" gear.
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There is no discussion here about "unworthy of warranty support". From my reading here, the only dispute is on logistics of shipping back to the point of purchase (and back again). This is exactly the same situation for virtually EVERYTHING you buy anywhere on the planet. Dunno why people expect things for free?
 
Ricky1974 said:
As I bought this from USA, Tascam Australia will not repair it. I have been told by Tascam USA that since I don’t live in the USA they will not repair it and send it back to me.
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Hi Ricky,

Sorry to hear about your woes - I have also been a little concerned repairs in Oz and knew that the warranty didn't apply outside the country of purchase but didn't realise that Tascam would not undertake a paid local repair (do I understand you correctly?)

However, I have noticed that a number of local suppliers, including Turramurra Music and Videoguys have started stocking the DR-60D so local support can't be too far away. Perhaps the dealers can tell you more about the support arrangement for their stock.

It doesn't look like the Hong Hua XLR connectors used in the DR-60D are easily available so it may not be too simple to replace them yourself but a bent locking lever should not be too tricky to straighten or remove completely - I suppose that at the very worst, you can use cables with plastic XLR male connectors with the locking tabs cut through.

I have to agree with Richard though: the DR-60D is not priced as a professional product so, expectations about the build quality should be likewise tempered. Refusing to undertake paid local repairs is a different matter though and I do hope this will be rectified shortly.
 
Russiana007 said:
Thanks you for founding this bog. I notice this also but could not fix. I think 60d is still boggy. I am glad you save us.
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In case you've missed it, the limiter bug has been fixed in the latest firmware update (1.20).

It seems that they did manage to reproduce the bug I reported after all - would have been nice if they had said so but I'm very grateful for the quick fix!
 
Ricky1974 said:
I have just purchased the Tascam RD60D 11/4/13.
Despite the fact that it is a beautiful piece of electronics, on my 5th use (with the same mic cable each time) the XLR input clip stuck and I was unable to remove the XLR.
When I finally did get the XLR out the clip was bent and I’m afraid that putting another XLR in will be locked in permanently.


As I bought this from USA, Tascam Australia will not repair it. I have been told by Tascam USA that since I don’t live in the USA they will not repair it and send it back to me.


If I had bought this recorder from Australia (by the way it’s not yet available in Australia) and then traveled over seas for a job and had a problems with it, Tascam would not authorise the repair unless I sent it back to Australia, leaving me high and dry with out a recorder?
(This is a big concern as I do travel on video projects)


If video is a hobby, you may consider this a great piece of equipment, though probably too expensive for a hobbyist.


But unfortunately I can no longer consider nor recommend this as a professional product. Due to the likelihood that the XLR input clips could get stuck at any time and render the DR-60D useless.


It’s a shame about the inferior XLR input clips.
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Ricky,

This is just so typical of the issues of purchasing grey market goods; in this case a USA product in Oz land. In the video cam world, buying grey market cams in the USA is often less expensive than a USA cam, but since not distributed by the USA distributor, the warranty is usually out the window. In this case, you bought a USA product, but it is grey market to Oz distribution. What were your expectations, were any questions asked? Did the seller offer any details? This really sounds pretty naive about all this and you had false expectations with regard to the warranty. If the product isn't offered in your country, why would you expect a warranty in your country?

FWIW, I've had a couple of Tascam USA interactions and they (Tascam) have been top notch, quick, friendly, and generous to a fault. The likelyhood is that if it is a USA product, Tascam would repair the product if sent to the USA.

If you purchased this from somewhere like BH, or a reputable dealer, they have pretty generous return policies within a time period. A good dealer may run interference for you on this. BH has done this for me several times. If you purchased from eBay or a crook outfit, you may be just out of luck.

Grant
 
For those who have a Tascam DR 60 - I have been trying to figure out the backup file option (lower decibel).

Can you have two mics and still get two backup copies?

I used to work with a Tascam DR 40 - with one shotgun mic it was great to get a backup copy. But with two mics, the backup option was gone.

I think the DR 60 can do it but I can't seem to figure out. I have googled a bit and no clear instructions have been found.

Thanks!
 
Since Ricky is using the product at least semi-professionally. The way to have done it was to call Tascam and say he was doing a shoot in Oz, and the recorder broke. No info about why and where he bought it.

Some problems I see with that. The first is they do not sell that recorder as professional gear. Second air express both ways (about the only way this is going to be believable) is going to cost about as much as a new recorder. If the Oz distributor does not sell that model they are not going to have parts, expertise, nor a replacement to send out, so they probably could not help even if they wanted to.

Anyone using gear professionally, especially consumer grade gear, ought to have a spare. If both units crap out on the same job, then that is a clear indication it is not up to the job.
 
graywolf said:
Anyone using gear professionally, especially consumer grade gear, ought to have a spare. If both units crap out on the same job, then that is a clear indication it is not up to the job.
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Unfortunately to the client it would be a clear indication that I "wasn't up to the job"...
 
Alex H. said:
Don't know if you noticed, but the original conversation is over three years old.
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Nope, I did not, I got here from looking at New Posts. But I think the info is useful for others who may be in a similar situation, or I would not have posted it.
 
MattinSTL said:
$350?!

They're going to sell a million of these.
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Is funny looking back from a historical perspective, now it is 2017.

As the street price was so much lower (and now these days you can pick up a secondhand DR60D mk1 for under a hundred bucks!!), which just made it even more of an amazing bargain!!

I hope Tascam really did sell a million of them! ha

As it deserves that. It was (and still is! Though I'd recommend the DR60D mk2 or DR70D instead) a great product which was groundbreaking for its value (like the Zoom F4/F8 is today, but at a higher price point and functionality).


I started out (if you don't count my Zoom H1 ages ago) with a DR60D mk1 as my first foray into specialising into location sound recording :-)
 
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