13Apr Tascam DR-60D close up and personal
I had the chance to unbox the Tascam DR-60D this morning. The box contains the DR-60D, a manual, and a USB cable, nothing else. No memory card, no neck strap, and no 3.5mm cables are included. Tascam has stripped the unit down to the bare escentuals.
I haven’t had a chance to do many audio tests of the unit yet, but so far things are looking good. The “DUAL Mono” and “DUAL ST” modes seem like the most useful feature I’ve managed to find so far. With a single channel audio source you can use the dual mono mode to record a single channel source at full volume and between 0 and -12db at the same time. The dual st mode allows you to do the same thing only with two different sources. The final output is two stereo files, one containing the full volume channel one and two tracks and the other containing the protected (reduced volume) version of the same file.
I’ll post some audio tests of the Tascam DR-60D once I’ve had a chance to run it through it’s paces. Until then you can take a look at it up close and personal. I also added a shot with it next to a 5d mark III body with battery grip so you can get a better idea of the overall size. The unit is a little less than twice the height of a Juicedlink or beachtek box which might be a bit oversized for some applications. I’ll try and get some audio samples up over the next few days.
April 13th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
I’m curious to know how you handle the dual audio in post. Do you simply use the full volume output and switch to the reduced volume in the instances where the volume has peaked?
April 13th, 2013 at 5:02 pm
With my old setup I would capture audio at the field recorder and pass the audio through a transmitter back to the camera. If the camera tracks had any problems I’d look up the timestamp on the clip and use that to find the audio sample that was recorded at a lower volume.
With this setup I’ll still send a stereo track back to the camera via the wi audiolink and it’ll be the same workflow. Store the audio recorded by the field recorder and if I find a bad audio track on the camera, i’ll just hunt down the audio from the field recorder and replace it.
I know a lot of people don’t like to record audio directly to their DSLR but personally I find it more than good enough most of the time. The field record is just a safety net incase something goes wrong or the transmitter drops out. With this setup I’ll be able to record at the camera in the same manner and still maintain a set of safety tracks at the recorder.
April 13th, 2013 at 8:22 pm
Would you replace the JuicedLink with this guy?
Also, that’s a pretty interesting workflow… What field recorder do you use? I’m guessing you feed the line out on your field recorder to a g3 bodypack that goes back to the dslr…That would give the boom op a chance to monitor and the camera op to monitor as well…
April 15th, 2013 at 1:21 pm
wondering if the preamps on this are as good as my Fostex-FR2LE. although on the low side they are very clean and can be boosted in post. unlike my Microtrack II which hisses like hell (do not recommend that one).
April 15th, 2013 at 2:14 pm
The fostex FR2 I used to have was upgraded with the Oade brothers mod and the audio quality and noise floor was very impressive. I never tested out the stock preamps, so i’m not sure how good they were. I’ll try and get some audio samples of the DR-60D up this week.
April 15th, 2013 at 2:22 pm
i’m sure the oade mods were even better than mine.
thanks, that’ll be great to hear the samples, and hear your opinion on the two since owned the fostex as well.
April 15th, 2013 at 3:45 pm
And? How are the preamps
April 18th, 2013 at 10:32 am
I’ve just unboxed mine as well. I’ve noticed that the knobs for adjusting audio (on #1 and #2 at least) do not raise or lower the audio in a linear progression, but in steps. Have you moticed this as well?
April 18th, 2013 at 11:51 am
I have some audio samples posted tomorrow.
April 22nd, 2013 at 1:38 am
Hi,
I was wondering do you know what the mounting plate that allows it to be mounted to the sides of the dslr is? thanks!
April 22nd, 2013 at 6:52 am
The mounting plate is custom to the DR-60D.