Tascam DR-60D MkII Reviews

Great for beginner or small business

This thing is super reliable and very versatile. The sound quality is great for such a relatively inexpensive device. I use it for recording classical music with my two XLR mics, but the device itself has so many various inputs and outputs the possibilities are endless. For example, it is a four channel recorder with channels 1/2 being XLR connections. But for my 3/4 channels, I use a rode wireless go 2 and then have 2 wireless mics also recording on the Tascam. It works great!

Great recorder with lots of features

The pre-amps sound great and there are tons of features.

I've mostly used it to record sound effects and the pre-amps have a high dynamic range and tons of gain. Not noisy.

The build is okay.

The biggest downside is that the any AA-batteries you put it gets drained very quickly. You can plug in a powerbank and run it for a lot longer but it makes it less convenient to use and less reliable.

Perfect tool for a filmmaker

Very good product, value for money!

only con is battery life but it can be resolved with external power supply

Good for easy, outside recordings, Mostly is using this with video productions, interviews. Easy to learn and use.

Excellent small recording device

I bought this device to record a concert tour (classical music).

Since then I have started using it together with my DSLR camera as I think it was intended.

It is very easy to set up and use.

The only thing one should be aware of is that it drains the 4 AA batteries very quickly. I currently use it with a USB power bank with the AA batteries inside just for backup.

It looks flimsy, But it's tank!

God know how many times i have dropped it...

But the main thing here is the Tascam preamps. Clean Smooth transparent and reliable. love them.

Menu's kind of non intuitive. But all portable recorders are like that...

Does the job I need it to.

This works better for me than the Zoom H5 I used previously. I find that it has a lower noise floor and is more user friendly. My issue with it is the that it eats batteries and drains them even when turned off. I use it for getting sound from a condenser mic into a camera, and a back-up of the audio.

Its OK but...

I've owned a DR 01 for more than a decade and I have to say I loved the straightforward simplicity of that. I was looking for a multitrack field recorder and was looking at a number of Tascam products. I like Tascam because they bridge the world of the old world directness of analog and the endless possibilities of digital in a way that makes sense. Eventually however, I decided to get a Zoom H8 for multitracking (the DR 60 doesnt allow simultaneous recording and playing) and got this for use with my camera. Its taken a while to get into this unit however, and the little use I have made of it has left me with mixed feelings. Yes, there are still nice analog features on it like the volume controls which mean you dont have to go into the menu every time to make quick adjustments. But running phantom mics through it, this little guzzler chews up batteries. I'm also a little disappointed that the DR 60 doesnt seem to integrates at all with a camera when connected but maybe there's a trick I havent yet discovered about this. Overall, I'm not as impressed as I was with my old Tascams but still is a handy unit. It is not my first choice however.

You really want to like it but it has its flows..

I intended to use it with condenser mics and media player on the inputs, and outputting into a a Sony A7Riii to broadcast live.

The Taskam, has many physical controls, you spend less time Chimping into the menus. I like this a lot. It has plenty of feature (pan control, limiter, low pass , perfect for live)

It has plenty of inputs and outputs. (3 outs, 2 mono in one stereo line 1)

I like it a lot BUT if you are planing to use it as live loop back to your camera (as it is meant to be) with a Sony camera (A7/III) you are in for a disappointment. Forget about it its a disaster.

There is a serious issue with grounding and impedance.

When connected to the sony when using mics(on the tascam) makes the noise floor will raise from the -90dB internal to --64.29 dB on the sony recording

When you connect a line source ( like a music player)

Hell break lose: there is a gigantic ground and noise and noise floor jump at -35dB.

Connected to the input of an audio interface , every thing is fine.

So I would recommend this unit but if you are not using it with a sony dslr / line in. (could not test with other brand).

its a shame.. I can't use it

It's all you need as a semi-pro videomaker

I use it as a backup external audiorecorder as a videomaker. It's perfect for semi-pro / beginner cinema or videomaker.

It's a great product in that range of price. If you can afford to invest 400+ euros, then buy something better for that price. If you have no more than 200€ buy this one eyes closed.

Pros :

- What you get for the price

- Dual monio recording with "backup track" in case of peak

- Versatility

- Can be used with batteries or plugged in, even with a powerbank!

Cons

-Handle with care. It's lots of cheap plastic, it doesn't feel very well factured, but it's still solid.

- Of course for that price, preamps are just good, not great

- You need a stand tyo use it, not very handy to une without stand (although you can still put some hooks and a belt).

- 48v phantom takes a lot of power from the 8 AA batteries

Great buy

We use the Tascam in combination with our Nikon full-frame camera’s and it has already been a great addition to our video recordings adding professional sound quality way better than what you get with the built-in camera sound. It’s handy and can be easily fitted under the camera’s. Exactly what you need when you’re filming on location as well as in studio. A must have if you take creating video content serious.

Good for the camera

I use as external recorder between the camera and lavalier microphone. Preamps have phantom power and enough gain for any regular microphones. The signal is clean and you can choose from the different sound quality for saving to the memory card. It has external output to the camera with the volume setting. It can be powered with AA batteries or USB input, but the power adapter is not included in the box.

Good for the price

Tascam wow, this is very good entry level one, love the knobs and the setup. only down side is it is bit bulky, so bit difficult to manage on rig or tripod setup. like zoom.

Good deal. Fill the needs

This little field recorder wend very well with my shotguns. I use different models with it and i would recommand to use one with a good strong signal (not to use to much gain on the device).

I switched to a zoom f4 now but i still use my old tascam friend sometimes as a second device in case i have problems with the Zoom.

Among recorders, this one is not that bad. Compared to the classic h4n, it's clearly better (in my opinion).

One thing to know, The gain knobs are going by "steps", you can hear clearly the breaking point when it goes louder. It's not a good old analog system.

Also, you can't use it as a sound interface with your computer (you can do that with a bit of latency with h4n for instance)

I would buy it again with the need of such a device and a corresponding budget. Go for it, it's a cool stuff and you'll learn how to deal with those weaknesses really fast.

Superb for outside recording but feels very delicate

I bought this for remote recording with a Rode NTG2. The pre-amps are very clean with a lot of boost before any noticeable hiss is heard.

Lots of choice of recording modes available and phantom power available to the microphones.

I have used this for many hours recording and the only negative point is that it feels very delicate. It is not something that feels like it will last bouncing around in a mic and cable box. The plastic feels like it won't take too many knocks.

That aside, for stereo mic recording outside with separate mics and phantom power there are very few products to compete with this. There is a camera out so you can use the pre-amps and feed the signal straight back into the camera. Some pre-amps alone cost the same as this unit without being able to record.

Nice to have the AA option for power or USB so no bespoke power supplies required. All in all a very nice unit ........ just don't drop it.

Just great!

It's hard to beat the quality of the DR-60 in this price range.

I use the recorder at video shoots and recording voice overs and miscellaneous audio work.

It is a massive upgrade from recording straight into the camera and I must say that I have yet to use the Tascam at it's full potential.

I can already tell that this little piece of equipment will be the base of my audio recordings for a long time from now on.

Perfect for a home studio or as a field recorder, I cannot stress enough the fact that this recorder is the best purchase for someone who wants professional quality at a low price.

Cons? I must say none. I must say the Tascam DR-60 is king in its category.

Nice easy to use recorder with some pretty nice sounding preamps, after using it on a couple of film shoots i have only good things to say about the unit. However for more professional setups the first things one notices is a pretty short battery life (if you are using double A batteries and using phantom power) but that is improved with the extra battery pack also keep in mind that this unit does not have time code capabilities which may be required by some users.

in short perfect unit for up and coming audio engineers or film makers who have a low budget and want to get good bang for their buck.

Versatile.

Just what we wanted for our Radio station,captures great audio either through our desk or with the handheld microphone we purchased to go with it.

Build quality is great and being that you can mount a camera or video camera above it,works very well for our reporters.

Excellent field recorder, CD and cinema short recorded so far.

This recorder is much more than a slr add on. The feature set compares well with competitors but the operating ergonomics are much better. It sits happily in a bag with full control access, without risk of accidental adjustment. I use with mkh416 and Rode stereo mic in wind jammer, excellent location results. Uses batteries a bit so use with usb battery pack!