Transfer issues with DL-44WL and overall impressions

[Matt Richter]

Hi all, I'm finally starting to dig into my DL-44WL and here's what I've found:

The hardware is sound... Supporting Apps and Software are a joke.

The Windows app, "Tascam DL File Transfer" under Windows is an utter and total waste of hard disc space. I have NEVER gotten it to work. It just says "searching" and finds nothing. Yes, I connected the computer to the DR WiFi network. It's a total POS.

The Andriod app (Samsung Galaxy S10, Android 10) works. Download speeds over wifi are unbelievable slow. God awful slow to the point of being useless. And if I go to another app, the Android app stops downloading. If it's going to be slow, it should run in the background. But it doesn't. Another massive fail for the TASCAM team.

SD card formatting isn't very good either. I had a 1 GB card. Every time I inserted it, it just gave me an unsupported card error. Didn't offer to format it for me. I just wanted to use it for upgrading the firmware! The work around I found was to put it in the DR and start it in the firmware upload mode. Then the DR said the card needed formatting and let me do it. BTW, I used an app on the Windows machine called SD Card Formatter that will format ANYTHING to wipe and and try before. No luck.

I have a problem in that I have a card in the DR that is working with a bunch of recordings on it. When I hook to a Windows machine, the Windows machine says the card needs formatting. When I put the SD card directly into the a card reader on the windows machine, it says it needs formatting. Why it works in the DR and not directly under Windows is baffling.

All in all, the DR-44WL seems like a bastard step child. The wireless support apps are garbage, making the features close to useless. The direct to computer USB connection seems pretty poor too.

Overall, I'll stick with it. If I can get the files off and reformat the card so it can be read by a windows machine without via direct USB connection then I can actually use it for what I need it for (recording my daughter and her GF as they rehearse and perform). But I'd never, ever, ever recommend this product to anyone who isn't a masochist.

If any other DR-44WR owners have found ways around the crap that comes with the unit, or other ways to coax it into working better please let me know. This thing wasn't cheap and I'm not happy at all. Not so upset I'd trash it and buy something else... Like I said, it wasn't cheap. But I've spent hours and hours just trying to get basic functioning to work on this puppy. It shouldn't be this hard at all.

BTW, I'm using Access Point mode and the downloads are working better. But sheeze, even with a 2.4GB WiFi connection it ought to be much, much faster.

TIY for any help that anyone can offer,

Matt

 

[Matt Richter]

A brief update. It took well over two hours to transfer a 2GB .wav file from the DR-44WL to my computer using the Tascam app. I had to do that because the Windows machine didn't recognize the SD card as formatted when I hooked up the unit via a USB card.

• During transfers, the phone and the DR could both time out. The app shouldn't allow the phone to sleep during transfer, and it does. The DR shouldn't go to sleep during transfer, and it does. This lost me well over an hour of time. Poor programming.
• To succeed with the large file transfer, I turned off power saving on the DR, and then tapped the screen of the phone every couple minutes to make sure it didn't go to sleep. What a pain!
• To make sure that I could use the USB transfer, after I got all the sound files off the DR, I pugged it into the computer, chose storage and then allowed the computer to format the SD card. Then, when I booted the DR into normal operations mode, I allowed the DR to install the system files it likes to see, as well as create the file directory structure that it likes to have.
• Now, the DR is recognized as a formatted USB storage device, and it works to actually record sounds! So now I have a workable system.

Overall, this was a royal PITA. It shouldn't be this hard. This recorder is still sold by TASCAM. I've got to say, that it's a pretty poor implementation of what is standard digital device functionality.

And I know of what I speak. I've designed and built products in Silicon Valley for over 30 years.

Matt