Tascam DR-680 wow!

Blackout

Blackout

Veteran
This thing looks amazing:

http://www.tascam.com/products/dr-680.html

Same size as the hd-p2 but records 8 tracks at a time.

4 xlr ins 2 1/4 ins and 1 rca stereo in....

At the SAME price point as the hd-p2 so I imagine they are going to reduce the price on the hd-p2 or kill it because it would make no sense to buy that now.


Haven't got my hands on it yet for a review but I'm hoping the preamps are better too.. every generation they seem to get better.. in a pinhc, you could record your boom and 3 lavs to this thing without a mixer! and record a master stereo / mono track at the same time while having the individual tracks safe.

Amazing.. and only $800
 
Blackout said:
At the SAME price point as the hd-p2 so I imagine they are going to reduce the price on the hd-p2 or kill it because it would make no sense to buy that now.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I completely disagree with you!

First, HD-P2 writes Broadcast WAV files up to 192khz at 24bit whereas DR680 only records them at 96khz. This is probably why Tascam themselves have put the 2 recorders in 2 different categories in their website.

You can find the HD-P2 is in the "HIGH RESOLUTION RECORDERS" and DR680 in the "SOLID STATE RECORDERS".

Second, and probably the most important difference, DR680 hasn't TC capabilities! And this is one of the features that makes a true film sound recorder.

If you are a music sound recorder I can understand if you go with the DR680, but if you are a film sound recorder the HD-P2 is the way to go. Tascam knows that, and that's why they didn't announce a HD-P2 replacement, they have announced a new recorder on its own!
 
Sorry Naavt but that is pretty much BS. NOBODY is recording production sound at 96 let alone 192, and no recorders had TC until recently. TC is a much bigger deal with the Video folks than it ever was with film. Film doesn't have TC. And if you really NEED TC then you need tri-level sync and neither does that. I do agree that I don't see a lot of conflict between the two. If I need a good two track recorder I don't want to haul around an eight track. From what I gather the eight track is much more of a cart deck, so for over the shoulder and ENG work I would probably go with the two track.

The "categories" that the recorders are in were probably picked by some marketing who-ha that doesn't even know what the red button is for. I would put zero stock in that.

Cheers
SK


naavt said:
Sorry if I completely disagree with you!

First, HD-P2 writes Broadcast WAV files up to 192khz at 24bit whereas DR680 only records them at 96khz. This is probably why Tascam themselves have put the 2 recorders in 2 different categories in their website.

You can find the HD-P2 is in the "HIGH RESOLUTION RECORDERS" and DR680 in the "SOLID STATE RECORDERS".

Second, and probably the most important difference, DR680 hasn't TC capabilities! And this is one of the features that makes a true film sound recorder.

If you are a music sound recorder I can understand if you go with the DR680, but if you are a film sound recorder the HD-P2 is the way to go. Tascam knows that, and that's why they didn't announce a HD-P2 replacement, they have announced a new recorder on its own!
Click to expand...
 
naavt said:
Sorry if I completely disagree with you!

First, HD-P2 writes Broadcast WAV files up to 192khz at 24bit whereas DR680 only records them at 96khz. This is probably why Tascam themselves have put the 2 recorders in 2 different categories in their website.
...
Click to expand...

BTW from that web site
"In addition to WAV recording up to 96kHz, the DR-680 captures stereo audio at 192kHz/24-bit for audiophile-quality masters."

Cheers
SK
 
OK took a peak. My guess was about right. Levels are a menu thing so not great at all over the shoulder. Display is a bit crowded, looks a little Fostex like. BUT at $900 it's the production recorder I would probably get (if I didn't have the $$ for Sound Devices). For FX recording it would also be a sinch, unless the sound sucks or it has some other BIG issue. Even if I'm going to be recording two track 99% of the time, I would still opt for the extra channels. I could have used them last week. I'm either two track or computer bound so a nice in-betweener would have been great since I needed 3-4.
 
Noiz2 said:
Sorry Naavt but that is pretty much BS. NOBODY is recording production sound at 96 let alone 192
Click to expand...

Everybody's talking about uncompressed video nowadays but seems that their recording audio with their HD cameras with ac3 compressed audio. I know that nobody does it, but if you want it, it's there.


Noiz2 said:
and no recorders had TC until recently. TC is a much bigger deal with the Video folks than it ever was with film. Film doesn't have TC.
Click to expand...

If my memory doesn't betray me TC was invented in the early 60s when news reels where directly influenced by direct-cinema. It was a great outcome then to edit those news reels at a fast pace, it continues to add a great amount of easiness to video workflow today. By "film sound recorder" I was meaning video as film, as I suppose 99,9 percent of the users here are in that category (at leat the ones who want to make films, not another kind of products).


Noiz2 said:
And if you really NEED TC then you need tri-level sync and neither does that.
Click to expand...

Tascam's HD-P2 has tri-level sync.



Noiz2 said:
I do agree that I don't see a lot of conflict between the two. If I need a good two track recorder I don't want to haul around an eight track. From what I gather the eight track is much more of a cart deck, so for over the shoulder and ENG work I would probably go with the two track.
Click to expand...

Completely agree, that's why I ended my previous post the way I did.

Noiz2 said:
The "categories" that the recorders are in were probably picked by some marketing...
Click to expand...

Completely agree also, but that doesn't change the fact that Tascam's sees their 2 recorders differently.

Cheers
SK[/quote]
 
naavt said:
Everybody's talking about uncompressed video nowadays but seems that their recording audio with their HD cameras with ac3 compressed audio. I know that nobody does it, but if you want it, it's there.
Click to expand...
When I said nobody I was refering to feature films with big budgets. Folks shooting video, especially on super small budgets, do all kinds of stupid things. But when quality is king and the budget is there to shoot whatever, production is shot at 48/24.
And the point is moot since this box also does 192 at two tracks. So the only difference in that department is that this box allows you an extra six tracks at a slightly less ridiculously high sample rate.

If my memory doesn't betray me TC was invented in the early 60s when news reels where directly influenced by direct-cinema. It was a great outcome then to edit those news reels at a fast pace, it continues to add a great amount of easiness to video workflow today. By "film sound recorder" I was meaning video as film, as I suppose 99,9 percent of the users here are in that category (at leat the ones who want to make films, not another kind of products).
Click to expand...

There is NO TC on film. Nagra's used PILOT TONE, and crystal synced cameras didn't use TC. TC is a video and audio thing. It was/is used in post during mixing when locking up to DA88's and later Digital dubbers but analog dubbers were bi-phase and didn't use TC. It was developed in the late 60's for use on 2" VTR's. By the 70's and 80's it was used a lot in video and later in audio for synchronizing multiple tape decks.
It came in in a big way in the late 80's and 90's in film post because video became the way most sound editors worked with picture, but not till DAW's were coming in. There was a short time where sequencers were running off TC synced to video to fire cues to be recorded to analog tape but that was real short. It is still used in post to sync the DAW to film/video. But for feature film work it was not that common. Now that all the flash recorders give a time stamp, it makes some sense to have that time stamp match every body else's time stamp. But that would only be possible for the higher end video cameras anyway. Film cameras don't use TC and neither to the DSLR cameras. A lot of the cameras used to make films by folks on this list also don't accept external TC and have Word Clock in's so then TC is just a number to get you close anyway. So for the ??5% of folks on this list that TC is important for yes this is not the recorder for you. For the other 95% it's something to look at.

Tascam's HD-P2 has tri-level sync.
Click to expand...

Your right I missed that.



Completely agree also, but that doesn't change the fact that Tascam's sees their 2 recorders differently.
Click to expand...

Well yes, one is a eight track recorder and one is a two track. One is really design to sit on it's bottom on a surface and the other is designed to go over the shoulder. One has easy one hand access to the controls and big meters the other is designed for someone who can get two hands on the box when making adjustments and needs more inputs and can get a good close look at the much smaller meters. They are different boxes. But again I would caution against taking anything from marketing as a reflection of how the company as a whole views a product. Put them on the same page and "category" and you will hurt HD-P2 sales, a lot. Point out the differences and you won't, so much.
 
Doug Oade from Oade Brothers mods told me he hasn't (to date) been impressed with the DR series recorders from Tascam. I asked him if he planned a mod for the new DR680's preamps, and that's what he said. He will study it later but is in no rush. Right now the best bang for your buck is the Edirol R-44 with the Oade Brother's "Super Mod" or "Concert Mod". Both come straight from Oade Brothers, already modded, and only 50.00 or so more than the stock unit from B&H. The 8 tracks would be sweet, but the preamps are suspect IMO. Maybe some people over on TaperSection have done a real review, not written by the company itself.

R-44 from B&H (Good page for specs)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...0_DR_680_8_Track_Portable_Field.html#features

From Oade Brothers with "Super Mod (Best for dialogue)
http://www.oade.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=OBA&Category_Code=EDIR44-Super

Concert Mod (Best for live music)
http://www.oade.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=OBA&Category_Code=EDIR44-Concert
 
I'm really interested in the 680, I mean it looks awesome. I'd love to hear from someone who has actually used it as I'm thinking of getting one.
 
Who the heck needs use time code sync in the age of digital? Even my cruddy zoom h4n has not drifted a frame on me in long recordings...

Maybe if you are still using betacam sp.... but what the hell would you be doing that for?

I agree with the other posters the most important thing is the preamps and can you adjust levels easily on the fly if levels are in menu that bites...
 
Can someone else please bug Doug Oade to look into a mod for this unit? I have once already. It's not a priority for him yet.
 
DVeStore loaned our Tascam DR-680 out to a real-world professional for a review. We're going to try to get more gear out into professionals hands for reviews - good or bad. I'm happy to report that in this instance, the DR-680 exceeded expectations in the field. I'm really glad too because I'm sure the reviewer would have ripped it a new one had it not been up to par.

Here's a video clip of Steve Oakley of http://www.practicali.com/ breakin' it down so you can get more of a feel of what this unit is capable of.

 
I've seen that Guy. It's very intriguing. I still need to feel better about the preamps. The Edirol R-44 has 4 preamps, and this DR-680 has 6. Logic would say that they are putting less money into their preamps. I'm not dogging this unit by any means. I want one for the added channels, but I need to hear some comparisons or at least some tests that go beyond using the unit in optimal conditions. Like recording a quiet talker and turning up the file in post - how much noise is caused by the unit itself?

I'm also not so keen on there being only one dial to make level adjustments with. The guy doesn't say what yu need to do to get to another track. How many button pushes does it take to get to adjust the level on the fly?

I want to make it clear that I am rooting for the DR-680!
 
well as that guy you refer to :)

you can bypass the preamps by going line level

and as for how many button presses, 0-2 depending on :

0 : you are in rec trim screen, have channel active
1 : you are in rec trim screen, and hit the channel you want to adjust
2: you are in another screen, hit Rec Trim, then channel you want to adjust. default is CH1 so you might be there already.

the preamps are pretty clean. don't engage the mic Low Level switch, leave it in high as it puts about -26db of padding on. you will not hear any hiss with a decent mic properly placed recording at normal levels. 24bits helps, even if you are really only recording 17-19 bits... they count !
 
If you need multitrack, portability, and are recording live sound, it is a good deal. The noise floor, while still slightly higher than for example the Fostex FR2-LE, is still well below what you would get in any kind of location. In addition, you can clock it to a digital preamp, like a Grace or an RME, and get pristine quality on your main pair of mics. Even running four mics you have the option to save a downmix on two more channels, and it is a nifty backup for ppl with high end gear who are tired of lugging around the 24 track HDR. It isn't a Sonosax, but at that price point you get a lot.
 
A review of my experiences with the TASCAM DR-680 at over 100 degrees operating temps

A review of my experiences with the TASCAM DR-680 at over 100 degrees operating temps

I chose the DR-680 because it recorded to a flash drive, I used 32gb sd cards, rather then to a hard drive, I felt the flash drive would be less likely to fail due to rough roads, airline travel, dust, and wind, with varying humidity. I also liked the 6 channels available for discreet recording. I did not need time code, as we were not using a clapper or sync time code, we were shooting on two 5d’s.

Things I loved: Portable, very light, the flash drive performed excellently, it has 48V Phantom for my boom mic (see also things I didn’t love). It ran almost nonstop for two 36 hour shifts

Things I Didn’t Love: Heat not so good! The manual says its maximum operating temperature is 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Let me tell you what happens after that. My DR-680 was in a portabrace bag with air space all around on the left and right sides, it was hugged close to the case on the bottom and had some air space on its top, then on the other side of a divider were 4 lectrosonics receivers. In the first days of shooting we were told the ground temp got to around 109, after quite a while I noticed a buzz in the boom, I turned off the 48 Volt power supply and that eliminated the buzz. I had to run without the boom for a little while to let it cool off. The other channels that didn’t require 48volt power would operate fine. A day later we had another shoot and we were fine until the temp reached close to 115, I had learned just to take breaks inside the air conditioning, but this time we had to run for an extended time outside shooting a scene. So up pops an error message that says “device error”, no other remedy would work, I tried cooling it down, the only way to get rid of the error message according to the manual was to unplug it, I lost all the files since the last shutdown. This device has to be shutdown and given time to complete the writing of the files to the sd card otherwise if you just pull the power you are not saving your files. Lesson learned, from that time on I frequently in between scenes shut down and then started up again in order to save the files.

Ed Anderson
Ronhillimagery.com
 
Ed,

at least they warned you and weren't kidding. Other than the heat issue problem, would you buy it again?

Grant
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top