Clips from my Tascam DR680

[MichaelPatrick]

Note: The server where my clips are is down. I need to move them and repost the link. Sorry for any inconvenience. Hang on!

[boojum]

Yer makin' me want to move back to SC county, man. Great pull! Where? When? Who?

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by boojum

Yer makin' me want to move back to SC county, man. Great pull! Where? When? Who?

I appreciate that but I'm providing short clips to the GS community under the fair use doctrine because some here want to know how the new recorder from Tascam sounds. I don't want to post names for hungry search engines to find because my job is only recording and the promoters don't need or want my help.

That said, weather in the valley has been very nice lately!

[boojum]

Originally Posted by MichaelPatrick

That said, weather in the valley has been very nice lately!

MP - that is standard, not news, and much of why I miss it so.

The recording is indicative that good recordings can be made without the "best" mics and with minimal setups. It can also encourage folks who want to try this as a hobby and not spend too much money to take the plunge. The learning curve and the secret of getting to the Paramount - practice - still remain. But the hardware need not be a barrier.

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by boojum

... good recordings can be made without the "best" mics and with minimal setups. ... the hardware need not be a barrier.

Absolutely right! This Tascam is a dream tool for people starting out. We've got more expensive gear but why take it out when you've got something this good, this light, easy and cost-effective? We're planning to give it a lot of use this season.

[mixedupsteve]

Wow! Very "I was there" sounding. How was the MC930 placed? The piano mic?
Thanks

[Gaston69]

Originally Posted by MichaelPatrick

Here are some live clips from a small jazz combo recorded last weekend using only DR-680 built-in preamps.

Piano - 1 Rode NT5
Vox - 1 EV N/D967
Drums & Bass - 1 Beyer MC930
Sax - 1 Sennheiser 421 Mk1
House room mics - 2 AKG SDC (I think) omnis

48K / 24bits

I think this little recorder is a bargain.

Sounds very nice here on my AKG-K701 Headphone, wished I could record in the same way. I do mostly classical music however I am "hungry" for doing Jazz as well.

[Hornblower64]

Nice work, sounds very good overall. The piano sound is not up to the standards of the rest of the recording, though. Is that the sound of this piano, a strange reflective surface in the room, or the contribution of the NT5? Uprights do have some peculiarities, and need to be mic'ed differently. I am, even more now, considering the Tascam DR-680 as a back up for my Nagra VI. It seems to do its job very well, all out of proportion with its very reasonable price.

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by Hornblower64

Nice work, sounds very good overall. The piano sound is not up to the standards of the rest of the recording, though. Is that the sound of this piano, a strange reflective surface in the room, or the contribution of the NT5? Uprights do have some peculiarities, and need to be mic'ed differently. I am, even more now, considering the Tascam DR-680 as a back up for my Nagra VI. It seems to do its job very well, all out of proportion with its very reasonable price.

David, good analysis. I think the mic is fine. The piano, a full Steinway D, was out of tune, but the sound owes mostly to a short-sticked lid with the mic inside right over the strings; it was the best I could negotiate with the FOH guy. The player was an organist who's touch is soft for piano. I was surprised it came out as good as it did.

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by mixedupsteve

Wow! Very "I was there" sounding. How was the MC930 placed? The piano mic?
Thanks

The MC930 was 7.5 feet up and 8 feet in front of the crash side of the kit, aimed slightly over the kit toward the ride cymbal. Upright bass was between the mic and the kit but back a little, about 4 feet from the mic and ~45 degrees off-axis.

Piano mic was under the lid on a short stick.

[eoats]

Thank you for sharing this!

[mixedupsteve]

Originally Posted by MichaelPatrick

The MC930 was 7.5 feet up and 8 feet in front of the crash side of the kit, aimed slightly over the kit toward the ride cymbal. Upright bass was between the mic and the kit but back a little, about 4 feet from the mic and ~45 degrees off-axis.

Piano mic was under the lid on a short stick.

Thanks, I'll try it. Learn something new every day!

Thanks alot,

[mathieujm]

Nice Michael

And yes the piano is... out of tune.
On headphones it's also too much on the left, not very compfortable.

Thanks for these samples

JMM

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by mixedupsteve

Thanks, I'll try it. Learn something new every day!

Without pictures it's hard to convey the real setup, but note that the mic angle relative to the drum kit allowed it to see the front of the kick drum - it was not off to the side looking at shell. That's why it captured the drum's LF punch.

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by mathieujm

Nice Michael

And yes the piano is... out of tune.
On headphones it's also too much on the left, not very compfortable.

Thanks for these samples

JMM

I agree. It was a quick archive capture; but if it was worth remixing I'd definitely work on the piano.

[mixedupsteve]

Originally Posted by MichaelPatrick

Without pictures it's hard to convey the real setup, but note that the mic angle relative to the drum kit allowed it to see the front of the kick drum - it was not off to the side looking at shell. That's why it captured the drum's LF punch.

Thanks, Thats sort of how I thought it was based on your prior response. I've used 1 mic on drums many times and have come to prefer it for alot of music. I usually place it behind the drummer looking at the front of the kick drum but I have placed it lower and out front.
Was the piano mic looking at the strings directly? BTW the piano being slightly out of tune doen't bother me at all. If anything it adds something.
Thanks,

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by mixedupsteve

Was the piano mic looking at the strings directly?

The mic was under a short-sticked lid smack in the middle of the soundboard. It was almost horizontal to the strings, pointed toward the keys, aimed slightly downward and slightly toward the soprano section.

[rumleymusic]

BTW the piano being slightly out of tune doen't bother me at all. If anything it adds something.

I also think the character of the piano works just fine in this style.

That Tascam is rather impressive, I definitely have to look into getting one.

[johnsound]

Really nice sound - my sort of recording as well. Dead impressed by the Beyer - I may have to pick up a pair in the new tax year.

I'm about to acquire a Busman Audio-modified DR-680; my original DR-680 is OK, but I want to see how much difference the mods make when using low output mics. (This means that my un-modded DR-680 will be up for sale at a very good price in a few weeks, if anyone's interested - I'll post it in the classifieds.)

Many thanks for posting these files; I mainly use my DR-680 for effects recording and have been happy with the results. Excellent value for money, I think.

Regards,

John

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by johnsound

I'm about to acquire a Busman Audio-modified DR-680...

John, I hope you'll post your impressions after getting the BA mod!

[johnsound]

Will do. As I will have both machines for a time, I'll try and do a comparison test.

Regards,

John

[richgilb]

I am hearing a high frequency hiss that does not sound like room noise. Mostly evident to me in clip 2. What do you think is largely responsible for this?

Rich

[joeshambro]

Love the DR680! I've been using it as an archival machine (stereo board + stereo room, align and mix in Logic later).

[PoxyMusic]

Originally Posted by MichaelPatrick

John, I hope you'll post your impressions after getting the BA mod!

+1!

I'd really like to move up to a 788 or a Nomad someday, but this could certainly tide me over.

[panphonic]

A question for a DR-680 user. Is it possible to link the setting of mic preamp levels, so that you can adjust 2 or 4 channels at the same time?

[PoxyMusic]

Originally Posted by panphonic

A question for a DR-680 user. Is it possible to link the setting of mic preamp levels, so that you can adjust 2 or 4 channels at the same time?

Only two at a time as I recall.

[JEGG]

For gang [grouping] functions, see page 2 of this document which can be downloaded from the Tascam site:

e_dr-680_add_va.pdf

[panphonic]

Thanks JEGG, that explains why I couldn't find it in the manual! This is a great feature for recording with a soundfield in b-format. I may have to exchange my r-44 for one of these.

J

[nashvilleclassic]

does anyone know what is behind the sudden price drop on tascam dr680?
today I see them for $677 shipping included, new from authorized dealers on ebay, showing several in stock. isn't that about 25% drop in a 10 day period. any dealer offering them at higher prices will have to follow suit to get any sales if this goes on for long. Anyone who bought this fairly recently introduced model at $999 has instant depreciation! any info on what is going on here?

[johnsound]

I paid $1,000 for mine, modified by Busman Audio, so $700 for the recorder & $300 for the mod. That was three months ago and the price from B&H has been around the $700 mark for a while. I checked prices in the US as soon as the DR680 appeared on the scene in the UK and I don't think I ever saw it for more than $800 or so. It still sells for around $1,000 here in the UK, though.