With the advent of DSLR shooting, workflows experienced two major drawbacks whencompared to traditional camcorders. One is the form factor: while DSLRs are generally light enough to hold up for an extended amount of time, to truly make one ergonomic enough toshoot with all day, one needs to purchase additional kit to build it out into a comfortable sizeand shape. The other is the lack of professional audio recording capabilities: the internal mics
are usually an afterthought and are usable only as a reference track. The audio inputs do not use professional connections and are not equipped to handle 48V phantom power, isolatedchannel monitoring, easytoread metering, or high bitdepth recording.
Enter the TASCAM 70D DSLR audio recorder. An affordable way to add 4 channels ofprofessional sound recording to your DSLR rig, with enough mounting options to make addingit an easy process. Let’s explore some of the ways the 70D might be a perfect fit for your DSLR video production. SyncingGenerally, when you start introducing Dual System audio (recording audio on a device that isnot your camera) into your workflow, problems can crop up quickly. The 70D provides adedicated audio output that is designed to plug into the audio input of your DSLR. Thisprovides a high quality guide track that can be used with syncing software like PluralEyes tosync your footage. Even if you don’t have access to any automatic syncing software,
TASCAM thoughtfully added a SLATE TONE function that produces a tone on your recordedaudio and also on the dedicated audio output so you can manually line up files with an easy tosee waveform. This SLATE TONE function can also be used to calibrate the levels of otherrecorders, which is a feature usually found on higher end audio devices.
Size
This is where the 70D really stands out, and makes owning it a nobrainer for professionalsand prosumers alike. As a 4 channel recorder with great battery life and multiple ins and outsit can serve as a primary recorder for a one man band and as a backup recorder for SoundRecordists that are out in the field and need a device that will allow them to keep rolling if theirprimary recorder goes down. It is small enough that it can be stashed in almost any kit, case, or bag. The space that you’re giving up is well worth the piece of mind that having a fullyfunctional recorder along on your shoot provides. While it’s designed to mount between yourcamera and tripod, it can work just as well as a bag mixer, provided you take its durability intoaccount.
Durability
Although it is not completely bomb proof and has a delicate plastic card slot cover that will almost certainly need some extra attention, the rest of the machine feels surprisingly sturdy. Itmatches the build quality of most DSLRs and can be expected to put up with as much abuseas your camera.
While I was impressed with the overall build of this machine, this flap that protects the card and battery slot could be stronger.
More Channels
Previous prosumer audio products usually maxed out at 2 channels of audio. The 70Dprovides 4 channels of ISO recording at 96khz 24 bit with a front facing mixing panel thatprovides individual gain control for each channel.
Extra Features
The two internal microphones are set up in an AB stereo configuration with the option torecord the left, right or both simultaneously. Dual record allows the same signal to be routedto two separate channels with 12db of attenuation, essentially creating a safeguard againstovermodulation.
The SLATE TONE function also works as a marker system allowing you to fast forward andrewind the playback head to those tones. This might come in handy if you’re doing a longform interview and you want to mark important passages and quickly reference them in thefield.
About Silver Sound
Located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, Silver Sound is an NYC postproductionsound studio and team of location sound mixers, as well as a film production company.
NYC Power House
Silver Sound has been a staple of the NYC film scene for over ten years, and is proud to haveworked with clients such as HBO, ABC, Vice, and Comedy Central, musicians such asVampire Weekend, Lucius (a past Showdown band winner), Reggie Watts, and ReginaSpektor, and filmmakers like Spike Lee, Lena Dunham, Lloyd Kaufman, and John Turturro.
