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View Full Version : TASCAM DV-RA1000HD - An Analog Lover's Perspective



WOStantonCS100
21-04-2012, 05:42
It has landed:

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/IMG_0128.jpg

I was in a quandry about where to post this. It's a digital machine. But, the purpose is to retain as much analog sound as possible (from vinyl and tape sources). Then again, isn't one of the benchmarks of good digital how analogous it sounds. :scratch: Anyway...

It arrived today and I've only had it set up for a few hours.

Quick impressions.

1. This is a professional machine. As comfortable as I am around pro gear and computers, referring to the manual, indeed, reading it, was a must.

2. Digital has come a long way and has become really, really good.

3. Analog tape, even "the lowly" cassette, still does with ease what digital strains to do. I liken it to the difference between a compact car cruising at highway speeds and a Cadillac doing the same. The Cadillac, like analog tape, doesn't break a sweat.

4. This machine is a little unfair, methinks. It gives you 24/192 PCM but doesn't give you 5.6MHz DSD. Which brings me to initial impression number...

5. It would seem 24/192 is better at conveying bass heft than 2.8MHz DSD. Yet, DSD has this beguiling quality (of not sounding digital). That's just what I heard. I was not comparing those digital formats to each other; but, those two digital formats back to the source - my vinyl rig. Again, that may be unfair as I think a more fair match up would be 24/192 PCM to 5.8MHz DSD.

The verdict is still out, as it should be. I just haven't had enough time with the machine yet. As of right now, I still don't have a clear winner on which format had the most accurate treble, free of distortion/artifacts. All in all it's really too early to carve anything in stone other than, ladies and gentlemen, we have left 16/44.1 in the dust (much of which resides on my racks :o )! So, I'll just let it lie right here for now.

WOStantonCS100
22-04-2012, 19:46
Day Three

Quick Notes/Thoughts:

24/192 is frighteningly good. :eek:

I've heard it argued that high res downloads are a waste of time. And, perhaps, if the source material is low res and/or mastered poorly, I would agree. However, and that's a big HOWEVER, if we're talking about good mastering and going directly from analog (mic feed or original analog tape/vinyl) there is no question. High res is the way to go, for sound quality.

Using an RCA Victor original vinyl pressing of Henry Mancini's Mr. Lucky and recording at 24/192, it was the first time I heard digital retain the fullness of the double bass in it's ambient space, as is represented on a direct listen to the vinyl. This was not present at 24/96 or with 2.8MHz DSD, sadly, despite DSD sounding smoother/more analogous. What a shame that this machine doesn't have 5.6MHz DSD. That probably takes the cake. At 24/96 and 2.8MHz, my extreme pickiness points at some problem areas: strings (the sound of the strings, bow and the wood), brass (the player's "lip", sound of "the bell"), cymbals (they crash, splash or sizzle, were they hit with a brush, drum stick with plastic tip or raw wood tip) and bass (size, shape, room interaction). I'm not often stunned. But, as mentioned, at 24/192 I literally dropped a jaw at what I was able to finally hear in the low registers. I need to listen more intently to the upper registers. Even at 24/96 and 2.8MHz, the mids were noticeably nicer than lower rates, with DSD going that extra mile of being liquid and non-fatiguing. If I had never heard resolution higher than 24/96 or 2.8MHz (nevermind tape or vinyl), I could well live with it. But, there is more; oh my, there is much more. :) I'm jumping around a bit; but, I have to add that reverb really became very believable at 24/192.

So, all in all, my impressions haven't changed much since day one. I do intend to go back and record at 24/176.4 just to see if much of anything was lost from 24/192. And, Tascam, if you're listening, if you could/would offer an upgrade to incorporate 5.6MHz DSD, this machine would be killer!!!

On the hardware side, there are altogether different reasons to love this machine. More on that later... maybe. ;)

WOStantonCS100
24-04-2012, 02:51
Day Four

...and some reasons not to love it.

I am now getting "Read Error 61" and "Read Error 64". I have sent an email off to Tascam Support.

The DV-RA1000HD's hard drive is nothing more than your standard laptop hard drive. That's both good and bad. It should be great for being able to replace it. However, it's an IDE 2.5" hard drive and IDE/PATA drives are becoming scarce (new). From what I can tell, mine is an 80GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue (20 more gigs than advertised). It would be nice if they would provide an upgrade path to use SATA drives which are the defacto standard nowadays.

I believe the read error is an isolated spot on the hard drive. I have one track which is unreadable. I'm leaving it there for now despite the fact that I could erase it. My thinking is that this way, when I make more recordings I will not be rewriting to that spot. Other tracks on the hdd play without issue.

We'll see what they say.

WOStantonCS100
27-04-2012, 05:19
Not sure what day it is..............

but... problem solved. It took a bit of digging on gooble and a little investigative work :whistle: .

Things are peachy, now. I've recorded 3 LP's, thus far. :)

AlfaGTV
27-04-2012, 10:14
Seems like a nifty machine! But, how do you store the recordings? Transfer them to NAS or do they just stay in the Tascam?

Br Micke

WOStantonCS100
03-05-2012, 22:06
Seems like a nifty machine! But, how do you store the recordings? Transfer them to NAS or do they just stay in the Tascam?

Br Micke

Forgive me for not responding much sooner. :o There were so few responses, I wondered if I should continue with the updates.

To answer your question: the DV-- allows you to:

- burn backups of your "project" on a dvd+/-r (which includes the raw DSD (.dsdiff) or Broadcast Wave (.wav) files and other informational files specifically for the unit)

- the unit can be put in USB Mode and connected to a PC (one can transfer the audio files only or all files)

Unlike the Korg unit, the ability to burn a disc is a great feature. It was key for me. I'm finding that recording at 24/192 takes up between 1.5GB - 2GB for the average LP (small project files included). Hard drive space may be relatively cheap. But, if your record and/or tape collection is in the thousands, it's still a far more expensive option compared to burning dvd's.

Note: You can, if you choose, delete the project after burning the backup disc. The backup disc will play back if reinserted into the machine or a pc's optical drive. On the PC, I use Foobar with the DSDIFF plug-in. Several programs will handle wav files, of course, even at 24/192.

Hope I've answered your question, even if a bit late. Sorry, 'bout that.

Reid Malenfant
03-05-2012, 22:12
Forgive me for not responding much sooner. :o There were so few responses, I wondered if I should continue with the updates.
Biff, I for one would very much like you to continue updating this thread :)
I'm interested in what you are up to & the results you are getting from this recorder & your experiences :)

Sorry if I didn't say so sooner & I guess I should have, but I have certainly read your updates with interest.

So please keep it up, it's you that's in new territory & filling us in after all :D

nat8808
04-05-2012, 16:22
However, it's an IDE 2.5" hard drive and IDE/PATA drives are becoming scarce (new). From what I can tell, mine is an 80GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue (20 more gigs than advertised). It would be nice if they would provide an upgrade path to use SATA drives which are the defacto standard nowadays.



About £4 buys you a set of conversion cables..

This kind of gear ends up using the same drives as that is was tested with in the design stage to ensure it's working perfectly. They will have a 5 year or so supply deal or have stocked up on original spares..

Sometimes gear like this can use special instructions or features of a particular drive manufacturer perhaps for error detection or preemting drive failure. Change drive to even another by the same manufacturer but different series and it may no longer work.

Things like this often come up in industrial embedded computing - basically 'standard' components being used in highly specific applications - as cleverly designed software or bespoke hardware suddenly doesn't work when the manufacturer of the standard component doesn't notify that they've slightly modified the specifics of how it works, an incompatability suddenly and inexplicably pops up.

Probably though, most likely any drive will work.

WOStantonCS100
04-05-2012, 18:14
About £4 buys you a set of conversion cables..

This kind of gear ends up using the same drives as that is was tested with in the design stage to ensure it's working perfectly. They will have a 5 year or so supply deal or have stocked up on original spares..

Sometimes gear like this can use special instructions or features of a particular drive manufacturer perhaps for error detection or preemting drive failure. Change drive to even another by the same manufacturer but different series and it may no longer work.

Things like this often come up in industrial embedded computing - basically 'standard' components being used in highly specific applications - as cleverly designed software or bespoke hardware suddenly doesn't work when the manufacturer of the standard component doesn't notify that they've slightly modified the specifics of how it works, an incompatability suddenly and inexplicably pops up.

Probably though, most likely any drive will work.

Hey Nat,

Actually, I had suspected that there might have been something in the firmware, such as you mentioned. I'm finishing up a detailed report on my findings. I won't let the cat at of the bag for now... well, maybe just a little.

Tascam support told me straight out that the hard drive is plain jane standard. And, indeed my unit came with an 80GB HDD rather than the 60GB specified in the documentation. They hinted that an optical drive, other than the supplied Teac, might give problems when recording DSD direct to disc. But, more on that later. :)

Beechwoods
04-05-2012, 21:02
It would be nice if they would provide an upgrade path to use SATA drives which are the defacto standard nowadays.

You can get what's called an IDE to SATA bridge, which I've used successfully in my PVR to connect an SATA drive to an IDE slot. No problems whatsoever.

You could experiment with SSD's then as well!

WOStantonCS100
10-05-2012, 06:32
You can get what's called an IDE to SATA bridge, which I've used successfully in my PVR to connect an SATA drive to an IDE slot. No problems whatsoever.

You could experiment with SSD's then as well!

Spot on. I've been looking at those. This machine is silent (no fans); but, depending on manufacturer and model, the HDD has the potential to ruin that. I'm thinking of some of the longer lasting but noisy Hitachi's I've come across. A stable SSD with great read/write specs would be great (Vertex 4?).

I'm a bit concerned about the controller, though. From the factory it's setup just like you'd expect to see it in a PC with the hard drive as the master and the optical drive jumpered as a slave. Until I test it out in the actual machine I'll reserve cautious optimism.

WOStantonCS100
10-05-2012, 06:47
Illusions of Conclusions and things they won't tell...

Far too much flipping with the source selector has confirmed (to me) that 24bit/192kHz PCM (the highest possible recording resolution on this machine) is indeed scarily close to the analog input signal; but... still lacks that last little bit of naturalness, in comparison to an analog source. A 9 out of 10 is what I would say. And, I am shocked to be saying that. Given what I've heard of 2.8MHz DSD compared to 24bit/96kHz PCM and preferring the more "natural" sound of DSD, I simply MUST make a point of hearing double-rate DSD. I'm guessing it would garner a 9.5 out of 10, which IMHO is excellent, bordering on super-fantastic, for digital audio recording. I first dipped into digital audio home recording (seriously) back in '98 ?? Things have come a long, long way and I applaud all those who never settled for status quo and continue to pursue digital audio for music loving audiophiles. At some point, I fully expect digital audio to get to the point where I cannot hear a difference between source and digital recording. 24bit/384kHz PCM, 6.1MHz or higher DSD is probably that point. I still won't ged rid of my vinyl and tape; but, my expendable/travel copies will finally make the grade.

Now then, what of the actual unit? And, what are they not telling you?

As mentioned in previous posts, when I peered into the top vents of this machine, I was happily surprised to see: a standard PC optical burner and a standard 2.5" IDE/PATA drive connected up with a ribbon (data) cable and 2 and 4 pin moles (power) connectors. (I'll work on posting pics.) This would probably be a dividing line for some. However, I keep in mind that the Meridian Reference optical players use standard optical drives. The optical drive in the DV-RA1000HD is a Teac DV-W5000E DVD writer. The hard drive (as supplied in my unit) is a Western Digital WD800BEVE 80GB. When I started to have issues with read errors, I contacted Tascam service. After I finally got to a human being, I was told the hard drive was standard. However, I wasn't told how to reformat the hard drive; the recommendation being to pack it up and send it off for service. After googling it, I found that simply holding the "HDD" button in while powering the unit on will bring up a menu with the option to reformat the hard drive. If data becomes corrupt on the hard drive this is about all you can do; but, at least it's an option. I don't recall reading that in the manual. I was also told that the optical drive was "not" standard and it would also need to be sent in for service if something went awry. I wasn't having any issues with it.

I've made the lion's share of my income in the computer field; so, of course, I took everything I was being told with a grain of salt. A friend of mine has the same unit, purchased quite some time earlier. Warranty is not an issue with his machine; so, he let me at it. Equipped with a screwdriver, a spare Seagate 60GB hard drive, a Lite-On 22x DVD burner and my hunches and experiences, I swapped in the hard drive and optical drive. It only took minutes. I immediately formatted the hard drive on power on. No issues. No modifying. Again, these are standard drives. I didn't even have to remove the facia of the DVD burner. We spent the next several hours testing feature after feature. [EDIT: It's been running with the swapped out drives for a week now without a hitch.] The only thing we haven't done is attempt to record hi-rez PCM or DSD straight to the optical drive. (Then again, I would never do this anyway. That's the whole point of the internal hard drive. The DV-RA1000-- did not have an internal hard drive. It was generally applauded when this was included in the DV-RA1000HD.) Burning (backing up) projects from internal hard drive to DVD+/-R presented no issues. It plays back the most data intensive 24bit/192kHz .wav files without hestitation. Using the machine as a run-of-the-mill standalone cd burner, with any media we threw at it, also presented no issues.

So, what do we/I have? For me, I could conceivably have the last optical disc player I will ever purchase, certainly CD player/standalone CD burner (though it would be a crime to use it just to burn/play CD's). If the optical rom drive dies (as they all do) replacements can be had for a song. As pointed out by Nick, there are adapters available that theoretically should allow one to use SATA drives in place of PATA drives. We haven't tried that out yet, soon though, hopefully.

There must be downsides, right? Well, yes... Although this machine has outstanding A/D/Ac's, it does not upsample (if that's your thing as it is mine). This can be gotten around. It's a pro machine; so, the I/O's are numerous. For high res material, I would let the machine do it's thing and use either the balanced or unbalanced outputs. For lower res material, one of the digital outputs can be sent to a favorite upsampling DAC. I'm hoping to use a simple A/B box; thus, still only using one preamp input.

The other consideration is the sticker on the back on the unit. You know the one, "Made in China". I sincerely hope that doesn't become an issue. I'll be watching mine like a hawk!!

To be continued...

Reid Malenfant
10-05-2012, 17:08
This is all sounding very interesting indeed. Cheers for going out on a limb & doing the donkey work on the HDD & optical drive, very handy to know :)

I think I'm going to have to get me a read of the operating manual of one of these machines..

WOStantonCS100
11-05-2012, 18:25
Top overview sans cover

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0220.jpg

Rear shot of swapped in Lite-On 22x IDE DVD Burner

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0221.jpg

Close up of swapped in Seagate drive nestled underneath optical drive

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0223.jpg

Ribbon cable termination at system board

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0224.jpg

WOStantonCS100
11-05-2012, 18:30
Obviously, lightscribe functions are not supported :lol:

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0226.jpg

Working flawlessly (2 shots)

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0227.jpg


http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0228.jpg

Ribbon cable and 2-pin molex terminate on a board where the HDD plugs in

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_0229.jpg

***DISCLAIMER: If you mod your unit Tascam will most likely void your warrantly and turn their back on you, like most manufacturers. If you mess up your unit, I am not responsible. :)

Reid Malenfant
11-05-2012, 18:35
Excellent, cheers for the pics Biff :) Definately looks like standard IDE connections from what I remember of them :eyebrows:

WOStantonCS100
11-05-2012, 18:36
Excellent, cheers for the pics Biff :) Definately looks like standard IDE connections from what I remember of them :eyebrows:

Glad to oblige. :)

drrd
31-05-2012, 08:38
Hi Biff, just checking back on this thread to see how you got on.

Just a word about format. It sounds like you're keeping your recordings on the Tascam HD whereas I send mine over to my PC. If I record in DSD I can either play them with Foobar, though the plugin isnt the best sounding, or convert them to PCM with Korg Audiogate. What I've found is when I've recorded in PCM it sounds excellent if it's left completely 'as is' but if I wanted to normalise the files (as I stay well away from 0db when recording) then something happens. It's subtle but even using software with 32 or even 64bit precision there's a change in the sound quality, it sounds more 'digital'.

If I use Audiogate to do a one step conversion with normalisation from DSD to PCM then that doesnt happen, the PCM file still has a natural vinyl-like sound. Basically I think processing PCM seems to be a bad idea, chopping the data up a certain way is fine unless you decide you'd actually like to put it back together and chop it a different way as you must if you change either the bits or the sample rate. If you keep your files on the Tascam unit and play them without any further processing then this won't be an issue at all but worth considering that DSD may be a better archive method.

Interestingly the Foobar plugin for DSD playback does a two-step conversion, first to 352K then downsampled again to the output sample rate, might explain why it doesnt sound quite as good as Audiogate.

WOStantonCS100
31-05-2012, 19:29
Hey Russell,

Very interesting indeed.

I believe you are quite right about the pitfalls of doing too much post record processing. I've installed both Foobar w/DSDIFF and Audiogate. I haven't spent enough time with either one to have a preference, as I do almost all my listening on the rig. I only use them as players. If I get a hankering to squelch a pop or click, I'd probably go back to "studio mode": Sonar and the laborious practice of manually microscopically isolating and attenuating only the most egregious of anomalies. :rolleyes: Oh, joy.

Essentially, I'm using it just as I would my reel to reels. I actually don't do post processing of any kind. If it doesn't sound right, I reconsider cartridge choice, input level and/or balance and try again. After recording an LP, my peaks are generally no higher than -4db. Depending on the cartridge, a 3db to 6db input level setting gives a slight volume boost equivalent to recording to 1/4" tape and seems to work well with the phono pre going directly in. I'm actually using 24/192 exclusively now, as it really does sound the closest to the input, to my ears. The noise floor of my vinyl rig doesn't budge the meters and I haven't found an LP yet that will peg the meters at those settings. Dynamic range is excellent, and more importantly, resolution is the best I've heard from digital to date. (Considering, I still haven't heard native double-rate DSD or 24/384 yet.) Last step for me is to dump the project to an external hard drive via the laptop and also burn the project to DVD. These days I consider the original (whatever format that is) to be the archive. I can then play the heck out the tape, DVD or 24/192 files, in this case, while being able to repeat the process at a later time if I wear the tape out or drop the DVD in the loo (how that would happen, I don't know). :lol:

Too be honest, I think DSD probably is the better archive medium; but, not a "single-rate". Double-rate DSD or better, pushing the high frequency noise further out, would be the ticket for me as I think the sound would be equal to or better than 24/192. The optical drive option was the clincher for me. Now, if Tascam gets around to adding double-rate DSD or Korg gets around to adding an optical drive... ...I'll be whipping out my checkbook. :)

EDIT: I'd like to find out if the Oppo BDP-95 can read the project discs the Tascam creates and playback the .wav files. It would nice to have another player option.

Reid Malenfant
31-05-2012, 19:36
EDIT: I'd like to find out if the Oppo BDP-95 can read the project discs the Tascam creates and playback the .wav files. It would nice to have another player option.
Send me a disc & I'll let you know ;)

WOStantonCS100
31-05-2012, 19:41
Send me a disc & I'll let you know ;)

What would you like to hear?

Reid Malenfant
31-05-2012, 19:49
What would you like to hear?
:lol:

Damn, the $64 million question...

Well as we are just attempting to establish that the BD95 will play back your disc it doesn't really matter.

So, as you have stumped me (as I don't know what you tend to listen to normally), I'll get your brain wracking to :eyebrows:

Just about anything, but make sure it's a good quality dynamic recording presentation.

Doesn't matter what it is, quality always shines on through :cool:

WOStantonCS100
31-05-2012, 19:52
:lol:

Damn, the $64 million question...

Well as we are just attempting to establish that the BD95 will play back your disc it doesn't really matter.

So, as you have stumped me (as I don't know what you tend to listen to normally), I'll get your brain wracking to :eyebrows:

Just about anything, but make sure it's a good quality dynamic recording presentation.

Doesn't matter what it is, quality always shines on through :cool:

PM sent.

Reid Malenfant
31-05-2012, 20:01
PM sent.
Received while I was typing my reply :D

Likewise, you have one of those Biff :cool:

& strangely once again so do I :rfl:

WOStantonCS100
17-06-2012, 22:01
For those following along, Mark (Reid Malenfant) was kind enough to test out a project disc with hi-rez 24/192 .wav files I sent him made on the DV-RA1000HD, in order to see if the disc would be read and the .wav files playback on (his) Oppo BDP-95. I am happy to report that they did! :D It's good to have another standalone playback option for the Tascam project discs. Mark may elaborate if he so chooses.

Reid Malenfant
17-06-2012, 22:25
Mark may elaborate if he so chooses.
Hey Biff, yeah, I'll do that & very happy to do so to :)

I'm pretty sure Biff was fairly confident that music recorded on his Tascam would be readable & playable on modern universal players, but only trying it would be good enough :)

He sent me a very nicely recorded disc with A & B WAV files that I was easily able to navigate with the Oppo 95.

The audio quality was frankly superb, something tells me that linear tracking tonearm in no way detracts from the finished result, I was quite astonished at the low noise floor & dynamic range of the recording!

While the signal to noise might not have been as good as a pure digital recording, the noise floor was more than low enough to make it a virtual non event, it didn't matter :eyebrows:

Not music I'd normally listen to either, but it sounded rather special so I had to inquire what it was...


I have converted PCM to HIFI video (which should be as good as stupidly fast RTR) before, but never with no errors ;)

This thing beats them hands down, no question of what is better :eyebrows:

What a bit of kit :eek:

WOStantonCS100
11-09-2012, 06:09
Price check, aisle 7: Hmmmm... it appears, upon a quick check, that the prices on these have gone up. Also, there seems to be updated firmware available: now v2.05 from v2.04 BUT... I could care less about the firmware, per se and for my purposes the machine works just fine as is. For the price hike I'm curious to know if they've switched over to SATA. That would be well worth the price hike. Somehow, I doubt it. I got mine for less than 1400 shipped to the door (a great deal IMO). Now they want :stalks: 1600; about 100 more than what it generally went for a year ago. :scratch:

The important stuff: I've done approx. 20 LP to DVD+/-R transfers and when listening back, although there is still that 2-3% left to go, I still easily get lost in the music; not focusing on whether I'm listening to digital or analog. This is now the sole piece of digital equipment in my main system and as such does double duty as the resident silver disc spinner. It has reacquainted me with my CD collection for the good and bad. It's easy to distinguish between "good" CD's and ones that are just horrible. Generally, speaking, the good ones utilize the dynamics the format offers, if not the resolution. This can easily be seen at a glance. The meters leap and retreat hardly ever reaching 0db. (They go from -50db to "OVER".) The loudness war tripe barely budges from -3db and often pegs "OVER". :doh: It's a shame. There's some good music out there that has been mastered like garbage. I'm preaching to the choir. :(

WOStantonCS100
11-07-2013, 09:26
As discussed, I finally got around to the "SATA Conversion". I was pushed over the edge after finding out about M-DISCs (whereas the zeroes and ones are etched, rather than burned on the data layer of the media (compatible with DVD+R, I believe)) and using special burners capable of increased laser intensity. These burners are backwards compatible with DVD+/-RW and CD-RW. Currently, I think only LG makes such a burner??? The price of the burner and the required PATA to SATA bridge combined set me back less than $30(US); or... ...next to nothing.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_1835800x600.jpg

The optical drive in the Tascam must be a slave; so, it was necessary to get a PATA/SATA bridge than could be set to slave. Important to note is that not all of these are capable of such (are master only). A "master only" bridge, I believe, will not work at all.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_1836800x600.jpg

The physical install was indeed quick and painless. I have not updated the firmware. It is still running the same version installed at the factory. It's nice to know Tascam didn't do anything annoying to preclude the use of other IDE/PATE DVD writers (of like speed) or properly engineered bridges. Below you can see the DV-RA1000HD running as expected on a replacement hard drive, PATA to SATA bridge and SATA M-DISC capable optical writer. I successfully played everything from CDs to project DVDs with 24/192 wav files. There was no discernable degredation of sound quality (for the respective resolutions). I also burned 24/192 without incident on DVD+/-R. I have not as of yet acquired any M-DISC blanks.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_1840800x600.jpg

The only caveat is this. At power on, the optical drive initialization now takes a whopping 30 seconds!!! I timed it with a stopwatch (app). Without the bridge initialization was approx. 5 seconds. In computer time an increase like that is huge. However, from that point on, performance does not appear to affected whether listening, recording, searching a disc, loading or ejecting a disc. Nevertheless, for the ability to "etch" discs that will supposedly last 1000+ years (heck I'd be elated with a guarantee of a worry free half century), I can deal with it. I only "reboot" the machine, on average, once a week if that much. As my digital transport of choice (as well as digital recorder) it's on almost 24/7.

So, there it is. Next on the list is the acquisition of a SSD hard drive to replace the whirling platters. This should reduce the Tascam to silence and squelch heat.

WOStantonCS100
17-08-2013, 23:09
So my choices were:

a 44 pin PATA/IDE SSD hard drive (pricey, limited availability and only from Transcend or KingSpec)
a 44 pin PATA/IDE to SATA converter and a 2.5" SATA SSD hard drive
a 44 pin PATA/IDE to CompactFlash adapter and a CompactFlash card (or SDHC card/adapter)

I ended up chosing the PATA to CF solution. The CF cards are pretty easy to obtain locally (as well as online) even if not in significantly large storage capacities and a tad pricey. But, once the adapter is in place, replacing the CF card or upgrading it is ridiculously easy. In place the CF card is dead silence (of course) and is a major reduction in heat. I used to strategically place foam squares on top of the unit to quiet things down while still allowing heat to escape the top vents; not anymore. However, there's always a catch, isn't there.

Not all CF cards are created equal and not all play well together with IDE to CF adapters. The adapter I started with (and have decided to use primarily) is from StarTech. The Transcend 400x 60MB/s 32GB CF card was a great price (first hint); but, was a complete fail. It would format; however, upon reboot it would not mount for any amount of money. Subsequently the player defaulted to the optical drive while yelling obscenities and flipping the bird.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_1878.jpg

After that I tried a Sandisk, pathetically small, 4GB Ultra CF card. This worked; but, left no room to complete most projects, certainly when recording in 24/192. However, I had a good feeling about Sandisk compatibility. It recorded without issue (but ran out of space) and transferred data from it to the burner with sufficient speed not to cause errors. The card specs say 30MB/s.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_1882.jpg

Next up I tried a cheap $4 PATA/IDE to CF adapter from the auction site, just to see if the Transcend card would work in it. No such luck. Fail. Again. Time to get an RMA. I like this cheap adapter's size. Looking closely at the PCB doesn't immediately instill confidence. It also lacks the second CF slot; but, the Tascam won't utilize it and the optical drive at the same time (sees two slaves). It does fit very nicely in the machine and allows the internal Tascam/Teac interface board to be mounted normally. The StarTech certainly seems a more quality piece and comes with standoffs; however, without shaving down these standoffs, the interface board sits proud of the chassis. I have actually put the screws in underneath the interface board to prevent it from bending the pins of the CF adapter when inserting the ribbon cable. This isn't necessary with the cheap adapter though. It will be a good backup.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_1890.jpg

I settled on a Sandisk Extreme 16GB CF card. No problems or issues; formatted and booted. Significantly less capacity than a hard drive; however, the purpose of this machine is not storage, in my application of it. It is the transfer of analog to playable discs. Considering 4.7GB on a single sided blank DVD+/-R or M, mega-gig drives are needless overkill.

**BIG NOTE** I can't exactly explain why; but, the machine likes this configuration. Boot up/initialization time is now 3 to 4 seconds, max. Awesome; very happy. This is a huge improvement over the previous configuration whereas a PATA to SATA converter on the optical drive was teamed up with the 2.5" PATA/IDE hard drive (as previously stated, boot time had slowed to a crawl of a half a minute.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Projects/IMG_1891.jpg

So, that about does it for hardware upgrades. The machine is now what I hoped it could be since I acquired it: a silent, low-heat, analog to hi-res transcription device with CD replay as a bonus.

AUDIO PATH UPGRADES NEXT?
Am I considering the Jim Williams/AudioUpgrades (http://www.audioupgrades.com/) audio path mods for this machine? Well... maybe... don't really know. I think I'd have to hear one against mine first.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END... ...OR GET DISCONTINUED
And so, as of this writing, the TASCAM DV-RA1000HD has been discontinued. Perhaps that is a good thing?? Per Tascam, they've replaced it with the soon to ship DA-3000 master recorder. And, as I was hoping and stated way back in this thread, includes 5.6MHz DSD. It also ditches the HDD for SD and CompactFlash slots. That's great! BUT... BUT... BUT... the optical drive has been eliminated. :doh: So, now there is no using it (DA-3000) as a backward compatible transport (for CDs) and if you want to get the files on disc, you'll need to once again employ a laptop/PC. The standalone convenience is gone. If one does burn/etch discs, you now need to also buy the Teac PD-501HR to play them or some other such unit. Is it worth it for 5.6MHz DSD? Might be. However, with this project done, I'll be returning to more analogue pursuits for a while.

Thanks for following along and I hope this information benefits whoever comes across it.

pixel79
13-07-2016, 10:28
This is a very old, but very interesting thread. I'm thinking of modding my DV-RA1000HD by taking the hard drive out which, like everyone's has become a bit flaky with read errors - replacing it with an mSATA SSD.

Has anyone tried putting a drive in whose capacity is larger than the original?

Marco
16-07-2016, 08:42
Hi Leo,

Welcome to AoS :)

Perhaps others are putting in as much effort helping with your enquiry as you did in your Welcome thread? ;)

Anyway, where in England are you? It's a rather large place.... The geographical location in your profile should contain the country you live in and area. Therefore, please add that information next time you log in.

Cheers! :cool:

Marco.

pixel79
18-07-2016, 10:41
Anyway, where in England are you? It's a rather large place.... The geographical location in your profile should contain the country you live in and area. Therefore, please add that information next time you log in.


England is not so big :lol: - travelling has shown me that. I've added more location detail as requested.

Marco
18-07-2016, 16:12
Nice one... Thanks for that :thumbsup:

Marco.

WOStantonCS100
30-07-2016, 01:13
This is a very old, but very interesting thread. I'm thinking of modding my DV-RA1000HD by taking the hard drive out which, like everyone's has become a bit flaky with read errors - replacing it with an mSATA SSD.

Has anyone tried putting a drive in whose capacity is larger than the original?

Wow, this is an old thread, init?

You would obviously have to test that out, both the mSATA SSD and the needed converter in order to find a match that worked well with your RA1000HD. I've known folks who have put in drives much larger than 60GB (320GB?). I think I mentioned the first unit I purchased, new, came with an 80GB rather than a 60GB. I don't see why it shouldn't work. Having said that, I did have to go through different brands of CF cards and converters before I found a combination that had my desired capacity as well as desired performance. Once I did, things have got on so well that I don't think about it anymore.

It's hard to believe it's been 4 years! I've been using my modded master recorder pretty much non-stop. I've often thought about moving on to the DA-3000; but, I just can't bring myself to ditch the optical drive. More importantly, the ability to slap in a new optical drive for a few quid if one goes south is too good to pass up.

I actually purchased a used second unit as a backup. After having tested it, it is now tucked away for a rainy day.


BTW: Sorry about the broken picture links. Photobucket was and still is just a necessary evil.

Additional Note: I see that Yamaha has now put out 2 universal players that, like the Oppos, will play 24/192 .wav/.bwf files on a burned DVD: BD-S681 and BD-A1060.

Cheers!

pixel79
16-08-2016, 14:47
Thanks for replying and sharing your views.

Yeah they're such well-built machines. I use mine every single week. Reliable (apart from those odd disk issues) and the quality of the preamps and the audio stages overall is really very good indeed. I, too, considered getting the DA3000 but the 1000HD is so trustworthy (and the perk of the optical drive) that it's daft to get rid of something that works well.

It's a shame the USB can't be upgraded to a faster version - that's my only qualm. When you're shipping multi-gigabyte files around, this is a bit of a bottleneck.

I'm going to make it a bank holiday project to pop the lid and see if I can get a higher capacity drive installed. I shall report back.

pixel79
01-09-2016, 11:48
The fun begins. I have the mSATA drive, the mSATA to IDE kit and now a hurdle... Does anyone know how to actually get at the drive? I've taken this unit apart (see images below) and can't see what needs to be unscrewed next :doh:

Images on dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/sc/lovrx4u6zx14jqq/AAAnnw7koV30E7fKeqUAWwmza

All tips gratefully appreciated!

pixel79
01-09-2016, 11:56
For ease, here are some low res images but as mentioned the full res pics are on Dropbox

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17906

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