NAMM 2015: TASCAM DR-680 UPGRADE

27 January 2015

Tascam’s popular eight-track field recorder, the DR-680, has been given a major upgrade with improvements including a new op-amp and capacitor delivering improved audio quality and support for SDXC in addition to the readily available SD/SDHC cards.

Take (file) numbers can now be easily reset, battery life has been increased by 150 per cent, and improved clock precision means more accurate sync to video devices. There’s also a dual recording function that allows two files to be recorded simultaneously at different levels (i.e. the second file can be recorded at a lower level as a distortion-free safety track), the unit can load and playback multitrack audio files (i.e. those prepared with a DAW), and there’s now support for lithium batteries.

Key Features

SD / SDHC / SDXC cards used as recording / playback media
6 balanced mic / line inputs (1-4: XLR / TRS combo jacks, 5-6: TRS jacks)
6 unbalanced outputs (RCA pin jacks)
Coaxial digital input and output (S / PDIF, AES / EBU)
Recording / playback formats: BWF, WAV, MP3
With BWF format, recording start times can be stored in files
8-track recording at 24-bit / 96kHz (BWF, WAV)
6 mic / line inputs and stereo mix recording or 6 mic / line input and digital stereo recording
Record MP3 files at 96, 128, 192 and 320kbps
Record 4-channel MP3 files
From 4 mic / line inputs (XLR / TRS combo jacks) or 2 mic / line inputs and digital stereo inputs
2-track recording at 24-bit / 192kHz (BWF, WAV) from 2 mic / line inputs or digital stereo inputs