Upgrading to DM 3200

[captdan]

"....mugs game.."

How much will you charge me to use that in a song title? I LIKE it.

CaptDan

 

[AudioWave]

Anyone have more info on the discontinuation of the DM4800? Is the DM3200 also going to be discontinued?

Well, like with most products, when sales drop on a product to a level that it is no longer profitable to keep making them, the price increases or the product is discontinued. Sometimes increasing the price dramatically such as in boutique type of products. With mass or semi-mass produced products they are discontinued which is what I am sure happened to the DM-4800.

As each year goes by there is less and less demand for Prosumer level digital mixers in recording and mixing but increased demand for Live Sound digital mixers as that market was more reluctant to adapt as quickly. Live sound products need to be extremely reliable, robust and have expensive redundancy built into them that is not usually required for home or studio Recording & Mixing.

Now there has been demand for a long time for affordable 16 & 24 fader channel control surfaces and yet the product market is pretty bare with offerings. The DM-3200 is likely hanging by a thread and continues to be sold as many are buying them to use as only a control surface or using with the IFFW card use as an expensive Big-O multi-channel audio interface and not really using or ignoring the mixer functions.

The DM mixer is now considered long in the tooth as far as it's product like cycle, especially for a digital device. It is very likely considered to be a dead or rather what is called an EOL (End Of Life) product for quite a while as far as any new product development or new features being done to it. Best that can hoped is that there will be at least be a few years left of sustaining maintenance tasks such as for things like OS compatibility, software HotFix for some drastic bug that may be found that would be expected to be fixed and for parts.

 

[cmaffia]

I hope there is a successor because if not... then what will Tascam offer that approaches "professional" for home recording enthusiasts and project studios??

This was THEIR market for decades!

If my machine heaven forbid bites the bullet beyond repair, I'd like some peace of mind knowing that there is a newer and better model available (sort of like how the DM24 users may have felt when the DM3200/DM4800's were first released). I can't afford nor would I want any of these half assed control surfaces that cost 5 times as much as the DM series. Overly complicated and without preamps or any of the amenities of a real studio console. Its outrageous what they are asking for these units. Just shows how many Lemmings there are out there that will buy this crap.

If I am going to keep using Tascam for my studio needs, then a DP32/Memory Cable(tm)/Guitar Trainer bundle package isn't going to cut it!

Boooooo!

 

[AudioWave]

Tascam might have had plans for something like a next generation DM mixer but now that Gibson has stepped in, Gibson may very well be dictating or at least have a huge influence on what new Tascam products will or will not be developed, marketed and sold. These might be scary times for Tascam when one looks at the history of Gibson and what they have done with companies and their technology they have bought in the past.

Perhaps they will surprise us all as well as the market place with hardware or some kind of specific control surface as well as one that is more integrated with Sonar as Sonar morphs into the new Tascam Pro Audio Software to better compete with Steinberg, Avid & Apple.

It was interesting to see the DM-4800 with KRK monitors in the Cakewalk booth at NAMM 2014.

 

[cmaffia]

It's a shame if Gibson ends up destroying Tascam, especially after producing the DA-3000 which is an incredible machine at a phenomenal price. The DA-3000 could be the overall template for their next gen mixer!

 

[captdan]

I don't think Gibson is dictating much if anything to the Teac's 'pro' division. The former is seeking to expand the gtr-hobbiest market, developing widgetry, gadgetry and wizbangery based on emerging gtr technology and sub miniature recording capability. That's just my speculation; there's no official mission statement.

Again, neither Tascam nor its resident 'guru' (Redbus) have indicated anything with regard to either the 4800 or 3200 being discontinued. At this point, it's rumor. That's not to say there isn't a DM successor in the works, but I won't be surprised that - come next winter NAMM - they ain't one.

I agree with Audiowave; the home/project studio market is primarily about ITB and controllers, and likely will continue in that 'modular' direction. Hardware mixers are more the bailiwick of sound reinforcement/live venues. I occasionally check out the DM ePay ads: "....worked great in our church" is a phrase I've seen all too often.

It's still incredibly ironic to me; some home recordists insist a mixer is obsolete in one breath, while lusting orgasmically at a 45 year old, dusty, grungy analog desk in the next. One of ten thousand reasons I believe about 3% of what I read on the interwebs. Too much info; not enough fact.

CaptDan

 

[cmaffia]

I hope there is a successor Dan. The only reason I am assuming the 4800 is discontinued is because no one has been carrying it for 5 months now. The few new ones that you can find being sold by these small, obscure music companies are probably old stock.

 

[captdan]

They have old stock because:

1. The demand isn't there and they don't want to get caught with unsold inventory.
2. The demand IS there, but some wholesale/retailers aren't always forthcoming with salient facts.
3. Makes more sense for Tascam to build mixers to 'order' (I don't mean 'custom,' but rather organizing manufacturing runs in good old GuanZhou, PRC).
4. And some other reason or two I can't think of.

Meanwhile Pr**n*s is cranking out those job-specific controller/DAWs at a brisk pace. They're less costly, easier to use, feature far less frills, and help to instill a lust for something bigger and better. And that's where the 4800 comes in.


CaptDan

 

[AudioWave]

Again, neither Tascam nor its resident 'guru' (Redbus) have indicated anything with regard to either the 4800 or 3200 being discontinued

And it is unlikely that you ever will until long after it happens. Engineers are not really allowed to speak on the future product plans for the company they work for as that is a clearly a Marketing department responsibility and falls within their domain. In addition, companies avoid making such statement as long as possible, usually until their dealers start announcing it so as to keep the sales going. Once a consumer knows and finds out a new product is coming or is being discontinued, that immediately affects any new sales and selling what inventory is left to be sold at a profit. Granted, that there a few that finally make the plunge to buy before the product is gone forever, but companies don't really count or rely on that mentality.

A Product that is EOL and becoming obsolete is a pretty clear when you stop and read the signs. When there are long periods of no new product development or features, lack of Marketing or advertising or product update feature plans and announcements, product being back-seat focus at a trade show, noting continued price drops, dealers no longer list or carry the product, dealers selling the floor units and deep discounting open box and inventory units, blowing out inventory and support accessory options, no longer willing to special order when out of stock.

And last be not least, product having it's product code changed to EOL such as to the EOL/Discontinued code in Guitar Center sales data base.

 

[AudioWave]

In the modern product production business model such as something like the assembly of a DM mixer, a big part of it's overall life cycle and overall profit is determined by how long you can continuously crank out product from the factory. Once production falls off to a low and unprofitable level to make such product, it is no longer valid to keep a production line going for only a few units a day or even a week. The production line is re-fit and tooled to do something else to keep the factory busy and productive. Parts inventory and space gets used for something else.

 

[Arjan P]

In short: we just won't know until it happens. If it does, I'll see whatever the new product will be and continue using my DM happily.. They have to come up with something really mind blowing for me to take this one out and build my own desk again to fit a replacement

 

[captdan]

And it is unlikely that you ever will until long after it happens. Engineers are not really allowed to speak on the future product plans for the company they work for

True. But speaking about future plans isn't the same as popping into a forum - as Redbus did awhile back - to indicate there were no plans at that time to discontinue the DM series. Sure, things may've changed since then, but it's only important to those looking for a better mouse trap, which somebody ALWAYS is.

Hence, technology and marketing continue on into perpetuity.

CaptDan

 

[AudioWave]

True. But that is also what one would likely say in a public forum when an EOL rumor starts having some legs attempting quite down the restless.

A product is always considered EOL internally while still being sold until it no longer makes business sense to continue selling them. So then when asked, they can say "Yes, we still make them and sell them" Yet knowing that they are a dead product and that a possible replacement product could be announced the next day.

 

[captdan]

I understand. Again, all I was speaking to was a simple question: "Is [was] the DM4800 discontinued? And the answer from a reliable Tascam source was 'No."
Therefore, we can assume product is (or was at that time) still being made and currently distributed.

It says - nor implies - nothing about future plans, possible successors, or specifics with regard to NDAs signed by company personnel.



CaptDan

 

[Drumstruck]

This thread is an interesting read - features / functionality / future ->

It appears that the audio industry is steadily moving ITB-centric for better or worse - so the future of the DM is probably written based on this and on how long the board can be sustained - does anyone know what embedded O/S the DM runs? It must be getting well past n-1 which would be D-day (or should I say DM-day....)

You good folk have highlighted all the pros and cons of 3200 vs 4800 and it's clear that the DM is an excellent product whether you choose a midi or a schooner. For me the 4800 is the answer for all the reasons cited and for the ergonomics of the extra real estate, but if there was a "DM-6400" I'd probably have gone for it instead.

 

[cmaffia]

but if there was a "DM-6400" I'd probably have gone for it instead.

In this alternate universe it better have had an IF FW/DM MKIII card that providef 64 channels of audio at 96kHz!

 

[captdan]

Sixty-four?! Why - that's heresy! In this brave new world, no self respecting mixer would dare show its myriad of 250mm faders with any less than 256. And - at 384kz!!

C'mon! Dream BIG! Dream NOW!

CaptDan

 

[captdan]

midi or a schooner

I'd say a schooner - flying a tops'l, Fisherman, and well trimmed stays'l - will beat a midi on a beam reach anytime.

CaptDan

 

[Drumstruck]

Aha - we speak a different language - though I like your nautical interpretation.

In Oz we also use the terms midi and schooner for beer glasses - a schooner is (I think) 15 fl. oz. and a midi is (I think) half a pint.

 

[captdan]

'Aha!' I thought somewhere in my dim past I'd heard that from an Aussie acquaintance of mine.

You guys have the finest terms and some of the most colorful ways of expressing them.

CaptDan