Tascam DR-701D - what do you think?

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
In the grand tradition of discussing new Tascam DSLR field recorders (such as the DR-70D here), we have this one:

Tascam DR-701D

Seems like an interesting feature set, with all-magnesium build, although it comes with a hefty price increase over the 70D of $600, as seen here on B&H

DR-701D 6-Track Field Recorder

What do you think? With the DR-70D going sometimes for as low as $190 on sale occasionally, is the DR-701D worth the $600?
 
Well this feature set looks like it's aiming more at Sound Devices market so in that range it's a real bargain. I paid more for my first portable DAT machine and that was basically a "Walkman" DAT recorder. Actually a LOT more when you figure inflation.

With TC and the ability to pull that TC from an HDMI feed, I suspect this will be popular for more professional users, low budget filmmakers but not so much with the no budget and student film crowd.

THe better case also makes it attractive to FX recordists, though they don't need the TC or mixdown so?

Plus if you mix an over heating lithium battery with a magnesium body you have an emergency flare you can see for miles ;~)
 
Indeed, I was looking to see what in my use scenarios would compel me to get this and leave my 70D at home. I'm not sure so far, but there are some nice upgrades, f.ex. better headphone output of 50+50 vs 20+20 on the 70D, that right there means I don't need to bring along my $150 headphone amp - so that would have subtracted $150 from the $600 and saved me an additional piece of gear to lug around. Some things I don't have enough experience to tell how much difference it would make in practice, but f.ex. the S/N is 100dB vs 92 on the 70D and input noise 124dBu vs 120dBu on the 70D. It can use higher memory cards officially, though I've never felt card size to be a limitation. If the 3.5mm OUT noise issue that plagues the 70D has been fixed in the 701D, then that would've saved me $30 on the Sescom cable, and one less thing to bring. More control over individual limiters plus GANG function - not something I use much, so not essential to me. However, I'm curious to see how this compares to the Zoom F8 as a value proposition, granted the 2 extra tracks on the F8.
 
It looks like a respectable replacement for my venerable Tascam HD-P2, which I've been holding onto for many years and through several generations of smaller and cheaper recorders, because nothing else in the sub-$1000 range offered equally good meters or timecode functions. The HDMI start/stop and timecode transfer sound like excellent features, and it's smaller and sturdier than my old machine, probably with better preamps, and 4/6 tracks, of course.

This, of course, implies that I'm thinking of it mainly as a standalone bag machine, an economy alternative to one of the SD recorders. I'm not sure what I would think if I were strictly in the market for a DSLR audio companion, since the 70D already seems pretty serviceable for that and is a LOT cheaper.

- Greg
 
I use the 60D which pretty well hits the features for corporate interviews and such - but it doesn't have tons of gain, and the meters are wonky - I can be spiking the meters on it and end up with fairly weak waveforms. Though I've found with some DSLR that have mic level controls and meters, the scratch track I send to the camera is very clean and I generally use that more than the Tascam tracks. It's a handy preamp if all your gain is staged properly.

This new unit, it seems like you're paying for time code and more tracks. As someone mentioned above, won't be popular for low budget, but it could get serious sound guys starting out into a higher level of the game for a decent price.
 
New_Zealand said:
I have been looking at this setup - anyone used it before?

http://www.adorama.com/TSDR70DB.html
Click to expand...

Not sure what you're asking... if you're asking about the DR-70D, then see the link to a long discussion of the DR-70D in the very first post starting this thread. If you're asking about the ATH-M40x headphones, then I personally have no experience, but the usual choice for monitoring headphones in film/video sound circles is the Sony MDR7506 (or MDR-V6) and the Sennheiser HD-280 Pro. If you're asking how the DR-70D would interact with the ATH-M40x, then I doubt there are enough people using this combo to come across this thread and respond. The other elements of this bundle are some stock batteries and a cable, but that's pretty generic so nothing much to say about that.
 
Looks as if Tascam more closely matched the performance of the 70D to the 680mkii. On paper, they look pretty close now. Would have been nice if Tascam could have at least done the same for the mkii by adding time code and dedicated fader knobs. That seems like a more suitable unit for these upgrades.
 
I was talking about the DR-70D. But thanks for the info on headphones will check them out and the link that the op posted.
 
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