This selection of Tascam digital field recorders have been designed for use in TV, ENG, and film making, however they’re equally at home recording live audio at music venues or educational establishments.
HS-P82 is a solid state, multi-track digital audio recorder capable of recording up to 8 tracks plus a stereo mix-down of simultaneous recording to a pair of Compact Flash memory cards. The audio is captured in Broadcast WAV format at up to 192kHz/24-bit for four track recording or 96kHz/24-bit for eight track recording. Up to five seconds of pre-recording buffer can be applied so to reduce the risk of missing vital audio capture, and an internal microphone can be employed for slate recording. An internal mid-side decoding can be employed for multi-mic recording or sound effect recording. This can be processed whilst recording the track, or applied to monitoring and playback only. The recorded files include iXML metadata for faster import into compatible video or audio editing system. This can be done via the USB 2.0 connection or by using the Compact Flash card with a compatible standard card reader.
The front facing panel of the field recorder has a pivoting colour TFT touch screen that displays information such as audio input/playback meters, timecode, sync status, and menu options. A ‘Data’ rotary push button allows the user to increase or decrease values and push to enter. An exit/cancel button is positioned beneath the data control, and project button under the ‘Home’ and ‘Menu’ buttons, the latter two when depressed simultaneously locks the screen and controls to avoid accidental setting changes. Eight input level rotary controls are positioned in two rows of four to the left side of the front panel, along with power on/off toggle, 6.3mm jack headphone out connector, headphone volume control, and slate on/off button. To the right of the front panel, a transport section includes the usual controls as well as a ‘mark’ button.
The right facing side of the HS-P82 has eight balanced 3-pin XLR inputs, each with mic/mic -25/line toggle switches. Each of the inputs has independent +48V phantom power available for use. Left/right balanced 3-pin XLR outputs are also located on this side of the field recorder. The left facing panel houses PS/2 keyboard input for track naming, USB 2.0 high-speed data transfer to PC, BNC connector for stereo digital output, BNC connector for SMPTE timecode I/O, BNC connector for video/word clock/cascade I/O, and eight AES/EBU inputs and outputs via DB-25 serial connector.
HS-P82 can be ran from either 10x alkaline or NiMH AA batteries, via external DC input, via V-mount adapter for Endura batteries, or via the included AC adapter. NP (lithium-ion) batteries will give around five hours of operation whilst alkaline AA batteries will give around two hours of use. These estimates are measured according to JEITA standard at 48kHz, 24-bit, 8-channel playback or recording with phantom power off.
Sampling frequencies: 44.1/47.952/48/48.048/88.2/96/176.4/192kHz, 47.952/48.048 at 48kHz +/-0.1% pull-up/pull-down. Reference clock: Internal, Word in, Video In, Digital in. Timecode frame rates: 23.976/24/25/29.97DF/29.97NDF/30Df/30NDF. Power requirements: 100-240V AC, 50-60Hz. Power consumption: 18W. Dimensions (W x H x D): 270 x 100 x 260mm, excluding protrusions. Weight: 3.65kg, excluding batteries.
DR-680 is a portable and versatile multi-track recorder, recording up to eight individual inputs or six inputs with a stereo mix-down, at a quality up to 96kHz rate and 24-bit depth to SD and SDHC card media. Six microphone inputs provide phantom power and 60dB of gain, alongside a digital S/PDIF or AES/EBU two-channel input. Recordings can be made in BWF or PCM .WAV format of up to eight tracks simultaneously, or in MP3 format of up to four tracks. Alternatively, the DR-680 can capture two-channel, stereo audio at 192kHz, 24-bit, in BWF or PCM .WAV format. The recorder operates on AC mains or battery power, and a second DR-680 unit can be connected, allowing sixteen tracks to be recorded simultaneously.
Playback can be achieved in a number of ways. All eight tracks can be played back through six unbalanced line-level RCA (phono) outputs and the two-channel S/PDIF or AES/EBU digital coaxial output. Alternatively the previously-recorded stereo mix-down can be played back through two of these eight output channels, or a stereo mix-down of the multi-track recording, based on the current mixer settings, can be played back through two of these channels. Either stereo mix - pre-recorded, or current - can be played back also, either through the internal speaker, or through headphones plugged into a 6.35mm jack socket on the front of the recorder, next to an output level control.
Once made, recordings can be divided and deleted using the recorder's controls, or they can be transferred to a computer for further editing using the USB 2.0 interface. The DR-680's transport controls are on the top face of the unit, along with a power switch, a hold switch, the controls for input level and phantom power, and the 'thumb wheel' which operates many of the menu-based graphical controls, which are displayed on a backlit LCD screen on the front face of the recorder. Also on the front face are buttons to record and pause, 'solo' monitoring buttons for the six analogue inputs, and a button to lock the current mixer settings. Analogue inputs are on the left side of the unit, while the digital input, all outputs, the SD card compartment, and the power adaptor input, are all on the right side.
Compatible media types:
SD card, 2GB, Class 4 or faster.
SDHC card, 4GB - 32GB, Class 4 or faster.
Recording formats:
BWF files: Two-channel mix-down with set of one-channel, pairs of two-channel, or six-channel, 16/24-bit, 44.1/48/96kHz sample rate; or two-channel, 16/24-bit, 192kHz sample rate.
WAV files: Two-channel mix-down with set of one-channel, pairs of two-channel, or six-channel, 16/24-bit, 44.1/48/96kHz sample rate; or two-channel, 16/24-bit, 192kHz sample rate.
MP3 files: Two-channel mix-down with set of one-channel, or pairs of two-channel, four bit-rates from 96 to 320kbps, 44.1/48 kHz sample rate.
Recording times, with included 32GB SDHC card (not included):
WAV: 16h 47m, at 44.1kHz, 16-bit, six tracks; 5h 08m, at 96kHz, 24-bit, six tracks.
MP3: 277h 46m, at 48kHz, 128kbps, four tracks; 111h 6m, at 48kHz, 320 kbps, four tracks.
Cards with other capacities and other sample/bit rates give pro-rata recording times for each format.
Microphone/line inputs: 4 x 3-pole XLR / 6.35mm 3-pole jack combination sockets; 2 x 6.35mm 3-pole jack sockets; -51.5/-20/+3dBu minimum/nominal/maximum, low gain; -75.5/-44/-21dBu minimum/nominal/maximum, high gain, 2.4k ohms, microphone; -27.5/+4/+24dBu minimum/nominal/maximum, 10k ohms, line. Outputs: 6 x RCA (phono), -10/+6dBV nominal/maximum, 200 ohm, line; 6.35mm stereo jack socket, 50mW maximum, 32 ohm load, headphones. Speaker: 0.5 W, mono. Digital input and output: RCA (phono) sockets, S/PDIF or AES/EBU. Response, distortion and noise: 20-40kHz, +0.5/-1.0dB, 96kHz; 0.007%THD, 1kHz; -98dB, line input to line output. USB transfer interface: Mini-B type, USB 2.0 high speed mass storage class.
Operating temperature: 0-40 degrees Celsius. Power consumption: 9.5W, phantom power on. External power source: 5 VDC. Internal power source: 8 x AA batteries, alkaline or Ni-MH, 4.5 hours maximum recording time. Dimensions: 216.4 x 56 x 188.4mm. Weight: 1.2kg, excluding batteries.
Included accessories: PS-1225L power supply, shoulder strap, USB 2.0 cable.
Optional accessories: CS-DR680 padded case.
RC-F82
RC-F82 adds to the mixing capabilities of the HS-P82 by offering a hands-on mix/fader controller and talkback system for location recording applications. The fader controller has eight 100mm faders control to control the 8:2 mixer or preamp trim on the HS-P82. This allows a stereo mix to be recorded in addition to the eight discrete tracks. Eight encoders can control trim, level or stereo pan. In addition to control, the RC-F82 has audio input and output routing with talkback for on-set communication. A built-in talkback microphone can be used for on-set communication, whilst PS/2 Input can be used for keyboard input of track information.