Radar V or Tascam X48 ?

[JOHN]

Hi gearslutz People,
Which do you think is good for the money Radar V or Tascam X48 ?

[Dr. Nutz]

just basing my opinion on customer/client psycology...the name "Tascam" might drive more people away than it brings in. Most people associate Radar systems with very high quality (almost analog-esque) HDR systems.

ive never used the X48, so dont interpret this post as saying that the X48 is of low quality, because i cant attest to that.

[drew]

without a doubt, buy the Radar. a little lite on the feature set compared to DAWs but an awesome product with great support from a great company. i bought one of the first Radar24s off the line in 2000 and used it for 4 years. turns out a DAW suited my needs better but it was a cool box. not to mention Tascams track record for support suck big time.

[everyday]

Hi?

I don't know much about the Radar but I know something about Tascam in general...

Tascam always comes up with great idea. However, they end up with cheap build quality....

I have four Tascam products. Everything is great for the first time, but one year later, almost all of them are broken or not working properly...

Oh, I don't have the X-48... One of the beta testers once said that it was simply good and convenient.

T...

[jdunn]

I always had good luck with their (Tascam) Portastudios back in the day, but the digital stuff has been somewhat less reliable. DA78HR's had some problems, so I traded for an MX2424. That was a good machine, but it took them forever to come up with the editing software, so I got rid of it.

My first DV-RA1000 had a bad switch, the power button! The second one works fine. It's a little slow to work with, and I've had a few failed discs. But as long as I'm patient waiting for the DVD drive to access, get ready to record, enter USB mode, etc.... it's usually not a problem.

It does sound pretty good.

[davedarling]

The Radar stuff is first rate - some of the Tascam stuff is great (mx2424 - solid ,sounds good)

The difference in support is huge - Tascam is in my opinion one of the worst companies ever for stranding customers, vaporware, and shitty OS uprades.

I've yet to hear a bad word about Radar systems.

good luck - dave darling

[Meriphew]

I'd take one of the Radar's over ten of the Tascams without a second thought.

[Adebar]

Is the X-48 already available?

[Mike O]

Nope. Not according to Steve Remote . According to Steve, who I believe ordered more than one, Tascam is currently one year behind the promised shipping date given to him last year.

As Steve points out, much better to be late and EVERYTHING work than to be what Tascam has been for a while now in addition to late to the party.....late with support, and early to abandon it's customers.

[mixerguy]

Originally Posted by davedarling

..... (snip) ....some of the Tascam stuff is great (mx2424 - solid ,sounds good) ......

Um - the MX2424 = "solid"?

Not in my experience. I was a power user of it at one point - and it could be VERY frustrating and buggy. I worked very closely with Tascam. Big hassle. Not solid.

Go for Radar, without a doubt. (Yes, I have used them a bunch too)

YMMV

[No4PCs]

For the price , Tascam !
But when it arrives, ppl will make reviews.
I think 48 channels 48/96khz resolution is very good tool. If the machine work fine and have pieces to fix, ok. Tascam claim this machine can fly too , e.
Lets see , friends !

[synthetic]

X-48 doesn't ship until May. I don't think there are any beta testers yet, either. You might want to reserve judgement until they actually begin production.

[DaveH]

My experience, my comment:

Unless Tascam changes their colors over night I would not have anything to do with a X-48.
For me it doesn’t matter how “great” the product may be. Tascam support has been bottom of the barrel.

I have a pair of DM-24’s and a pair of MX-2424s. Also GigaStudio 3.
The support for ALL of this has been a pain in the %$#@*.

I would drop GigaStudio in a heartbeat if I hadn’t bought a dedicated computer and about $8,000 in sampled software.
( VSL Pro is just one of the packages).

If fact last time I got support for GigaStudio3 they were insulting.
It took 30 minutes to get routed to tech support. Then 2 hours 40 minutes to
get someone in tech support only to get routed back to a “secretary type” person
who could barely be bothered to get the right “code” for an upgrade from one version
of gigastudio to another.

(Edit: Yes BCGOOD, GigaStudio crashes on a regular basis.
But it crahes less often with a dedicated computer with NOTHING else on it).

If this was an isolated experience I would have over looked it.
But I have not had ONE pleasant experience with Tascam.
(To date no other company has been worse to deal with.)

Tascam dropped support of the MX-2424s at the hint of the new X-48.
(About a year ago, and the X-48 has not shipped).

I would look toward another company for better support.

Just my opinion.

p.s I am arranging a demo of the Radar V.
Check the threads, their support is reported as great.

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by DaveH

My experience, my comment:

Unless Tascam changes their colors over night I would not have anything to do with a X-48.
For me it doesn’t matter how “great” the product may be. Tascam support has been bottom of the barrel.

I have a pair of DM-24’s and a pair of MX-2424s. Also GigaStudio 3.
The support for ALL of this has been a pain in the %$#@*.

I would drop GigaStudio in a heartbeat if I hadn’t bought a dedicated computer and about $8,000 in sampled software.
( VSL Pro is just one of the packages).

If fact last time I got support for GigaStudio3 they were insulting.
It took 30 minutes to get routed to tech support. Then 2 hours 40 minutes to
get someone in tech support only to get routed back to a “secretary type” person
who could barely be bothered to get the right “code” for an upgrade from one version
of gigastudio to another.

If this was an isolated experience I would have over looked it.
But I have not had ONE pleasant experience with Tascam.
(To date no other company has been worse to deal with.)

Tascam dropped support of the MX-2424s at the hint of the new X-48.
(About a year ago, and the X-48 has not shipped).

I would look toward another company for better support.

Just my opinion.

p.s I am arranging a demo of the Radar V.
Check the threads, their support is reported as great.

Interesting feedback on Gigastudio. It's supposed to have great sounding samples that play at low latency, directly from the hard drive. When I demoed it on my computer it caused it to crash. I'm really leaning towards a strictly out board gear set up...

As far as Tascam goes I use one of there soundcards and I like it. It has never gone down on me once, (ok once but it had a lot to drink that night). As far as color goes, eq your own color. You can feel it all over, just like music.

bcgood

[everyday]

Originally Posted by synthetic

X-48 doesn't ship until May. I don't think there are any beta testers yet, either. You might want to reserve judgement until they actually begin production.

Mr. Farrow at Tascam forum have used one for Tascam...

BTW, oh yeah... OS upgrade for their digital stuff is real slow...

P.S I already spent $700 include shipping to repair my DM-24... I hope they come up with a solid one this time...

[midnightsun]

I personally own a RADAR II (Otari) and and a number of TASCAM products. I purchased a TASCAM SX1 that was released with a tremendous hype. It was supposed to be their flag ship digital recording solution. I must say that the SX1 is a hell of a rig and I really have liked it....BUT.... midstream TASCAM dropped the SX1 like a hot potatoe. TASCAM FAILED.... AND I SAY FAILED TO LIVE UP TO THEIR PROMISES. I still have the origional brochure that made the promises of what the SX1 would do. TASCAM stopped upgrading the software and they never did allow me to jump to 96K which was a big selling point for me. On the other hand TASCAM gear is relatively cheap and you get a pretty big bang for your buck. I am going to get a DV RA1000 but I think I know what to expect. TASCAM converters are very much consumer quality.

Now for RADAR. Though I purchased my RADAR in the olden days from Otari the folks at iZ have been stellar.... these guys set the gold standard for customer service. The RADAR converters are music to my ear.... I love em. Also, in the 8 years I have owned the RADAR it has NEVER crashed.. and I don't use the term NEVER lightly. The RADAR is the rock. I am considering upgrading to a RADAR SNyquist. I consider my time to be valuable and a downed machine eats any savings of getting the cheaper solution.

The only circumstances underwhich I would consider the TASCAM 48 is if I had a chance to spend a few days with one in full function. I would use my ear and learn exactly what it was capable to doing. I would absolutely not believe anything TEAC says or even prints regarding what is supposed to do.

Many people would consider RADAR converters to be upper class. If you add up the cost of 24 AD and DA converters that are upper class quality that just about equals the cost of a RADAR V. Not only can the RADAR stand on its own as a hard disc recorder but it can be linked directly to a DAW AES or TDIF and provide a front end of 24 great AD converters if you like to work inside of the box.

Keep in mind that the RADAR simply works as a recorder that allows one to edit. You get 24 and you get 24 out. No mixing inside of the box, no plugins, no automation, no EQ, no dynamics. With the TASCAM you get alot of hype.

If the TASCAM were anything more than vapor it would be out already. I think there must be problems with it because it was promised a long time ago. I don't think that they have hit the street yet.

Check out the the unoffical TASCAM forum http://tascamforums.com/ and you can see there is a topic for the 48. The folks that frequent the Tascam forums are a great group and are the saving grace for the Tascam products.

Well, I guess I got that off my chest!

[GYang]

Giga Studio 3.0 works, but is not 100% reliable (even on dedicated machine). I don't face crashes, bit some strange behaviour is quite normal for it.
To avoid risk, very often I use old samples in old way (Kurzweil etc.)

TASCAM SUCKS BADLY !

And it does not belong to high end forum at all.

[peter-pan]

I heard CBC Montréal had a night mare of a problem with their new Radar system.
Do you happen to know someone who has a X-48?

Do you know that the Fostex D2424LV can record 8 tracks at once at 24 bits 96K and you can sync/chase as many recorders as you would like together?

JF

[Mike O]

I would be MOST interested to know what kind of difficulties CBC had with Radar. Most responders to this thread have discussed their personnal experiences. I would not want to imply CBC did not have problems, but I do have a problem hearsay.

Details please.

[trident fan]

radar tascam

[midnightsun]

I think that it is not unreasonable to comment on what someone heard about someone or something and appreciate that it is kept in context. iZ RADAR is one of a handful of companies that sets the Gold Standard for product quality and customer service. I can say this from personal first hand experience.

[MIKEHARRIS]

Even tho we are no longer iZ dealers...i hafta say the RADAR...these folks live and breathe their product..with excellent communication and support

[Snatchman]

Well....I have some Tascam gear. All analog! The thing that bugs me about this ( X-48), why would you promote releasing a product ( especially digital, etc.) but release it 1-2 years later! Now it's basically obsolete! Especially the way digital, software, etc. changes seeminly overnite!..(YMMV)......

[mcguin]

Please don't take this the wrong way but if you have to ask - then you don't get it. The two are not even in the same league. As a recorder, the RADAR is so far ahead of any other hard disc system - support, sonics, stability, support, sonics, support, ease of use, stability, support, easy learning curve, sonics, stability, support. Get the idea??

In all seriousnes - for what it is, there is nothing that comes close.

[Bridge Audio]

Yeah, the price is a big one. 4x as expensive? I'm not sure.

But, I've used RADAR for 1 1/2 years now and I have to say it works really nice. If you're used to analog signal and flow, then this is super easy.

And the A/D convertors are high end, yada yada,

-Go RADAR

(started in Vancouver, BC)

[TER]

Every day, all day, while my RADAR machine chugs along peacefully, there next to the tracking settings, meters and track data on my LCD screen is the number for tech support. I've called three times in four years, gotten a real person immediately every time, and had my issue solved in less than 10 minutes each time.

I use the converters as the front and back end to a DAW via TDIF, and as a master clock. It works great. I don't think you could buy 48 converters of this quality for less than the price of the entire machine.

My Tascam CDRW402 has never failed me, my Tascam CD701 broadcast cd players were solid... but they, like Sony and many other companies have to hit the top and bottom of the market. Some stuff will work forever, some stuff will die quickly under heavy use.

IZ is a boutique company, they do one thing, sell it a very good price, and stand behind it completely. I thoroughly believe that you cannot go wrong with a RADAR machine if it serves your needs.

-tom

[No4PCs]

Originally Posted by peter-pan

Sorry for the size...it is an accident!

Hahahaha, funny !!

[Ziggy!!]

Originally Posted by mcguin

Please don't take this the wrong way but if you have to ask - then you don't get it.

It is an interesting statement considering the tascam isn't even shipping yet. In all aspects this makes it nothing short of a very valid question...

[thesteve]

I use a Radar with Nyquist and I have never heard another digital system that sounds better. Even when it was the classic converters it still sounded awesome, so its hard to go wrong. In 3 years I have had 3 crashes total, but never lost any audio files so it is definately rock solid. It is easy to get Cubase to lock to it as well. Also, if you are thinking of buying one and you are in the states get hold of a Canadian dealer and have them ship it down to you. The prices up there are so much cheaper (its a Canadian product) and most stores will ship it to the US if you pay for UPS.

[JOHN]

Thanks to all for your comments but Radar V does not have any virtual tracks and you cannot use a mouse for editing it also costs $21,000. I called tascam and they told me the X48 will only cost $5,000 and has Time-stamped Broadcast WAVE file format
Workstation/Mixing:Turn-key operation: no software conflicts to troubleshoot
Graphic user interface for editing, mixing, plug-ins and meters
48-channel mixing at 96kHz / 24 channels at 192kHz
32-bit floating point mixer resolution
6 stereo returns (60 inputs at mixdown)
24 busses, 6 aux sends, stereo master buss
Full dynamic automation
Dynamics, 4-band parametric EQ and 4 VST plug-in inserts per channel

X-48 is Tascam's first standalone 48-track Hybrid Hard Disk Workstation which integrates the best of both worlds: the stability and ease-of-use of a purpose-built hard disk recorder, with the GUI, editing features and plug-in compatibility of a computer-based digital audio workstation.
It boasts 96kHz/24-bit recording across all 48 tracks and 192kHz across 24 tracks. Yet the X-48 goes beyond mere standalone recorders – its built-in, automated 48-channel digital mixer, VGA display output, powerful editing functions and DVD+RW backup drive transform it into a complete integrated workstation.


I cannot see the point spending $21,000 on a Radar V which only has 24 tracks and does not even have virtual tracks and has no mouse editing. Is Tascam that bad of a company?why would they make the X48 unuseable. What do you think gearslutz people?