30Mar Tascam DR-60D Field recorder and audio pre-amp
I was just complaining about innovation in the XLR camera adapter market and this is exactly what I was looking for. The Tascam DR-60D, is a rig mount 4 channel field recorder that’s designed to record audio as well as feed it directly to your DSLR. The unit comes with full sized volume knobs, switches, and the controls you would expect from a field recorder.
Two channels on the Tascam DR-60D are broken out into XRL/1/4 inch combo jacks and the other two channels are summed into a single stereo 3.5mm input. The stereo camera output has a volume control dial and if you need to you can feed the headphone jack from the camera back into the unit to monitor audio from the Tascam DR-60D and the camera at a single point.
Besides the camera output you also have a lineout as well as a headphone output for monitoring, both with their own volume controls. This gives you a lot of options for for audio outputs. You could use something like the Wi Audiolink to send stereo audio back to the camera while monitoring and recording audio on the Tascam DR-60D at the same time.
The only disappointment i’ve seen in the specs so far is the battery life. Apparently you can only expect to get between 2 1/2 to 4 hours of use on 4 double A batteries depending on how much you use phantom power. It might be a good idea to use rechargeable batteries for long shoots.
Right now it looks like B&H is the only company that has the Tascam DR-60D on pre order. You can also check out Tascam’s site for more information. I have one of these on pre order and I’ll post more info once I get my hands on it. This seems to be exactly what I’ve been looking for and it’s $50 cheaper than Juicedlink’s RM333.
March 31st, 2013 at 9:59 am
This looks like a great solution at an affordable price point.
“….you can feed the headphone jack from the camera back into the unit to monitor audio from the Tascam DR-60D and the camera at a single point.”
Don’t understand this … why do u need to feed the camera audio back to the Tascam? Why not just monitor both from the camera headphone jack?
March 31st, 2013 at 11:46 am
Just another option for mixing and monitoring. In most cases I think you’d just use the headphone jack on the camera. It could be handy if your only has a line out for monitoring.
April 3rd, 2013 at 7:19 am
Plus isn’t there a nice volume rotating knob thingie so you wouldn’t have to fiddle with the camera to change the volume to the headphones.
April 3rd, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Also true.
March 31st, 2013 at 1:13 pm
I guess it all comes down to how good the preamps are. I’m sure they’ll be better than what the camera has but hopefully, it’s also better than what Zoom and other Tascam recorders have.
March 31st, 2013 at 7:39 pm
In the press release Tascam spends half a page talking about the new chip designed for the preamps, so hopefully that means it’s an upgrade from their field recorders. I’ll post some test results once I get my hands on it.
April 2nd, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Let me know how the audio sounds when recorded from the output of the Tascam. I would love to have decent audio recorded in-camera if I’m under deadline.
April 3rd, 2013 at 8:43 am
I’m excited about this. The more I use my Tascam DR-40 the less I’m impressed with it. The battery life is terrible. It shows 1 bar down on a fresh set of rechargeables. And I’m often getting write errors. It’s VERY picky about the SD card it’s writing to. Lastly the interface is a little clunky.
I do prefer double recording audio. I usually run the Rode videomic pro into my camera and send wireless lav to my Tascam.
Looking forward to your review when you get it Deejay.
April 16th, 2013 at 2:36 am
Do you think this will act well as a preamp for audio going straight into the dslr? Will this be a good alternative to juicedlink or Beachtek? Thanks
April 16th, 2013 at 6:03 am
From the tests so far I think it’s a good alternative. I should have some audio samples up this week.