Hi all

Im thinking of getting me a Tascam DR-680 for field jobs. I´ve watched almost all reviews, manuals and movies there´s around, but could be nice if some of you guys had a first-hand experience with this piece of hardware!!!

Thanks in advance

 

Sorry, phoopy, never had the opportunity to use one, but I read, somewhere where gear-slutz hang out, this review:

The DR-680 from Tascam is a great multi-track field recorder for someone on a budget. The amount of features they were able to squeeze into this small footprint and price-point is remarkable. It can be powered with the included DC adapter or via AA batteries, records to SD Flash cards and is extremely light-weight.

The DR-680 has 6 analog mic/line inputs - 4 on XLR/TRS combo jacks and two on TRS only. These can be individually switched between mic (XLR) or line (TRS) levels and there is phantom power available on all of them. There are limiters available on all of the analog inputs, accessed via one of two internal menu's. In addition, there is a SPDIF input for a total of 8 inputs.

If that were not enough, two of these units may be synchronized for 12 (or 14) channel operation.

The monitoring features are extremely well thought-out and implemented. There is an internal mixer with individual controls for record trim, pan and mix level on each channel. Channels can also be easily stereo-ganged. Each channel can be solo'ed pre-fader. There is an M/S monitoring option. The metering for each channel is available at a glance.

One can record the digital input to the internal stereo track, or alternatively it can be routed to tracks 5-6. One can also record the internal stereo mix to the stereo track. Files are easily accessed by connecting the device to a computer via USB.

There are some cons to this box: for a classical recordist, the analog inputs are a bit on the noisy side - be sure to hit them with adequate level; a solo in place monitoring option would be handy sometimes; at this time, there is no way to monitor the 6 analog inputs AND the digital input combined - you must choose to listen to one or the other; navigating the many internal menu's can be less than intuitive; and if it loses power during a record pass, the recorded data may be there, but the files are not written.

Overall, this little field recorder offers an insane feature set for its price. While its sound-quality does not fit in the same club as the far more expensive options (such as the Sound Devices 788), it offers an incredible value to someone who needs the ability to multi-track in the field.

 

my experience with Tascam products-DR-05 digital recorder, works OK. A little hard to navigate. The line out mini-jack is wonky and there is no way to get in there and fix it. I would say I got what I paid for-an OK product, but not really road worthy. Tascam US800 interface was the 1st interface I bought. I never liked that thing, for various reasons. Obsolete now, but it was a Tascam, it was buggy and clumsy to operate. So I can't really knock Tascam products, but I don't have much nice to say about them, either. Just not quite solid or "pro". My experience with equipment in the "field", or using at live events is--if it can get broken, it will get broken. If it has issues, they arise and aggravate you at the worst time.--just Murphy's Law kind of stuff.

 

Sorry phloopy I can't answer your question, but I'm very interested in what makes you prefer the DR-680 over, say, the Zoom H6.
Any specific features?

Thanks.

 

Fiction .......

Ive tried Zoom products and I dont really fancy any of them! I already have a Tascam DR 100 wich Im really funned of, but need more channels!!!

 

Wel, the H6 has 6 channels but right, you can't chain multiple H6 as with the 680.
What kind of field jobs - line level or phantom powered mics?

 

fiction ..........

I dont need something wich is fast to work with.... I need something that is very stabil and solid! The Zoom H6 has a lot of mics and stuff added to it (and is indeed impressing if you consider the price) but I just need the recorder and not mics! Also Im a bit worried about the converters in the Zoom device - even they say they´ve been updated in H6 - I know the quality of the converters in the DR 680 and they live up to my needs!

Basically I need 4 channels for the type of jobs I want to do, and Im working with condensator mics only - not that I dont have good dynamic mics, but because my experiences so far tells me the condensators do the very best job!

Im pretty sure the Zoom H6 is outstanding in many ways, but its not my cup of tea *no*

Cheers