SpeCS & prICIng - My Hiend

equIPmenT RePoRT
taSCaM DV-ra1000hD
high-resolution Digital recorder
In the old days the mark of a true audiophile was owning
a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Anyone who was serious about
audio had at least one, and many music-lovers had two or
more 10-inch-reel behemoths. Nowadays reel-to-reel recorders
are largely objects of curiosity relegated to yard sales. Most upto-date
audiophiles do their recording via their computer’s discburners.
But for those select few who still want to record analog
sources or capture on-location live concerts, TASCAM has a
new recorder that carries on its tradition of making top-shelf
recording devices.
What It Is
The $2500 TASCAM DV-RA1000HD is a two-track digital
recorder that uses a built-in hard-drive and a DVD ±RW burner.
It can record in 44.1, 48, 88, 96, 176.4, and 192kHz PCM or
2.8224MHz DSD formats. The internal 60GB hard drive holds
as much as 62.9 hours of 44.1kHz PCM and as little as 14.4
hours of 192kHz PCM material. Recordings can be archived
onto DVDs via the internal DVD burner. These archived DVDs
can also be copied into the hard drive for further editing in the
DV-RA1000HD or transferred to a computer by way of its USB
interface.
Along with analog XLR balanced and RCA single-ended
inputs and outputs the DV-RA1000HD has two stereo AES/
EBU digital inputs, two stereo AES/EBU digital outputs, one
coaxial S/PDIF digital input, one coaxial S/PDIF digital output,
two SDIF 3/DSD RAW inputs, two SDIF 3/DSD RAW outputs
on BNC jacks, a RS232 connector for device control, BNC wordsynch
input and out/thru with auto terminations, and a USB
2.0 interface for computer connection. Unlike most consumer
recorders, which have a wireless remote control, the TASCAM
has a wired remote. This is so that engineers sitting at a console
can control the TASCAM without turning around to point a
remote control. The TASCAM also allows a PS/2 keyboard to
92 June/July 2009 The Absolute Sound
DSD Lives!
Steven Stone
be attached so file names can be added or changed more easily
than relying on the TASCAM onboard jog/shuttle’s hunt-andpeck
method.
The TASCAM comes with a 67-page owner’s manual that is a
model of obscurantism. While it contains answers and directions
for the recorder’s functions, the information is so badly arranged
that even after multiple readings it’s difficult to fully grasp all the
recorder’s functions and features. Among the more arcane are
the built-in oscillator to set reference analog recording levels, the
on/off dithering for down-converting from a 24-bit recording
to 16-bit, and the various built-in effects. These effects, which
include three bands of adjustable EQ, a three-band compressor,
three-band expander, a single-band compressor, a single-band
expander, and the ability to save and recall your custom-configured
effect settings, are available for all recording sample rates except
176.4kHz, 192kHz, and DSD. Some of these effects, such as the
dynamic-processor band settings, are sufficiently complex that
they deserve a far more detailed explanation. Without guidance
you can really screw up a recording if such things are used
improperly. Since TASCAM offers no suggestions as to how to
best employ these powerful effects, caveat emptor.
For my recordings I kept things simple—no effects, no EQ,
and no expanding or contracting of dynamics. Since I principally
use recorders in a live concert situation with no opportunity for
retakes if I mess up, recording devices sporting overly complex
or feature-laden interfaces aren’t high on my list of positive
life-enriching devices. If the primary use for a recorder will be
transferring LPs into digital files you may find the EQ, expander,
and compressor features more useful.
The TASCAM DV-RA1000HD’s front-panel display has a
logical layout that can be mostly deciphered even without the
assistance of the owner’s manual. Only when confronted by such
labels as “IN.SEL,” “REF.CLK,” “PREFER,” and UDFMI” will
most users be forced to resort to pawing through their manuals.