How long can a Tascam DM4800 Last?

[Arjan P]

One major drawback was the inability to select a channel by touching the fader.
Also realized that it had less I/O than the DM. Very convoluted connection to DAW... Not as advertised.

Oh, really? I was keeping the StudioLive in the back of my mind for future replacement - if I absolutely have to leave the DM..

Strange, they do advertise 33 motorized, touch sensitive faders, 64 channels I/O over USB and 32 preamps should do it.. What I would miss terribly is NO physical channel inserts and no separate Aux out/returns.

Well, we've said it before, there simply is no good current replacement in the market for this over 10-year-old DM series.. Sad..

 

[-mjk-]

The Behringer X32 is a better choice for the studio than the Presonus, IMO. Also, the Dante card is not too expensive. It all depends upon how you use the console, ultimately.

 

[waterstrum]

Oh, really? I was keeping the StudioLive in the back of my mind for future replacement - if I absolutely have to leave the DM..

Strange, they do advertise 33 motorized, touch sensitive faders, 64 channels I/O over USB and 32 preamps should do it.. What I would miss terribly is NO physical channel inserts and no separate Aux out/returns.

Well, we've said it before, there simply is no good current replacement in the market for this over 10-year-old DM series.. Sad..

I spent several weeks with their tech support.
One problem was that when recording to a DAW, the faders and mute buttons didn't work.
Another problem was not being able to select a channel by touching the fader.
Then there was the dreaded configuration of channels to my DAW.
The 64/64 I/O does't work as you'd expect.
They are nice folks, but ended up saying... this is a live board, you shouldn't need these functions.

One reply... of many...

To address your inquiries:

" the channel faders and mute buttons don't control the audio being sent to my DAW."

• When recording with a live sound mixer your DAW input is post gain, pre digital signal processing. You're sending the raw audio to your DAW and the fader and mute buttons will not change that.

"...turn on the select channel by touching the fader like on the Tascam."

• You will need to press the select button on the console above the channel to select that channel. If you are in DAW mode then pressing the select button will also select the corresponding channel in your DAW.

 

[waterstrum]

Just to be sure... This is no slam on Presonus. The board has many features that are very cool! A hybrid of this and the DM4800 would be amazing.

 

[Arjan P]

Thanks @waterstrum for the further clarification. I was aware these boards are mostly for live, but looking through a list of features only gets you 'so' far. Apparently hands-on using the board like you did tells the real story..

Well, too bad.. I'll just hang on as long as possible to the DM - and maybe go without any digital mixer when the day comes I have to make a choice. The Behringer X32 also looks like too much of a compromise to me, compared to the DM.

 

[cmaffia]

The other question is what do you do when your PC dies. Are today's motherboards supporting the FireWire required for the FireWire card?

 

[Arjan P]

@cmaffia Hey Charlie, good to see you back here again! You are right, the PC will also need special hardware, but I think that is less of a problem. Actually @Peter Batah did a brand new PC build not so long ago - so that looks quite promising for the foreseeable future..