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Can the Tascam DR-60D record two mics in stereo?
This is kind of amazing to me, but I’ve owned this device for about two years, and every time I go out to shoot I try something different only to end up with the same result. It seems almost impossible to me, but is the DR-60D incapable of recording two microphones simultaneously in stereo mode? I’ve only been able to get it to record a single mono channel for each input. I noticed that the DR-70D has a mode called “2mix” which sounds like what I’m looking for. I updated firmware and everything, but I still can’t believe the recorder lacks this functionality. Am I missing something?
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16 Replies
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Are you sure you have it set up properly? I agree it seems preposterous that it wouldn’t perform such a very basic function.
Have you studied the manual and taken an hour or two to play with all the menu settings, etc. etc,
You have not revealed HOW you tested this and arrived at your conclusion, so it seems possible that your test method may be questionable.
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I just spent about three hours with it, read manuals etc. I’ve variously tried to solve this problem before, but hadn’t tested the result until the next shoot. So, I thought that “dual stereo” mode is what I was looking for, but what that seems to do is to record two individual mono channels, and then create a new file of 2 mono channels at a lower db rating. There’s a “4-channel” mode, but that seems to only allow you to designate inputs 1 and 2 to the same single mono status, while allowing a mini-jack to record extra audio channels through the 3rd and 4th input. It’s really nuts to me, and I’ve been using this thing for a long time now under many assurances that it would give me professional audio under normal circumstances. I really do hope I’m somehow mistaken, but I’ve run out of options personally.
Re – specific test methods: The file it makes is 2-channel. Mic 1 on the Left, Mic 2 on the Right. If it were what I want, it’d be a 4-channel audio file, the first two comprising channel 1, the last two comprising channel 2.
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“The file it makes is 2-channel. Mic 1 on the Left, Mic 2 on the Right.”
Yes, that is exactly how ever stereo audio recorder on the planet works. It sounds like it is working perfectly.“If it were what I want, it’d be a 4-channel audio file, the first two comprising channel 1, the last two comprising channel 2.”
No recorder on the planet will do that because nobody has ever established WHY anyone would need to do such a thing. Now, if you were talking about FOUR microphones on four channels, that is a normal thing. But TWO microphones redundantly recorded to FOUR channels just seems bizarre. Can you explain why you think you want to do this?
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I’m sorry, I’m not sure I know what you mean. I’m trying to get input 1 to give me a stereo audio file, and input 2 to also give me a stereo audio file. Normally I’ve seen these as a single audio file with two stereo tracks. Is this incorrect?
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But WHY do you want a STEREO file from a MONAURAL source? The reason no recorder will do that is because nobody needs such a feature. Why do YOU need that feature?
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I’m sorry, perhaps I’m confused. I’m using a Rode NTG-3 and a Countryman EMW Lavaliere. Are those microphones only capable of giving a mono signal? I might be more confused than I thought.
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Hello Ty and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.
Yes, it should be possible to have a two channel stereo file.
Page 50 of the manual confirms that two channel recording is possible.
Does that make two separate files?
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog -
Virtually all microphones are monaural. Only some very special microphones are STEREO and they are prominently advertised as such.
Your microphones are most certainly monaural. And for picking up most sounds in video, conventional monaural microphones are used 99.997% of the time. Certainly, for picking up dialog, monaural microphones are used 100% of the time. There is absolutely NO REASON in the universe to record a single person speaking in “STEREO”. (Unless it is a weasly politician speaking different things out of both sides of their mouth!) 🙂
Perhaps you are confusing what happens while you are shooting video (and recording audio) vs. what happens in POST-production editing where you decide which microphone goes where in the stereo panorama. When we are shooting, we record each separate microphone on a separate channel. It is VERY common when using two mics (as you are describing) to record one of the microphones on the Left channel of the stereo, and the other microphone on the Right channel.
Then, you have the maximum flexibility of handling each microphone independently for all the usual audio editing functions (level mixing, panning Left<–>Right, equalization, special effects, etc. etc. etc.)
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Well, thank you very much for the response. I went from being in complete disbelief that this device couldn’t do what I thought it should do, to complete disbelief that I didn’t know it was working correctly the whole time. Thank you for clearing it up.
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Ty,
That particular box reminds me of a Rubics Cube. Lots of buttons and menus.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It has caused more than one person to scratch their head and utter, “WTF?”
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog
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