Tascam DV-RA 1000 VS 1000 HD

[mosrite]

Well if the new price in your neck of the woods is anything like in the UK then I would say it is a bit of a bargain.

Only problem I can imagine with this box when buying used is the optical drive being subjected to vibration etc so perhaps a new one is much safer in this regards.

[Dave Ferris]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

OK ....a fellow GS member just drove up from deep in Orange County with his first generation 1000. The unit looked to be in brand new condition with original packing.

I asked if we could just power it on, throw in a CD and just check it through the phones. Well we were getting signal on the meters but NO SOUND through the phones. The monitor button on front was disengaged. I tried plugging my Dyn BM6As in and still nothing. He was at a loss for words, we both were looking through the manual and saw nothing that would indicate why we weren't getting sound at this most basic level.

I managed to get through to someone at Tascam and they said..that's not right, somethings up with that machine. So he's dropping it off at Tascam on the way back down to OC. I hope for his sake it's not something too major..on the other hand I'm glad I checked it out first.

Well....I think buying this particular one is out of the question.

I just received an email from this fellow and apparently he's had more than one bad experience with taSCAM has he refers to them. It was a long email detailing his past frustrations dealing with them. This is his second 1000 in addition to 2 other Tascam products. His many problems he said are when the units are barely out of warranty. I guess after this latest estimate repair on this recorder, he went over the top.

slight-scratch.JPG - DivShare

Yikes !!!

Maybe I'll stick to the Sound Devices 702 or Nagra LB

[Space Station]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

Well....I think buying this particular one is out of the question.

I just received an email from this fellow and apparently he's had more than one bad experience with taSCAM has he refers to them. It was a long email detailing his past frustrations dealing with them when this 1000 (it was his second) and 2 other Tascam products he owned when out of warranty. I guess after this latest estimate repair on this unit, he went over the top.

slight-scratch.JPG - DivShare

Yikes !!!

Maybe I'll stick to the Sound Devices 702 or Nagra LB

Hahah..thats nutz...must admit ive almost done that myself to a few pieces in the past.

[matskull]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

Well....I think buying this particular one is out of the question.

I just received an email from this fellow and apparently he's had more than one bad experience with taSCAM has he refers to them. It was a long email detailing his past frustrations dealing with them when this 1000 (it was his second) and 2 other Tascam products he owned when out of warranty. I guess after this latest estimate repair on this unit, he went over the top.

slight-scratch.JPG - DivShare

Yikes !!!

Maybe I'll stick to the Sound Devices 702 or Nagra LB

Lol that was awesome!!!

[matskull]

Can you adjust the gain on only one channel in this unit?

[Space Station]

Originally Posted by matskull

Can you adjust the gain on only one channel in this unit?

TASCAM

[matskull]

Originally Posted by Space Station

TASCAM

Thanks so it says that you can adjust the global gain but not the individual channel, but it is possible to adjust the balance (pan) so in theory it might be possible to work with that instead.

[Space Station]

Yes thats what I use...

[matskull]

Originally Posted by Space Station

Yes thats what I use...

Good to know, I need that feature to get 1dB up on the right side, would I be able to do such a "precise" adjustment with the balance control?

[Daniel Stark]

Another unit to consider is the Fostex CR-500. or the new Korg MR-2000 series.

How you liking the Spider? One just ended on eBay, I wish I could have hung in there with the last bidders.

[Dave Ferris]

Hey, thanks for asking Daniel. I haven't made any new recordings with the Spider lately, just too busy practicing, gigging a bit and basically trying to stay up on my chops. With all this recording research on the net, I haven't been getting in enough piano time the past few months.

[supoUSA]

Tascam - the products, are great. Tascam USA - sucks! in everyway - repair, service, parts, support. And that's being polite.

[Dave Ferris]

Yeah, that's what I'm kinda gathering.

If I go there, I'm probably going to get a new one. That way I'll at least have the year warranty then I'll cross my fingers.
I'm not taking it out of the studio so maybe that might help. You think I would have ordered the thing already and be done with it. I guess I'm waiting for divine intervention or some kind of sign from above.

The Sound Devices 702 instills much more confidence has an overall product. I've called SD a few times, within 30- 90 seconds I was speaking with an intelligent tech support person....priceless!

[Space Station]

I dont think you need to worry too much. I've owned tons of tascam gear...seems pretty damn reliable to me. My old DA-30 is still running fine after all these years and thats a tape machine.. I still have my old Tascam Cassette tape 8 track and even that works fine..

[mosrite]

Dave,

For your purposes I would say that the Tascam makes more sense over the SD machine. Full size connectivity for one, provision of an external keyboard for two and you dont require the pres or ADCs of the SD machine.

So unless you plan on doing some field recording too then go Tascam

[Dave Ferris]

Originally Posted by mosrite

Dave,

For your purposes I would say that the Tascam makes more sense over the SD machine. Full size connectivity for one,

Yeah, wasn't digging the AES3id output/BNC connector on the 702 too much. And since I'm not using the pres or converters........

Thanks guys for the nudge towards the Tascam.

[Nobilmente]

Originally Posted by Plush

It is a good machine when it runs.

If you purchase a used machine, please make sure it has the latest firmware and software updates. Use only Sony DVD+RW discs. That is the recommendation of the manufacturer and I have found it to be a REQUIREMENT.

When using the machine as a cd recorder, the machine inserts a gap of silence whenever the "record" button is pushed to make a new id on disc.
This does not happen while using DVD+RW discs.

I have also found the machine to be unreliable and to stop recording and stop playing back on occasion. For this reason I do not use it for critical work.

My experiences have been verified with 3 other machines run by colleagues.

Hi Plush

I don't know if you will see this.

Were the reliability issues with just the 1000 series when writing to cd or dvd?
I've just ordered the DV-RA1000HD version.

All the best

[Plush]

The issues I had were with the original 1000 machine, so I do not know if they have been solved in the newer machine with the hard disk. I hope that they have been addressed.

I still like the machine for recording things that I can do over. It's just that for live things I do not trust it.

I still have and use the machine. It sounds great in higher clock rates and with DSD recordings.

[Dave Ferris]

FINALLY pulled the trigger on the 1000HD. I'm having it shipped directly to Jim Williams for upgrades on the D/A. Probably be a couple of weeks before I get it.

Looking forward to CS Spider>Tascam.

[Nobilmente]

Originally Posted by Plush

The issues I had were with the original 1000 machine, so I do not know if they have been solved in the newer machine with the hard disk. I hope that they have been addressed.

I still like the machine for recording things that I can do over. It's just that for live things I do not trust it.

I still have and use the machine. It sounds great in higher clock rates and with DSD recordings.

Thanks very much for spotting this question! I thought I would use it as a DSD recorder, I'm looking forward to hearing very much.

Thanks again for the info. it's very much appreciated.

All the best

[dclawson]

Hi Dave,

Congratulations on your decision, I think you will be happy!

Just curious, did you end up going new or used? Also curious about what Mods Jim W. is performing on the D/A for you?

Best wishes,

David

[Dave Ferris]

Hey David-

I decided to go with a new one, sorry, hope you find a buyer if you still want to sell.. Between the ax guy and the very few reliability concerns voiced here, I thought best to play it safe, pay a few more $$s and get the year warranty.

I can call Jim and get exactly what he does to improve the A/D-D/A. It's $250. When he tells me what he's going to do, unless I write it down exactly, it goes way over my head.

[dclawson]

Great! I can understand your comfort level being worth the cost of a new unit, no worries there.

I'd like to hear about your impressions of the Jim Williams Mod once you get it in your hands. Any general Mod information would be appreciated too.

My unit is still for sale, though I'm not really pushing it just now, but if anyone is interested send me a PM. It's the HD version.

Best,

David

[Dave Ferris]

Finally got this recording thing going a bit with one extra twist. Ended up buying Brad McGowan's Soundcraft Delta 8 channel with mods by Jim Williams.

The Tascam's already very good converters were also modded by Jim has well.
I have an engineer friend coming over next week to help with optimizing the balances and other things that engineers do.

02 I Thought About You _Delta.mp3 - DivShare

I'm very impressed with the quality of the pres in this board, I might end up selling my Spider, they are that good.

[Teddy Ray]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

Finally got this recording thing going a bit with one extra twist. Ended up buying Brad McGowan's Soundcraft Delta 8 channel with mods by Jim Williams.

The Tascam's already very good converters were also modded by Jim has well.
I have an engineer friend coming over next week to help with optimizing the balances and other things that engineers do.

02 I Thought About You _Delta.mp3 - DivShare

I'm very impressed with the quality of the pres in this board, I might end up selling my Spider, they are that good.

congrats, Dave. nice kit you have there.

I loved my tascam. Wish I still had it(I didnt sell it..the army shippers destroyed it)