[Tascam DR-40] 16GB card NOK

[yetanotherlogin]

Hello

I know this forum is primarily about video, but I figured this question wouldn't be too off-topic in its Audio sub-forum.

I bought a 16GB SD card (Silicon Power SDHC Class 10) to replace the 2GB card that came with my Tascam DR-40 digital recorder.

But after formating the card (Menu > System > Full Format > Exec > YES), it still says that it can only record about 3h30 (Menu > Rec Settings > Size).

Why is that? How can I get the Tascam to use the 16GB?

Thank you.

[Cornucopia]

OK, so I checked your manual and yes, that model DOES accept SDHC cards (that was my first guess). My guess now is that you are seeing the 4GB-per-file limit. You have to remember that most hardware devices that use flash memory format as FAT32, which has a total size limit, but also a per-file limit (4GB). I could be wrong, but I think what it's telling you is that you can only record that much IN ONE TAKE, based on the record quality settings you have chosen.

You can confirm this by doing a bitrate calculation. Try each quality setting and note the "available size" that corresponds.

So let's say you have it set to standard DV rates: 16bit * 48000Hz * 2 channels. That = 1500kbps. Multiply that out by the available time to see the max filesize. If all the different variations in quality settings, with their corresponding max times, give somewhat equal filesizes and they are all near (and slightly less than) the 4GB mark, then that's the normal way for the machine to work. As do MOST machines.

And just to pre-empt your next question: NO, you cannot format it yourself as NTFS to remove that limit unless the manual EXPLICITLY says it supports that filesystem.

Now, if those sizes DO NOT match, come back to us with more info. It could be that your machine is faulty or needs a firmware upgrade.

Scott

edit: Note this quote from the manual:

*The recording times shown are not continuous recording times, but rather they are the total possible recording times for the SD/SDHC card.

Confirms what I thought.

[yetanotherlogin]

Thanks for the info. I use the default settings (44,4KHz, 16 bits, stereo).

Does this mean that I have to stop/restart after reaching the 2GB limit, or will the recorder just create a new file to keep recording?

[Cornucopia]

Depends on the recorder. Some I know will keep on rolling and you just have the overflow on a different file, with no gap/skips. Some keep on rolling, but DO have gaps/skips. Some you actually have to stop and re-start recording. Test yours and see (you'll find out quicker if you set it to use the 96/24 setting for the test).

However, do you really think your takes are going to be EACH over 3 hours long?

The way to get around this (for like unattended recording - surveillance, nature, etc) is to choose the mp3 option. 2GB of 16/44/stereo/WAV is ~3hrs8min, but 2GB of 320kbps/stereo(16/44)/mp3 is 13 1/2 hours! More still if it's even lower bitrate.

Scott

[yetanotherlogin]

Thanks.

You're right, it's very unlikely I'll have to record more than 3h in a row. The last time I needed to do this was a whole day of conferences, but I could have stopped between each conference so the 3h limit wouldn't have been a problem (if I had remembered to buy that 16GB card, that is ).

I prefer to use WAV instead of MP3 because 1) I can edit the files later with no loss, and 2) MP3 uses more batteries because of the compression.

Thanks again for the infos.