Using Tascam DR-40 as preamp

S

SDub

Well-known member
I'm always looking for ways to save time in post production. Using my Tascam DR-40 as preamps to my camera's recorder (Panasonic GH4) would be ideal to avoid having to sync audio in post. Are there any downsides to interfacing with the 3.5mm aux input on the GH4 that I'm not considering? I don't mind syncing audio if it will get me better audio.

Sorry if this questioned was already asked on dvxuser, I searched and was unable to find it.
 
I've done this, it works. But since you have the recorder in the loop, I would still suggest recording on it. If you don't need it, then erase when the project is finished, but if you do need it and don't have it...

That said, I think the single output is going to be line level, so I think you will need a pad to drop the level down to what the GH4 can receive. I might be wrong so give it a quick check. We have DR40's at work, but I haven't spent a lot of time with them because they are mostly used for our radio students to grab interviews.

I bought the DR60D because it has a "dedicated" camera out with level control, as well as line and headphone outputs. For certain things camera recorded audio should be good enough, for others the camera audio become a scratch track that I can use to help align the good audio, and is also a safety track for the eventuality that the audio recorder doesn't record.
 
Yeah I normally just use the camera audio to sync my recorded audio. If I were to use the Tascam DR-40 as a preamp to my camera, would the audio quality suffer?
 
The DR40 has sub-grade noisy preamps.. probably better than the camera's and other budget Zoom recorders though. The DR40 has a single 'line out/HP' and is suitable for for a -10dB line level input. It would need to attenuation for a mic level DSRL though. Sescom makes a low cost interface which has a HP connection for monitoring.
 
As said, the DR40 has pretty average preamps, they aren't the greatest but they aren't that bad either. I'd weigh the required quality for the project, the in camera will probably be a little more noise than the audio recorded in the DR40. I think I would try it and find out if it met my needs (assuming you own all the pieces already). If you needed to buy a recorder, I would probably go for the DR60D mk2 which is supposed to have better preamps and still retains the camera out with level control. The DR60d (both mk1 and mk2) suck for battery life though, never expect to get more than about 3 hours on a fresh set of AA batteries, Nimh are maybe an hour run time.
 
Greg_E said:
As said, the DR40 has pretty average preamps, they aren't the greatest but they aren't that bad either. I'd weigh the required quality for the project, the in camera will probably be a little more noise than the audio recorded in the DR40. I think I would try it and find out if it met my needs (assuming you own all the pieces already). If you needed to buy a recorder, I would probably go for the DR60D mk2 which is supposed to have better preamps and still retains the camera out with level control. The DR60d (both mk1 and mk2) suck for battery life though, never expect to get more than about 3 hours on a fresh set of AA batteries, Nimh are maybe an hour run time.
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Ah, OK, thanks for the explaning again. What about using a Sound Devices Mix PreD + a DR40 for recording into the GH4? This way you get the "feature rich" (in comparison to the gh4) recording options of the DR40, the preamps of the PreD, all sync'd to the video. Is that a hacky solution or does that work out?
 
It should work, but lots of pieces in that mix, and I'm not real familiar with any of the Sound Devices gear (just their reputation). I'd have to look up the specs. and even then it wouldn't be based on real world usage.
 
AFAIK, there's no way to completely bypass the DR40's preamps (line or otherwise), but SD preamps would help some if everything else is in order.
 
SDub

Have you looked into the YAGH accessory for the GH4? They are cheap enough now if you look around.

I get it about recording sound directly to cam and not monkey with the extra workflow. For most of my work, I use a better quality handycam which has a very decent audio section (24bit!). I try to feed it line level from a SD302 whenever possible and it works well. If I need better quality, I go dual system. But for a GH4, without the YAGH, you really have the wrong cam to record internal. Whatever you do with a 1/8" input, it will end up being a kluge, and I wouldn't do it for a professional project. If you are married to a DSLR workflow for visuals and want the very best sound, you need to go dual system. If you do go dual sound, and record a scratch track, sync isn't that tough.

IMHO, if you fed line level to a YAGH from a MixPre (the digital version is nice, but used non-digital versions are not too much $$), you could get yourself some very decent audio for video. And at two channels, you already have limits, so you'll need to keep it simple regardless. And the Mixpre is a very professional two channel mixer if you go dual sound to a recorder.

Of course the YAGH gives you SDI outputs which are pretty nice to have if you are using an external recorder and or monitor. The only downside I see is the YAGH requires external power. Keep rigging and pretty soon you'll have yourself a handycam. That's one of the benefits of a handycam over a DSLR, you get all the stuff you need packed into one box.

Grant
 
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