Any Tascam DR60IID Users Here?

[taura60D]

Hi Everybody

As the title post asks, are there and Tascam 60D Mk II users here.

I need help with settings to send 4 recording inputs to 4 discrete channels across 2 stereo output channels
such that I end up with channel one input going to left channel out of a stereo track and channel 2 input
going to the right channel of the same stereo track. and with channels 3 and four being recorded to left
and right channels of the second stereo output track.

None of my tests have worked.

Has a Tascam 60D Mark 2 User here been able to do this?

Thank you for reading.

Cheers
Taura60D

 

[Max Relic]

Welcome to the forum @taura60D, IIRC you can choose to record 1 or 2 stereo tracks at the same time with some limitation on the second track role. Your use of the term output makes your goal slightly unclear to me, I take you intend to record the 4 inputs as a mixed pair of 2 stereo signals on a single stereo file so bear with me.
[rush to the manual...]
According to the manual, the only option related to your goal is "4CH mode" which records 4 inputs in two pairs as two stereo files (pages 16-17).
While in this mode the 4 inputs can be monitored altogether with pan/level set in the Mixer screen.

 

[Max Relic]

Dear @taura60D, you visited the forum after my post but didn't bother to reply, which means you don't have much consideration for those who try to help you.

 

[taura60D]

Hi Max Relic, I apologise for not replying at that moment and making you feel unappreciated. You have every right to feel so. I was on my way out to an offline weekend commitment (from which I have now returned) when I looked. I knew I didn't have time to reply but had to look anyway.

Thank you for your reply.

I am aware of p16 of the manual. I got so so desperate that I actually turned to the manual sitting on my music stand.

But that wisdom hasn't helped me. Here's why.

I had a guitar going into channel 1. My understanding is that channel 1 is automatically panned left in the output stereo file. Even so I panned channel 1 to the left in the mixer panel.

I have voice over going into channel 2. My understanding is that channel 2 is automatically panned right in the output stereo file. Even so I panned channel 2 to the right in the mixer panel.

I had a browser metronome going out of the computer headphone jack into channel 3/4. In the mixer I had this channel 2 panned left and channel 4 panned right.

The 4CH recording light displayed while recording.

So far so good.

What I expected to find on opening the channel 1/2 stereo file in Audacity was guitar in the left channel and voice in the right.

Instead the Dr60 somehow recorded both channels 1/2 to the same RH channel?

Channels 3/4 recorded to both left and right channels of the output stereo file.

So my question to the manual is: when a stereo track is rendered under 4CH setting whereby input channel one does not record to one stereo channel and input channel two does not record to the other, what is the problem and what is the fix.

Have you experienced this problem? How did you solve it?

Thanks again for your reply. Admonition accepted.

 

[Max Relic]

Hi @taura60D, everything is fine, no need to apologize. The Owner's manual oddly skips the procedure for 4-channel recording, which is described in the Reference manual (p. 44-46)... From your description I suspect you adjusted only the monitoring pan/levels and not what was going to be recorded. In fact mixer settings on the DR60 affect input monitoring so pan and level controls are there only for listening purpose and do nothing on how input signals are recorded.
I did a test 4-ch recording according to the manual and it worked as expected, 2 sinchronized stereo signals that sound fine when imported in Audition (any other audio editor is fine) or a DAW. My suggestion is to review your setup following the reference manual, let us know about your results.

 

[taura60D]

Hi Max Relic, thanks for your reply. Learning that there is a Reference Manual feels like a beacon in the dark. I won't get to the DR60IId for the next few days as I'm down a non-audio rabbit hole for that time.

In the meantime I note that you that your 2 synchronised stereo signals sound fine.

My issue is not with the sound of the files (mine sounded good too) but the *editability* of the sounds recorded, in video editing software, like Da Vinci Resolve 18.6.

By *editability* I mean input tracks 1 and 2 being assigned to separate channels of the stereo file that can be split into separate mono tracks within Da Vinci Resolve and edited separately.

Did your Audition test show that input channels 1 and 2 were recorded to separate channels in the rendered stereo file you tested?

When I do my 4-CH tests again, after my current non-audio project of the next few days, I'll post.

 

[Max Relic]

Perhaps I wasn't too clear in my description, so I'll try again.

Premise: a stereo audio file is a file which contains two interleaved, independent audio channels; what to do with such data, i.e. how to manage the interleaved channels, is a job of the software or device used to play or edit the stereo file.

When 4-ch mode is selected, the DR-60D MkII records the signals from input 1 & 2 respectively to the Left and Right channels of the first stereo file; signals from input 3 and 4 to the Left and Right channels of the second stereo file.

If you connect a guitar to input 1 and a microphone to input 2, they will be recorded following the above scheme: guitar on left channel and microphone on right channel.

The assignment input-channel is rigid inside the DR-60D MkII, and the recorded files are standard Wave format.

If you need to split the recorded stereo files into 2 mono tracks and Resolve can't do it (I doubt, usually video editing software can extract or silence a single channel from a stereo source), it's easily done with an audio editor (Audition, Audacity, Sound Forge...).

When I say that the recorded files sound fine I am referring implicitly to the stereo image of source instruments, not to the inherent quality of the recording (48 kHz / 24 bit): the DR-60D recorded exactly what I put in, where I placed it in the stereo field.

Editability is never an issue unless the file you want to edit is write/edit/delete protected.

Sorry for being unclear.

 

[taura60D]

Thank you for your response.

Understanding the DR60IID has been a bigger curve than expected.

I have more questions but I'll wait until I'm free in a few days to come back to this issue.

My tests might resolve many if not all of these questions. Hope so anyway.

I'll post when I come back to DR60IID in a few days. Thanks.