07Dec Tascam DR-60d field recorder $249
Looks like Both B&H and Amazon are running a sale on the Tascam DR-60d. It’s normally priced at $349, however right now until December 9th you can pick it up on Amazon or on B&H for just $249. I’ve been using the Tascam DR-60d for almost a year now. As the owner of both a DR-60d and a Juicedlink riggy I can safely say that at $249 the DR-60d is a far better value. Multiple inputs, multiple outputs, and an all around good field recorder, make it a great all in one device to have. In general the Tascam DR-60d is also much more user friendly than the riggy’s tiny little dip switches. If I only had room to pack one, it wouldn’t be the riggy.
Check out my full review of the DR-60d here, as well as my thoughts on the Juicedlink riggy here. If you need an XLR interface for you DSLR the DR-60d is a great choice.
UPDATE: Order from B&H for just $249 and they’ll include a free copy of pluraleyes 3 which is currently the best audio syncing software on the market.
December 7th, 2013 at 12:17 pm
So, you you attach it directly to your cam ot the battery grip? This seems like a great deal.
December 7th, 2013 at 2:05 pm
You can place it under your camera on attach it to your rig, either way.
December 7th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
On the b and H ipad app, it also comes with a free copy of plural eyes. Which would make this an incredible deal!
December 7th, 2013 at 6:32 pm
It seems you are confused … the Riggy and the Tascam DR-60 perform different functions and thus it is unfair to make comparisons or preference of one over the over …
December 7th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
No confusion. The Riggy does something very basic, the DR-60D does what the Riggy does (only better) as well as many other more advanced features at a much lower price. It’s like the difference between a raw steak and a steak served at a restaurant cooked, only in this case it’s actually cheap to buy the steak ready to eat then it is to get it raw.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:00 pm
Uhhh, no that’s not correct.
The Riggy allows one to record professional quality sound directly on-board the camera, bypassing the camera’s preamps … and – most pertinent to this discussion – allowing one to avoid syncing in post.
When shooting a dozen or more interviews per day, this is very much a time saving and valuable production work flow.
In addition, your pricing comparison also leaves much to be desired … the Riggy is the same price as the non-sale priced Tascam.
How can you with a straight face compare a stand alone preamp (like the Riggy) with a stand alone recorder (like the Tascam)? Forget about “other advance features” and a non-sequitor like your steak analogy.
I find it very troubling when someone who blogs like yourself to be unfair in your discussion and analysis.
OK, so you don’t like the little knobs and switches on the Riggy. Fair enough. You are entitled to your opinion on design features.
But you lose any credibility when you make detrimental comments with regard to a piece of hardware based upon a comparison of a completely different piece of equipment.
Your tactic does nothing to advance the HDSLR community’s knowledge or understanding of the technology.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:25 pm
you sound like you work the company that makes the Riggy Jose,, The Tascam is a much better deal. You can do same things plus have a backup of your sound for less money. you have to be silly to not think the tascam isn’t a better deal. Dj isn’t losing any credibility, he’s just saying the Tascam is a better deal
December 7th, 2013 at 9:40 pm
Hit the nail on the head MS.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:35 pm
“The Riggy allows one to record professional quality sound directly on-board the camera, bypassing the camera’s preamps” – The Tascam DR-60d also allows you to do the exact same thing with the same quality as the Riggy.
“When shooting a dozen or more interviews per day, this is very much a time saving and valuable production workflow.” – I agree the Tascam DR-60d is a very useful time saving device.
“In addition, your pricing comparison also leaves much to be desired … the Riggy is the same price as the non-sale priced Tascam.” – The riggy is normally $399, the DR-60d is normal $349, the difference, 4 channels to mix down on the DR-60d vs 3 channels to mix down on the Riggy.
“How can you with a straight face compare a stand alone preamp (like the Riggy) with a stand alone recorder (like the Tascam)? Forget about “other advance features” and a non-sequitor like your steak analogy.” – You might not have noticed, but the Tascam DR-60d can be used as both a preamp for your camera (without recording a thing), or as a field record plus preamp, or as a stand alone field recorder. You can sink audio if you’d like but there is no need with the DR-60d as it works just fine as a “professional quality” preamp that allows you to record sound directly to your camera.
“I find it very troubling when someone who blogs like yourself to be unfair in your discussion and analysis.” – I find it troubling that you do not grasp the full features of the Tascam DR-60d and consider it only to be a “field recorder”.
“But you lose any credibility when you make detrimental comments with regard to a piece of hardware based upon a comparison of a completely different piece of equipment.” – You show how little credibility you have when you demonstrate that you have little to no knowledge of what the Tascam DR-60d can do. You fail to understand that the DR-60d can be both a field recorder and a camera preamp, while the Riggy can only be a camera preamp at best.
“Your tactic does nothing to advance the HDSLR community’s knowledge or understanding of the technology.” – Unfortunately I would would agree with you, your tactic does nothing to advance the HDSLR community. Your lack of knowledge on the subject is disappointing and your understanding of the technology is apparent.
I allow your comments and invite discussion, however your accusations of “credibility” and “knowledge” are unfounded. I’ve personally spoken with Robert from Juicedlink about these concerns and we’ve had discussions about the Riggy. If you are working on a budget the Riggy is not the best value, when the DR-60d is on sale the Riggy is at that much more of a disadvantage as an audio preamp for your camera and the DR-60d offers up far more features as well as and beyond audio preamp applications.
December 7th, 2013 at 11:55 pm
I don’t think it’s possible to bypass DSLR preamps. That’s always been the downside of DSLRs. You can only set the camera levels to as low as possible and feed in the sound from a cleaner external source whether it be the Juiced Link or the Tascam. So you’re just minimizing the impact that the lousy camera pre’s have on an external source. Both the Juiced Link and Tascam are doing the same thing. They’re “amplifying” the sound from a mic. It just happens that the Tascam is also able to record.
December 8th, 2013 at 12:03 am
Here are the instructions for the Riggy. As has been said, you’re “throttling” down the camera preamp and allowing the Riggy or the Tascam to be your gain. So you’re not bypassing the camera pre’s at all.
http://www.juicedlink.com/pages/riggy-assist-user-manual
December 8th, 2013 at 7:59 am
You got it.
December 8th, 2013 at 10:41 am
I love the Tascam DR-60D, wished they have the sale when I got it lol.
One observation I found is that having clean audio directly to the DSLR may not be a wise idea especially when it comes to using the Canon 5d3 or 70D.
Since the camera breaks a 30mins clip down into 12mins each. You may run into the issue of audio at end of each clip being ‘clipped’. so you would hear a clipped noise when putting them onto the timeline.
That rends the audio not usable that area, and also, if you adjust the camera’s audio recording input level wrong, you ended up with a peaked audio as well.
Having a Tascam DR-60D (or any other recorder, like the Zoom H6 which happens to have a bit more noise than the Tascam), helps save that problem, not only you can record good quality audio to the camera, you now have 1 or 2 more backups in case you get a ‘clipped’ noise.
Synching has NEVER been an issue (I’ve shot many interviews and have yet to experienced synched issue).
December 8th, 2013 at 11:02 am
I usually record directly the the camera through the DR-60d and at the DR-60d as a backup. I’d say 99% of the time the audio in the camera is what I end up using, I only dig out the recordings on the DR-60d is something goes wrong. I haven’t run into any clipping issues with long format recording, but I very seldom need to record anything over 10 min in length. When I do record long format it’s usually an interview or presentation and Syncing with 3 or 4 cameras using pluraleyes makes it a very simple task.
December 10th, 2013 at 8:53 am
Just checked amazon and the DR-60 is no long on sale, I was hoping it would last to my next paycheck. I’ve been really thinking about pluraleyes, you should do a review or even just a quick blurp what you think about the software. Seems to good to be true.
December 10th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
I only use it occasionally but when i do it’s very handy. I’ve ended up with 3 copies for free because of various deals. Well worth it if you need to sync audio if you organize your clips and audio correctly it does 95% of the work.
December 26th, 2013 at 8:41 pm
Rookie question: can i use this as a preamp/mixer to record directly into the camera? Or do I have to do a dual system?
January 4th, 2014 at 9:31 pm
can’t believe i missed this! had family emergencies, so i didn’t see this until now 🙁
April 4th, 2014 at 9:19 pm
DR-60D and PluralEyes at B&H for $199
April 4th, 2014 at 9:34 pm
Already posted that a few times on articles that aren’t this old. 😉
April 19th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
DJ just bought a DR60 on sale based on your advice, would be so great if u found time to guide us through a run and gun setup with the unit and how you configure everything.
Sorry about that JoseJimenez I hope people like that dont drain you from all the hard work you do.