Tascam Portacapture X8: 2 Week Update | Issues and Workarounds
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มิ.ย. 2024
- After using the Tascam Portacapture X8 for 2 weeks, I want to update you about the issues I've been experiencing and show you some workarounds that might help you make this device work a little better for you!
Marcel & Libby (Free To Use Sounds): / freetousesounds
ExistentialAudio Blackhole (GitHub): github.com/ExistentialAudio/B...
After using the Tascam Portacapture X8 for 2 weeks, I want to update you about the issues I've been experiencing and show you some workarounds that might help you make this device work a little better for you!
Marcel & Libby (Free To Use Sounds): / freetousesounds
ExistentialAudio Blackhole (GitHub): github.com/ExistentialAudio/B...
0:00 Intro
1:14 Backlight Bleeding
2:33 Ghosting
4:16 Audio Interface for Listening
6:35 Audio Interface for Video Conferences
10:16 Battery Issues
13:45 High-Frequency Hum
15:51 Outro
#Portacapture #Tascam #X8 - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Thank you for being so thorough in your testing
Hi Muhammad, welcome to the channel! You're very welcome! I was hoping for smooth sailing with this thing but oh well :D Happy I was able to hopefully show an objective and balanced picture of this device!
Very comprehensive summary and well explained. These type of videos are invaluable especially for people with less knowledge and experience (like me : )
Thanks Florian!
Thanks a lot Peter, appreciated! Welcome to the channel :)
This was such a good review! Great video Florian!
Appreciate it, thank you! :)
👍🏼 These videos are informative reviews. The x8 really should not have those design flaws, especially since Tascam describes it as “Adaptive muti recorder.” It would be good if Tascam soon corrects all those issues so that the customers don’t have to settle for workarounds.
I just bought a replacement touchscreen for my iPhone SE 2020 for $30. Thanks for your independent research on the Portacapture. Very much appreciated
Great point! And the iPhone SE screen runs circles around that Nokia I showed... So yeah 😅
Fantastically informative - Thank you so much. Adam
Thanks Adam! Welcome to the channel :)
Thanks for a superb video with very useful information and advise :)
Hi Anders, welcome to the channel! You're very welcome, happy you found it useful!
Amazing video, subscribed!
Welcome to the channel! Happy you enjoyed it and see you in the next one 👌👌
Wonderful video Florian and great coverage of all the issue and thank you for mentioning. Please make more videos!!!
Thanks Marcel & Libby! Had a blast getting to know you guys and talking for a bit yesterday! Hope we can stay in touch and maybe even do a video together some time, if our paths cross at some point :)
@@FlorianBodlee Absolutely! Out paths will cross for sure and lets have a chat again soon!
Omg !
That’s great there are guys like you . That go in-depth.
I believe the hum is the electricity or mobile frequency interference.
Really appreciate it, thank you for the kind words 🙏☺️
My unit arrived this weekend. Thank you for sharing Florian! 👊🏽
Very insightful. The screen issues like burn in is a bit disappointing. It’s not nitpicking…Tascam isn’t new to this endeavor. I think the SW changes can fix the sample rate adjustment.
(You captured some fans with the Nokia😊)
Here hoping it’s a batch issue. I’ll be sure to report. Thx again for sharing with us.
Hey Kevin, welcome to the channel! 🥳 yes please keep me / us posted about how your unit is performing! Thank you very much in advance :)
With extreme reluctance I’ve had to call Sweetwater and return my unit. The first telltale sign of issues was how many micro cards I had to go through. I always think I have decent brands and adequate for my a7iv and other devices. It took 3 cards and the speed to format was intolerable. Then it was the battery life which was way below advertised. Here’s hoping the new zoom 32bit float will be better.
Cant help but think it was a lemon. My first apogee desktop symphony (audio interface)was laced with issues but the replacement unit has been flawless 🤞🏽
Tascam should just hire this guy
Excellent review
Thanks, much appreciated! Welcome to the channel 🥳
Very helpful to know going forward
Thanks mate! Welcome to the channel :)
Dankeschön! Sehr gutes Video.
Hi! Willkommen und vielen Dank! Freut mich, dass Dir das Video gefallen hat :)
I have mine and no biggie on all these, this device is one of 👌the best I ever had it's incredible
Happy to hear you're enjoying yours and are not experiencing these issues! :) Happy recording 🙂
Thanks - this is great have been holding off and waiting to update - still running out of box firmware
Happy to hear you found my video helpful! :) Welcome to the channel 🙂
Thank you for your review and about the opinion and solution, it is good for all customers and even to engineer of Tascam.
Thank you for the kind words! Greatly appreciated :)
Thank you for doing all this testing. I was looking to buy this recorder but the issues you've raised (particularly the batteries and the high frequency hum) are definitely putting me off. I'd be using it for sound design so the hum above 20khz would became an issue once sounds are re-pitched, which is something I do a lot. Its a shame because the recorder has a lot of positives too.
Hi William, welcome to this channel! Happy you found this useful! I really hope they can fix all of these too as I really like the device overall... It has so much potential for sure!
Maybe in a firmware update.
@@FlorianBodlee Hello. Hello.
Has Tascam fixed this problem?
thank you that was really helpful
Welcome to the channel Ally! Happy you found it useful! :)
Just for a moment i thought you bought this for the screen, but luckely your vision changed. I also had the battery problem, but then a switched to usb power. After recharging the eneloop batteries it seems to work just fine, thanks
Nice and helpful review. Have you tried using the punch-in feature to layer tracks one at a time using the attached mic? I'm getting "Writing Failed" errors. Overdubbing on top of a backing track is my common use case. I wonder if others are seeing the same problem.
Hi Hua, welcome to the channel :) I just gave it a shot. Not a feature I would normally use tbh; if I would wanna do something this „complex“, I think I‘d personally use a dedicated DAW or a loopstation. However, this does work for me. I don‘t get any errors using a SanDisk Extreme 64GB and Firmware 1.0.3. Keep in mind that the punch-in seems to overwrite and not „stack“ the tracks. So what you would need to do is record all the things you want to stack on separate tracks (i.e. change the input settings so that your microphone is on a different track) and then record to the different tracks. I think it‘s quite counterintuitive and not „layering“. Maybe I misunderstood what you‘re trying to achieve; if that‘s the case, let me know and I‘ll gladly re-test :) Cheers 🥳
Great work, everyone should realise how much energy you invested in all this. Bravo !!! You fully deserve those 14000+ views, and much more I hope.
And Tascam should consider paying you a salary or percentage on future sales, for all the global benefits they will capitalize thanks to you.
Thanks a lot Gilles, I appreciate the kind words a lot :)
This is spectacular, thank you
Happy to help! 🥳
I enjoyed the video of good information. Do you think the problems of X8 can be solved by software updates? Compared to ZOOM H6/H8, I'm curious about Tascam X8. I wonder if I can upgrade it. I want to know if there is a difference between each product. I hope there is a video that tells you the cause of noise and how to check it.
Thank you for the review. Please, keep us updated on the device. For now, I rather refrain from buying the device. What a bummer. Hopefully, Tascam will release a better 2nd generation of this device, or some competitor would release something similar. I hope Rode one day creates a perfect recorder the way it did with RodeCaster Pro for podcasts. At least Rode doesn't produce cheap low-quality things.
Hi Michael, welcome to the channel! Sure, I'll keep you all updated once I find anything new! I'm still hoping for a fix of this generation; I'm in it for the ride now :D
this video is fantastic, thank you. :)
Thank you Kaan, I appreciate it! :)
Huge thank you for this. Not sure if I want to pay so much money for a screen that is going to have burn-in and ghosting before the warranty runs out. Investing in first generation hardware is always a risk and not all issues can be addressed by firmware upgrades. I love a lot of the feature of this new device, but.....
You’re very welcome and welcome to the channel 🥳
Good job listing these issues, most of which I also found myself with the unit I bought. Huge disappointment to say the least. Have you ever had any issues when plugging 4 mics in and trying to record at 32/192? I got weird low frequency bumps several times and the only way to fix it was to power the unit on and off and to unplug the mics and plug them back in.
Hi George - welcome to the channel! 🥳 No, I haven‘t experienced that so far but also haven‘t done extensive testing with more than 3 inputs loaded. If I experience this, I‘ll update you!
That hum problem happen to me with Zoom F8, I need to disconnect the n1 channel and reconnect it to eliminate the hum
Great video ! Have they fixed those issues you noted as of July 13 2022? How is the battery connection problem after making this video ?
Hey, happy to hear you enjoyed the video! I have been running the eneloops without issues since the video. Other rechargable batteries still don't work for me.
Just got mine X8, and so far I'm really enjoying it. The UI is very good and the large screen is a godsend especially coming from a Sound Devices MixPre series. I think Tascam can fix alot of these issues in a future update. The battery issue is not much of a concern for me, as I typically power using a USB-C battery pack or I'm ok with using regular batteries.
Hi mate, welcome to the channel! Happy to hear you're enjoying it! I could still send it back to Amazon easily but all things considered, I also still like it, which is why I'm keeping it 🙂
@@FlorianBodlee 👍 and thx for the informative vid. I'm confident that Tascam will provide fixes soon on most of these issues. This is an important new flagship product for them.
@@patentjohntran1283 Indeed, they seemed very helpful so far! I'm also not trying to paint a bad picture of this device at all! I just think these things should be talked about 👌
@@patentjohntran1283 they fixed?
Thanks, Florian for the excellent review. Most helpful. I don't have an X8, so this is a blind suggestion, but can you configure a low-pass EQ filter to cut around 15kHz to eliminate the ultra-high freq "hum"? My guess is that the source of these is related to the display drive electronics, which would need better internal shielding, but this is just a guess.
My intended application for the X8, if I buy one(?), is as a travel field recorder with integrated mics, as I use a RØDE NTG USB Mini as my audio i/o on my MacBook Pro and I have a Sound Devices MixPre 6 Mk 2 for "proper" on-site recordings.
Hi there :)
Yes, I would expect that a low-pass EQ can "fix" this issue but it also means that these high frequencies are unavailable for sound designers etc. You can also just record at 48 kHz and no hum will be in there in the first place. The issue only exists with high sample rate recordings (e.g. 96 kHz). I just checked on firmware 1.30 and it looks like the hum is gone from what I can tell 🥳
this is my favorite field recorder of all time tbh
what do you recommend for good wind protection for this thing? mine will be here in a couple days and the only thing that fits is the ws 11 and as marcel said its not very good. bubble bee is making one but they said they dont know when it will be ready. what do you recommend for outdoors?
Hi there :) unfortunately, I don't have any experience with wind protection on this device. I mostly use external microphones and use the capsules only as fallback and mostly indoors. Sorry that I'm unable to be more helpful with this :/
Your video is extremely helpful, thanks for that. Honestly I think a crap screen I could live with, but a dirty power bus that induces some sort of harmonic hum into the recordings is really unacceptable for a device that costs 500 bucks. That's a big oof 😨 Doubtful they can fix that in software.. I'll wait with buying one of them till maybe they bring out some hardware revision with better filtering or so.. Hopefully they'll fix up your unit as well then! 😁
Hi there and welcome to the channel! I agree! This shouldn't be happening at this price for sure! I'd love to see them do an actual hardware fix for sure, as everything at this point looks more like a mitigation instead of a fix to me; of the sort "let's make it less apparent" instead of "let's make it work the way it should"!
Hi Florian.
Thanks for a awesome video 😉👍
I can se that you have a guitar in the background there....have you tried record some sound playing it? And how does it sound?
Do you know if it's possible to run a smartphone through the usb-c port for video recording? And last, have you got any updates about the batteri problem?
Hi Michael, welcome to the channel 🥳
I spent quite some time recording vocals, guitar, and piano with the X8 and have been quite happy with the results!
USB-C to a smartphone works great! I tested it on the Samsung S10 Lite and it worked. There’s a small workaround needed if you need phantom power and your smartphone doesn’t provide enough power. Then you need to manually set the X8 to run of battery power and disable power saving mode.
Finally, the device is working great with Eneloops so far and still doesn’t work on other rechargeable batteries for me 🤷🏻♂️
Hope this helped :)
@@FlorianBodlee
Thank you 👍😉🎤🎸
Hi Florian.
Have you tried out the new 1.30 update? I can't get the reverb to work in 24 bit recording through the USB-C and through the 3.5 jack input for cameras. Do you have trouble too?
Hi Michael :)
I don’t use the built in effects but I can give it a shot some time this week when I have a bit of downtime. I’ll keep you posted 👌
@@FlorianBodlee thank you so much 👍😉
what a super awesome review!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! can you also do a review on ZOOM F3?
Hi Jin and welcome to the channel! :) Thanks, much appreciated! I‘m not planning to get a Zoom F3 at this time, apologies :/ Happy to hear you enjoyed this one though! :)
Great video
Thanks a lot! Greatly appreciated 🙏
Tascam release V1.20 for X8, will you make an update video? Thank you very much for your content.
Hi Igor :) I will take a look end of next week as I don’t have the device with me right now. If there are changes worth making a video about to any of the points I’m mentioning I’ll make an update video, yes :)
When connecting to a DSLR through the line out, do you know if you are able to select a specific line to output? Or does it output all lines together automatically through the line out? Thanks!
Hey there :) It sends the mix through the line out. You can change that mix however you like and e.g. only output certain channels, put one mic on the left and another one on the right channel, basically you can configure it however you like and still record all channels independently into a separate file. Hope that was helpful!
Thank you very much,
Thanks for your video! They have to sort out most of that shit before I‘ll buy this device. Let‘s wait…I still have like 2 months before I make my decision.
That's fair enough! Welcome to the channel :)
I posted this earlier today on an audio forum, has there been any response from Tascam on the hum issue yet?
"I've received my X8, the hum is a definite issue. I get spikes at about 25,384 Hz, 50766 Hz, and 76,143 Hz (plus a wee something at just under 90 kHz). These first three spikes are clearly some sort of harmonic series. The issue is greater in the right channel than the left (and on track 4 than track 3, I have not yet tested tracks 5 & 6). It doesn't seem to matter if the external mics are close to the recorder or several feet away, as far as I can tell.
Tascam mics on the body of the recorder: My noisy room background -117.4 dB; 25384 Hz (L -110 dB) (R -96.1 dB); 50766 Hz (L -111 dB) (R-99.6 dB)
with screen set to dim and backlight off 25384 Hz (L -111.2 dB) (R -96.3 dB), no real difference as far as I can tell.
Nevaton MC 59/W in inputs 3&4 background at -114 dB; 25384 Hz (L -113 dB) (R-100.1 dB); 50766 Hz (L -113.3 dB) (R -100.3 dB) dim or bright screen, mics near the X8 or a few feet away, no difference I can see.
With no mics in 5&6 I still see biggish but not so sharp peaks at those frequencies.
I usually record at 96 kHz, so the 50k and 76k spikes won't mean anything to me, but the 25384 Hz spike will be a concern. Those who record at 48 kHz won't have any issues here at all. I'm waiting to hear how Tascam, who has been made aware of the problem, will deal with this. I have not yet upgraded to the new software, as it does not claim to do a fix for this. Not sure how software could!"
Hi Jeffrey!
Thanks for the detailed stats! I'm sure this is very helpful to many!
Welcome to the channel 🥳
I recently bought the X6 and am trying to listen to a field recording I just made. I keep getting a pop up that says, "Non-Supported POWER SAVE MODE " ?!?
any idea what the phantom current draw is that each channel can handle ? not much info to find.thanks
Hi Kris :) No, I don't know, my apologies!
good for you, when I try to do my fiwmare upgrade it does not work, I get to first step but when pressing Mark nothing happens... :-(
Is it possible to simultaneously record sound to an SD card in 32 bit quality on the tascam device and record the sound of the camera on the smartphone when it is connected via usb c, when the smartphone automatically recognizes it?
As long as you match the sample rates of the phone and recorder - sure, no problem!
I recently got one X8 myself but I'm getting a weird electronic buzz/noise while I'm navigating the menus. It seems to disappear when I arm one of the inputs though. It also only happens when I have 96k or 192k as SR. Is this a regular issue? I haven't read or seen anything about an issue like this and I just want to make sure mine is defective so I can go replace it. Thank you for your time! I can provide some clips that show the noise in question if you'd like to have a listen. Thank you for your time!
Hey there :) could you elaborate what you mean by “arm one of the inputs”? I haven’t observed this behaviour myself but I don’t think I’d have a use for the X8 with all inputs not “record enabled”. If you mean that it only disappears during recording then I for sure don’t have the issue as I use the X8 as a pure audio interface a lot of the time and haven’t observed an audible buzz.
I'd be interested to know the noise performance. The specs state a signal-to-noise ratio of 102 dB, I'm not sure how to compare that to -121 dB EIN of the H6. The H6's XY capsule is also quite noisy, I'd hope these are a LOT better.
Hi Tibor :) I also don’t know how to convert those values. Unfortunately, I’m unable to do any useful noise testing here as I don’t have a silent-enough environment. I think Curtis Judd is going to release his video soon; maybe if you post the question on his recent live stream on this device he can address it. Apologies that I can’t be of more help here!
I’m waiting for mine to arrive. Now I’m thinking of getting the zoom f6 or f3 instead, I’m only using external mic’s anyway. Bummer!
Welcome to the channel! 🥳 Yeah, those are surely a safe bet if you don't need TRS ports or external microphones! I unfortunately at least need the TRS ports so they're not really an option for me... :/ Let me know how your X8 performs and if you decide on keeping it :)
Do you know if we can connected a 3.5mm TRS mic directly, not sure but I've seen perhaps on the top? thanks
It works with the connectors for the built in microphones as long as the mic doesn’t need plug-in power. I tried with a cheap lavalier and one of those cheap DSLR video mics and both worked fine for me👌
@@FlorianBodlee Great Thanks!
You are a genius.
Thanks a lot, appreciate it! :)
What a bummer. I’m expecting to get mine this week. I’m definitely going to be doing my own testing and hope none of the issues interfere with my sound production needs. Thank you for sharing all these findings in great detail.
Hey Victor! You’re very welcome! Please let me know what you find and what you think about it in the end! :)
@@FlorianBodlee Will do 👍
Vielen Dank für das tolle Video! Das mit den Batterien ist echt ein starkes Stück. Außerdem sollte Tascam das X8 kostenlos zur Verfügung stellen. Weltbester Beta Tester!
Hallo Rouven :) willkommen auf meinem Kanal! Vielen Dank! Freut mich sehr, dass Dir das Video weitergeholfen hat 🥳 vielleicht nächstes mal kostenfrei 😛
Great video! I just got the Portacapture X8. I am wondering if I need to exchange for the same unit. Sorry for the text length.
I am digging the recorder but does this seem right?
Whenever I turned on the recorder and I followed the instruction manual for the first time.
It asked me for the language. I selected "English" then the screen blinked strangely and abruptly and went to the app launcher home screen to an error.
From my understanding, according to the instruction manual, it was supposed to ask me the date next to input, and it never did. So now I am skeptical.
Continuing from the point where I selected the language, and it blinked, an error popped up, something saying along the lines of "System File error" or "system file not found." I don't recall exactly but If I pull up a list of the rarest bugs a Tascam could ever possibly get I am 100% sure I will encounter all of them. lol.
But this error would appear when clicking around to different audio modes/apps. I also get the USB fs error when plugging into the computer, not matching bit rate/sampling. Since there doesn't even seem to be a "Wipe to Factory Default and Settings" option, I continued on and downloaded the new firmware update, not feeling comfortable with it since it wasn't following what the manual said would prompt next.
I was successfully able to update the unit.
I have not gotten the system/file error for a while.
My first impression is that I am getting a decent amount of white noise even with gain left at default settings in a standard room with no studio. The white noise is heard no matter what or where I am until I turn the gain is all the way down to zero.
Is it normal to hear white noise no matter what I do, or could it be preamp issues? I know I can play with sliders and stuff but I just thought out the gate it would be different and not require as much post-processing as well.
The volume level is recording oddly low too. I will have to move the volume level up significantly from where the default is set to hear the audio good.
So I wanted to give you some of my data. Since I am a noob, I told myself I would buy the latest and greatest to not have to deal with any nuisances. But since I am going to have to deal with them I want to make sure these are "normal" nuisances and not a faulty unit to my lack of knowledge. lol
But I am starting to think this unit should have been called the "Portacapture Rushed".
Thank you!
Hi there! Welcome to the channel :)
I would start by formatting the SD Card. That triggers the generation of the system file. You can also go to the general settings of the device and initialize it again; which I believe is their wording for a factory reset.
Regarding the noise; I don't have any significant audible noise on the channels during normal use. There's a good video from Julian Krause on how to set gain correctly. Please refer to that and see if it fixes your issues. Also please note that there's a difference between gain and the volume in the mixer. The gain is for the preamp whereas the volume in the mixer is purely digital. Still, neither of those sliders should generate audible white noise at reasonable settings; especially not close to the lowest setting. Please try to record something with the gain set correctly and then check your recording in the DAW of your choice to make sure the noise isn't coming from the outputs you're listening through.
Hope this was helpful, let me know if you have more questions :)
@@FlorianBodlee Hey, thank you for the response. That was helpful! I toyed around with some of the settings and it seems to sound better. I did some serious recording today and I'm happy with it just need to up the volume as you spoke of because it was low. It does capture pretty crisp :) I will watch that video you speak of because it sounds like it would help my knowledge. Thanks again. We will get this lol
Thanks for the video!! I'm wondering would that virtual sound card fix my issue. When I use tascam as a interface through reaper it seems to not only capture my voice recorded but on the same voice recording it's also capturing the audio being played from reaper. It's as if it's recording the master track from the tascam and not just the mic input... thanks for any help you can offer.
Hey there Gabriel, welcome to the channel!
Long story short, point your DAW (I don’t know reaper but I assume it’s some sort of DAW) to the inputs you selected on the Tascam but increased by 2. so e.g. if you have your microphone mapped to input track 1, it‘s exposed on input 3 in your DAW. This because Tascam chose to map the stereo mix of all inputs to inputs 1 and 2 on the interface, followed by all the input tracks. This means that input track 1 is exposed as input 3, 2 as 4, 3 as 5, and so on… I still think this is a huge mistake on their side as it causes exactly the confusion you’re having now and a bunch of other issues with video conferencing software; although at least that has been somewhat resolved by adding a mix-minus feature to the Podcast app.
@Florian Bodlee thanks Florian I hadn't thought of that!! I could only see inputs 1 and 2 so I'll try and see if I can make more inputs visible :)
@Florian Bodlee fixed the problem :) time to enjoy my Portacapture and sell my Apogee Duet 3:) I subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching your success :) all the best
please tell me, has Tascam fixed the problem with noise above 20khz?
Hi Florian. Is there a happy end of your investigation? Did Tascam improve X8? best regards Daniel
Hi Daniel :)
Yeah, things have gotten better, especially on the software side of things. The audio interface functionality however is still quite broken in my opinion.
The Eneloops are still working as fine.
It might've seemed like I don't like the X8 but actually I quite enjoy using it and it has served me rather well thus far.
If you have concrete questions on any of the issues let me know!
Cheers :)
Can you make tutorial how to use it with OBS?
looks like my m1 macbook pro dont see it
does the ghosting of the screen go away if you change screens for a while?
So far yes :)
Thank you for a wonderfully informative review. This has emboldened me in my decision to NOT purchase Tascam X8 as my new handheld recorder. As fantastic as it seems on paper, the shortcomings are too great to be overlooked: fragile mics, occasional overheating, needing to put in some contraption to hold the batteries in place- two weeks into usage, never mind the high frequency hum. There is nothing in the market of this quality and functionality(again, on paper, or when it works), but I went with the much more bulletproof Sony PCM-D10. I have been using the M10 and love it. But yeah. No surprises there. Wish it could work as an audio interface, but it’s okay.
Thank you for the kind words Zisl! Greatly appreciated :)
No one has recorded a live gig using the X8 yet, well on TH-cam any way. Can you do one please? Thanks.
what's Backup time With Enloop..?
I have the black Enelope Pro batteries, but when they are charged completely the Portacapture display only is at 3/4 and they do not last really long.... Do you have any recommendations on what batteries to use with the device? thx
Interesting… can you please make sure you have the battery type set correctly to Ni-MH in the General Settings > Power? The battery life has overall been pretty acceptable for me. Not incredible or anything but usable. If you can’t make it work like this, maybe just power it of a USB-C power bank? Then you should basically get infinite runtime 😅🤷🏻♂️
@@FlorianBodlee I run it with the Ni-MH setting so it's definitely not that.Yeah, I could use a power bank, but I also want to use batteries once in a while because I don't want to always carry so much gear. Maybe I will try it out with Lithium batteries and see if I have the same issue.
I was about to buy this but the display issues and the Bluetooth fitment has pushed me away to the Zoom
Hi Florian, do you have any probs with the battery cover being a little loose?
Hey Daniel :) no, I don’t. If anything, mine is sitting too firmly (was the case on both units I had)
@@FlorianBodlee interesting! strange that are so many variables between units...production runs.
I've just worked out a hack...just added some tape to the underside of the cover to take up the slack and it's done the trick.
Thank you for update. The screen burning issue in 2022??? I would also prefer smaller size
Hi Libor, welcome to the channel! Honestly, the size is pretty good compared to the competition given all the ports it has. Any smaller and I believe we'd be sacrificing capability for portability. But maybe a "X8 Mini" with 2 XLR Inputs or something could be pretty neat! What do you think? :)
@@FlorianBodlee Maybe I am asking bit too much, but I would prefer some sort of modular design where inputs and outputs are separated from the main unit so the handling noise is almost eliminated. I want to use it caged with camera. I could live without their microphone capsules. I would like to ask what happened when you do simple normalization with the file. Does the humming noise become the issue. .....The burn in screen issue is deal-breaker for me.
I see! Maybe then something like the soon-to-come Zoom F3 would be ideal for you?
thanks for the video I was trying to decide between this device and a zoom -I was already leaning towards zoom and this video helped me decide to go with zoom now just to figure out which zoom model to go with
Hi Amiee, happy to hear I was able to help! :)
Hi, is the power button loose on your units too? I bought this recorder today. In my unit, the button is loose and moves slightly from side to side.
Hey :) no, it’s firmly in place and as far as I remember it also was on the first unit I had.
@@FlorianBodlee Hi, thanks for the reply. This is the case with the switch on my device. Bought yesterday, I'm considering a return but first I wanted to make sure if it looks like this only in my device or it is like that in every device. I'm afraid that one day the button will fall off :). I made a video with it ... th-cam.com/video/CLFtkMrI3fg/w-d-xo.html
any idea why the master fader jumps back to -26dB after switching pages ? Could this be to avoid feedback issues ?
Hi Kris :) Which fader do you mean? I can try to reproduce but haven’t encountered any jumping faders so far…
@@FlorianBodlee hi Florian. I just did the 1.03 firmware update. issue seems to be gone.
Hi 👋
Do you know how long the batteries can run by using an external mic that needs the phantom to be on ?
Thanks
Hi :) no I haven’t tested that explicitly. What metric are you interested? +48V, 1 microphone? Then I can just run it on Monday full to dead and let you know 👌
Hi 👋 sorry for the delay
+48v sennheiser 416 is the mic
@@corbellifilms Hi there :) I‘ll give it a shot and let you know! I only have a MKE600 to test but the power consumption should be about the same, I‘d assume :)
I own one and I’m having the exact same problem with the batteries, I returned it bought a second device, and had the exact same problem with the batteries. Any word on what task cam will do about this?
Interesting! You’re the first person I hear who’s having the issue aside from me. Tascam has not provided me with any information on the battery issue except that I can send in the recorder at my own cost to be repaired under warranty. They couldn’t tell me how long that would take and as I need the recorder and it works ok with Eneloops, I decided to just live with it…
After 2 years, do you still have issues? Any new findings? PS. Your video has been most interesting sofar i’ve found regarding x8.
You just confirmed. Zoom F3 is in my wish list. I believe not everything needs to be touch screen. Thanks for the review.
You‘re most welcome Derick! :)
Hi Florian. Anything new about fixing the hum issue? Meanwhile I bought a h8. But Missing 32bit for sure and USB-c
Hi there :) I just tested the hum again on firmware 1.30 and it seems to be gone from what I can tell :) Those 2 points were exactly why I returned my H8; especially the USB-C... Hope you enjoy the H8 regardless!
@@FlorianBodlee well, as Long i own no portacapture i have to 😄
Thanks for a great, very helpful video!
I bought this device two weeks ago. But I had to send it back because it turned off after half an hour or so. I had it hooked on my "Steckdose" (sorry, don´t know, what this word is in english.) And there where batteries inside also. It just turned off again and again. Sometimes after 30 minutes. Sometimes after 60.
So I have a new device now. But again, it just turnes off. Do you know, why this could be?
Hmm that sounds super weird… what USB-C power brick are you using? Maybe it’s too little wattage if you’re using multiple microphones and so it shuts down? I find that somewhat unlikely though because I loaded it quite a bit on battery and didn’t have issues at all. Do you have the latest firmware? If all that doesn’t help, honestly, get something else 😅 if you need 32 bit recording, I think the Zoom F6 is your best bet, otherwise probably the Zoom H8 (although I sent that one back personally because I didn’t like the UI and micro USB port 😩)…
@@FlorianBodlee I had no external mic on it. I thought maybe there is a "wackelkontakt" on my USB Cable? The USB is in my socket. So there shouldn´t be any problem. Besides that I absolutely love this device. It sounds great and I am using it with other musicans. But I am slowly but surely exhausted about this issue. Today I had my Neumann microphone on it. I off course turned the phantom power on. Could that be the issue? I have changed the USB cable now. Still it turnes off. Or does it turn off if you don´t touch anything for longer than 20 minutes or so?
Thanks for your observations. Just picked one up my self and have the same screen bleed issue. The main problem I am having is using this as an interface for the iPad. I can not figure out to set up to not get feedback loops in AUM when trying to monitor the processed audio. input into 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 into the iPad. USB set up on 5 and 6. Can receive and monitor virtual instruments form the iPad on 5 and 6 but when trying to process the mic input or other inputs and monitor the processed signal I get a feedback loop. Can't seem to turn off direct monitoring of the mic or inputs so I can just monitor the iPad (or computer) Any ideas what I am doing wrong?
Hi Michael - have you tried to turn down all non-USB channels in the Mixer view of the Tascam? Also note that you can’t use the “virtual” inputs 1 and 2 of the interface for anything in the iPad as that will for sure result in feedback. If you still can’t make it work let me know and I’ll give it a shot tomorrow in GarageBand :)
@@FlorianBodlee Thank you so much! Looks like I was trying to input and output through channels 1 + 2. I guess I can't use the included stereo mics to run through internal effects in the iPad and monitor the results via USB. Just plugged into 3 and 4 and was able to monitor the processed signal back through the device by using the mixer as you suggested. Thank you again for your prompt reply and preventing from pulling more hair out! Cheers.
I was use to the ease of using the Centrance mixer face and just turning a knob to mix between input and USB. Probably going to keep it just for the small rugged size although I wish it had levels.
Hey Florian, any News about the „hum“-bug (nice german meaning BTW)? I definitely have to wai, until this issue is fixed
Hi :) I haven’t heard anything from Tascam and we’re still at FW version 1.03 which is the one I used in my second video on this; so no, no news 😔
@@FlorianBodlee thank you so much for your quick answer. I also Got in Touch with Marcel and He also didn't Hear from Tascam.
FYI I reached our to Tascam and they told me that the ultrasonic audio artefact was identified and is an hardware issue. Apparently this is only appearing on the first batches of the unit, the new units should be fixed as of today. But IMO this is not enough, so I asked them serial numbers to identify the junk batches so we can safely buy from the 2nd hand market and unfortunately they didn’t want to answer this lol
Wow, maybe worth getting in touch again to see if they want to replace first batch units with this issue…
I tried the work around but am still not able to hear other people on a zoom or discord meeting. Maybe the download for the blackhole isn't the correct one or my logic pro isn't configured properly. Any suggestions?
Hi there again :) Ok so the setup is definitely working for me. You should simply select the Portacapture as the output in your video conferencing software directly; so no black hole anything there. Then you have to map the USB inputs on the Portacapture to any 2 tracks of your choosing and enable them. Finally they also have to be faded up in the mixer view on the Portacapture. Then you should get the output of the video conference on those tracks and hence on your headphones. Let me know if this helped, otherwise please let me know how you configured it and I’ll try to reproduce what you’re seeing :)
@@FlorianBodlee thank you so much!!! I finally figured it out!!!
Czy ten rejestrator rozpoznawany jest przez smartfon jako karta dźwiękowa gdy nagrywasz kamerą w smartfonie? Czy automatycznie nagrywa wideo gdy jest podłączony do smartfona przez przewód usb c - usb c?
Hi! That’s a great question :) it will identify as an audio interface and the first two channels will be the stereo mix. It depends on the smartphone camera app, I’d say. What smartphone are you using?
@@FlorianBodlee samsung a52s 5g
@@FlorianBodlee Fajnie, gdybyś mógł nagrać film jak filmujesz smartfonem, gdy podłączony jest jeden mikrofon xlr do tascam x8
@@ciekaweurzadzenia So, I just tried it on a Samsung S10 Lite and can confirm that it works. Basically, you connect one XLR microphone and then set it up in the stereo mixer to be stereo-center. If the microphone needs phantom power, you need to confirm that the USB power from the phone provides at least 1.5A. This is the case on my S10 Lite. If your A52S can’t provide enough power, you can say “no” for the pop-up, go to general settings and power on the Tascam, set the power source to always be battery and disable power saving mode. Then I just opened the stock camera app and started a video recording. It recorded the XLR microphone on both stereo channels of the video. Note that you also have to match the sample rate for this to work. You can manually set it to 48 kHz or simply take the SD card out. Then it should work just fine. Let me know if you have more questions :)
@@FlorianBodlee Dziękuję za twoją odpowiedź. Jestem jeszcze ciekawy, czy nagrany dźwięk w ten sposób na telefonie jest dużo gorszy niż odtwarzany bezpośrednio z Tascam? Sam posiadam tascam dr100mk3, który nie ma usb c i gdy chce mieć dobry dźwięk muszę dodać audio z karty sd. Jaki masz najlepszy mikrofon, który sprawdza się do filmów na TH-cam? Ja zbieram na Sennheiser MKH416...
Mine has an issue freezing after about 30m of use while recording a show. The only way to turn it off is to remove the battery.
I have another question, when i checked my firmware version, it shows 134, but the latest is 131 ???
Hey there Kenneth :) Sorry for the late reply, I didn't have the device with me the past 2 weeks. I just checked and for me it shows "Version 1.31 Build 178" after updating to the latest firmware as of today. Are you referring to the version number or the build number?
Helpfull findings... As I see the guitar in the background... My biggest disappointment with this device is the fact, that its not possible to use the inbuilt metronome in earphones while recording. I wanted to use it for recording acoustic guitar, but like this is not possible to monitor the recorded sound and be leaded by metronome in the same time. I would have to have another device with metronome and a mix device for earphones. This is really pitty. Why? Why? Why? I dont have the device yet, Marcel did this findings helpfully for me...
Yeah I also don't quite understand what that's not possible. Imo, it should at least be possible in the music mode! Did you send a support request about this to Tascam?
@@FlorianBodlee No I didnt. I will do that. This is for me really a dealbreaker...
6:30 interesting here, the sd card workaround - and proper post-mortem "It should be an audio interface mode" comment. nicely demo'd
Update 9th of June 2023: I re-tested the high frequency hum issue without any other electronics nearby, as suggested by Igor Susoev Music (thanks for the tip!). The recordings were indeed clean in this case. I can't say whether other audio interfaces are similarly susceptible to interference, so take this info for what it is. Tascam also added a mix-minus function to the Podcast app that allows the recorder to be used in video conferences. I still don't think this is the ideal solution but it's workable. So thank you Tascam for listening to your customers, it's greatly appreciated! :)
If someone from Tascam is watching: I'd love to help however I can to fix these issues. If there's anything I can do, just reach out to me through Tascam Germany! Cheers :)
I doubt that they care, i dont think they have even addressed the issues freetousesounds addressed on the issues in the spectrograph. This recorder was rushed and not thought through very well at all. I think its best to stick with Zoom F3 and F6
I bought a portacapture x8 and after buying it a few days later I saw your video review and Marcel from Free To Use Sounds. Of course I was very frustrated with the hum issues at high frequencies. After getting the recorder, I did over 10 test recordings outside with my smartphone off and I got clean recordings with no hum at high frequencies. And I also made recordings at home with the smartphone on next to the recorder, so on the recordings I got the hum at high frequencies that you talked about in the video. So I think the interference on the recordings is due to the close proximity of the smartphone to the recorder.
Please check this for yourself, maybe it will also work in your case.
Firmware version 1.32
Oh very interesting! I’ll definitely give that a shot! Although I’m not very confident that this is the issue because I don’t usually have my phone close to my desk where I performed those tests. Of course it’s conceivable that Wifi has the same effect… I’ll test this! Anyway, thanks a lot for the comment, really appreciated! :)
@@igorsusoevmusic2542 So the issue would be that X8 is very sensitive to electromagnetic field?
@@mastroper After numerous tests, I began to doubt my first conclusion that this hum at high frequencies is due to electromagnetic interference. The noise on the recordings appears if you set the gain to a high value. I did the tests at home with the computer on, studio monitors, smartphone, Wi-Fi, etc. when I set the gain to 30 decibels, I did not get hum at high frequencies, I realized that my first conclusion is wrong. Under the same conditions I set the gain to about 40 decibels or higher, I certainly get a hum at high frequencies. This is interesting and very strange for a Tascam recorder.
Is this thing suited to recording in extremely quiet conditions? Thank you!
Hi there and welcome to the channel! I've been quite happy with the noise floor but others in the comments have suggested that the dynamic range is worse than with other devices. I can't give you a clear answer but for my purposes it's been good. Maybe check out Free To Use Sound's video on this with samples. There you can evaluate the noise floor for yourself 👌
@@FlorianBodlee Alright thanks for the response, will check that out.
Would like to know the built in capsule's self noise.
@@Flex2212 they have been pretty good for me so far but I haven't used them a lot as I usually record on external microphones...
I’m got mine yesterday and it feels really good. But when connected to my iOS device it says it uses to much power on the phone and I can’t use it. I have to use a power. What am I doing wrong? I got it working with my iPad Pro and I know they the iPad provides enough power but the batteries in the x8 should power it when connected to iPhone right?
I got I working after updating to 1.03 but I still get the annoying question on the screen “Is this AC adapter 1.5A or more?” Promting on the screen like every 10 seconds even when dismissing it.
I think I solved the issue about power when connecting to iPhone. In the settings I set it to use “battery” and it seems to work. Too bad the unit can’t default to this once it recognise an iPhone that doesn’t provide power is connected.
You're excellent!
Thanks Sam! Welcome to the channel 🥳
Btw I’m curious if the hum goes away when you turn off screen during recording. Is it even possible to turn off screen ?
Interesting idea! No, turning the screen off completely isn't possible. You can set the backlight to turn off after a while; let me see if that makes a difference!
So, I checked in Logic with the backlight off and it does indeed look better at first glance! I gave the file to Marcel and he's checking in RX right now...
Ok so Marcel said that he can still see the lines but they are less prominent. They can still be made visible by raising the gain in post but it seems like maybe the backlight really has an influence on this. Note that the backlight can't be turned off completely. Even in the "off" setting, it's on a little bit and maybe that's then why we still see a little hum with these settings. Great catch, thanks a lot for the idea!
yea I think it has something to do with the screen causing the high frequency interference hum. Tascam maybe can provide a future option to turn off the display during recording, which would probably save alot of battery life too
@@patentjohntran1283 yeah that could be an ok solution... Better would be to shield the electronics better but yeah can't have everything I guess 😅
I had my six month old Portacapture X8 spontaneously turn off twice during recording, but it's now working fine. The first time I thought I must have stuffed up and used flat batteries instead of fresh ones, but the second time I knew the batteries were fresh and after the initial failure it wouldn't properly power on. Annoyingly when I took it in to look at a repair/exchange, it was was working fine and has been since, but I can't trust it enough to use for work (I'm a wedding photographer and this was my main audio recorder, I had backup sources of course but you want your main line to be top priority). After watching this I'm thinking maybe it's an issue with batteries, I exclusively use Eneloops but have been using it for six months so have maybe worn down the tension. I'm very frustrated, I paid a lot for a unit I can't trust that I can't in good conscience sell on and that I can't return or exchange.
Wow, I’m sorry to hear that! Maybe try some different batteries (rechargeable from other brands) until you find one that “reliably fails” and then send the unit in with those batteries for reference? Of course working like that on client gigs is unacceptable. 😔
Could be the batteries getting too hot.
Oh no. My Tascam x8 has flatlined. I use eneloop pro batteries, but now I am finding no batteries will work with it. Pulling down on the batteries won't help it either. I just sold my Zoom H4N. So glad I held onto my Zoom H6. I have to say from the moment I got this, it just felt cheap. But I wanted a field recorder with 32 bit float, due to the type of recording I do. :(
I purchased my X8 a couple weeks ago and noticed that it won't power on with any types of batteries. It will only power on with USB power. I even reached out to Tascam, and their rep said that this was an unknown issue. Perhaps they have chosen not to openly confirm these issues.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
According to TH-cam this video is 1-year-old I'm just wondering if you still own the Tascam x8 and are those issues resolved now that its a year later?
Hello :) Yes I still own it and use it frequently. The issues still persist on my unit with the exception of the audio interface issues. Tascam has provided a workable solution by letting us enable a „mix-minus“ feature in the Podcast app specifically. It‘s not my preferred solution but it works sufficiently well for my purposes.
@@FlorianBodlee First of all thank you for answering my questions, much appreciated 👍 I have just nought one of these to use for a preamp for my MPC Live 2 so I can record guitar, bass, and vocals. Are there any flaws you could see happening there so I can watch out for them? Also is there a way to tell if I have an older tascam vs a newer one?
Congrats on your new recorder! I don’t think the issues I named will be critical for you except potential battery issues but I have only heard of 1 other case of this thus far, so I don’t think it’s widespread. I don’t know if there’s a way of telling whether you have a new or old unit but I also don’t think it matters as I’m still seeing recent comments from people describing similar issues. Just test it thoroughly and make sure it’s stable, then you’ll probably be just fine 👌🏼☺️ I use mine for similar use-cases and have been happy with it!
@@FlorianBodlee I bought a 5 year warranty so if they cant fix it I get my money back. I will do my research and update mine on this post and the date I got it so it can help others as well and maybe have Tascam make some changes to their products so they don't have people who don't trust their brand and stop buying them all together.
Is the high frequency hum issue fixed?
I just tested this again on firmware 1.30 and the hum seems to be resolved from what I can tell in the Logic Pro Alchemy spectrum analyser. Would be interesting to check again in a "better" dedicated spectrum analyser to make sure but I don't have access to one right now.
@@FlorianBodlee Please do. I want to get it, but if the ultrasound frequency problem can't be fixed the device is broken by design and Tascam should recall all units.
How about an update after the latest firmware release 1.1.0? it has brought some pretty big improvements to the device.
I don't have the device myself yet, but maybe in the future..
Downloading right now! I'll give it a spin and probably make a video on it next week 👌
Excellent! cheers Florian. From what I read it looks like a pretty good update. Looking forward to your test results either in text or video form. :)
Hi Magnus :) after some testing, I wasn’t really able to find any improvement on the points I mentioned. So I’m not making a new video for now :)
@@FlorianBodlee Hi and thanks for getting back to me about this :)
That's too bad the firmware didn't improve on any of those things. But let's hope there will be future firmware updates which will patch more things up and improve upon all the others which needs improvement.
Might be best to save that video to when it really matters. Thanks again and have a great day! :)
Indeed! Have a great day as well Magnus :)
tascam x8 in music mode...
When I connect the xlr cable in music mode, I hear only one side, why is that?
Hi Kyung :) from what I can tell, music mode always expects a stereo signal. I don’t see a way of changing that on my device. So you either need to connect two microphones for stereo or use the manual mode together with the mixer. Hope this is helpful :)
@@FlorianBodlee Thank you so much for the quick reply. The question has been resolved. Reading your reviews before and after purchasing the x8 has been really helpful. Thank you again
Very welcome, happy to hear 😍✌🏼
Can you read mp4 files ?
Hi Florian,
I think I found the cause of the high frequency noise!🤓
A couple of days ago I became a happy owner of Tascam Porta capture X8. Before checking the problem with the high frequencies noise, I updated the firmware to version 1.32. Recorded a couple of takes at home and saw the same noise you talk about in the video. The firmware didn't help... I thought this noise was electromagnetic so I went outside to test the recording, while recording I turned off my smartphone. When I came back home and checked the recordings in the Izotope RX I didn't see that noise in the high frequencies, the recordings are clean. I think this noise is due to the smartphone.
Please check this hypothesis, maybe it will work in your case too.
P.S. I wrote the same message to Marcel from Free To Use Sounds.
Hey Igor :) I had time to look at this now and I can confirm what you say. I created a recording indoors on firmware 1.32 I was able to see the high frequency noise in the spectrograph. I then went outside with nothing electronic except the X8 and went to the middle of a park. The recordings with the built-in mics and without the mics show no noise now. So I suppose this is indeed some sort of interference from external devices being picked up by the A/D converters.
Thank you for pointing this out, I'll update my pinned comment :)
@@FlorianBodlee Are Tascam going to fix this issue?
Hey, I don’t know to be honest. Some people say that Tascam informed them that newer production batches no longer have this problem but I have no way of confirming that.
Is there a place where this is being discussed in a tread/forum? I think it would be good for people to be able to post screen shots, compare settings etc... My Tascam firmware is version 1.20 and using Audacity I have not seen these persistent higher frequency tones.
@@FlorianBodlee I don't think it's caused by any external interference. I'm sitting at my desk trying to reproduce this as I type this. I have two computers running, my monitor, the AC, fans... all going. And when viewed in the Audacity spectrogram view I don't see any frequency lines even with 50db of software amplification. Also, external interference almost always varies over time and typically (but not always) is broadband in nature which results in those very fast vertical bursts that are shown in some of the screen shots. The frequencies shown in the video are very stable in frequency and amplitude which seems more likely to be cause by some internal component. My guess would be it's a harmonic of some clock signal in the device, as to why only some devices and not all of them, perhaps inadequate shielding or poor build tolerences?
Hallo Florian, ich danke dir herzlich für dein sehr informatives Video. Ich hätte es mir gerne auch in Deutsch gewünscht. Im Großen und Ganzen konnte ich den meisten deiner Aussagen folgen, da du eine sehr gute Aussprache hast. Viele Grüße Michael
Hallo Michael :)
Freut mich, dass Dir das Video gefallen hat! Ich hatte tatsächlich schon erwägt zukünftige Videos (auch) auf Deutsch zu filmen aber der Aufwand ist zu groß. Würden Dir gute deutsche Untertitel auch reichen?
Viele Grüße, Flo
@@FlorianBodlee ich glaube das könnte sich lohnen!