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Tascam HD-P2


Robert Edge

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This new compact flash card recorder has finally started to appear on store shelves. For those who are interested, there is currently a discussion at rec.audio.pro on the quality of the pre-amp and what appears to be a fairly minor software bug.

 

The introductory street price appears to be US$900-1000. I would think that this will put price pressure on the Fostex FR-2, and that we are rapidly approaching the day when DAT recorders are history. Five months ago, I was offered an HHB DAT recorder with time code for US$1250, an extremely attractive price in relation to its original retail price. I declined, and I'm very glad that I did.

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Guest david west

Tascam HD-P2 or Fostex FR-2....

 

if they were the same price, which one would you get???

 

 

 

the fostex appears to have more timecode options, but how do they compare soundwise?

 

thanks,

david

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David,

 

Right now, the street price of the Fostex without time code is US$300-400 more than the Tascam which records (but does not generate) time code. If the Tascam is of comparable quality, one has got to wonder how Fostex dealers can sustain the difference.

 

People who need to generate time code have a choice between buying the Fostex and the optional time code card to record and generate code ($600) or the Tascam if they already have a way to generate code or conclude that it makes sense, for their purpose, to buy a time code generator by Aaton, Ambient, Denecke. I think that the choice depends on one's needs. I am working through this issue myself at the moment and I certainly don't have any wisdom to impart.

 

What this means, if one already has a way to generate code, is that the Tascam is half the price of the Fostex. On the one hand, there is an old saying that you get what you pay for. On the other, Fostex has been enjoying a monopoly in this market and it is not exactly unprecedented to see dramatic price drops for digital equipment. Also, I'm being told that it is quite a bit less expensive to produce a time code recorder than to produce a recorder/generator.

 

Because the Tascam came onto the market only last week, I think that it will be a week or two before people know how good the pre-amp is and the nature of any design or software deficiencies. On paper, the Tascam should be just as good as the Fostex. I've been told by a reputable dealer rep who saw the Tascam at the AES show recently held in New York that he was favourably impressed. He also said that the experience of his company, which sells and rents products by both Fostex and Tascam, suggests that the Tascam may be the more robust of the two. However, his comments were musings. They were not based on hard data.

 

There's also the Sound Devices 744T, but that is a four track hard drive recorder that I think has a different market. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it's price to come down, currently just under $4,000.

 

(This post was edited Dec. 11 at 20:40 EST)

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Guest david west

thanks R. Edge.....

 

i didnt realize that i would also have to get a 600 dollar card to do time code with the Fostex...

 

i have a slate that generates timecode anyway so the Tascam is sounding better all of the time...

 

 

thanks,

david

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  • 6 months later...

reviving this thread...

 

david if your stil around.. what slate do you have?

 

im thinking of getting a TC slate (denecke) and i need something to send TC to it.. but im a novice on TC slates and if yo uhave a slate that generates TC then thats half my battle..

 

also, who has purchased or used the Tascam H2? i was about to grab the old p1 until i saw this unit...

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest david west
reviving this thread...

 

david if your stil around.. what slate do you have?

 

im thinking of getting a TC slate (denecke) and i need something to send TC to it.. but im a novice on TC slates and if yo uhave a slate that generates TC then thats half my battle..

 

also, who has purchased or used the Tascam H2? i was about to grab the old p1 until i saw this unit...

 

 

Hi Marc,

 

i have a psc.... BUT am looking at a Denecke

 

check out

 

http://denecke.com/hist02.htm#TS3A_Upgrade

 

if you are thinking of a used slate....

 

it might help you decide which one you want...

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