DP-24 and DP-24SD - Anyone have any experience using this?

Genesis1

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Hi, I've been thinking of upgrading my now dated Zoom MRS 1266 multitrack hdd recorder which has been a great and very reliable unit, for the new Tascam dp series. However I'm a bit puzzled, I've seen listings on various sites and I cannot see the difference between the Dp-24 and DP-24SD which both state they take an sd card.
Also as I like to do a thorough review of products before I buy, I have seen a bad report by an Amazon buyer both with the DP-24 and 32 that errors keep cropping up using these sd cards. One person wrote how they had upgraded to the DP-32 hoping the problem was sorted as they had found the DP-24 was giving these problems, but still got errors cropping up when really working this unit to the full and quite often losing songs. Is this the unit? or is it bad sd cards??

This has somewhat started to put me off my future purhase. Is this just an isolated fault? Or are they in fact not as reliable as the glossy marketing says? However I was wondering if anyone else has experience of using one of these, and how reliable it actually is. I have to say in fairness I have also seen many good reviews of the product, but as I will be using this unit a lot if I buy, I do want something reliable. I wish it had an option to add a HDD but unfortunately it doesn't. Anyone use one of these?
 
I know this is a bit of a late reply but I've been evaluating my DP32 for 3 months now and finally feel that I've at least started to feel at home with it.
I had a faulty SD card (from Amazon) which I used from day 1. When I had problems I spoke to an 'expert' at Tascam who couldn't give me much advice so, in the absence of any real advice, I returned the SD card to Amazon who sent me a replacement.
Since then the DP32 has performed flawlessly. My 32GB SD card gives enough room to store quite a few songs. Some have pretty much every track used and I have had no issues. I have made back ups of every song onto my PC as well as storing copies of all the individual wav files as well.
It doesn't seem as though anyone on this forum has much experience with these machines as I've never managed to get an answer to any queries that I've raised.
I hope this is of some use to you.
DavidC
 
Thanks for that. However I think I may hold off a while. I read a couple of reviews and one guy stated that he had two of these and both only lasted him around 2 years before they suffered internal faults. So I'm really looking for something that will last for my investment. My old zoom mrs 1266 has lasted me 14 years and is still working although now starting to show its age. Its easy to replace the hdd and cd writer also which makes it user friendly. However I've heard the tascam has no drum tracks and fx can only be added one at a time and its hard to add fx afterwards. also the mix levels can only be seen during recording and the level meters cannot be adjusted at the mixing stage they don't alter when you adjust the sliders. Don't know if you have found these drawbacks. Thanks for your input.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by the level meters cannot be adjusted at the mixing stage.
Individual tracks can have level changes made at mixdown as well as adding fx to individual tracks. Internally you can only assign one type of effect to aux send 1 but you also have the external aux send(s) which you can either use whilst recording or during mixdown. You also have the dynamic fx for use during recording and mastering. You can easily bounce tracks and add fx if you want.
My old Soundtrax 24 track console and Otari 24 track multi track lasted me many years but cost the equivalent of £80,000 -£90,000 in todays money. The DP32 cost around £550 so there's really no comparison. I really see it as a traditional way of recording for a disposable price.
There are no drum tracks but I tried all the recorders on the market and found all the in built drum machines a bit crappy. Others will probably disagree. I use Addictive Drums or Battery on my PC to lay down drum tracks and then just copy them across to the DP32 over USB.
I guess it's horses for courses but (so far) I'm finding a good machine.
 
New DP32 user here, but I've worked with all-in-one machines for many many years, and for a good number of those with the Akai DPS24...an astonishingly good machine (still!) that I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful back and forth relationship with Akai on, but one that is bound to fail at some point given it's age. "Solid state" recording on the SD cards has been absolutely glitch-free so far and my overall impression of the machine is that it's a very robust unit that should hold up very well indeed. My plan is to use the machine mainly as a "capture device", recording tracks that can then be sent to PC (quite easily and quickly I should add) for mixing and mastering. I have also been running through some mix scenarios and no doubt, basic mixing inside the machine should also be good for "quickies", although a lack of automation and the limited effects capabilities will mean some figuring of "workarounds".

The appeal here is that, for the price they get for the DP32, you get an awful lot in a relatively small and portable package. Even after the (very) short time I've had the machine, it's clear that it should serve very well, either on it's own or in conjunction with a computer, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it in the least. In answer to the specific questions:

" I read a couple of reviews and one guy stated that he had two of these and both only lasted him around 2 years before they suffered internal faults. So I'm really looking for something that will last for my investment."

I didn't realize these models (DP24 and DP32) had been around that long. In any case, over the many years I've been doing this, I've seen a lot of these kinds of "reviews", and it'a always tough to know exactly what the person did and even their background/experience. That's not to say that any one person is making things up, just that you really need to find a consensus or a "trend" before coming to conclusions.

" My old zoom mrs 1266 has lasted me 14 years and is still working although now starting to show its age. Its easy to replace the hdd and cd writer also which makes it user friendly. "

I don't even know how old my Akai DPS24 is at this stage, but it still works perfectly, although of course, the type hard disc drive it uses is waaay out of date and replacing that drive (there IS a compatible HDD list) would most likely mean finding used or refurbished drives somewhere. As a VERY early user, I became sort of a defacto "Akai support tech", answering questions for them for years and doing some demo work. I saw a LOT of "problems" and, while not all were user-error-related, the vast majority were. Initial impressions of the DP32 are that it's a similarly robust (although simpler) machine. I would be really surprised if the DP32 failed early *IF* the user were reasonably careful with the unit...but that is of course just a guess.

"However I've heard the tascam has no drum tracks and fx can only be added one at a time and its hard to add fx afterwards. "

The "porta-studio" (so-called "all-in-one") market is all but dead at this point, being both limited as to what manufacturers are even involved, and the complexity/capability of the machines themselves. Having looked around at what's out there, it seems clear that the internal drum capabilities of those machines that have them isn't going to "make" anyone's recordings. Considering exactly how important the quality of good drum tracks is to a finished recording, and how easy it is to get studio-quality drums and then transfer them into one of these machines, it seems strange to shortchange yourself on the entire machine for the ability to have poor internal drums. Loops, samples, real drums (if you have the ability to get them), drum software, MPC-type hardware solutions, "regular drum machines" with good samples and well-programmed, drum software...whatever, should all produce solid results....but yes...you will need "something else" besides the recorder. Think about it, when you hear an otherwise nice recording (even for "home recordings"), don't cheesey drum tracks all but ruin the experience?

On the effects, yes, a single "ambient" type effect (reverb, delay, chorus etc.) IS a real limiter, and I haven't figured any workarounds for this yet, mostly because I would only do basic mixes inside the machine. I've only had the machine for a day so far, but I will check the "usual" type ways to have at this. Typically, this would involve "printing" a source track with effects to free up the internal fx for a different effect on a different track. I'll have to try some things when I get a chance, but I would guess(?) that doing this as a "bounce-with-effects" OR by simply doing a mix with all the tracks except the source track being "effected" muted and then migrating the resulting track+effects back into the multitrack pool. With a total (mono + stereo) of 32 tracks for simultaneous playback, the track count certainly shouldn't be a problem for the typical "4 piece" plus pop/rock type production. Also (and as David pointed out), there is a second fx send for external effects devices.

I'm also not understanding what the problem is with adjusting levels, but that seems fairly straightforward as it had better be for a multitrack recorder! This all may not be applicable to you if you've moved on, but for anyone looking in, I say...read the manual to understand exactly what the machine's capabilities are and then make the jump if it fits your needs. There doesn't seem to be anything out there currently being manufactured that's even close, but no machine is going to be "the right machine" for everyone., As David said...it's "horses for courses"!
 
Been a user of the 788 to 2488 and now owner of two DP24's; glad Tascam has migrated from hard drives to disk card-too many HD failures causing great suffering of lost recording sessions. Working with DP24 since late summer, with 4 months of DP24 experience, been working on mixdown/master of 23 track recording this has gain me the knowledge and expertise to use the DP24 efficiently. The manual does have its limitation, as they say you learn by doing. The mastering process and tools (multi-band compression, NSD, etc) makes a great CD recording. Have fun
 
I have a dp32 but its gone back to sort out its internal problems. Its great and without fault if you use the right card (best with 32gb) but you can't record in 24bit or you're likely to get pops and cracks appearing all over the place on your recording. I've noticed too that if you want to "punch in" over a recording, its important to press STOP when you want to rewind to the desired place and wait (which gets annoying) for the red indicator light to go out. If you don't, it seems to allow you to record without doing so!! It also doesn't seem to like you to press REWIND and PLAY in order to rewind as you may be used to doing. In 24 bit it wrecks the recording the clicks and loud pops. Good machine but its enough to put you off!
 
Genesis, let's start with the difference between the two - the original DP-24 has a CD burner in it, and the DP-24SD did not. That's the only difference in the two models that I am aware of. Both use SD cards in place of hard drives, and the key to good performance (in my experience) is to use a good quality SD card (I use only the SanDisk Ultra SDHC 32GB cards), and periodically format the cards in the DP-24, using the utility in the menu.

Before I begin a new session, I connect the DP-24 to a laptop via USB, and back up all files and folders. I then use the standard format utility on the DP to format the card, and finally reconnect via USB and copy the backed up files and folders back to the card. I've found that when unusual errors occur (lockups, controls not functioning properly, etc.), formatting the SD card has resolved them each and every time.

Coming to this from the original 2488 (and yes, mine was also still working fine after so many years) took a little getting used to, but was intuitive enough to quickly adapt, and I like the workflow on the DP-24 better than the one I used on the 2488. I think the end results sound a lot better as well, but of course, that's highly subjective on my part.

This response is "late to the party" as I just joined this new incarnation of the Tascam Forums, but hopefully you and perhaps others may find something useful in it.
 
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Hi,

I've recently bought an used TASCAM DP24. Do you know wich is the maximun writing velocity of this item in MB/s?

I don't know which SDHC to choose... 90 Mb/s? 300Mb/s? maybe more?

What about "x"? 300x? 500x? 1000x?

Thank you for your help!
 
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Thank you for your help, Dennis! I had checked that link before but I had some doubts... Do you think I'd have problems if I buy a SDHC card which supports more Mb/s than DP-24 can write? What about "X"? "300X"? "1000X"? Or it doesn't matter?

Cheers!!
 
I'm not sure, there's Tascam tech forum member named "Redbus" his advice I would respect. I would like to know if it is better to user higher speed cards or perhaps the DP24/32 list could be updated with new information.
 
I'll send him a PM and I'll post here his point of view : )
 

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