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Audiophile recording and playback - Tascam DA-3000


Hi, some months ago I bought the Tascam DA-3000 recorder, having used a small Korg MR-1 for some years. I mainly record from my vinyl rig (Lyra Atlas – SME V – Hanss T30 – Aesthetix Io Eclipse – Einstein The Tube mk2).

I have found that even with the hassle of very big files (one LP = almost 3 GB), the dual speed DSD sound is superior to anything digital I have heard so far.

In my rig, analog blows digital out of the water, but this is the best candidate.

In a former thread, someone asked, is the Da-3000 ‘audiophile’ level. The answer is a clear yes.

This is the first digital recorder I have owned (after some DATs and others) that does not make me ashamed that my old analog and much-modded Revox A77 stands in my loft. Also, for some, the Tascam may be a good investment since its DAC may outperform the DAC you already have. I had a Stello DAC that went out the door.

However, some aspects of the Tascam are problematic, and others can probably be improved.

A first issue is connectivity and ease of use. It would be great if the Tascam could record to a hard disk, or at least play back from it. The manual says a hard disk can be connected through the USB port. I bought a Seagate Wireless Plus 1 TB hard disk to try. However, the Tascam won’t recognize it, even when I reformatted to Exfat (instead of NFTS). Perhaps it would be recognized if I reformatted to FAT32, but then I would not have any use of a big hard disk, the limit is 32 GB I think. So I am back to recording to my 32 GB Sandisk SD card, eight LPs or so, with hand written notes, what track is what title, and then carrying the card and paper to my main PC, naming folders and transferring the files. BTW this was very slow, 19 mbps, since my card reader was not USB 3 compliant, I changed, and now it is much better, 84 or so mbps.

The ideal would be to have the Tascam drive as a unit on my home network, this is why I bought the Seagate wireless, but as stated - no success so far.

Experiences with the Tascam (or similar), in this and other respects, are welcome.

Note that, the problems so far are minor, for me, compared to the benefits. The sound is usually much better than what I get from CDs or the web (excepting some SACDs). I can bring my analog rig around, so to speak, playing back on the Korg Mr-1 (or the Tascam itself, which is light weight and semi-movable). I think that DSD playback will become more easily available in the future. If Pono had included DSD, I would have bought one.
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dgarretson
2,588 posts
 
Just one 75ohm BNC cable from LiveClock Word Out to Tascam Word Sync In.  Set LiveClock to 44.1kHz for DSD and to intermediate frequencies up to 192kHz for PCM.  If you decide to purchase one, Sweetwater has great customer service. They also sell Canare BNC cables in various lengths. 
rodge827's avatar
rodge827
614 posts
 
Thank you dgarretson for your help! :)
dgarretson
2,588 posts
 

I’ll sum up my experience after nine months with a DA-3000. The stock unit is capable of very good DSD128 recordings. Quite convincing, if recordings are played back through a better DAC than the one that’s incorporated in the unit.

With lite internal modifications to the ADC and power supply sections, the recordings become nearly indistinguishable from the LP source.

Externally, the unit responds to a better power cord, footers(Stillpoints Minis), and above all, synchronization to a good Word Clock(Antelope LiveClock powered by a Hynes LPS).

Tascam is unresponsive to requests for schematics, so I limited the scope of internal modifications to what I could understand from inspection and a manual trace of the ADC section. The simplest upgrade is to replace the three-pin regulators on the power board with Belleson +/-12V discrete regulators. This is an improvement, but nothing like digging into the ADC section.

The ADC section is a simple circuit, comprised of two stages of electrolytic coupling caps and NE5532 SOIC op amps, a balanced JRC NJW1195A volume control chip, and a Burr Brown PCM4202 ADC chip.

The NE5532 is a generally well-respected op amp. The twenty or so coupling and power supply filtering caps in the ADC section are mediocre Suncon/Sanyo parts. I replaced them all with Panasonic FM and raised the value of the op amp filtering caps from 22uf to 100uf. I bypassed eight 47uf electrolytic coupling caps with a combination of small film caps (.01uf MIT RTX polystyrene and .01uf Russian FT-1 teflon.) This was a bit of work, but nothing beyond what a basic technician could do in 2-3 billable hours.

The modified ADC and power supply section takes the unit up several notches. Now it’s close enough to the analog source to confuse me as to which is which. You sit on the couch, stroking your beard, musing that what looks like and prices out for the Pro Audio market, is really anything but.

There is little on the DIY or Pro forums about modifying the unit. The DECware mod addresses just the DAC section. Lampizator tried converting the DA-3000 ADC section to tubes, but doesn’t appear to have productized the modifications. In any case, the above mods are within the reach of anyone with good soldering skills and a spare afternoon.

mre28m5's avatar
mre28m5
36 posts
 
@dgarretson...How did you mount and isolate the Belleson SPZ’s to/from the heat sink? Can you recommend a particular isolation kit? We’re you able to reuse the M4(?) screws that held the original 78/7912’s in place? Thanks for all the info on upgrading this unit.
dgarretson
2,588 posts
 

@mre28m5... The Bellesons are drop-in replacements for the original regulators. I reused the original thermal pads and screws.

BTW, desoldering the stock Suncon electrolytics from the audio board requires a little technique.  The OEM solder is so dry and desiccated
that  it won't melt for extraction without first flowing on a bit of fresh solder to reactivate it. Thereafter extraction goes smoothly with removal braid or a vacuum bulb. The multilayer PCB is of high quality and there is no tendency for pads or traces to detach.

Good luck if you try it! Now I just need to find the motivation to re-record everything I did prior to the mods. 

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