SD card buying hints

[-mjk-]

The quicky, COMPLETELY unscientific/casual experiment with the cheap-o SD card only proved to me that the DP WILL function just fine with a less-than-ideal, not-Tascam-approved card...even if a bit slower, which I hate (I wanna keep going, not wait for my card to finish writing!).

I'm so glad that @Mark Richards has pointed out the danger of this quote being read by someone and misinterpreted as being canon. Sorry but this just is not true. The DP will NOT function "just fine" with a not-Tascam approved SD card because of the potential that it may eventually fail. Depending upon how a person uses the DP it may never happen, or it may happen within a matter of days.

I myself chose the fastest SD card I could find, reasoning that because it was fast, it must be better. Several days of lost work convinced me otherwise. I hit that wall pretty fast because I am a punch-in Beast Runner.

Seriously, if file transfer speed is that important you should be putting the card in a card reader that is on the PCI bus.

It seems like 92% of what's available these days is MicroSD cards, which have to go in an adapter to be put in the DP...I'd rather use the correct card (full size SD).
Maaaaaybe I'll buy a batch of "normal" (UHS-I, 100Mb/sec) SanDisk Extreme Pro 32GB's...they go for US$12-15, whereas the UHS-II's are more like US$60!!!

FWIW, some have reported that Tascam supplied micro SD cards in adaptors with new digital Portastudios. I honestly believe that the form factor has no bearing on performance in this case.

 

[BazzBass]

@-mjk- Yes I can confirm mine came with a micro sd card, 4Gb , which is why I didn't immediately know it wasn't 32Gb lol. Only the micro had any capacity written on it.

I actually think micro sd cards are a bit safer in that if the adaptor's contacts become damaged, and they are the only ones that are ever used when switching between the DP and a PC, then you just put the micro card into a new adaptor.

 

[-mjk-]

I actually think micro sd cards are a bit safer in that if the adaptor's contacts become damaged, and they are the only ones that are ever used when switching between the DP and a PC, then you just put the micro card into a new adaptor.

Since all connectors have a mating cycle life, that is a valid contention.

 

[shredd]

Well…I’ll consider myself schooled.

In discussing my SD experiment…I hadn’t considered that someday, someone might read that one sentence and take it as gospel.
I guess I assumed that everyone who uses any Tascam SD-based gear knows that the gospel is actually “use Tascam-approved SD cards. PERIOD.”

I know dang well that the cheepie/generic ones are NOT to be relied on. That’s why I have my expensive, superfast SanDisk ones…and STILL am aware enough of the “no guarantees” nature of them, that I back up my work regularly, without fail.
But: point taken - I don’t want someone thinking that krapey SD cards are “fine” - or to overlook the importance of backups!!!

I stand corrected.

 

[-mjk-]

Thanks @shredd.

 

[-mjk-]

@-mjk- Yes I can confirm mine came with a micro sd card, 4Gb , which is why I didn't immediately know it wasn't 32Gb lol. Only the micro had any capacity written on it.

I actually think micro sd cards are a bit safer in that if the adaptor's contacts become damaged, and they are the only ones that are ever used when switching between the DP and a PC, then you just put the micro card into a new adaptor.

The original ads for the DP-32 said that it included a 2GB card to "get you started." Now, they can't find 2GB cards anymore so they've been supplying 4GB micro SD cards. At some point they'll be supplying 16GB cards, I expect.

 

[shredd]

The original ads for the DP-32 said that it included a 2GB card to "get you started." Now, they can't find 2GB cards anymore so they've been supplying 4GB micro SD cards. At some point they'll be supplying 16GB cards, I expect.

Natural Progression, I suppose…price goes down, consumer demand for recording space goes up, and of course the competitive nature of marketing… any company would, of course, be happy to proclaim that their gear now comes supplied with 4 GB, not 2, etc etc…

But in my time using various card forms (SD & CF) and even USB flash drives, I’ve found the very same dynamic.
There was a time where I had a bag full of 32MB CF cards, for my Digitech GNX4. And I still have 32MB USB thumb drives!!!
Nowadays, the smallest USB drives I’ve purchased lately are 32GB…from a place offering ones up to 512GB…

 

[Phil Tipping]

Given the size of a blank song is 11MB, maybe it's not worth trying these then?

 

[Felonious Punk]

I always like to point out that Tascam sends out cards for promotional purposes that ARE NOT on their own approved list.

FP

 

[shredd]

Given the size of a blank song is 11MB, maybe it's not worth trying these then?

Hi @Phil Tipping !
Actually, the small-size SD’s are a very practical/economical solution to certain needs - for example: keeping recordings on separate cards (a gig, a specific recording session, different bands/personnel, a specific project)…
The difference is that - besides the best-case convention/preference to stick to “Tascam-approved” cards, for optimal reliability…finding small-capacity cards (particularly sub-1GB) is getting harder!!
Good example - my recent “experiment” - a generic 2GB SD did in fact work/perform well enough…but as has been pointed out, probably would not offer the reliability that a high-quality (“approved”) card would…and no one wants to lose their work to such a trivial technical glitch. At any price point!!