Hi Paul,
Thank you for your reply... I'm sorry to hear I'm not alone with my DR680=
situation which has prevented me from taking it any further than testing it=
the office, neither of the two units i have tested have made it to the
field... And both units are the current software level, ver.1.10, build
Message: 49.
Subject: To be sure, I tried the upgrade on the first unit to be sure by chance=
it had not loaded with a glitch at the factory... It made no difference...
All memory cards I have are ones listed on Tascam's tested and recommended=
media list for the DR-680. All but one are 8 Gb cards, the exception being=
a SanDisk 16 Gb class 10 specified by part number on the Tascam media list=
and ordered as a last ditch effort thinking possibly it was a memory card
issue. 13 minutes 49 seconds into the first recording with the new Class 10=
card, the DR-680 froze... What is strange, I have a SanDisk Extreme III 8
Gb card, also spelled out on Tascams media list, and when I put it in the=
recorder, start the format process, the recorder displays "invalid media"
and refuses to go any further until I remove that card. To test the
Extreme III card, I put it in my Marantz PMD661 and it formatted without
any hesitation and I now have about 30 files on it recorded in the Marantz.=
..
So, why wouldn't the DR680 recognize a good card as recommended by Tascam?
A phone call to Tascam tech service about the failure to format a
recommended card and the freezing/lock up issue only revealed that they
"know nothing of this, we've never heard of that happening before"
At 10:02 AM 8/18/2010 -0500, you wrote:
>So wonder if the DR-680 just has a software glitch dealing with
>larger capacity cards? Mitch, what size cards were you using?
Nope, most of my cards are 8 Gb with the one exception I mentioned above so=
I doubt card size has anything to do with it.
>PS- other variables: recorder was loaded with AA NiMH batteries, but
>powered by an external 12 AH sled, inside a ziploc bag with 2 large
>silica gel packs, all inside a nylon dry bag. Overnight was dewy and
>cool (mid-low 60s), and it had rained about 1/2 hour before I set up
>the recorder.
As I said above, neither of the two DR-680, the first that was returned,
and the second which I really do not want to return as there is no other
reasonably priced recorder of its type that I know of... Neither has
worked well enough to get to the field. I am using Sanyo Eneloop AA NiMH
batteries but as all testing is done here at the house, I'm also using the=
AC adapter and the batteries still show full level on the recorder
display... I think we can rule out a battery issue...
BTW, if you get the "file error" message during a recording, simply exit
the record session, the recorder is not frozen and locked up, the file
should be closed normally and you still have the data according to the
tests I have done. You only loose the data if the unit freezes and locks up=
to the point of having to remove the power and batteries to un lock it,
then you loose the data... If you suspect its frozen, first clue id the
display is not showing any change, its locked displaying what was on it
when it froze. The quick test to confirm is to adjust the earphone monitor=
level, if it doesn't change when you turn the knob, the DR680 is frozen and=
locked up...
I sure hope Tascam gets the message and finds a fix... I'd like very much=
for this recorder to work as it beats having to use a Mackie compact mixer=
and a Sound Devices MixPre with the PMD661 in order to use multiple (more
than two) microphones in the field...
You can see my setup for field work here, Here is a few pictures of how
I've set up for the night time recording sessions:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/HChCA2iM/Airstream_Recording_Studio.html:
--
Thanks,
Mitch & Shadow...
http://www.4shared.com/dir/UTASxktL/wildlife.html
Shadow's area: http://www.4shared.com/dir/ecfWjyZb/Shadow.html
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