sdog Posted October 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 O.K. A few more questions for you guys: MSpector, Can you tell me where you got your info about the DR-680 being able to handle up to 16.8V? Personal experience? Tascam? somewhere else? This would be truly great news, but I read somewhere else that the input voltage range is 8-13V. I can't seem to get a response from Tascam. Or Michael McQueen, which B4B batteries? The 14.4V Li-Ion? Or wanderinggear, using those b4bs on DR-680? If so, 14.4 Li-Ion? Or Shane Kao, under their NP-1 header I couldn't find an X02 model at B4B. Could you tell me what technology/voltage those are (Li-ion/14.4V?) studiomprd, Mike, the only Juicer I saw at Remote Audio was 15V out. Dang! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 " the only Juicer I saw at Remote Audio was 15V out. " 12 V discontinued ?? HAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSpector Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 O.K. A few more questions for you guys: MSpector, Can you tell me where you got your info about the DR-680 being able to handle up to 16.8V? Personal experience? Tascam? somewhere else? I own one MS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdog Posted October 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 Excellent. Thanks MSpector. This is swaying me heavily toward the Li-Ion NP-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 NP-1 type batteries are great IMHO. They last long and there are shoe adapters that can power 4 hirose-outputs and DC out. So you can easily have them power, say, 4 receivers and one mixer. I looked at a bunch of alternatives, and finally gave up and just went with the IDX LiOn NP1's. Expensive, but they last damn near forever, plus they're really light. That set-up in a BDS plus the Remote Audio RM meter has given me peace of mind on how long a bag system will run before I'm on the verge of running out of power. And I routinely do 7 or 8 DC outputs with no problem. --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdog Posted October 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 This response from Tascam on input voltage to the DR-680: Doug, I apologize for the late response, I was researching the question. And a 14.4V DC LiON battery has a fully charged voltage of 16.8 volts, which could possibly damage the unit. You do not want to feed the unit voltages over 16V. Thank you for your interest in Teac/Tascam products. I may rig up one of these puppies to drop the voltage so I can use the ubiquitous 14.4 Li-Ion cells (whether NP-1 or V-Mount or Gold-mount or...): http://www.dimensionengineering.com/DE-SWADJ.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gilbert Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 Use a Hawk Woods NP1 adaptor, some of them have 12V regulated outputs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSpector Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 This response from Tascam on input voltage to the DR-680: I may rig up one of these puppies to drop the voltage so I can use the ubiquitous 14.4 Li-Ion cells (whether NP-1 or V-Mount or Gold-mount or...): http://www.dimension...om/DE-SWADJ.htm No need , they just cover their ass for legal advise . Works for the last 2 years But If you are to scared - :-) http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-DC-Rechargeable-Li-ion-Battery-CCTV-Cam-9800mAh-/200533958148?pt=AU_Electronics_Batteries_Chargers&hash=item2eb0c15e04#h Should hold your reorder for about 10 hours . much better then IDX OR Hawk Woods- Cost less , works longer :-) the only down side is the charger WHICH is very low rate, about 12 hours for complete charge , so buy 3 .... :-) MS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 " This response from Tascam on input voltage to the DR-680: " or " they just cover their ass for legal advise . " Well, SDOG, who ya' gonna believe?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael McQueen Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 I've been using my dr680 off my b4b np1 into a battery bud 2 since spring time'ish? No problems on my end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Denton Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 I'm looking at going for a battery distribution system and after reading through this and other forums my ideal setup balancing price and quality seems to be Batteries4Broadcast Li-Ion NP-1 batteries a Remote Audio NP-1 cup adapter and Remote Audio BDS v4. But I have also been looking at the Cable Techniques Battery Bud II BDS. Any recommendations which BDS is better? The RA has 6 outs compared to the CT which has 5. But the CT has Hirose outputs compared to the RA 2.5mm mating connector. Pro's and con's of each? At the moment I'm only powering a SD 552 and two Lectro 411as but I'll add more 411as and a 744t eventually (unless I can be convinced a Zaxcom Nomad is the way to go, but that's a different discussion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael McQueen Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 I'd go with new remote audio bds. The reason I went battery bud was that I already had hirose power cables from my old psc setup so it saved me a good bit of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Denton Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 Yeah, just been looking for the last couple of hours and there seems to be a lot of reasons to go for the Remote Audio BDS. 6 output, battery life indicator LED in the switch, the locking connectors seems very sturdy, switchable 6th output, $20 cheaper at B&H. Can't think of a reason to go Battery Bud II over that! Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Norflus Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 I have also been looking at the Cable Techniques Battery Bud II BDS. Any recommendations which BDS is better? The RA has 6 outs compared to the CT which has 5. But the CT has Hirose outputs compared to the RA 2.5mm mating connector. Pro's and con's of each? They both are good units - I personally like the cable techniques. The main reason is because depending how you set up your bag the Hirose will enter and exit the unit at the bottom thus taking up less room and less of a chance of bumping the connectors. Not a problem for only having the 5 outs vs the 6 because the Hirose's can be doubled up - meaning you can use one Hirose to power two 411's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael McQueen Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 oh, there's the all bottom cable mounting, which i am a fan of. and all of my lectro power cables are Y cables, so I only need 2 to power 2 SRa's a 211 and my tascam dr680. and they are the same cables that camera sends power from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdog Posted October 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 Well, SDOG, who ya' gonna believe?? I believe that Michael McQueen and MSpector are successfully using their DR-680s at higher voltage. I believe that engineers do tend to put their specs way toward the "safe" side. I believe you could probably hit 98% of DR-680s with 16.8V and never suffer a bad effect. I believe I'm the kind of guy that could easily have one of the 2% that can only handle voltages within spec. I believe I'm a scaredy-cat who's not going to take the risk. I believe that there are two types of people in the world: the type of people who believe things and the type of people who question things. I never thought I was one of the type who believe things, but now that I've read my own post I'm starting to question what type I am. Wait. What type does that make me? I believe I'll have another cup of coffee before I go any further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 While a fully, freshly charged 14.4 V LIoN shows an open circuit voltage above the units upper limit spec, That voltage drops when there is a load. A dropping resistor in the power connection would insure staying within spec's, and thus resolve potential warranty issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdog Posted October 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 Here's a report back for anyone following this thread: By the time I got my shhhhtuff together and finally decided to pick up a battery (had decided on the B4B NP1 or something similar), nobody, nowhere had anything like it in stock. Needed it fairly soon so I completely switched gears and ordered a Battery Geeks (Novuscell) BG 9-12-130 (130Wh, Li-Ion, regulated 9V and 12V out, 4.5A). Charged it up, plugged in the DR-680 and went away. 16 hours later the DR-680 was still running with a fair amount of charge left on the battery. Was not phantom powering microphones, so we'll see what happens when I hook up a few mics. I'm sure that will chew through the charge quite a bit faster. Nice slim design, fits in the front pouch of my Petrol PS-601. Because the power cable uses a little connection adapter, it sticks out a little from the DR-680 - worried a little about shear stress, but I can do some custom cabling at some point in time to get rid of that problem. I'm packing it up now, along with several fists full of rechargeable AAs (just in case). I'll let you know in about 8 weeks how it performed in the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdog Posted December 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Back from Sicily. Here are the results. The BG 9-12-130 performed pretty well. Started up the DR-680 at the beginning of the day, Left it running with mics plugged in (typically a boom with phantom power and several wireless receivers). At the end of each day it usually showed 4 out of 5 bars power remaining on the battery. Recharged quickly at the end of each day. Overall I am very pleased. Now that I'm not in a rush, however, I do want to replace the straight cable connectors with right angle connectors. The end on the battery is fairly well protected in the back pouch of the Petrol bag, but the connector on the DR-680 side really sticks out. Something WILL break eventually. May also pick up a BDS or split cables to also run the mixer from the same supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor The Mixer Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Thanks for all the great info on the Tascam dr680. I'm looking for an inexpensive multitrack for a friends feature in Feb and the dr680 seems to be the way to go. Any updates/concerns from current users before i make my purchase? Happy new year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBoisseau Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Here's a report back for anyone following this thread: By the time I got my shhhhtuff together and finally decided to pick up a battery (had decided on the B4B NP1 or something similar), nobody, nowhere had anything like it in stock. Needed it fairly soon so I completely switched gears and ordered a Battery Geeks (Novuscell) BG 9-12-130 (130Wh, Li-Ion, regulated 9V and 12V out, 4.5A). Charged it up, plugged in the DR-680 and went away. 16 hours later the DR-680 was still running with a fair amount of charge left on the battery. Was not phantom powering microphones, so we'll see what happens when I hook up a few mics. I'm sure that will chew through the charge quite a bit faster. Nice slim design, fits in the front pouch of my Petrol PS-601. Because the power cable uses a little connection adapter, it sticks out a little from the DR-680 - worried a little about shear stress, but I can do some custom cabling at some point in time to get rid of that problem. I'm packing it up now, along with several fists full of rechargeable AAs (just in case). I'll let you know in about 8 weeks how it performed in the field. Has anyone found a small lightweight adapter to send line level anolog signals into tracks 7&8 of the DR680. I figure I really don't need mic level on all the inputs, but the small A to D converters that I've tried (with RCA inputs & spdif out) will not lock up with the DR680. Any suggestions? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Matthews Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 I have a DR-680, a 442 and a Lectro receiver in my bag. I have been using a Tekkeon to power the 680 and the Lectro but it only lasts about 5-6 hours of continuous use. I bought a charger and 2 NP-1 from Batteries 4 Broadcast with an NP-1 cup and have been powering my 442 with that. The NP-1 lasts for 2 days even sending phantom power to my Schoeps. I want to power everything from the NP-1 so I ordered a BDS. I am not going to risk sending 16.4 volts to the DR-680 because I don't want to take the risk of frying it. I am building a little box with a voltage regulator in it so I can send the DR-680 constant voltage. Voltage regulators have a drop out voltage of about 1.5 volts so once my NP-1 hits 13.5 volts, it will quit sending power to the DR-680 if I use a 12 volt voltage regulator. Here's my question: Has anyone had any experience running a DR-680 at 9 volts? I think it can be done, just wondering if anyone is doing it and what their experience has been. If 9 volts is sufficient, I can use a 9 volt voltage regulator that will last until the NP-1 hits 10.5 volts. Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael McQueen Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Ran my 680, 552 and multiple lectrosonics through my bds with b4b np1's when I had that kit. Probably did 30 or so days with it and the guy I sold it to is also running his 680 off of a bds. My lectrosonics usually show 16.2v when fully charged but nomad says 16.1. That's kinda lame they didn't put a 10-18v circuit like most dc circuits usually have... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justindfox Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 So I'm about to purchase a DR-680, I've got 3 IDX NP-1 batteries. All I need to power is the 680 itself, which would be my best solution for a NP-1 cup/bds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASI Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Alternative: AudioRoot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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