Tascam DV-RA1000 DSD/PCM Master Recorder - One of the Worlds Great POS's

[mfrench]

Hopefully this is the right forum?
If not, please, move it to the Open Forum. But this is specifically about Other Sources.

How many times has Tascam screwed me?
Well, lets start with the POS cassette deck years ago, that I thought was a fluke.
Then,.... My DA20mkII DAT had its heads go bad, just months out of warranty, which they wouldn't cover. I thought it was a fluke, again.

Then, you put out your wonderful proprietary format that does no one any füç•ing good, because no one can play it back, except thru your POS DV-RA100, which will just as likely destroy the master as play it well.

I cannot express how many times this unit made me look like an idiot in front of true professionals, by destroying master recordings.  When I brought it up to Tascam, it was literally a week out of warranty, and they refused to do anything with it again,... so I started bad mouthing them here, and making a big stink out of what a piece of shîznit that deck was all over the internet, and how it was a music killer.

So, I brought the deck up to them, lieterally driving to their comapany, and I refused to leave, until they gave me a new deck. I showed them the threads I was posting in professional tech forums, and belittling their product.
They relented to my demands, and gave me another of their pieces of crap to replace the original piece of crap.
I had zero faith in the new piece of crap, so it mostly sat in a rack, only getting used a couple of times, because I didn't want to destroy any more masters before I had a chance to at least get them backed up (this thing killed probably 8->12 live masters while trying to finalize the recordings (a required final step).

Ok,.... so this thing sat in a rack at home, never getting used, except for the extremely rare occasional bedroom listen.

So,... it sat like this for about 3.5 years, getting fired up occasionally to keep it fresh,....
I decide to sell it at a 50% reduction below what I bought it for,... to gladly get rid of it, as it has fuXXed me numerous times.
It was listed for a month?  
I finally found a buyer, who was fortunately a local guy.  We conversed for a couple of days, and I assured him that it was a good unit, that I was honest, and that it would be a great addition to his studio.
So, we agree to terms, and I agree to hand deliver it to his house, and hour and a half away.
So,... here's yet another professional. I meet up with him, we fire up the unit, and it will not put out any music, from any output, regardless of any menu option, or output choice.
The buyer gets on the line with Tascam to find out if we're missing the obvious, and Tascam tells the guy,...
Don't buy it, its a bad unit, and then friggin hangs up.
The guys jaw hits the floor at the abruptness of the call, then looks to me and, says exactly what you think,....
I'm not comfortable in purchasing this unit.

So I got to drive thru LA traffic twice today, on a 3 hour journey, twice past the Teac N.A. building (i felt like throwing this POS thru their front windows).

So,.... this is my final ode to Tascam;
http://www.tapers.org/mfrench/dvra100.4sale.slight.scratch.mpg
If you buy their crap, expect it to fail on you, and when it does, don't expect any service of any value.  I've been there and done that too many times to know that as anything but straight up truth.
Good riddance to a bad nightmare, and a POS of a company and its gear.

/rant

[rfgumby]

Now there's a proper rant.  I've used a handful of Tascam units in Broadcast applications, but those were Minidisc recorders and players, and CD based players, a few reel to reels.  Oh, and the occasional small multichannel live recorder.  I haven't had many problems, but your story meshes with a few other horror stories I've heard.  I suppose one should expect some problems as Tascam is a step or so below pro gear, but
that type of behavior from the company is pretty lame.

[Jolyon]

Hello Mike,

I am sorry to hear of your plight. I would have thought that it was worth Tascam's reputation to give a shibble bibble etc but it looks as though they didn't so their reputation plummets accordingly.  It's amazing how many big organisations are so short-sighted in situations like this.  If they had replaced the unit you, no doubt, would be on this forum and others telling us that they dealt with a reliability issue despite the deck being out of guarantee.  You would have given them the kind of publicity for the cost  of a unit that they'd have to spend a lot more money to get. No satisfaction for you, I know.

J.

[mfrench]

Thanks, guys.
That was a moment of frustration, expressed.
Thank the almighty that our spinning analog toys are so much easier to deal with, diagnose, and fix.

I got home and tried for about 3 hours to get some signal from the thing. There was no signal output, so I guess something in the dac went away??
Strangely (but completely within its character and history), it died while just sitting in its original packaging. I tested it before I packed it, and it was fine. Then, nothing.
I'm just really glad that I didn't have to refund a bunch of money on shipping, insurance, etc., had someone from some other locale bought it and had me ship it.