Tascam HD-P2

[Don S]

I need a new 2 track field recorder to replace an HHB portadat. Any experience with the tascam recorder or the fostex? Plus I need reliable phantom power an decent pres for "quick and dirty" concert recording.
I cannot afford the sound devices 722!

Thanks!
Don

[David.H]

I have not used the new Tascam but have seen it in the flesh at the recent Expo show. It's not built like the DA P1 much lighter. Its not the sort of machine to use in the jungle or at the poles. The Fostex is a simular build, both have phantom power, but the Tascam has time code.

[Remoteness]

There was another thread and we touched upon the HDP2. I could not find the thread but, someone had a link to another forum that have plenty of posts about it.

Maybe that person can repost their findings.

I haven't played with it but, for under $1000.00 USD it's not a bad deal at all.

[T.RayBullard]

Originally Posted by Don S

I need a new 2 track field recorder to replace an HHB portadat. Any experience with the tascam recorder or the fostex? Plus I need reliable phantom power an decent pres for "quick and dirty" concert recording.
I cannot afford the sound devices 722!

Thanks!
Don

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=52635.0

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=51652.0
A friend of mine who has his own audio business is designing a mod for the HD p2 that will greatly improve the sonics of the machine. It will be much "cleaner" and be great for classical recording...he is a legend in the live grateful dead concert recording circuit and has been modding equipment since the days of the pcm f1..!

his name is Doug Oade...id give him a call and talk to him about this mod, as he is gearing it towards classical recordists. He will only mod gear purchased from him...I was looking for a recorder for my wife to take on her recitals, but did not want the stock p2...

his website is www.oade.com ..the number is on the website, give him a call and tell him Teddy from Germany reccomended calling...he is an electronics and audio equipment genius.
He also mods the marantz pmd 660/671, edirol r1 and builds preamps. the box with this "ultra clean and fast mod" is expected to be about 1150.00 not bad...his work is amazing.

Teddy

[Don S]

Rufus,

Thanks for the info! A great review. How does the unit sound out of the box? Maybe I should save up for the 722.

Teddy,

Have you used your 722 with the onboard pres with a couple mics? I need a rig that will fit into a backpack for gigs in the city. Also, thanks for the inof about the jecklin disc. The posted sample was fantastic. Have you tried/built a snieder disc? Which one should I start with? This place in Teaneck has both.

Don

[T.RayBullard]

Hey Don!

The Schneider disk is just supposed to sound better on headphone playback...thats all. I havent used one because I dont listen through headphones anyway. I have indeed used the 722 with the onboard pres...it sounds fantastic, is a very well built machine, and the customer support there is outstanding. The HD-p2 according to Doug will sound very "fast" and detailed once he finishes the mod for it. Id check into that one too...also the marantz pmd 671..on the website he also shows the various mods to the gear he does and what it accomplishes. Get the Jecklin disc..you will find yourself using it a lot!"teaneck"=---core sounds, yeah??

If you can get past len moskowitz and his horrible customer service, I commend you sir!

the Jecklin Discs there are from MBHO i Believe/...

Originally Posted by Don S

Rufus,

Thanks for the info! A great review. How does the unit sound out of the box? Maybe I should save up for the 722.

Teddy,

Have you used your 722 with the onboard pres with a couple mics? I need a rig that will fit into a backpack for gigs in the city. Also, thanks for the inof about the jecklin disc. The posted sample was fantastic. Have you tried/built a snieder disc? Which one should I start with? This place in Teaneck has both.

Don

[Don S]

Hey Teddy,

Yeah - Core sound! Not sure who I talked to, but helpful. Did you get the 4 track 722? Have you ever used the internal battery? How long is it supposed to last?

Don

[T.RayBullard]

yes, I sold my 722 to get a 744t. with the 722, you can get large capacity batteries that last 6-7 hours at least at 24/96 with phantom power being used...the internal battery is just a stop gap in case the external batteries fail...it isnt for any long term use. with the external batteries, you will have plenty of time..just get a big capacity one...even the included "little" ones last 3-4 hours. get this one:
http://www.batterybank.com/master/npf970.html or a generic equivalent...

Originally Posted by Don S

Hey Teddy,

Yeah - Core sound! Not sure who I talked to, but helpful. Did you get the 4 track 722? Have you ever used the internal battery? How long is it supposed to last?

Don

[Haydn]

Originally Posted by Don S

Rufus,

Have you used your 722 with the onboard pres with a couple mics? I need a rig that will fit into a backpack for gigs in the city

Don

The 722 will almost fit into your pocket!
that maybe exaggerating (unless you wear cargo pants) but it's smaller than I had imagined and its built like a brick ***house.
I love the 722, however - I could buy 3 HDP2s for the price of one 722 (not sure about the US prices though).

I haven't used the HDP2 so I cannot compare sound quality.
Some of the main advantages of the 722 over HDP2 are the powering and storage. The ability to run for 6/7 hours on 1 battery is great, as is its 40GB internal HDD.

Just have to decide whether it's worth the extra cash

[Don S]

Thanks guys for all the info. I guess I will get what I pay for, looks like it's worth spending the cash to get a 722. I haven't heard anyone rave about the Tascam or fostex.
Wow - 6 or 7 hours!!

[Remoteness]

You get what you pay for. And that's for sure!

[Haydn]

I /think/ 6 or 7 hours is the recording time you will get with a 7000mah battery.
The supplied battery is 4600mah.

still, theyre not too expensive - and you might not ever need to buy more than 1

[Don S]

OK! I just found out 2 things - the Tascam flash recorder is not out yet.
Also - Sound devices is coming out with a flash only version of the 722. It sells for 500 less than the 722!

[Sound Sorcerer]

Originally Posted by Don S

OK! I just found out 2 things - the Tascam flash recorder is not out yet.
Also - Sound devices is coming out with a flash only version of the 722. It sells for 500 less than the 722!

The new generation Sound Devices 7 Series recorders are the 702 & 702T:

The 702 is $2175 list & $1850 street
The 702T is $2650 list & $2375 street.

You can take a look at them here...

[T.RayBullard]

Originally Posted by Don S

OK! I just found out 2 things - the Tascam flash recorder is not out yet.
Also - Sound devices is coming out with a flash only version of the 722. It sells for 500 less than the 722!

with cost of adequate flash memory to hold multiple hours of High Res recording, lack of a hard drive, etc...itd have to be a lot less than the cost to justify me buying one,, as it really isnt a bargain once you figure in all that flash(quite expensive!)

the ability to record to HD AND flash on the 722 is priceless.

[Walling1]

Originally Posted by Don S

OK! I just found out 2 things - the Tascam flash recorder is not out yet.

I've had mine for about a month...

-Dave

[T.RayBullard]

Originally Posted by Don S

OK! I just found out 2 things - the Tascam flash recorder is not out yet.
Also - Sound devices is coming out with a flash only version of the 722. It sells for 500 less than the 722!

Yeah Mr. S...its been out for well over a month.

www.cascademedia.net

www.sonicsense.com

www.oade.com

all have it..Oade is doing a mod to it that is going to make it sound outstanding..fast transient response....absolute clarity..

[Don S]

Great! I'm happy to be corrected!
Dave - what do you think of it?

How much is the Oade mod going to cost? It may bring it up to th price of a 722?

[T.RayBullard]

Originally Posted by Don S

Great! I'm happy to be corrected!
Dave - what do you think of it?

How much is the Oade mod going to cost? It may bring it up to th price of a 722?

Nowhere near the price of a 722, Mr. S.

About 12-1300 or so, mod , unit, and all.

Doug told me that the mod is specifically designed for acoustic situations.
He will only mod units bought from him though. (he offers the best price anyway)
I called in asking about this in great detail, expressing my desire for a 2 channel recorder to do a rough mixdown to from Sequoia, and also when the situation calls for it, to have a pristine sounding all in one box with great transient response and very low self noise, "quick", "detailed" as it were..
Think this is what the doctor ordered. Doug is quite a legend with gear modification. Hes been modding since the days of the PCM F-1(he modded his own). He can fill you in on exactly what is involved and when the modification framework will be finalized. He scrutinizes over every single detail listening, matching parts...etc.

Teddy

PS you can call him at
229-228-0093 or 229-228-4480

Tell him Teddy from Germany sent you. Hes a friend and a great, knowledgeable guy.

[spyder9]

Originally Posted by rufus13

But, it is most of what they advertised: LIGHTWEIGHT.

The 4th update has fixed some twitchy software.

Battery life: With Ni-MH, not great. With dynamic mic's it's okay for at least 2 hours. With a pair of P48 AT4050's, less than that. When the battery voltage gets low, a buzz (about -36dB) appears in one channel, only with a P48 mic attached/on. Does not happen at the same voltage with a dynamic and p48 off. The solution is to use alkaline batteries, because they have a little more voltage. Eight AA's at 1.62v (new alkaline) = 12.96v, 8 x 1.36 (charged NiMH) = 10.8v and P48 trouble begins at about 10.2v, and the unit shuts off at 8.96v. Plug into 17v on a firewire bus, and all is well, any buzz disappears, same if the AC adapter is plugged in.

I am cobbling together an external power pack of 8 D or C batteries that will have 10 hour life, easily (D has 4-6x the mA/hours of AA). With Ni-MH, 10 D's will work fine to give about 12-13 volts.

I immediately bought a face cover for the screen. At office-whatever, a PDA clear screen protector will work.

The plastic case sturdiness led me to find some padded computer-grade portable cases. A Powerbook backpack works, with additional camping foam. Dell laptop bags are sturdy, with lots of extra pockets for cables and microphones. A Pelican briefcase with connector pass-through might be the ultimate water/dust protection.

Big CF cards are needed. 24/96 stereo sucks down the space, even 24/44.1KHz is hungry. I have a 2GB & 256MB card and have no problems. 24/192KHz works fine with my less-than-premium CF card.

HD-P2 runs a version of Windowz CE .NET 4.2 Core according to a sticker inside the battery cover. No authorization, calling home, or iLock has been observed. No SCMS.

What did make the unit demand to format media, was when I saved the audio back to the CF card after a snip in a DAW application. This may require careful handling.

CF card mounts fine on a G4 Sawtooth firewire bus. No problem. Transfer speed is quick: 1.8GB to internal drive in about 70 seconds. Preview/play without transferring, if you want.

Firewire and AC adapter DO NOT charge the internal AA batteries, but internal power management picks the best power source and does not crash while switching. Connecting batteries to a FW connector may be a way to power the unit in addition to the AC adapter port and battery compartment.

Plugging in a serial PC keyboard (din-9?) allows most functions with one key. I dedicated a thriftstore keyboard to the HD-P2 and Sharpie penned the commands onto the keys.

I have not yet used the Time Code functions, but it must be done. Early firmware crashes with TC and pre-record function activated (can't record in pre-00:00:00 times). Allegedly fixed in later updates.

What am I completely unimpressed by? The ports are wide-open to elements and grit. Buttons and switches are not sealed against dust. This is a "portable" unit for field use, right? That means blowing dust, and open ports with dust means a short unit life. Thus, my obsession with cases. A small technical vacuum cleaner might be a good field accessory for this unit.

I'm not sending it back, BUT it could have been GREAT.

kk in pdx

Though it sounds scientific and convincing, your conclusion is not correct on powering with AA's. I use 8 Duracell 2500mah Ni-MH rechargeable batteries with my P2. The kind you get at a Walmart for $20.00. I got 5 hours and 10 minutes of recording time, running 16 bit/44.1, phantom power on, screen light on, headphone amp off. When the batteries ran out, the P2 properly saved the file, then powered down. All tested at a Phil Lesh & Friends concert this summer. NI-MH battery battery life is fantastic. No need to make a timya battery pack, unless you want it for backup.

8GB Transcend 150x compact flash works flawlessly with this unit. I use it for 24/48 recordings. Passed all the on-board test speeds to go up to 24/192, though never tried it.

A good sleeve to carry it: Case Logic DVD Player Case for 10 inch players, part # DNEO-10. Neoprene, padded, padded zipper, extra pocket, fits the P2 like a glove. I found it at Best Buy for $20.00. Google the part # and you'll see it.

I'm very happy with this unit. Its been rock solid for me. And yes, I plan on Mr. Oade doing the mod on it, to take to the next level.

[T.RayBullard]

Welcome, Mr. D...

Originally Posted by spyder9

Though it sounds scientific and convincing, your conclusion is not correct on powering with AA's. I use 8 Duracell 2500mah Ni-MH rechargeable batteries with my P2. The kind you get at a Walmart for $20.00. I got 5 hours and 10 minutes of recording time, running 16 bit/44.1, phantom power on, screen light on, headphone amp off. When the batteries ran out, the P2 properly saved the file, then powered down. All tested at a Phil Lesh & Friends concert this summer. NI-MH battery battery life is fantastic. No need to make a timya battery pack, unless you want it for backup.

8GB Transcend 150x compact flash works flawlessly with this unit. I use it for 24/48 recordings. Passed all the on-board test speeds to go up to 24/192, though never tried it.

A good sleeve to carry it: Case Logic DVD Player Case for 10 inch players, part # DNEO-10. Neoprene, padded, padded zipper, extra pocket, fits the P2 like a glove. I found it at Best Buy for $20.00. Google the part # and you'll see it.

I'm very happy with this unit. Its been rock solid for me. And yes, I plan on Mr. Oade doing the mod on it, to take to the next level.

[spyder9]

Hey Teddy!

[T.RayBullard]

The power runner 12v battery pack will run it and mics for around 10hours.
also...have you considered the www.oade.com mod?
http://www.oade.com/digital_recorder...2_upgrade.html


teddy

[David Rick]

I just recorded a festival using my new 744T as backup for my Sequoia rig. Ran four digital channels in at 96k/24 bit, so I don't have any opinion on the preamp or ADC yet. But it sure was nice taking it to the bar after each concert and passing pair of headphones around to approving nods. I can see I'll be recording a lot a recitals with this, since I can't do them cost effectively with my big rig.

The festival director has been recording rehersals to minidisk, and he was simply floored by the difference. I told him about the 722, and he decided he had to have one. But he can't really afford it, and it's a bit heavy for him, since he flies all over the world. So what should a tell him to get instead? He's got an AT stereo mic already (the battery powered one).

David L. Rick
Seventh String Recording

[SoundMaxx]

Originally Posted by spyder9

Though it sounds scientific and convincing, your conclusion is not correct on powering with AA's. I use 8 Duracell 2500mah Ni-MH rechargeable batteries with my P2. The kind you get at a Walmart for $20.00. I got 5 hours and 10 minutes of recording time, running 16 bit/44.1, phantom power on, screen light on, headphone amp off. When the batteries ran out, the P2 properly saved the file, then powered down. All tested at a Phil Lesh & Friends concert this summer. NI-MH battery battery life is fantastic. No need to make a timya battery pack, unless you want it for backup.

8GB Transcend 150x compact flash works flawlessly with this unit. I use it for 24/48 recordings. Passed all the on-board test speeds to go up to 24/192, though never tried it.

A good sleeve to carry it: Case Logic DVD Player Case for 10 inch players, part # DNEO-10. Neoprene, padded, padded zipper, extra pocket, fits the P2 like a glove. I found it at Best Buy for $20.00. Google the part # and you'll see it.

I'm very happy with this unit. Its been rock solid for me. And yes, I plan on Mr. Oade doing the mod on it, to take to the next level.

===========================================

Dear Mr. spyder9


Can You try record on ur HD-P2 with 192/24 + Ph 48V on + 2GB max file size on ur 8GB/150 X CF card press record direct and wait for some xx time and hope not to se a message "buffer underun" Media to slow !!?? maybe only Sandisk Extreme IV (200X) can cope with this HI Fs. rec. speed??

My P2 hang up after 30 min of recording on a Sandisk Extreme III (133 X) CF Card,
with previously mentioned HiRes REC option.
And also FireWare transfer is only 658 Kb/s for no reason couse mobo uses Texas
chip, but all others ext. 1394 Sata II HDDs I use on the same mobo shines flawlesly on the same port..
A hardware bug?
I bought it a week ago and is equipped with 1.4 frmw. on it..


Thnx for reply..

Andrej

[T.RayBullard]

marantz pmd 671 or tascam hd-p2 or fostex fr-2...modded by www.oade.com


or...for the ultimate in portability...edirol R-09!

Originally Posted by David Rick

I just recorded a festival using my new 744T as backup for my Sequoia rig. Ran four digital channels in at 96k/24 bit, so I don't have any opinion on the preamp or ADC yet. But it sure was nice taking it to the bar after each concert and passing pair of headphones around to approving