tascam CD-R DP User Guide

Windows QuickStart

CD-R Deluxe & CD-R Pro

Packing List

The following items should be present in your CD-R bundle:

CD-R Deluxe:

- TEAC 6x24 external CDR drive (CD-R56S)

- CD-R Deluxe Software CD

CD-R Pro:

- TEAC 8x24 external CDR drive (CD-R58S)

- CD-R Pro Software CD

Both Bundles:

- SCSI Card (Adaptec 2903B)

- SCSI Cable

- SCSI Terminator

- (2) Blank CDR media

- TEAC CD-R Drive Installation Guide

- CD-R QuickStart Guide (That’d be this book.)

Installing the Software

A hardware installation booklet has been included with this
package; look to it for installation of the SCSI card and CD­Recorder. Also, if you are new to installing software on your PC,
be aware that you will probably have to restart the computer in
between each installation.

To install the software, make sure your SCSI card and CD­Recorder are already connected. Insert the software CD into
your CD-ROM or CD-R drive. There are several programs
you will need to install:

SEK’D Red Roaster Lite - (CD-R Deluxe Only)
Audio Recording, Editing, and Audio CD Authoring

SEK’D Red Roaster 24 - (CD-R Pro Only)
Audio Recording, Editing, and Audio CD Authoring

Adaptec EZ CD Creator - Data CD Authoring
MyNetMedia SonicBurn - Burning MP3 files to

Audio CDs on the fly
Xing AudioCatalyst - (CD-R Pro Only)

MP3 Compression Suite

Introduction to CDR Technology

CDR (Compact Disc Recordable) media can store up to 74
minutes of stereo audio, or up to 650 megabytes of data.
CDR media can only be written on once, so the CDR
authoring software allows you to design your CD completely
before you burn it. Since the CD must contain a directory of
what is on it, and since that directory is on the write once
media also, all of the information must be burned to the CD at
the same time. Recording the information to the CD is done
in a Session.

While audio CD players will only recognize the first session
on the CD, many CD-ROMs will read multiple sessions. A
CD with more than one session is called a Multi-Session CD.
So, if the first session of a data CD only contained 200
megabytes of data, you could record another session after it
which could contain close to 450 megabytes. (It won’t be
quite that big because of the extra space taken by the new
directory.) Remember though, older CD-ROMs may not
search for extra sessions.

With your TASCAM CD-R bundle, you have software capable
of recording either data or audio CDs. Here’s a brief
description of the capabilities of each format:

Red Roaster Tutorial:

Audio CD - This is the standard CD format you can use in

your audio CD player. You can have up to 99 tracks of audio.
The audio tracks must be recorded in stereo at the CD
standard of 16bit, 44.1kHz. Audio players will not search for
multiple sessions, so everything for the audio player must be
burned in the first session of the disc. SEK’D Red Roaster is
provided on your software CD so you can record, edit and
process your audio, then assemble and burn your
masterpiece to a CD.

ISO-9660 - Originally specified for DOS CD-ROM use, the
ISO-9660 now has multiple variations for DOS, Windows
95/98, and Macintosh. While more features are available in
the later Windows 95/98, the original DOS format will be
compatible with machines without Windows 95/98. Since
most Macintosh computers can read Windows CDs, this is
also a great way to store cross platform material such as
JPEGs, HTML, or even word process, spreadsheet, or graphic
files. Adaptec EZ CD Creator is provided on your software
CD so you can assemble data CDs to back up your important
computer data, or assemble your own multimedia CDs.

So to review, CDs can either be written as an audio CD or
data CD. Each time information is written to the CD, it
records the directory and the target material all in one
session. Audio CD players will only recognize the first
session, but if you wanted to write multiple data sessions to
a CD, most CD-ROMs will read them.

Set-up & Acquiring Audio

There are two movies on the software CD that will walk you
through many of the features of Red Roaster in a folder
labeled SEKD AVI Movies. However, we are still providing
this tutorial to help you through your first session, step-by­step.

When you first start up your program, you will see the
toolbars, but no track layout yet. The first thing you

need to do is create a VIP (VIrtual Project). To do that,
click on the first button. A set-up menu will appear.

The main functions
we need to focus on
here are the number
of tracks, sample
rate, and the name of
the VIP. Here, we
want to make sure we
are set to a sample
rate of 44.1kHz
(shown as 41000 in
the menu) since we’re
planning to record to
a CD. Also, be sure
to give the project a name you’ll remember.

A word about the Tracks setting: It is important to know that
“tracks” are actually stereo tracks, not mono. So, if you
select 1 track, then you are getting stereo. Selecting 2
tracks gives you 2 stereo tracks which making more detailed
editing easier, but reducing the track viewable height size
once we get to the editing screen. Typically, I use the “2
Tracks” setting to give me more flexibility when fading from
one track to the next.

and do it again. If you like it, click on “Yes”. If you want to
do it again, click on “Delete” and record again.

The Recording screen will remain there in case you want to
record more tracks. This is handy for importing many
individual tracks in the same sitting. If you want to record
more tracks, click record and you’re recording again. If
you’re done, click “OK”.

Once you’ve set up your VIP, it’s time to record some
audio. To do this, click on the record button in the top

tool bar.
This is where you will want to monitor your input levels. Click

on the button labeled “Monitor” (located underneath the level
meters) to hear what is coming into your sound card input,
and to view the levels on the monitor level.

This screen gives you
more options to customize
your recording setup,
although most of the
settings should work fine
as is.

If you have multiple sound
cards in your PC, you will
need to select which card
the input is coming from.
On the left side of this
menu just below center is
the sound card selector.
Make sure it has the correct
sound card input.

To start recording, click on Record. To stop, click on Stop.
When you stop, Red Roaster will show you a screen where
you can decide if you want to keep the recording, or delete it

Once you’ve recorded your audio, the display shows the
audio clips in the track screens. Now that your audio is in
the VIP, it’s time to start editing the audio. But before we do
that, let’s do the right thing and save where we’re at. It’s
good advice for any kind of work on the computer. Save
frequently and often.

Editing/Processing

Now that we have our waveforms on the screen, let’s do some
basic editing and processing. We’re only going to get into the
basic editing here... the SEK’D Red Roaster manual will take
your through the advanced stuff.

The first thing you’ll want to do is select Universal

Mode for the cursor. This button gives you different
editing functions depending on where you click on the audio.
If you click in the top half of the track, you are moving the
play/record cursor and selecting regions of audio to
manipulate. If you click on the bottom of the audio, you can
select the entire block of audio and move it wherever you
wish.

Very basic edits can be made simply
by selecting the block of audio by
clicking in the bottom half of the
audio block. Five handles appear in
the corners and top of the audio
block.

The handles at the bottom of the block move the
starting/ending point of the audio. This is a good way to get
rid of dead space before and after the tracks.

Fade ins and outs are adjusted with the top left and right
handles. Drag the handles inward over the audio to create a
fade. If you want to edit the type of cross fade, click on the
Crossfade editor in the toolbar.

Volume adjustments over the entire block are made with the
top center handle.

For real time EQ and compression, the mixer section can
provide quick and painless solutions. Type “M” to get to the
mixer section. The layout is fairly straight forward, arranging
everything in the familiar mixer setting.

CD-R Pro Only - For more advanced mastering processors, look
under the Effects menu. There you will find multiband
compressors, a stereo enhancer, and more. For these to be
available, you may have to select the block of audio. Some
effects cannot be applied to a freely selected region.

Authoring the CD

Once you have your audio sounding the way you want it,
you’re ready to start assembling your CD. Since the audio is
all laid out in a linear fashion for the CD, all we need to do is
drop in the track IDs and index IDs.

Dropping ID’s in the VIP is really as simple as

placing the cursor where you want the ID and
clicking on the type of ID. (Remember, you place the cursor
by clicking in the top half of the audio blocks.) There are
separate buttons for Track ID and Sub-Index ID. There is
also an Auto ID function which will place IDs at the
beginning of each block of audio.