SD Card Recording Capacity

[Peter Mills]

Sorry to be a pest, but I just need some straight answers, I just bought the Tascam pro 24,,, PLEASE can someone SIMPLY advise me on what size SD card to buy, I want to record a 10 track album,, should I buy a 32gb or 64 gb, as a matter of respect to my not knowing,, please do NOT go on and on and on about spec and manuals,,, I would prefer you saying i dont know rather than a three page graphic on things I have no idea of what your even talking about,,, so please keep it simple,, I need an SD card for the Tascam pro 24 that will record 10 tracks,, what size card should I buy.... Thank you in advance..Peter.,

 

[-mjk-]

Hi @Peter Mills. I can see that you are frustrated and want a straight answer. There is no such Tascam device as a "Tascam pro 24" and, if you meant to say "Tascam DP-24 SD" (and this is the proper forum for that unit) then the maximum size SD card that model will accept is 32GB.

 

[Peter Mills]

Thats strange, I just bought the model pro 24, so if it does not exist, what have I bought?

 

[Mark Richards]

...model pro 24, so if it does not exist, what have I bought?

Good question. Please post a link to TASCAM's product page. Even though I own my trusty DP-24 portastudio, I'm always interested in learning about TASCAM's newest products.

FYI, you posted originally in the "2488 and DP-24/32/SD Digital Portastudios" forum. Nobody in that forum is likely familiar with a TASCAM "Model Pro 24".

...I want to record a 10 track album... need an SD card for the Tascam pro 24...what size card should I buy...please keep it simple

And the answer to your question about SD card size isn't as simple as you think it is.

Required SD card size depends on: Recording resolution; Individual song length; The number of tracks per song; The number of overdubs, edits, punches per song; The total number of songs recorded; The file format used by the MTR; and The size of system data files overall and per song. All but the last two of those parameters are choices you make in the recording and production process. Those are the operative considerations, as simple as I can state them in two sentences.

There's no way I could possibly predict or estimate what those numbers might be for your songs produced on your "Model Pro 24". For example: On my DP-24 portastudio, my productions run typically between 1gb and 1.5gb for a three minute song; yet my D.A.W. productions are typically double that.

 

[-mjk-]

Thats strange, I just bought the model pro 24, so if it does not exist, what have I bought?

I would like to know the answer to that question also.

The other confusing thing is that you mention a specific track count:

I need an SD card for the Tascam pro 24 that will record 10 tracks,, what size card should I buy....

The Model 12 has 10 tracks. But as I am typing this, I think you mean you want to record 10 songs. The truth is, how much space it takes to record a song depends upon how much audio you record. If you are talking about an acoustic guitar and a vocal track, that is very different than a band with guitars, keyboards, drums and lots of vocals. There is no per-song answer to that question. The DP machines allow one to delete unused audio and that can recover SD card space and you can also offload songs to/from the PC.

My suggestion is that you buy the largest size SD card your device supports, do regular backups of the card to a PC and be prepared to offload some songs from the card to the PC if you are filling up the card. Alternatively you can get several SD cards (but we all recommend regular PC backups).

 

[Peter Mills]

This is my Tascam model pro 24....https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/tascam-model-24

 

[Mark Richards]

Here on this web site, for purposes of communication clarity we refer to TASCAM products and their operating nomenclature by using their actual names and terminology.

There's a specific forum on this web site for the Model 24/16/12 front of house mixers (found in the "TASCAM Digital Equipment" section). So your question about SD card size should have been posted there; but even so, you likely would have been given similar information as you received when you posted in the DP-24/32/SD forum.

Now that we've established which TASCAM product you own, I strongly suggest popping over to the relevant forum to read the "New Users" sticky thread in the shaded area on the first (top) page of the Model 24/16/12 forum.

 

[-mjk-]

@Peter Mills sorry, but we are not being hard-nosed. The title of the article you linked to literally says:

Tascam Model 24

Nothing "pro" in the title of the article and nothing "pro" in the name of the device.

You own a Tascam Model 24. I will now move these messages to a new thread in that forum so the Model 24 users can interact with you.

 

[-mjk-]

OK, the question has been asked how much capacity is required for a 10 song album on the Model 24. It's not that simple. You can't really do an album on the Model 24, standalone, without a DAW.

As has been well established on this forum, the "Model" series of Tascam recorders are mainly front-of-house mixers with basic digital recording capability, and although they can interface with a DAW for manual mixing (without automation or DAW control) they are not really designed for multitrack recording. There is no editing capability or Mastering capability on any of the Model series. Realistically, doing an album on one of the Model series is not practical without a DAW.

So, since one has to use a DAW anyway, the SD card size becomes less of an issue because of the computer involvement.

I'm not saying you can't record something you like on the Model 24. However, when someone asks about doing an "album" that is an entirely different matter. That implies a cohesive collection of songs that are going to be assembled and Mastered for either streaming or media production. That end goal is more along the lines of the DP-24/32/SD digital portastudios' capability.

 

[Max Relic]

I need an SD card for the Tascam pro 24 that will record 10 tracks,, what size card should I buy....

Hi @Peter Mills, unfortunately you didn't provide enough details in order to elaborate a precise answer, but let's see what we have: the Model 24 (and the 16 and 12, too) can record up to 24 tracks and save the data in .wav format at either 44.1 k / 48 kHz sampling rate with 16 / 24 bit depth. The higher the quality, the bigger the file. Higher track count equals more space on card.
60 seconds of stereo .wav recording at 48 kHz / 24 bit require roughly 17 MB on SD; 24 tracks (22 input channels + the main stereo mix) sums at 204 MB / minute; add space for exporting the stereo mix and you have 221 MB / minute.
In theory you could record up to 144 minutes of 24-tracks on a 32 GB SD card, though I would not recommend going beyond 75-80% of capacity because of inherent Murphy's law (if an SD card can get corrupted, it will).

 

[Arjan P]

That's all pretty good advice, but all based on the assumption that @Peter Mills wants to record an album of 10 songs by recording individual tracks for each instrument/vocal, then assemble, edit, mix and master.

If he simply wants to record a 10-song live abum, the Model 24 is perfect for the job...

 

[-mjk-]

@Arjan P I am guilty of course. We all have our own idea of what constitutes an album. I suppose that any collection of songs could be considered an album. At any rate, we'll have to wait until he comes back and reads these replies before we know what he wants to do.