Tascam Sonicview

[mijama]

Looks like we have a big, new shiny toy! My goodness, this looks like an impressive piece of kit. Will probably need its own category on here! I'm very curious to see what the recording capabilities are with this. I'm guessing it will be closer to the Model series than the Portastudios. Hopefully someone will scoop one up and give us a report!

 

[Mark Richards]

TASCAM is marketing the Sonicview as a successor to the DM series (4800, 3200; both of which are no longer available in the Americas).

"TASCAM has a long history of high-quality digital mixers, culminating with the legendary DM-4800, a workhorse mixer that set a new standard. With TASCAM Sonicview, TASCAM has created an entirely new line of digital recording and mixing consoles".

Edit
USD Street price: $6,000 (16XP) & $7,000 (24XP).

So neither an alternative nor a successor to the Model series or the Portastudio series.

 

[-mjk-]

It is a live sound console with a 32x32 USB interface, and built in 64x64 Dante interface. There are 2 expansion cards for other functions including a 32 track SD card recorder (apparently not unlike what Behringer has done with X-Live and Wing-Live) which supports punch-ins at some level.

 

[Arjan P]

Looks very interesting indeed. Very curious about DAW integration though..

 

[dctdct]

TASCAM is marketing the Sonicview as a successor to the DM series (4800, 3200; both of which are no longer available in the Americas).

That's why I think this thread would belong into one of the DM sections (as a successor equipment of those). Not a Portastudio successor.

 

[salty james]

Where is 'Stop' and 'Play'?
Could it have been 2 inches wider? Good grief. You can never win. I think i heard someone say that the transport controls (if there are any) may be on the touch screen.. bummer.
The one thing I don't like about the model series is the transport controls are not near the front.

 

[-mjk-]

It's a live sound console. <shrug>

 

[-mjk-]

Where is 'Stop' and 'Play'?
Could it have been 2 inches wider? Good grief. You can never win. I think i heard someone say that the transport controls (if there are any) may be on the touch screen.. bummer.
The one thing I don't like about the model series is the transport controls are not near the front.

There are however numerous user definable buttons. The Behringer X32 console does not have a dedicated transport section, however third-party developers have used the user-definable buttons to create a transport.

 

[mixerizer]

Imho its a modern TASCAM response to the current line of mixers from competitors like Presonus, Behringer, Midas, Allen & Heath, etc. rather than a real inheritor of the DM 3200/4800 sensibility.

As I mentioned in another thread, it seems more to me like TASCAM’s take on Presonus’ take of the DM-32/4800. It has a similar mixing and routing capability and channel counts (as does the Presonus w the DM), uses the more modern illuminated chiclet controls and touchscreen style, and it seems to be a conscious nod to the numerous brands of current retail multiscreen mixers, SonicView putting two in place of the top panes that the Presonus Studiolive leaves free for a vent and iPad stand.

Like the Studiolive and other modern consoles of this market tier, it depends on a DAW for automation, but incorporates a basic SD (here, 2tk) recording capability. The 24Xp has an expansion card installed for full 32ch MTR to SD w punch in/out and other MTR recording functions, tho. It has limited physical digital i/o (64x64 Dante on the TASCAM, 64x64 AVB on the Presonus), but there is an expansion card for MADI, AES/EBU, or more Dante i/o. The cards apparently increase the number of available inputs and outputs within the mixer’s 40(m)+2(stereo)+4(stereo fx) channel count. No expansion slots on the Presonus. And no physical transport controls. Both use their networked audio to interface with other boxes (stage boxes, interfaces, etc.). These all seem to be modern market decisions that TASCAM didnt make alone.

Compared to the DM, it doesn't appear to fit my use case (recording studio/sound design) nor my price point - and it has a (significantly) lower i/o and channel count (despite their lack of rich functions, I make heavy use of channels 49-64 on my DM-4800). But none of the other modern retail mixers in my price range fit either, especially after u add in the computer and other i/o infrastructure costs. Nevertheless, as a first offering it is definitely great to see.

For recording, it looks like the top line model (24XP) w expansion cards in place exists: https://tascam.com/us/product/sonicview_24xp/feature

Anybody know if the aux pre/post is per channel per aux, like the DM, or global per aux like the Studiolive? Been looking, nothing in the online manual.

 

[lastmonk]

Its a gorgeous digital mixer with tracking capabilities. For what it does its in the goldie locks price range., Not too cheap and not too expensive.

Night Clubs, Churches, Schools, Theaters, Music/Performing Arts festivals, small to mid size venues of all kinds that have mixing, recording, and sound reinforcement needs will find the price/performance kewl Touring bands, choirs, orchestras, ensembles, etc could definitely see the Sonicview as a worthwhile and plausible investment.

Its good to see Tascam put out something this exciting. Maybe the success of the Model Series helped to make the Sonicview possible. Perhaps this bodes well for new things on the horizon for the Portastudio Series

I could realistically see a new DP 24/32 with 12 XLR combo inputs, support for USB Midi/Audio In&Out and a HDMI Out port in the price range of $699 - $799. Maybe if the new Tascam Sonicview is successful Teac might throw a little R&D money towards the Portastudio series

One thing is for sure if I have to replace my digital mixer anytime soon it will definitely be replaced with the Sonicview. However, I will have to explain to my wife why I paid 10 times the price of my last one


Tascam Sonicview + DP 24 SD fanboy heaven

 

[mijama]

Frankly, I think that dream is dead on arrival. And it pains me to say that - the Portastudios are amazing, and I'd love to see a new unit or two with an upgraded feature set. But I've seen nothing from Tascam to indicate that they are going to lift a finger to continue the line. Indeed, someone posted a message from a Tascam employee awhile back indicating that was the case. Hopefully they will continue to manufacture and sell the existing ones for a while.

 

[-mjk-]

One could buy 2 Behringer Wing consoles for that price (and have Wing-Live SD recording cards, standard) and the Wing supports OSC which means it can be automated. The Wing is also stereo throughout.

Besides Dante, the Sonicview seems behind the others. Even the scribble strips seem primitive compared to other modern mixing desks.

It has been estimated that there are over 700,000 Behringer X32 consoles in the field, with the vast majority of them being in churches. When those churches upgrade, they tend to stay in the Behringer ecosystem with compatible stageboxes, etc.. The Sonicview appears to be geared toward the professional live sound market, but they are too small for a concert venue. So I have no idea who they designed this console for.

 

[lastmonk]

It will be interesting to see where Tascam Sonicview lands. But I wouldn't put them in the same space as the Behringers. I would put them against the Yamaha QL, CL, or even the high end of the TF Series


https://www.churchproduction.com/gear/yamaha-ql5-digital-mixing-console/
https://www.trewaudio.com/product/yamaha-ql1-digital-mixer/
https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/mixers/tf/index.html
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TF5-32--yamaha-tf5-digital-mixer

I dunno, Tascam's model series, and the mixcast, have been relatively successful. I think Tascam/Teac have identified a legitimate target market for the Sonicview also. Its not likely that Tascam produced this unit on a whim.


It may very well be that this is a mixer/recording platform, that will have a feature set that evolves over time using software/firmware updates. From a software/firmware perspective it can evolve or morph We might have to look down the road a couple of years to see where the Sonicview is actually going.

Also, as unpopular and silly as it might be, some folks just have brand loyalty and once they've found a brand that they trust they stick with it, even if they end up paying more than they would have with some competiting brand.

For instance, there are Yamaha, or Tascam or Universal Audio or Solid State Logic customers who would never even consider Behringer gear no matter what their market share or price/performance ratios are

 

[-mjk-]

Also, as unpopular and silly as it might be, some folks just have brand loyalty and once they've found a brand that they trust they stick with it, even if they end up paying more than they would have with some competiting brand.

You've described a consumer, not a corporation.

Church money is notoriously tight, and typically, decision makers' loyalty is to the Almighty Dollar. It remains to be seen.

I dunno, Tascam's model series, and the mixcast, have been relatively successful. I think Tascam/Teac have identified a legitimate target market for the Sonicview also. Its not likely that Tascam produced this unit on a whim.

If I were a betting man, I would bet against Tascam having 700k pieces of any type of gear in the field in that space. Yes of course they didn't produce this on a whim. But, where's the excitement? Where's the hype? On the Unofficial Behringer Forums, no one has mentioned it. Even on this forum, it took considerable time for someone to notice the release. Within a month of the Wing's release, there were videos from users in the field. That thing went ballistic.

It's a cool console. I just think it's too expensive for what it does.

 

[lastmonk]

Yea I hear you on the hype thing, but Sonicview isn't shipping yet, and according to Tascam Reps they are still facing supply chain challenges so its probably not prudent to create too much hype at the moment,

But think of it this way., remember the price of the Tascam 2488 when it first came out and compare that to the price of DP 24 SD today. There had to be market correction because of technological advancement and the ebb and tide of market demand. Tascam ultimately adjusted the feature set of the Neo 2488 to the DP 24 and now., the DP 24/32 SDs are a good price/performance proposition.

Currently there is a trend towards recording/mixing in hardware solutions. A quick look at Sweetwater you will see there are 5 times the number of solutions than there were just a couple of years ago. Also the music production-in-hardware thing is on fire right now., MPCs, SP 404 MKIIs, the MPC key 61, ZoomR20 , the Maschine+, the Nautilus, Fantom. There is a rennaissance of hardware sequencers (of all shapes and sizes) underway. I don't know whether its a backlash to the subscription models, or the move away from computers toward ipads/androids iphones, etc that has a certain generation of new music producers chosing dedicated hardware solutions over DAW based solutions.

Perhaps Tascam marketing folks are seeing this new trend toward recording/mixing/producing in hardware without requiring a computer as the future and are trying to put down their stake in the ground in the mid size market now.

The Sonicview feature set/cost is likely to be adjusted (in acceptable more plausible direction) over the next couple of years.

TBH I'm really excited to see where the Sonicview goes and if its successful I do think it will positively impact the future for the Portastudio A couple of software updates could give the Sonicview Portastudio capability Our community may like where this all ends up in 18-24 mos

 

[-mjk-]

Perhaps Tascam marketing folks are seeing this new trend toward recording/mixing/producing in hardware without requiring a computer as the future and are trying to put down their stake in the ground in the mid size market now.

There is no new trend toward hardware recording solutions. Nothing has changed. The money for that is in the home market, not sound companies and not churches.

Recording a live show in-console is just too easy to not do it. That's all it is. Don't read too much into it. None of these are standalone hardware DAWs. They are live mixing consoles that record individual sources and not much more. All of them do it now - from the Model series on up. Software and computing power have advanced so far that there will never be a hardware replacement for all of it.

 

[lastmonk]

There is no new trend toward hardware recording solutions. Nothing has changed. The money for that is in the home market, not sound companies and not churches.

Agreed the trend does not affect sound companies and churches. However at one point everyone including the home market believed that computer based DAW was the only way to go and eveybody was psyched into setting up a computer based DAW. You had flute players, bongo players, glee clubs, vocal duos, harmonica quartets, everybody believing the only way to get their music or song down was to get Protools For a while there it was DAW over here, DAW over there, DAW, DAW, DAW everywhere. Even when the DAW was overkill in the home market. But now that's all changed. And the home market is quickly adopting other options.

Of course there will never be a single hardware, music production in a box solution for large sound companies. And a computer based DAW is an essential part of a large serious commercial recording studio. But small studios, bars, night clubs, high school auditoriums, community theatres, jazz choirs, chamber ensembles, garage bands, vocalists etc don't need computer based DAWs and something like the Tascam Sonicview, the Tascam Model Series, or the Tascam Portastudio Series is far more appropriate. And the trend for this level of recording, mixing and music production in these areas is quickly moving toward these non computer based DAW solutions.

TBH all of it is computer based. The choice is between a general purpose computer + DAW software or a dedicated/embedded computer with DAW software built in. In the home market, the general purpose computer is not as hyped or central as it was in the 90's and early 2000s and there is just a trend toward other kinds of dedicated devices. Hell even the Sony Walkman is making a come back

https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders/c/walkman-mp3-players

The general purpose computer + software DAW should be the primary tool of the serious/commercial mixing/mastering engineer, or medium to large scale commercial recording studios, but its over kill for small studios, and the home market, or home studios, or small/medium sized project studios. I think the Tascam Sonicview has a bright future in this regard.

 

[-mjk-]

I think the Tascam Sonicview has a bright future in this regard.

I think it's too expensive for what it does. And the rest of this is sounding too much like that old thread about hardware vs. DAW recording that I swore I would never post about again!

 

[lastmonk]

I think it's too expensive for what it does.

Agreed, for what it currently does it is on the pricey side

@-mjk- didn't mean to drudge up ole memories of hardware vs DAW I have to remember I'm among friends on a Tascam forum. When I'm in the wild I constantly have to defend against the aggressive moves of my FL Studio, Reaper, PreSonus, Logic, ProTools, & Cubase brethren So its kind-of-a reflex

Lets hope the the Sonicview makes a price change course correction downward.

I could see the 16 XP at $2999 and the 24 XP at $3999 as a more realistic street price

 

[-mjk-]

Yes, that price range would pit it directly against models with similar features. Don't get me wrong, I like it but I wouldn't buy one for that price.