Fostex VF08 User Manual

8588 004 200

(352069)

VF08 Owner’s Manual

<V2.0 Supplement>

The VF08 software has been upgraded to
v2.0, which supports the new "internal mas-
tering function", as well as expands the func­tion of save/load using a "SCSI" CD-RW drive.

You can now record mastered materials onto
a CD-RW/CD-R disc with the standard au­dio CD format.

This supplement only handles instructions
for the internal mastering function and
save/load using a CD-RW/CD-R disc.

See “Save/Load of song data” on the main
manual about details for save/load using
SCSI and S/P DIF digital signal.

<Note>

To saving/loading song data using a CD-RW
drive, the optional Model 8340 SCSI card must
be installed to the VF08.
See page 115 of the main manual for details
about how to install the option.
For the detailed information about the Model
8340 SCSI card, contact your local Fostex dis­tributor.

2

Table of Contents

Internal Mastering Function...............................................................................................................3

Please read this first before carrying out operations in the internal mastering mode!..................4

Rehearsing internal mastering................................................................................................................5

Performing internal mastering...............................................................................................................6

About Start and End points...........................................................................................................7

Save/Load using CD-RW/CD-R............................................................................................................8

Please read this first!.................................................................................................................................8

Caution on CD-RW drive................................................................................................................8

Care and handling of CD-RW/CD-R discs...................................................................................8

About writing and reading speeds...............................................................................................8

Save/load of song data using a CD-RW drive...........................................................................9

Saving data using a CD-RW drive (Backup)........................................................................................10

Loading backup data from a CD-RW drive..........................................................................................12

Making an audio CD...............................................................................................................................14

Loading from an audio CD.....................................................................................................................17

<Glossary>

CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable)

A disc media that can be re-written as many
times as you like. New data is written after
the previously recorded data is erased.

CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable)

A disc media that can be written only once.
Unlike a CD-RW disc, you cannot write data
onto a recorded CD-R disc. If any error hap­pens during recording to a CD-R disc, the
disc cannot be used anymore.

CD-DA (Compact Disc Digital Audio)

The standard for compact disc for audio.
A compact disc recorded by this format can
be played back by a CD-ROM player built in
a personal computer, as well as an audio CD
player.

SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)

An interface standard for computer periph­erals standardized by ANSI (American Na­tional Standard Institute).
Up to 7 peripherals, such as a hard-disk
drive, MO drive and zip drive, can be daisy­chained.

Protect (Copy Protect)

A bit for indicating whether the digital copy
is permitted or not.
If the copy protect bit of an audio CD is
“on”, you can make a digital copy once but
cannot make a copy from the copied mate­rial.

3

Internal Mastering Function

The "mastering mode" of the VF08 mixes tracks 1 through 6 down to tracks 7/8, and plays back them
with the dedicated mastering effects so that you can record them to an external (analog or digital)
master recorder (see figure 1).

The “internal mastering function”, a newly added function for the VF08, expands the mastering mode,
which allows transferring a mix-down material on tracks 7/8 to another (new) program on the current
drive with adding the mastering effects.

You can, therefore, produce a high quality final master within the VF08, with no need for an external
master recorder (see figure 2).

Furthermore, thanks to the save function using a CD-RW/CD-R disc, you can make an original audio
CD by recording materials internally mastered using the internal mastering function to a CD-RW/CD­R disc. See "Making an audio CD" on page 14 for details.

<Conventional mastering mode>

Digital Master Recorder

S/P DIF OUT

Mastering Effect

Tracks 7 & 8

ST OUT

L

Analog Master Recorder

R

VF08

<Figure-1>

<Newly added internal mastering function>

Mastering Effect

New Program

Tracks 7 & 8

Tracks 1 & 2

VF08

<Figure-2>

The internal mastering function allows you
to carry out all operations using the VF08
only.

<Please read this first before carrying out operations in the internal mastering mode!>

After executing internal mastering, a new program which saves a mastering material is automatically cre­ated on the current drive, whose program number is set to one greater than the current greatest program
number.
For example, if there are 8 programs (P01 through 08) on the current drive, after mastering a desired
program data using the internal mastering function, a new program (P09) is automatically created and the
mastering signals produced by the mastering function are recorded on tracks 1 and 2 of P09.
Note that if the VF08 is under either of the following conditions, you cannot carry out internal mastering.

1. There are 99 programs already existed on the current drive even though there is enough
recording space.

If you try to carry out internal mastering, "Can't New PGM!" is shown and the operation is ignored.
To carry out internal mastering, delete an unnecessary program.

2. There is not enough remaining space even though there are less than 99 programs on the current

drive.

If you try to carry out internal mastering, "Over Time!" is shown and the operation is ignored.
To carry out internal mastering, erase unnecessary song data or delete an unnecessary program.

See "Deleting a program" on page 57 and "Erasing track data" on page 61 in the VF08 owner's manual.

4

Rehearsing internal mastering

Before performing the internal mastering, you can rehearse it as many times as you like, while adjust­ing the track 7/8 level and sound effects.
In the following description, we assumes that a bounced material is recorded on tracks 7/8 of the
playback program. Headphones for monitoring are connected to the [PHONES] jack.

INPUT A

BAL

GUITAR

LINE MIC LINE MIC MIN MAX

UNBAL

CH ON/OFF

TRACK STATUS

+6

0

-10

-20

-30

-40

-

∞

UNBAL

CH ON/OFF

PEAK

RED

2 3 4

+6

+6

0

0

-10

-10

-20

-20

-30

-30

-40

-40

-

∞

-

∞

[PHONES]

5

GUITAR

PHONES

TRIMTRIM

PEAK

REC

GREEN

+6

+6

0

0

-10

-10

-20

-20

-30

-30

-40

-40

-

∞

-

∞

INPUT B

BAL

TRACK STATUS / TRACK SEL

[TRACK EDIT]

1

ST OUT

LR

TRACK

EDIT

PGM

BOUNCE MODE

OFF

PLAY

5 6

7/8 2TRK1

+6

+6

0

-10

-10

-20

-20

-30

-30

-40

-40

-

∞

-

∞

FOOT SW

MIX PARAMETER

FADER

2TRK MODE

MASTERING TRAINING

MUTE

MASTER

+6

0

0

-10

-20

-30

-40

-

∞

[MASTERING]

3

SCENE SEQ.SCENE

MAP

EFFECTEQPAN

ON/OFF

STATUS

/SEL

SETUP

F1

AUTO

PUNCH

EDIT

DIGITAL MULTITRACKER

F1

CURSOR

EXIT
/NO

ENTER
/YES

UNDO

TIMEBASE

/REDO

SEL

F3

F2

VARI

LOOP PITCH SCRUB

EDIT EDIT

LOCATE ABS 0

LOCATE REC END

[ENTER/YES]

1

F2 F3

EJECT

SHIFT

WAVE FORM

ACCESS

PHANTOM

JOG

SHUTTLE

1

[JOG]

1[SHIFT]

LOCATE

DELETE

MARK

F FWDREWINDPLAYSTOPRECORD

7[STOP] + [REWIND]

5

[7/8 FADER]

1. Select the desired program for mastering.

To select the desired program, while stopped, press the
[TRACK EDIT/PGM] key while holding down the [SHIFT]
key, and select the program using the [JOG] dial, then
press the [ENTER/YES] key.

2. Set the [MASTER] fader to the "0" position.

3. press the [MASTERING] key.

The VF08 enters the mastering mode and the display
shows the mastering screen in which you can adjust the
mastering effects.
The [MASTERING] key lights up in red, while the [TRACK

ST ATUS/TRACK SEL] keys of tracks 7/8 and the master
channel light up in green.

<screen for adjusting the mastering effects>

[MASTER FADER]

2

4[PLAY]

6[STOP]

4. Press the [PLAY] key to start playback from the
beginning of the selected program.

The VF08 starts playback, while the display keeps
showing the screen for adjusting the mastering effects.
Tracks 1 and 2 are internally set to "input monitor",
allowing you to check over-level via the peak LED
indicators.
You can monitor the mastering sound through
headphones by raising the track 7/8 fader and/or
[PHONES] level control. The mastering levels are shown
on the level meters at the right on the screen.

5. During playback, adjust track 7/8 levels using the
7/8 fader, as well as EQ and ef fect settings if
necessary .

Set the levels properly so that the PEAK LED indicators
do not flash or light frequently.
Note that levels may increase by changing EQ or
compressor parameters. When controlling the sound
characters and level, you should not only monitor the
level meters and listen to the sound, but also monitor the
PEAK LED indicators.

To adjusting the mastering effect parameters on the
mastering screen, use the [CURSOR] (up/down) keys to
select a parameter and the [JOG] dial to change the
parameter value.

5

<Hint>

On the mastering screen, you can tailor the
sound by adjusting EQ settings (HI, MID and
LOW), as well as the ambiance and compressor.
See page 71 in the VF08 Owner's Manual for
details about the mastering effects.

<Note>

In the internal mastering function, the
(Copy Protect) setting, which is one of the master­ing effect items, does not affect the internally record
material. The copy protect setting affects materials
recorded on a CD-RW/CD-R disc, described later.
See "Making an audio CD" on page 14.

6. After completing all the adjustments, press the
[STOP] key to stop the VF08.

"CpProtect"

Performing internal mastering

7. Press the [REWIND] key while holding down the
[STOP] key to locate the beginning of the program.

The VF08 locates the beginning of the program
immediately and "00m 00s" is shown at the top right of
the screen.

Keep showing the same mastering screen after stopping
the VF08 and locating the beginning of the program.

To repeat the rehearsal, perform steps 4 and 5
repeatedly after making the VF08 locate the beginning
of the program.

After completing the rehearsal satisfactorily, make sure
to locate the beginning of the program.

<Note>

After completing the rehearsal, be careful not to move
the track 7/8 and master faders and change the mas­tering effect parameters.
If you wish to do another job after the rehearsal, you
should save the settings (fader positions and param­eter settings) to a scene memory. See page 47 in the
owner's manual for details about the scene memory
function.

Please read the following notes carefully before performing internal mastering.

<Note: There is no need for selecting recording tracks.>

In the internal mastering function, unlike the normal re­cording, you do not have to select recording tracks.
When recording a take in the internal mastering func­tion according to the following procedure, the VF08 au­tomatically arms Tracks 1 and 2.
Therefore, the
1 and 2 never light up in red during recording.

[TRACK ST ATUS/TRACK SEL]

keys for tracks

1. Press the [PLAY] key while holding down the
[RECORD] key . (You cannot perform the auto punch­in function.)

When mastering starts, a new program is automatically
created and the material is recorded onto track 1 and 2
of the program. The ABS time at which mastering starts
is registered with the "Start point" of the new program.

2. When completing mastering, press the [STOP] key
to stop.

<Note>
Internal mastering cannot be performed if rec-protected.

If the

"Rec Protected"

"ON"

, you cannot perform internal mastering.

If you try to perform it, a warning message (
appears on the display. If this message appears, set the

"Rec Protected"

mastering.
See page 106 in the owner's manual for details about the

setup mode.

setting of the setup mode is set to

setting to

"OFF"

before performing internal

"Protected!"

<Note: You cannot undo an internal mastering take.>

You cannot undo an internal mastering take.
If you are not satisfied with the result, try again from the
beginning.
If you do not need a previously recorded program, de­lete the program according to the procedure described
in

"Erasing a Program"

of the owner's manual.

)

"Please wait" appears on the display for a few seconds,
and the internal mastering mode quits, while the VF08
locates the beginning (ABS 0) of the newly created
program. The ABS time at which you press the [STOP] key
is registered with the "End point" of the new program.

The following screen example shows that a title named

"Song Data-1" is mastered onto a new program named
"P09". As shown in the example below, "Mst<-" is prefixed

to a mastered program title, so that you can distinguish
mastered programs from other programs. The screen can
show up to the first 12 characters of a title name.

A title example recorded using the internal mastering mode

<Note: The vari-pitch setting is not effective.>

When recording a take in the internal mastering func­tion, the vari-pitch setting is not effective and the take is
always recorded at the normal speed.

3. Playback the newly created program (P09, in the
example above) to check the result.

You can adjust the playback levels of mastered tracks
using track faders 1 and 2.

Read the following "Hint" carefully before making an
original audio CD from mastered materials.

6