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Hello from TASCAM


Tom Duffy

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Some of you know me already, I'm an Engineering Manager at TASCAM.

I've been with TASCAM for a long time, helped design the 2nd generation DTRS machines, all of our Digital mixers, and recently worked on specifically the HS-P82, RC-F82 and other HS-series devices.

TASCAM doesn't have its own forum for online customer interaction, and lately the review page on the Trew Audio site became an impromptu support forum for the HS-P82.

I'm here, unofficially, to take feedback on the HS series and check up on any spec questions or problems that users (current or potential) are experiencing.

I can't help with the DR-680, I didn't have any hand in the spec'ing or implementation there.

All of my production knowledge is what I have learned through osmosis, lurking on forums around the web. I have experience recording classical and choral works in multichannel audio, and the subsequent mixing and mastering, but no direct film/TV experience.

Since I am a shortcut into TASCAM engineering, you'll need to go the official route through the tascam.com support webpage to get a fully weighted request for features into the marketing department. So please know that I can't promise things, but can advise on known work-arounds, problems and be a sounding board for ideas on our professional products (which doesn't include the DR-680).

Tom.

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Tascam doesn't consider the DR-680 to be a professional product?

Badly written - it's a professional product, but not one I can help with directly, because I didn't do anything for it, and I don't have one in my office.

You can also draw the line at: products with LTC Timecode, which the DR-680 doesn't have - it has Time of day BWAV timestamps but nothing more.

You can also draw the line with: products with ergonomics designed for busy professionals (controls for all channels), in which case the DR-680 is a budget item, even though it meets channel count and I/O specs for professional situations. What we used to call prosumer.

Tom.

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Sometimes I feel like there should be a video game on the screen. I mean it must have more computing power then an old gameboy, and tetris could probably played with the interface! The recorder has been great, the only goblin for me has been pesky relationship between the recorder, a 12T adaptor barrel, and my Schoeps cmc4/41 resulting in a hissy whistling noise.

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I have the Senneiser variation of that and it works well with the barrel and the schoeps. Actually the barrel works well the two Sennheiser shotguns I own that are also T powered. It also works with the Schoeps and other mixers. I don't really see it as a fault of anything, just an issue of compatibility between devices designed on different continents, and in different decades.

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Sometimes I feel like there should be a video game on the screen. I mean it must have more computing power then an old gameboy, and tetris could probably played with the interface! The recorder has been great, the only goblin for me has been pesky relationship between the recorder, a 12T adaptor barrel, and my Schoeps cmc4/41 resulting in a hissy whistling noise.

Ha! I had Tetris in an early version of the TM-D8000 mixer back in '96, took it out before shipping though...

Tell me more about the Schoeps Mic. We have identified a problem with mics that present a highly inductive load that can destabilize our phantom power filtering. Does the problem depend on the power going into the HS-P82 (e.g good with freshly charged batteries?)

Tom.

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Do you also support the HDP2? I still have one of those, mostly as backup, but it just did some important duty on a several days oof a job. I was impressed with how good it sounded after not having used it much in the last few years.

phil p

Yes, we are still making plenty of these, tell me if you run into problems such as compact flash card compatibility, etc.

Tom.

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Ha! I had Tetris in an early version of the TM-D8000 mixer back in '96, took it out before shipping though...

Tell me more about the Schoeps Mic. We have identified a problem with mics that present a highly inductive load that can destabilize our phantom power filtering. Does the problem depend on the power going into the HS-P82 (e.g good with freshly charged batteries?)

Tom.

The Schoeps seems to act up even on a new NP. However when I was on a Doc and managed to drain the external battery to the point that the recorder switched over to the internal sled. I heard some pops and a little hiss off the boom channel. I talked to my local dealer about it and they think it may be an RF issue/issue from the barrel. However I was told that the Schoeps heavy power draw will exacerbate problems like this.

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Spencer, I am curious about Sennheiser's T power supply!

( quote: I have the Senneiser (sic) variation of that. .. end quote --

" PSC Universal Power Supply ")

A quick search turned up nada for me.

Would you kindly provide info?

Thanks.

Sorry for the confusion its actually a p48 power supply ( Sennheiser MZA 14) I use it with the PSC barrel T powered mics. I got it used for a song, mostly it sits in the gear locker, but it may be pushed into service again now.

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" products with LTC Timecode, "

SMPTE TC

Ah yes. You could just imagine a tiny Nagra-like micro tape deck hidden inside the HS-P82 just to provide a Longitudinal TimeCode signal...

How to describe the timecode capabilities of products that just stamp the BWAV file with the Time Of Day from the on-board wall-clock generator? (accurate to the closest second)

Tom.

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And also "Ancillary Timecode" in the case of HDCam and HDCam-SR. (Signed, Mr. Pedantic.)

The post engineers I used to work with would constantly correct me that VITC was for standard def, Ancillary TC was for HD. All semantics, like calling 625 "PAL" (which is not exactly true).

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A little of topic but can you point me to someone I can talk to about continuing support for the fw-1884? I like the machine a lot but it won't work with current Mac computers in 64 bit mode, which kind of defeats the purpose if you want to use it for its faders in a heavy mix session. I don't want to get rid of it as it has served me well for many years, and would hate to get rid of it just because support was abruptly halted.

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A little of topic but can you point me to someone I can talk to about continuing support for the fw-1884? I like the machine a lot but it won't work with current Mac computers in 64 bit mode, which kind of defeats the purpose if you want to use it for its faders in a heavy mix session. I don't want to get rid of it as it has served me well for many years, and would hate to get rid of it just because support was abruptly halted.

We've discussed it a few times, and it was a tough decision for us; we stopped making them a long time before the 64 bit kernel in Mac OS X became mainstream. When we officially announced "no more support for future OSes", there would have been plenty of customers who retired or sold their equipment. If we went back on that statement, you can imagine the angst.

For quite a while, everyone ran the 32 bit kernel with 64 bit apps, which provides plenty of oomph. It's only the latest generation of Macs that went 64 bit kernel all the time. We still advise customers who need the FW-1884 with a new Mac to boot into the 32 bit kernel (hold "3" and "2" while turning on). Or, just keep a 3 yr old Mac around for this - a Mac Pro from that era still has a ton of processing power.

Tom.

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Hi guys!

I am a big fan of tascam products.I have a HS-P82 two years now and I am very happy.I have used it for 6 feature films and many short films.Amazing and easy menu,beautiful preamps,two cf cards,8 xlr inputs,touch and big screen.

I have a question for Tom Duffy.I have a small usb keyboard (benq),and I am using an adapter (usb to standard keyboard plug) but unfortunately doesnt work with hs-p82 and hd-p2.I would like to know if there`s a plan for this issue for the next firmwares.Its a vital issue for me to control my recorder with keyboard.

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I have a question for Tom Duffy.I have a small usb keyboard (benq),and I am using an adapter (usb to standard keyboard plug) but unfortunately doesnt work with hs-p82 and hd-p2.I would like to know if there`s a plan for this issue for the next firmwares.Its a vital issue for me to control my recorder with keyboard.

I just did a choral recording on Saturday myself with the HS-P82, RC-F82 and a keyboard (USB->PS/2 adapter).

The thing with USB keyboards is, when they first came out, they were nearly all dual-protocol, i.e. USB and PS/2, and the adapter plug told the Keyboard which to be. There was never a standard for how the adapter tells the Keyboard "use PS/2", so unless you're using the adapter that came with that Keyboard, it probably won't work.

We are starting to see more keyboards that are truly USB-only, so an adapter won't work for those at all.

On the HS-P82, (as of V1.11) the Keyboard is only active on the QWERTY text entry screen. I am looking at adding some shortcuts on the Function keys for Transport control, and some other shortcuts for navigation around the LCD UI.

Tom.

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