Tascam DR-70D - what do you think?

I like to mount this recorder below the camera(below a set of rods as well) but as hard as I try I can not have the unit 100% absolutely rock solid. And it will normally come lose within a short amount of time allowing the camera to slowly rotate. Has anyone come up with a solution to mounting this below the camera (& set of rods) so it's rock solid? Not sure why they (tascam) couldn't of placed two 1/4-20 mounting screws to prevent any and all rotation there is plenty of real estate.

Any diy solutions would be appreciated.

thanks, craig
 
I have the GH3 and the DR70D, and recently I have recorded on the GH3 passing the signal through the 70D 3.5mm OUT (usually I just record onto the DR70D). I don't hear any excess noise on those GH3 recordings. Question: how do I replicate the problem people are seeing? I have a project coming up wherein I will be recording to the GH3 through the 70D, and I don't want to be caught out with a bunch of noise, so I'd like to be able to reproduce the problem ahead of time, so that I can test to see if I need the Sescom -25dB attenuation cable folks are using to solve this issue... however, before I spend $30 I'd like to be able to reliably reproduce the problem - I assume if it's present on the GH4, then it'll be present on the GH3 too (right?). So: any tips on how get the wonky S/N issue to manifest itself on my GH3+70D combo? TIA!
 
OldCorpse said:
I have the GH3 and the DR70D, and recently I have recorded on the GH3 passing the signal through the 70D 3.5mm OUT (usually I just record onto the DR70D). I don't hear any excess noise on those GH3 recordings.
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It won't be something you can hear straight out of the camera, unless you've got your headphone gain turned way up.

The difference we are referring to is 55 dB of dynamic range ( MIC level from the DR-70D ) versus 72+ dB of dynamic range. ( LINE level from the DR-70D connected to your camera with a Sescom cable with a built-in 25 dB pad )

Most people will have a tough time telling the difference between -55 dB noise and -72 dB noise, but if you raise the volume of your recording by 15 dB in your audio editor, you should definitely hear a big difference. You should hear the -40 dB noise-floor, but you likely won't hear the -62 dB noise floor from the recording made with the Sescom cable.

So you might say "Why bother? The -55 dB noise-floor works for me.", but this only works if you don't raise the volume of your recording in post. ( I often boost the audio level of people speaking with quiet voices to balance them out with the people who can fill the room without even trying. ) And sometimes in a rushed shoot I might accidentally set the recording level too low, so I need the dynamic range to fix my mistake in post.

OldCorpse said:
Question: how do I replicate the problem people are seeing? ... I assume if it's present on the GH4, then it'll be present on the GH3 too (right?).
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Yes, it's a DR-70D issue not a camera issue.

But it will be harder to spot when recording with a GH3 camera because the GH3 has a noise-floor of -63 dB, so it's only 8 dB quieter than the noisy DR-70D set-up. The GH4 has a noise-floor of -70 dB, so the difference is 15 dB between the self-noise of the GH4 itself and the self-noise of the bad DR-70D set-up when outputting MIC level from it's 3.5mm output.

If you're uncertain about buying the Sescom cable, just make some test recordings with your GH3, and if you're happy with the results then you're all set.

BTW, the noise-floor of the internal recording made by the DR-70D when set to 48 kHz 24-bit is -80 dB, so you can always record on both your DR-70D and your GH3 at the same time, then use the DR-70D recording if you hear noise in the GH3 recording.
 
Hey TheDingo, thanks a bunch, that makes sense - good point on probably needing to push up the volume in post. I guess my old ears couldn't hear the noise without the volume way up :). Anyhow, I'll get the Sescom cable and hope for the best.
 
Well that all depends. I have both. Supposedly the preamps have been improved in the 70D compared to 60D, so it would stand to reason that the 70D would sound better, but in practice it's not so simple to determine. If I just listen to the recordings from both (using the same mic etc.), I can't tell the difference, but it's also possible that if you push things in post you might hear some kind of difference - maybe. But there are other things to consider (and I'm not referring to the noise from the 3.5 OUT on the 70D) in usage. For one, of course, you have 4 xlr inputs on the 70D and 2 on the 60D; different form factors - go to the respective Tascam pages and see all the differences. But to me there are other factors too - I vastly prefer the 60D UI, which has more dedicated buttons that I find myself using, rather than having things buried in menus like on the 70D. When I bought the 70D, I thought that I would never again use the 60D, but that didn't transpire to be true - there are many scenarios where I actually prefer the 60D. So, the answer, as so often, is "depends on your needs". Btw., the 60D has been superseded by the 60Dmkii (I have the original 60D), so if I were to get a 60D rather than the 70D, I'd go for the 60Dmkii rather than the 60D - at these low prices, I can't imagine it's worth saving the couple of bucks in getting the older 60D compared to the 60Dmkii. YMMV.
 
craigS said:
I like to mount this recorder below the camera(below a set of rods as well) but as hard as I try I can not have the unit 100% absolutely rock solid. And it will normally come lose within a short amount of time allowing the camera to slowly rotate. Has anyone come up with a solution to mounting this below the camera (& set of rods) so it's rock solid?
Click to expand...

Other than tightening it all up, you could affix a piece (or two, separately) of very thin rubber to the surface of DR70.


craigS said:
Not sure why they (tascam) couldn't of placed two 1/4-20 mounting screws to prevent any and all rotation there is plenty of real estate.
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I haven't seen a DSLR or like camera having two 1/4-20 sockets on its bottom side, to accept two such screws. That's the reason why.
 
I just got the DR-70D and it seems ok. I do have one big issue though. I'm using it with a Sound Devices 302 as a mixer/pre amp. If I have dual record mode on my primary tracks it sounds incredible no noise, but the secondary backup up tracks are loaded with noise and hiss. It doesn't matter how -db they set at either -1 is as bad as -12 still the same hiss!

But what's worse if I turn dual record mode off my primary tracks get filled with hiss and noise!!!! No matter what I do if don't use dual record everything is recorded with lots of hiss straight on to the SD card of the DR-70D. But if I leave it on my backup tracks have the hiss which them pretty lousy backups, but my main tracks sound great. Is this a software problem? Or a hardware problem?
 
Chaos123x said:
I just got the DR-70D and it seems ok. I do have one big issue though. I'm using it with a Sound Devices 302 as a mixer/pre amp. If I have dual record mode on my primary tracks it sounds incredible no noise, but the secondary backup up tracks are loaded with noise and hiss. It doesn't matter how -db they set at either -1 is as bad as -12 still the same hiss!

But what's worse if I turn dual record mode off my primary tracks get filled with hiss and noise!!!! No matter what I do if don't use dual record everything is recorded with lots of hiss straight on to the SD card of the DR-70D. But if I leave it on my backup tracks have the hiss which them pretty lousy backups, but my main tracks sound great. Is this a software problem? Or a hardware problem?
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Wow. Freaky.

This sounds like a combination possibly of BOTH.

And NO, this doesn't sound right.

OK - tell us exactly what you're doing in the chain from beginning to end.
What cables exactly and what outputs you're using on the 302 and at what settings.
Which inputs on the DR-70D and at what settings.
Try to be as specific and detailed as possible. This could even be an unintended consequence of everything just responding badly to that one magical BAD wiring configuration that causes otherwise decent hardware (for the price) to go south.
 
The described symptoms would indicate a problem with the DR70, eliminate a wiring and/or level issue, as DP stated.
I'm not familiar with that particular machine so re-confirm the recorder's menu settings as well in case there's something you overlooked.
 
I can unplug all the cables except for my headphones and I still get the hiss, turn dual record mode on and the hiss goes away. If I have my headphones plugged into the line out it is louder then the headphone jack but still there. The hiss goes away even on the line out output with dual record mode activated.



Always get the his no matter what mic settings are used line, mic, mic+phantom, off. I can get even with all four inputs tuned off and nothing plugged into it. But turn dual record mode on and it's perfect. (Except for the backup tracks).
 
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Ok so double checked everything and confirmed that I can get a clean signal by inputting my ntg3 directly into Channel 1 with out without dual record mode. Channel 2, 3, and 4 all have hiss even when bypassing the 302 and going directly into the recorder.
 
Chaos123x said:
I just got the DR-70D and it seems ok. I do have one big issue though. I'm using it with a Sound Devices 302 as a mixer/pre amp.
Click to expand...

I own both the DR-70D and a Sound Devices MixPre-D, so I might be able to confirm this issue if you can post a simple recipe to illustrate the problem.
 
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