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Audiophile recording and playback - Tascam DA-3000


Hi, some months ago I bought the Tascam DA-3000 recorder, having used a small Korg MR-1 for some years. I mainly record from my vinyl rig (Lyra Atlas – SME V – Hanss T30 – Aesthetix Io Eclipse – Einstein The Tube mk2).

I have found that even with the hassle of very big files (one LP = almost 3 GB), the dual speed DSD sound is superior to anything digital I have heard so far.

In my rig, analog blows digital out of the water, but this is the best candidate.

In a former thread, someone asked, is the Da-3000 ‘audiophile’ level. The answer is a clear yes.

This is the first digital recorder I have owned (after some DATs and others) that does not make me ashamed that my old analog and much-modded Revox A77 stands in my loft. Also, for some, the Tascam may be a good investment since its DAC may outperform the DAC you already have. I had a Stello DAC that went out the door.

However, some aspects of the Tascam are problematic, and others can probably be improved.

A first issue is connectivity and ease of use. It would be great if the Tascam could record to a hard disk, or at least play back from it. The manual says a hard disk can be connected through the USB port. I bought a Seagate Wireless Plus 1 TB hard disk to try. However, the Tascam won’t recognize it, even when I reformatted to Exfat (instead of NFTS). Perhaps it would be recognized if I reformatted to FAT32, but then I would not have any use of a big hard disk, the limit is 32 GB I think. So I am back to recording to my 32 GB Sandisk SD card, eight LPs or so, with hand written notes, what track is what title, and then carrying the card and paper to my main PC, naming folders and transferring the files. BTW this was very slow, 19 mbps, since my card reader was not USB 3 compliant, I changed, and now it is much better, 84 or so mbps.

The ideal would be to have the Tascam drive as a unit on my home network, this is why I bought the Seagate wireless, but as stated - no success so far.

Experiences with the Tascam (or similar), in this and other respects, are welcome.

Note that, the problems so far are minor, for me, compared to the benefits. The sound is usually much better than what I get from CDs or the web (excepting some SACDs). I can bring my analog rig around, so to speak, playing back on the Korg Mr-1 (or the Tascam itself, which is light weight and semi-movable). I think that DSD playback will become more easily available in the future. If Pono had included DSD, I would have bought one.
o_holter
o_holter OP
541 posts
 
First the good news. I brought the Tascam and harddisk along on holiday - as source in the Ming Da amp and Aurum Cantus speakers system at our cottage. It sounds great. Better than the Korg Mr1. Not surprising perhaps, but i am glad i can get such a large percent of the sound in the main system - in a very modest system like i have here. It is more open and layered than with the Mr1. Less sterile and cold than Sacd from my other source Oppo 981. Also, changing the driver tubes in the Ming Da to NOS Rca 12bh7 and 12ax7 has helped.
Dsd pcm debate - agree with both sides. Dac means a lot. But to my ears Dsd is better. Not heard top class pcm dacs though.
Happy listening!
lancelock
625 posts
 
Interesting news. There is a modded version of this Tascam available by Decware. I have 3 Decware amps and speakers. I'm very happy with their products. This Tascam might be worth checking out, as soon as I have the money.
http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZDSD.html
o_holter OP
541 posts
 
A little update, regarding the DA-3000. All in all, in my situation, it does very well. The DAC is fairly good, not much worse than my former Stello, and in some respects better (so I sold the Stello). Mind you, I am not that much into digital anyway, since in my system, it is outperformed by the vinyl / analog source. So "fair enough" mid level DAC performance is good enough for me, and the DA-3000 used as DAC delivers that.

Also, it delivers recordings from analog - and it is this capacity that matters most for me. Especially now, when my Aesthetix Io Eclipse phono stage is in for repair. I can't play LPs but I can play the Tascam recordings of some of some of these LPs.

All in all, the recordings sound good, much better than web downloads, with the exception of some very good hi-res web downloads. Most of the problems I hear, reside in the source, not in the DA-3000. Although it is not quite the "direct" analog. There is a little extra digital "sheen", even with 2 x DSD speed recordings, especially in high dynamic parts of the music, but mainly, the recordings are much better than lower format digital recordings.

So the DA-3000 is maybe not quite a replacement for my old work horse, the Revox A-77, the analog tape recorder, but it is getting close...
cbs401
1 posts
 
Hi, any luck with the recording onto the hard disc?
o_holter OP
541 posts
 
Hi - an update from my side.

No, I cannot record directly to my external hard disc. But it mostly plays OK, used as a file library.

I have about 600GB of DSD files on my 2TB Seagate wireless plus external hard drive, cable-connected to the Tascam USB port. I am not sure, how much the disk can take, before the Tascam gets into trouble (too many files, out of filename space, or whatever) - but so far so good. I have had some problems though. Once, doing a huge 100 or so gigabyte copy from my pc to the Seagate, something went wrong, and Tascam would no longer recognize the disc, I had to reformat it.

But it mainly works fine and the only problem with this solution - as long as the disc and recorder cooperate - is a long starting time. The Tascam tape recorder icon starts to spin and keeps on spinning for 2-3 minutes for the Seagate disk.

On the other hand, the Tascam is then transformed into a formidable media player with a 300 album library at hand, so for me, this has been a great solution.

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