Comments on: Tascam HD-P2 High-Def Flash Recorder: DAT’s All, Folks

By: Audley Byer

Audley Byer — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:30:31 +0000

Hello,
I am looking to invest in a good field recorder, that will be reliable and trouble-free. I have read the reviews on many brands and models, and I had figured that the Tascam HD-P2 was the ideal machine, until read the discouraging comments about it on this site, especially that of poor after-sales service from Tascam manufacturers!! Now I’m at a total lost as what to buy! I have had experience with a Tascam DAP-1 which has done thousands of trouble-free recording hours for a local radio station. But it appears that the DAP-1 is no longer available on the market. How can I be advised? What to purchase? Hoping to get a response.

By: arthur

arthur — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:48:55 +0000

I have experienced the same problems as those listed above by Micheal on 4/20/06.

Static completely took over the HD P2 and even when no mics were connected to the XLR inputs.
I spoke with Tascam tech support, they simply told me to send it in……….now waiting.

Micheal, wondering how your problems were resolved with this unit?

By: Guest2

Guest2 — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 02:28:03 +0000

I use this unit for recording live concerts. For my purpose, it the P2 does a great job. Way exceeded my expectations. On a set of AA rechargeables, I get 5 hours and 10 minutes of recording time, with phantom power and backlight on.

Granted, the buttons are not layed out great, but they are not that much of a nuisance for me since I’m not mobile with it.

A much better unit than the Marantz 671, since the 671 needs to run the -20 pad if your running any kind of high sensitive condensor mic (ex. AKG 480s, Neumann 184s, shotguns, etc.) and the 671 will not accept 8GB compact flash cards.

The P2 mignt not sound as nice the Fostex FR2, but not bad either. The reason I chose P2 over the FR2 was because the FR2 has weak internal powering. 2 hours on a set of AA’s doesn’t cut it for me. And I don’t want to carry around a SLA.

The P2 is a great bargain for the price. The Oade Brothers will be doing a preamp mod in the Fall ‘06 (www.oade.com).

I don’t judge an item on how it feels in my hands, I judge it on how it sounds and how it performs. (wink)

P.S. yes, you can plug in the AC adapter, while running on the AA’s, seemlessly. Not pops in the recording.

By: Moeneeb

Moeneeb — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 06:49:24 +0000

I have bought a Tascam HD-P2 I see it comes with a bay to install 8 AA batteries I was wondering when power supply is plugged in does it charge the batteries or must I get a AA battery charger

Thank you

By: Mark Woll

Mark Woll — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 02:06:00 +0000

Well should I get it or hang on to my Nagra 4?

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 14:15:22 +0000

Hi todd,
I think if you are going to record a race car you’ll need to be very portable and fast in operating. You should consider folowing facts from Tascam HD-P2:
1. Very sensetive to dust and physical frictions due its delicate construction.
2. Stupidly orginized buttons, effecting your functionality’s speed in the field. If you run it on internal batterries you’ll probably will turn it on and off to save power. Turning on takes aprox: 20 sec, turning off requires from you pressing two buttons in combination.
3. If you are going to run with it your record level controls will be easilly effected by any movement of your body.
4. If you want to change projects or rercord in different resolution, you’ll need time. Other wise to stop and concentrate on what you are doing. It’s not like in fostex you can switch from 48 KHz to 96 in one switch move…
Hope it helps

By: todd

todd — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 03:33:18 +0000

Hi guys! It`s nice to see that people are into CF recording. It is the absolute best way to go. I have been using the FOSTEX FR2 with a DCS AD converter which is amazing. Now, I am looking into something to record a race car in Italia and it has to sound good because I cannot use the DCS. So, is it the Tascam or the new Sound Devices 702 CF only recorder? Thanks Michael for your comments on the Tascam. It looks great for the money, but the Sound Devices at twice the bread will probably outlast the Tascam and sound better from the outset. What to do??? todd/ma

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 12:28:05 +0000

I feel like I must share my experience with Tascam HD P2. I use it for recording high deffinition sound effects and atmospheres. So here what I can say about this:

Pros:
Good dynamic range and frequency responce.
Nice preamps and converters.
Atractive price.

Cons:
Noisy premps.
Build quality is defenitelly NOT pro. It’s made from delicate cheap plastic.
Inner wire (thin basic wire) is worse than used in a “consumer radios”.
It’s very difficult to operate it in the field. Many important controls are out of your fingers. If it’s in the Porta Brace you’ll hate your life! For instance if you want to power it off, you’ll need first to press “power” button and than find (located far away) “select” button to complete the operation. So it’s almost impossible to work with it when its on the shoulder. Cause you’ll find yourself more time trying to find switchers and controls rather working.
My device is….down. After 2 months and only one project done!
In the beginning I started to hear very loud pink noise in the left channel. Now it’s in both left and right channels.
Even without any microphones connected and in any switchers positions…….And I treated it like a baby!!!!!
I tried conntacting Tascam customer support in US and they just don’t respond! After 3 e-mails to them I gave up and I don’t know what to do.

This device is defenitly NOT for professionals in a field!
If you searching for something similar look at Fostex FR2 or Sound Devices 722.
Conclusion: Tascam HD-P2 huge disappointment!

By: dgrizzle

dgrizzle — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 18:34:22 +0000

I’ll probably buy a Tascam HD-P2 to replace my Tascam DA-P1 Portable DAT.

Considering alternatives cost 4X - 6X multiples of the HD-P2, this is either a bargain or else built cheap and disposable. My past expereice with Tascam has been very good.

A couple of notes:

The HD-P2 does not have time code out during playback, which may be a negative for some projects such as music videos.

On the Tascam website, there is a recording time chart for various sample rates and bit depths. This was a concern for me, but now a non-issue.

Some others have posted negative comments about Tascam DA-P1 mic pre-amps. I think their comments were overly harsh. You can always spend $1200 on a Sound Devices 302 Field Mixer, or $2500 on a 442 4-channel.

For me, $999 on the Tascam HD-P2 is worth it for Firewire alone, to get away from S/PDIF transfers off DAT tape. If the sound quality is comparable to a DA-P1, this new recorder is a real bargain.

BTW - I do field recording with Sennheiser MKH series condenser microphones, which I consider to be superb (each mic costing more than the DA-P1 or the HD-P2 recorders). Specifically, I own and use: MKH-40 cardiod, MKH-30 bi-directional for mid-side stereo, and MKH-60 short shotgun. I’m doing location audio for video (voice, SFX, sound design, some music), not super critical work in a specially designed recording studio. I’ve gotten superb results from my Tascam DA-P1 DAT. The Tascam HD-P2, if anything, specs out much better.

By: Guest

Guest — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 00:47:57 +0000

1. Preamp quality.
2. A/D quality.
3. Phantom power?

Thinking about the same and how it compares to Fostex similar unit.

Well,think we could stand in front of another step up in the A/D quality anyway as new chips come up.Probably not a concern anymore…

It’s mainly the
preamps I’m concerned about. Very important.