Question: Replaced my DR-05 with a DR-40x - 4 channel unit

tothemax

tothemax

Nov 1, 2013
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#1
My old Tascam DR-05 is finally giving it up after many years of faithful service, it's been my go-to for recording band practices (the mini USB jack on the side of the unit is worn out). Anyway when I was searching for a replacement I saw that that the DR-40x has two 1/4" / XLR channels (Neutrik combo jacks) in addition to the built in condenser mics. What I'd like to do when the new unit arrives is continue to use the condenser mics to record our practices the same way as with the DR-05 and use the two additional channels to get the stereo output from the mixer. At practice we only use the mixer for vocals, and being a small room most of the time the vocals were overpowered by the room volume.

I'm thinking using adapters RCA to 1/4" mono, line outs on the mixer to the Neutrix. Hoping there is a "line level" setting. There is 1/8" stereo in that bypasses the condenser mics. Will download the documentation today, the new unit arrives on Wed.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with the DR-40x or done a similar setup recording "live" and mixer output. There were other options to the DR-40, but being familiar with the Tascam controls it was easier to continue with what I know. Many reviews fault the Tascam unit for lightweight construction, my DR-05 has been used on a regular basis for about the last 10 years (not bad for a $75 unit).

Any feedback will be appreciated...
 
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#3
New unit arrived yesterday and had an afternoon gig so just getting around to messing with it. It's a nice unit, much more substantial than the DR-05, the screen is about 3/4" larger and it really makes a difference. It uses 3 AA batteries or USB power. I was surprised that the USB jack is USB B micro, not the USB Mini that the DR-05 uses, plus the cable is not supplied with the unit (So I'll need an adapter to use my 20' USB Mini power cable).

Did a few tests and it is working OK, just not as expected. The built in condenser mic's are light years above the DR-05, very hot I will have to dial them back in the practice room. Using the RCA Tape outs from my mixer required conversion from unbalanced (RCA) to balanced (XLR), for that I'm using a Behringer Ultra DI box set at 0 attenuation. I did need to boost both the internal and external tracks by about 15db to get a decent volume without peaking. Might just take some practice. The one surprise is when you use the 4 track option (in this case: the two internal condenser mics - live room, and the 2 external inputs - Tape out from the mixer) you get two .WAV files the same size. I've been using Audacity to check the tracks and they seem to line up pretty well open the first two tracks (.Wav file 1), then add a second stereo track to the first project. Then open the second .Wav file with Audacity, opens in a new window. Then copy the whole file and drop it into the new empty stereo tack in the first project.

Once I amplified the tracks, the sound quality was excellent. The drum machine, guitar, and vocals going through the mixer mixed with the room sound really came out well.

Will give it try Wed. night at practice and report back in...

Cheers
 
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#4
I also have a DR40. The external inputs on mine are combo XLR and 1/4inch jacks. Did that change on your unit, the X model.

I very often use the 4 track recording mode and can confirm that the two WAV files will line up exactly.
 
#5
No, it has the same Neutrix combo XLR / 1/4" jacks. Gave a quick listen to the recording from last night's practice, so much better with the output from the mixer. I do think the condenser mic's are much higher quality than my old DR-05. When I get a couple of songs separated up I'll post one as an example.
 
#6
What's not to love about this new unit... I spent about 5 minutes on this track, slight boost, EQ, and compression... had to drop the gain on the mixer tracks a bit (all done in Audacity). I did have to order a new SD card (128GB SDXC), my 4GB SD ran out of space recording on 4 track (2 stereo tracks 1-2 internal consenser, 3-4 mixer tape out). 4GB was good for about 2hrs and 15 minutes.

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#7
We did this take of Bobbie McGee for gig coming up on the 17th. I've played with this singer before, but this is the first time with with the new band. It's great when things start to come together (pardon the multiple endings and minimal editing this was a work in progress). I'm really jazzed at the recording quality of the DR-40x... We have a pretty small rehearsal room, about 18 x 20 with keys and a large Leslie cab, 2 guitar players, congas, drums, and bass. The DR-40 was in the corner on top of one of the PA speakers, almost the instruments are recorded with the built in mics, there is bit of bleed through from the vocal mics but surprisingly clean. Next week I'll make some time to get the levels dialed in, the condensers could be a little hotter and the line outs from the mixer are too high. There is comparison recording from the DR-05, different genre, but in comparison I did very little to clean up the DR-40 recordings.



This is a comparison recording with the DR-05, same room with quite a bit of "mastering", the vocals really get lost in the mix.

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