What I would change - upgrades/the DM4800II ?

[Will Miho]

I love the DM4800 - best bang for the buck, a great device. But it does need some upgrades, and the manual leaves much important info out. Anyway.

1. The CF card would work reliably.

2. Shutdown would be a one handed operation.

3. One could switch to return inputs across a whole layer with one button push, rather than in groups of eight channels only.

4. An led screen rather than the same cheesy crap screen that failed in a year. They put them in $50 DVD players, they can't cost that much!

5. The Tascam driver would play well with other drivers, so one could create for example an aggregate device in OSX for more recording I/O. It would also be flexible so one could trade off input and output streams; e.g. besides 32 in and 32 out, one could do 48 out and 16 in, or 56 in and 8 out.

6. And maybe - the console would have a smaller footprint and weigh a lot less! I would love to be able to carry it around a lot more easily for remote gigs.

 

[captdan]

6. And maybe - the console would have a smaller footprint and weigh a lot less! I would love to be able to carry it around a lot more easily for remote gigs.

That MIGHT be a DM3200, though even that mixer's a bit on the bulky side.

Here's what I think is going to happen. Remember - crystal balls are for fortune tellers and crackpots:

Both DM desks will cease production in late 2013. Just before the calendar turns to 2014, Tascam will introduce three new mixers - SU12x, SU14x, and the top of the line SU22Xi. ('SU' stands for 'Small Unit'). The flagship model - SU22Xi - will essentially blow that Presonus product out the door. It'll be capable of 128 bidirectional channels, over a new interface called the MB128. (MB stands for Massive Bandwidth). The more costly card - the MB128+ will allow 64 bidirectional channels at 384hz. The entire mixer series will feature special dedicated slots (SDS) for iPhones, 'Droids, and Tablets. (The SU22Xi will include expansion slots for adding several additional smart/phone/tablets).

The best news is, the SU series will be designed to fold up - reducing the footprint to the size of a man's wallet. That will allow engineers to carry several mixers - each configured for a specific purpose. The even better news is, the new series will feature specially designed ADCs by Dan Lavry himself.

Suggested retail price for the base model - SU12x - will be $199.99. Expansion cards and other accessories - starting at $3456.00

Thanks for letting me predict the future, and if Redbus is reading, I hope he has a good laugh.

CaptDan

 

[Muziekschuur]

lcd's above every fader.... Hmm... an app to get a remote screen on your pc screen. This app will accept gestures..
An external powersupply. Just a simple one. Or a 19" dual racked one. Where one supply is a hot spare. A colour screen. Monochrome is standard. Colour is when needed. (I hate bright coloured screens everywhere. Its very fatiguing on the eyes...

Recording to a USB slot.

 

[Muziekschuur]

A version with 16 or 24 rackmountable preamps wich connect to the mixer over UTP cable.

 

[Will Miho]

Well there are good changes that could be addressed easily by firmware updates, and by introduction of new cards, like a card that could sends audio over cat5 to a new digital snake module. 32 channels over ethernet would be great.

 

[cmaffia]

What would be the advantage of 32 channels over cat-5 versus firewire?

 

[Jarno]

What would be the advantage of 32 channels over cat-5 versus firewire?

Cable length. But wait ... TASCAM already did it: http://tascam.com/product/if-cb-dm/ Just add 2 of these cards and there you have it: 32ch over CAT5

 

[TascMan]

I have a 3200. I would request a built in analog I/O expansion port, simular to having an IF-AN/DM with ins and outs built into the back, allowing for more analog I/O without taking up a slot or having to switch between mic/line for the first 16 channels. Speaking of, why not just include the firewire interface as a standard feature similar to to the USB ports. I think it's fair to say that almost everyone would need these basic things to fully utilize the board. Save the expansion slots for actual expansion, like extra AES/EBU, Cobranet, ADAT I/Os, etc. And a BIG +1 for a better LCD screen! Just MHO.

 

[stevessc]

Better talk back mic. lcd's above every fader. and a VGA output or a better and bigger LCD display. And as long as I am Wishing....32 faders on each layer.

 

[TascMan]

...lcd's above every fader...

I'm confused by this, do you means LEDs above every fader, for meters? I'm trying to imagine the use of LCD displays above every meter and it's just not registering.

 

[stevessc]

lcd's above every fader so you could name every channel and quit using tape and a sharpie......and also have it save this in the memory library or snapshot so when you recalled a scene instant channel labels!!!

 

[captdan]

Great idea. Maybe the screens can be customized to assist in mixes. For example:

| TOO LOUD! | |STANKS!| |TOO LOW!| |NEEDS EQ!|

The operating system would have to 'learn' the engineer's habits to provide accurate warnings. So, there'd be a 'Learn Mode' button in the User Defined Function Library - another feature that would be cool.

(You guys are probably sick of me by now. So I promise - no more silliness.

For now. )

CaptDan

 

[Muziekschuur]

"I won't mix for you"

Hall, you promised.....

"No I won't mix this material"

Hall, yesterday you promised you would help.

" I'm sorry, but I'm not programmed to help someone without talent"

(For those who haven't seen 2001 a Space oddeysee, Hall is the computer wich flies a space ship)

 

[TascMan]

FWIW,
it's HAL....one letter prior to the letters I, B, and M. One more piece of stupid knowledge. Great movie though.

 

[captdan]

Stupid knowledge is not only a contradiction in terms, it's the best stuff to know.

CaptDan

 

[Will Miho]

32 channels over ethernet would mean you could a cat 5 cable for a snake. Or you could easily do input splits between several consoles, if one was monitors, one was FOH, one was recording/webcasting. Since 32 channels over Cat 5 is pretty typical now, the 16 channels Tascam offers with one card seems pricey. But then the DM4800 is pretty much going to have a permanent lower pricepoint, because of all the low price competition from behringer and mackie coming out with the 16x16 built in interfaces.