Tascam DP-03SD ; WEIRD NOISE ! Is it DEFECTIVE ? please help

J

Johan R

New member
Hi all ! ☺
Two days ago I bought a used Tascam 'DP-03SD'.

I've never owned a porta,
but several mixer consoles & professional mikes, recorders, speakers & lots of audio gear over several decades.

Immediately, I noticed a HORRIBLE noise
👉 * WHEN PANNING ONE CHANNEL (in 'Rec Standby') TO THE LEFT.
AND THE SAME NOISE PANNING TO RIGHT.
LOUD !!
Center-panning muted the noise,
but it re-occurred proportionally to how much 'off-center' I turned the pot.
I'm lost here - if anyone can explain if - and if so, WHAT - I'm doing wrong, I'd *REALLY* appreciate it ! 👍
No pride here : We're all humans, and so makes mistakes.
I've been searching all the time - since i bought this thing - but still not even the faintest idea on
What !? or
Why !?
Any help GREATLY appreciated !
Thanks !
// Johan
 
Did you record it? could you describe the horrible noise, what you had connected and the circumstances? Otherwise we're guessing. Digital feedback sounds possible, and if the polarity is flipped or there's a delay then pan centre could null it out.

Faders up or down - what inputs connected, what outputs? Have you routed an output back to an input? Always good to go back to basics, plug in one mic and check you get the appropriate things on the meters - can you record from one mic? Then try a different channel, can you record on that one and at the same time hear the stuff you recorded on the first. Does the pan control do what you expect?
 
THANKS ! A MILLION ! 👍☺
That's obvious ! ( But - as I said - we're all human. I've seen SENIOR technicians look for signal attenuation causes for hours - and I tried to help, tracing suspicious FX send/return wiring through the whole studio house - to no avail. In the evening this Owner/Chief Tech did the 'SliceMyOwnThrout' sign when he saw me : he had completely forgotten the SUB mixer section *Within* the same console he was working on > nothing was broken, no wire torn, no connector loose - just the Commander had forgotten his head ..
We're all humans ).
~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~
Your questions :
Nothing connected :
I just thought I'd use the buit-in mikes to make a goof test recording, saying "Blablabla" in left , and then "Bliblibli"in right.
Ch. #1 in 'Rec Stby' , as I wrote ,
Input sel. "Internal mic"
No send
No return
No Reverb
No Eq.
Fader - - well, ~ around 60% if I recall
Input Gain - - any position 👉 level (of that "thundering waterfall" ) varied accordingly, i.e. the noise itself was always there.
This Ch. #1 routed to 'A' Master Ch.
And the noise showed in the graphics : both the #1 bar and the Master ch. bar.
Didn't record it ... as I thought it was "a boring song" ... 😧😑😵
As I think I mentioned, it all became Quiet when the pan-pot was setbto 'Center'. 👉 the only thing I can think of is 'Noise Cancelling' (by summing two identical 180 degree reverse phased signals) which would result in 'Zero'.
OK. I'll investigate further! Thanks again !
The pan control does not exactly do what I had expected ... I'll tell you that ! 😉 😨 😮

*Much* appreciated ! Thank you !
// Johan
 
I have to say from personal experience, the internal mics on these are extremely noisy. When I set input gain to record my vocal from a distance of 6-inches, and panned center, just the basic sound of the air in the room was loud as hell. Then it picked up more air rushing out of the A/C vents. Also got the odd noise from the next room (doors closed). This was in a block wall conference room (roughly 40ft x 40ft) with solid wood doors. Switching to my AT2020 XLR condenser mic with phantom power got rid of the noise.
 
Thanks a bunch ! 👍 I believe you - me too have encountered "built-in" mikes - "supported" by ALCs, limiters, compressors and the whole bunch...

But here,

there's an ABSOLUTELY WEIRD noise - completely *separate* from any AUDIO signal. It's not like a haidryer being noisy, not even a hairdryer blowing directly AT the mike membrane.

This is SEPARATE from any internal or 'external' audio signal.

( external audio signal ? what would that be ? Telepatically entered into the electronics of said portastudio ... 😕 😒 )( wow ).

Nothing subtle here :

the LEVEL of this Noise! would - for illustration - reach MAX-out ( + - 0dBVu ) when 'Gain' was about halfway (50%), and the channel fader somewhere in middle ( 60% or so, as I mentioned.

Though I didn't sit back and analyse that noise, the impression was WORSE than 'pink noise'. Or 'static'.

Any input is APPRECIATED !

Have a Good one ! 🌞

// Johan
 
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I'll try to
REVERSE THE DEAL
if I can present conclusive testimony(s) that the DP-03SD indeed should *NOT* produce such noise when simply trying to pan an input signal to the left - or to the right.
 
I wish I had a studio setup with a video camera and a synced tap from the porta audio to edit into a video clip showing that turning the pan knob so all interested could HEAR this LOUD NOISE and thus witness EVIDENCE that said DO-03SD actually makes the horrible noise I try to describe.
But I don't.
I live in a cellar.
I was just thinking that whatever it's worth, I'd like to leave a heritage after me, with some really important songs. They were sung some 50 years ago - but you *never* hear them anymore.
Never before have I encountered such a weird sound defect.
Nowhere have I read anything or seen any vid.clip about anything remotely similar.
 
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