Tascam DA-78HR User Manual 2

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Page 1

DA-78HR

Digital Multitrack Recorder

D00524000A

OWNER’S MANUAL

The lightning ﬂash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert

ÿ Ÿ

This appliance has a serial number located on the rear panel. Please record the model number and serial number and retain them for your records.

Model number Serial number

the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufﬁcient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons..

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.

CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.

WARNING: TO PREVENT FIRE OR SHOCK

HAZARD, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS

APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.

Page 2

Important Safety Precautions

IMPORTANT (for U.K. Customers)

DO NOT cut off the mains plug from this equipment.

If the plug fitted is not suitable for the power points in your home or the cable is too short to reach a power point, then obtain an appropriate safety approved extension lead or consult your dealer.

If nonetheless the mains plug is cut off, remove the fuse and dispose of the plug immediately, to avoid a possible shock hazard by inadvertent connection to the mains supply.

If this product is not provided with a mains plug, or one has to be fitted, then follow the instructions given below:

IMPORTANT: The wires in this mains lead are coloured in

accordance with the following code:

GREEN-AND-YELLOW : EARTH BLUE : NEUTRAL BROWN : LIVE

WARNING: This apparatus must be earthed.

As the colours of the wires in the mains lead of this apparatus may not correspond with the coloured markings identifying the terminals in your plug proceed as follows:

The wire which is coloured GREEN-and-YELLOW must be connected to the terminal in the plug which is marked by the letter E or by the safety earth symbol ç or coloured GREEN or GREENand-YELLOW.

The wire which is coloured BLUE must be connected to the terminal which is marked with the letter N or coloured BLACK.

The wire which is coloured BROWN must be connected to the terminal which is marked with the letter L or coloured RED.

For U.S.A

TO THE USER

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residental area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.

CAUTION

Changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by TEAC CORPORATION for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate this equipment.

For the consumers in Europe WARNING

This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment, this product may cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.

When replacing the fuse only a correctly rated approved type should be used and be sure to re-fit the fuse cover.

IF IN DOUBT — CONSULT A COMPETENT ELECTRICIAN.

Pour les utilisateurs en Europe AVERTISSEMENT

Il s’agit d’un produit de Classe A. Dans un environnement domestique, cet appareil peut provoquer des interférences radio, dans ce cas l’utilisateur peut être amené à prendre des mesures appropriées.

Für Kunden in Europa Warnung

Dies is eine Einrichtung, welche die Funk-Entstörung nach Klasse A besitzt. Diese Einrichtung kann im Wohnbereich Funkstörungen versursachen ; in diesem Fall kann vom Betrieber verlang werden, angemessene Maßnahmen durchzuführen und dafür aufzukommen.

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 3

ANTENNA LEAD IN WIRE

ANTENNA DISCHARGE UNIT (NEC SECTION 810-20)

GROUNDING CONDUCTORS

(NEC SECTION 810-21)

GROUND CLAMPS

POWER SERVICE GROUNDING ELECTRODE SYSTEM (NEC ART 250. PART H)

NEC - NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE

ELECTRIC SERVICE EQUIPMENT

Example of Antenna Grounding as per

National Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70

GROUND CLAMP

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

CAUTION:

Read all of these Instructions. Save these Instructions for later use. Follow all Warnings and Instructions marked on the audio equipment.

1) Read Instructions — All the safety and operating instructions should

be read before the product is operated.

2) Retain Instructions — The safety and operating instructions should

be retained for future reference.

3) Heed Warnings — All warnings on the product and in the operating

instructions should be adhered to.

4) Follow Instructions — All operating and use instructions should be

followed.

5) Cleaning — Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning.

Do not use liquid cleaners or aerosol cleaners. Use a damp cloth for cleaning.

6) Attachments — Do not use attachments not recommended by the

product manufacturer as they may cause hazards.

7) Water and Moisture — Do not use this product near water — for

example, near a bath tub, wash bowl, kitchen sink, or laundry tub; in a wet basement; or near a swimming pool; and the like.

8) Accessories — Do not place this product on an unstable cart, stand,

tripod, bracket, or table. The product may fall, causing serious injury to a child or adult, and serious damage to the product. Use only with a cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table recommended by the manufacturer, or sold with the product. Any mounting of the product should follow the manufacturer’s instructions, and should use a mounting accessory recommended by the manufacturer.

A product and cart combination should be moved with care. Quick stops, excessive force, and uneven surfaces may cause the product and cart combination to overturn.

10) Ventilation — Slots and openings in the cabinet are provided for ven-

tilation and to ensure reliable operation of the product and to protect it from overheating, and these openings must not be blocked or covered. The openings should never be blocked by placing the product on a bed, sofa, rug, or other similar surface. This product should not be placed in a built-in installation such as a bookcase or rack unless proper ventilation is provided or the manufacturer’s instructions have been adhered to.

11) Power Sources — This product should be operated only from the

type of power source indicated on the marking label. If you are not sure of the type of power supply to your home, consult your product dealer or local power company. For products intended to operate from battery power, or other sources, refer to the operating instructions.

12) Grounding or Polarization — This product may be equipped with a

polarized alternating-current line plug (a plug having one blade wider than the other). This plug will fit into the power outlet only one way. This is a safety feature. If you are unable to insert the plug fully into the outlet, try reversing the plug. If the plug should still fail to fit, contact your electrician to replace your obsolete outlet. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized plug.

13) Power-Cord Protection — Power-supply cords should be routed so

that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or against them, paying particular attention to cords at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the product.

14) Outdoor Antenna Grounding — If an outside antenna or cable

system is connected to the product, be sure the antenna or cable system is grounded so as to provide some protection against voltage surges and builtup static charges. Article 810 of the National Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70, provides information with regard to proper grounding of the mast and supporting structure, grounding of the lead-in wire to an antenna discharge unit, size of grounding conductors, location of antenna-discharge unit, connection to grounding electrodes, and requirements for the grounding electrode.

"Note to CATV system installer:

…

This reminder is provided to call the CATV system installer’s attention to

Section 820-40 of the NEC which provides guidelines for proper grounding and, in particular, specifies that the cable ground shall be connected to the grounding system of the building, as close to the point of cable entry as practical.

15) Lightning — For added protection for this product during a lightning

storm, or when it is left unattended and unused for long periods of time, unplug it from the wall outlet and disconnect the antenna or cable system. This will prevent damage to the product due to lightning and power-line surges.

16) Power Lines — An outside antenna system should not be located in

the vicinity of overhead power lines or other electric light or power circuits, or where it can fall into such power lines or circuits. When installing an outside antenna system, extreme care should be taken to keep from touching such power lines or circuits as contact with them might be fatal.

17) Overloading — Do not overload wall outlets, extension cords, or

integral convenience receptacles as this can result in risk of fire or electric shock.

18) Object and Liquid Entry — Never push objects of any kind into

this product through openings as they may touch dangerous voltage points or short-out parts that could result in a fire or electric shock. Never spill liquid of any kind on the product.

19) Servicing — Do not attempt to service this product yourself as open-

ing or removing covers may expose you to dangerous voltage or other hazards. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel.

20) Damage Requiring Service — Unplug this product from the wall

outlet and refer servicing to qualified service personnel under the following conditions:

when the power-supply cord or plug is damaged. if liquid has been spilled, or objects have fallen into the product. if the product has been exposed to rain or water.

if the product does not operate normally by following the operating instructions. Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating instructions as an improper adjustment of other controls may result in damage and will often require extensive work by a qualified technician to restore the product to its normal operation.

if the product has been dropped or damaged in any way.

f ) when the product exhibits a distinct change in performance – this

indicates a need for service.

21) Replacement Parts — When replacement parts are required, be

sure the service technician has used replacement parts specified by the manufacturer or have the same characteristics as the original part. Unauthorized substitutions may result in fire, electric shock, or other hazards.

22) Safety Check — Upon completion of any service or repairs to this

product, ask the service technician to perform safety checks to determine that the product is in proper operating condition.

23) Wall or Ceiling Mounting — The product should be mounted to a

wall or ceiling only as recommended by the manufacturer.

24) Heat — The product should be situated away from heat sources such

as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other products (including amplifiers) that produce heat.

TASCAM DA-78HR

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Table of Contents

1 - In troduction to th e DA-78HR

1.1 Unpacking.........................................7

1.2 Features.............................................7

1.3 Using this manual............................. 7

1.4 Precautions and recommendations 8

1.4.1 Clock source in a digital studio.......8

1.4.2 H R rec or din g an d emp ha si s.... .... ....8

1.4 .3 Environment al conditions ............ ....8

1.4.4 Installing the DA-78HR.....................9

1.4.5 Ele ctr ic al c onsid e ratio ns......... ........9

1.4.6 Three-core power cord.....................9

1. 4.7 Power i ng the DA-78HR off and on... 9

1.4.8 C on de n sation. .... ......... ..... ......... ........9

1.5 Recommended tapes........................9

1.5.1 T ape brands.... ......... ......... .... ......... ....10

1.5.2 Available recording and playback

time...........................................................11

2 - Front an d r e ar pan el features

2.1 General controls and indicators......13

Power switch ........................................13

Tape loadin g s lot and EJ ECT ke y ......13

FORMAT/Fs k ey ................................... 13

HR MODE key .......................................13

CLOCK key ...........................................13

Status indicators ..................................13

Tape counter ........................................13

PB CONDITION indicator ....................13

2.2 Tape transport keys and controls ...13

REW key ...............................................13

F FWD key ............................................13

STOP key ..............................................14

PLAY key ..............................................14

RECORD key ........................................ 14

DATA/LEVEL control ...........................14

2.3 System cont rol keys.........................14

SHIFT key a nd in dicator ......................14

RHSL (DELAY) key and indicator ....... 14

AUT O IN/O UT (OFFSET) key and

indicator .................................................. 14

CLE AR (PRE ROLL) key ......................14

VARI SPEED / PITCH ke y and

indicator .................................................. 14

ALL INPUT (▼) key and indicato r ...... 14

AUTO MON (▲) key and indica tor ......14

REPEAT (MENU) key and indicator ....15

CHASE (SUB ME NU) key a nd

indicator .................................................. 15

LOC 1 (MEMO 1) key ............................15

LOC 2 (MEMO 2) key ............................15

MIXDOWN (LEVEL/PAN) key and

indicator .................................................. 15

2.4 Track controls................................... 15

REC FUNCTION keys and indicators . 15

Peak meters .......................................... 15

2.5 Rear panel fe a tures...........................15

REMOTE IN/SYNC IN ............................15

M IDI IN/OUT/THRU ................................15

SYNC OUT . .... ..... .... ......... ......... ..... ........15

REM OTE IN ... ..... .... ......... ..... ......... .... ....15

REMOTE PUNCH IN/ OUT .....................16

TDIF-1 (DIGITAL I/O) .............................16

TIME CODE (IN, OUT) ...........................16

W ORD SYNC (IN , OUT, THRU) ............16

DIGITAL IN, OU T (COAXIAL) ...............16

ANALOG INPUTS ( unbala nced) ..........16

ANALOG INPUTS ( BALANCED) ..........16

ANALOG OU TPU TS (unba la nc ed ) .. ....16

ANALOG OUTPUTS (BALANCED) ......16

~ IN .........................................................16

3 - Conn ect ions

3.1 Audio connections............................17

3. 1.1 Bala nce d analog audio conne ctions17

3. 1.2 Unbala nce d analog audio

connecti ons .............................................1 7

3. 1.3 Digital aud io conne ctions.................17

3.1.4 SPDIF c o nnect ors .... ......... ......... .... ....18

3.2 Synchronization connections..........18

3. 2.1 W or d clock connections...................18

3. 2.2 MIDI connect or s (IN , OUT and

THR U) .......................................................18

3.2.3 Ti meco de c onne ct ion s..... .... ..... .... ....18

3.2 .4 MIDI timecode connections.......... ....18

3.3 Connection to other T ASCAM units18

3.3.1 RE MOTE IN. ..... ......... .... ......... ..... ........18

3.3.2 Foot sw itch .. ..... .... ......... ......... ..... ........18

3.3.3 Multiple DTRS units...........................18

3.3.4 “In direc t” word sy nc........ ......... .... ....19

4 - Menu in t erface, etc.

4.1 The display........................................20

4.1.1 Pea k m et ers......... ......... ..... ......... .... ....20

4.2 The SHIFT key...................................20

4.2.1 Shif ted ke ys ..... .... ......... ..... ......... .... ....20

4.2.2 Shif t mode....... ......... ......... .... ......... ....20

4.3 Menus and sub -menus.....................21

4.3.1 Exiting menu mode............................21

4.3.2 Sub -men us...... .... ......... ..... ......... .... ....21

4.3.3 Adjus ti ng para meter val ues . ......... ....21

4. 3.4 Reset ti ng para m eter s to default

value s .......................................................21

4.3.5 “Left” and “right” key s......................22

4.3.6 Sub -fra me v alue s..... ......... ......... .... ....22

4. 3.7 Using the DATA/LEVEL knob to set

value s .......................................................22

4.4 SYSTEM menu...................................23

4.5 AUDIO1 menu....................................23

4.6 AUDIO2 menu....................................24

4.7 TC menu.............................................24

TASCAM DA-78HR

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Table of Contents

4.8 TC chase menu..................................25

4.9 TC ge nerator menu...........................25

4.10 MIDI menu........................................25

4.11 Maintenance menu..........................26

4.12 Dedicated keys................................26

5 - Basic operat ions

5.1 Formatting a tape..............................2 7

5.1.1 Selecting a word clock source........ 27

5.1.2 Form at ting..... ..... ......... .... ......... ..... ....27

5.1.3 Aborting the format proce ss............2 8

5.1.4 Reco rding while forma ttin g......... ....28

5.2 Recording the first tracks.................28

5.2.1 Preparing to record...........................28

5.2.2 Selecting a clock source ..................28

5.2.3 Write -pro t ecti ng casse tte s.. .... ..... ....28

5.2.4 Reco rding t he fir st trac ks (i)............29

5.2.5 Recording the basic tracks (ii).........2 9

5.2.6 Replaying the first trac ks.................2 9

5.3 Input selection...................................29

5. 3.1 Digital input s election....................... 29

5.3.2 In put p a tchb ay routing ... ..... .... .........30

5.3 .3 Track bouncing........... ......... ............. 30

5.3.4 Returnin g to ALL ANALOG setting. 31

5.4 More on digita l recording.................31

5. 4.1 Sampling freque ncy and word

leng th.......................................................31

5.4.2 Selecting input word length............. 31

5.5 Overdubbing......................................31

5.6 Punch-in and punch-out...................32

5. 6.1 Automatic punch poi nt setting........ 32

5. 6.2 Setting punch points “on the fly”.... 32

5. 6.3 Setting punch points usi ng the front

panel.........................................................33

5. 6.4 Editing the pre-r oll a nd post-roll

times.........................................................33

5.6.5 Reh ea rsing the punc h-in..... ......... ....34

5. 6.6 Interrupt ing a rehears al or punch

rec ording .................................................34

5.6.7 Reco rding t he punc h -in .. ..... ......... ....34

5. 6.8 Repla ying the punched material......34

5. 6.9 Exiting punch-in mode. .................... 35

6 - Monitoring

6.1 ALL INPUT.........................................36

6.2 AUTO MON.........................................36

6.3 Shuttle monitor..................................36

6. 3.1 Enabling and disabl ing shuttle

monitoring............................................... 36

6.4 Shuttle muting ...................................36

6.5 Summary of monitor modes ............37

7 - Advanced op erations

7.1 Autolocation......................................38

7.1.1 Setting M EMO 1 and MEMO 2 “on

the fly” ......................................................38

7.1.2 Checking, editing and manually

entering MEMO 1 and MEMO 2...............38

7.1 .3 Setting t he loc ation pre-roll time .....38

7.1 .4 Moving t o MEMO 1 and MEMO 2......38

7.1 .5 Location and playbac k ......................38

7.2 Re peat function .. ................... ............39

7.2 .1 To start repea t play ...........................39

7.3 Tra ck delay............................. ............39

7.4 Su b-mixer............ ................... ............40

7.4 .1 Entering mixdown mode...................4 0

7.4 .2 Setting t he master level ....................40

7.4 .3 Leaving edit/pan setting mode.........40

7.4 .4 Setting levels and pan positions......4 0

7 .4.5 Set ti n g the sub- m ix er inpu t s o ur ces 41

7.5 Cr os sfade t imes................................41

7.6 Vari speed (pitc h control).................41

7.6 .1 To set a non-standard speed............41

7.7 Sh uttle oper atio ns................. ............42

7.7 .1 Shu ttle monitoring .............................42

7.7 .2 Shu ttle muting...................................42

7.8 M ete r mod es.......................... ............42

7.8 .1 Peak hold time...................................42

7.8 .2 Meter ballis tics ...................................42

7.9 Sin e oscillat or..... ................... ............43

7.9 .1 Recording the osc illator ...................43

7.10 REC MUTE (recording silence)......43

7.11 Dither................................................43

7.1 1.1 Selectin g dit her settings.................44

7.12 Advanced output options...............44

7.1 2.1 Output word length .........................44

7.1 2.2 Output patchbay ..............................44

7.13 Emulat ion.........................................45

7.14 Saving settings to tape...................45

7.15 Restoring settings from tape .........45

8 - Synchroniza tion with other DTRS

units

8.1 Syn chr oniz ati on co nnections ..........47

8.2 Machine ID and master/slave

settings..................................................47

8.2.1 Differ enc es betw een DTRS m odels . 47

8.2 .2 Setting machine ID ............................4 8

8.2.3 Master/slave settings (CHASE

mode)........................................................48

8.3 M achine off set.... ................... ............48

8.3 .1 Setting machine offs e t......................48

8.3 .2 Can celling machine offset................48

8.3.3 Setting machine offset “on the fly” .49

8.3 .4 An example of setting offsets ..........49

8.4 Digit al du bb ing ... ................... ............50

8.5 Syn chr oniz ed formatting..................50

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 6

Table of Contents

8.5.1 R ecordi ng while fo rm at ting. ..... ........51

8.6 Individual clock mode...................... 51

8.7 Error messages.................................51

9 - Op erations related to time code

9.1 ABS and timecode............................52

9.1.1 A BS t ime......... ......... .... ......... ..... ........52

9.1.2 T ape timec ode............. ..... ......... ........52

9.1.3 Sel ec ting TC or ABS ti ming ..... ........5 2

9.2 Tape timecode mod e........................52

9.2.1 TAPE TC sett ing................................ 53

9.2.2 A BS se ttin g......... ......... ......... ..... ........5 3

9.3 Selecting the frame mode................53

9.4 Timecode input and output..............53

9.4.1 Showing input timecode...................54

9.4.2 Timecode input timing......................54

9.4.3 T imeco de o ut pu t ..... .... ......... ..... ........5 4

9.4.4 MTC out pu t ..... .... ......... ..... ......... .... ....54

9. 4.5 Fa st linear timecode (LTC) output... 55

9.4.6 Timecode output timing ...................55

9.5 Recording timec ode......................... 55

9.5.1 Sel ec ting the ti mec ode sourc e.... ....55

9.5 .2 R eco rd ing timeco de u sin g t h e

ge nerato r ......... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ....56

9.5.3 Gene rat or mode s........ ......... ......... ....56

9.5 .4 Synthes izing timecode from ABS

timin g...... ......... ......... .............. ......... ........56

9.5.5 External timecode sources .............. 57

9.5 .6 R eco rd ing timeco de f r om exte rn al

s ources... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ....57

9.5.7 Checking external timecode ............ 57

9.5.8 Checking the frame mode of striped

timecode.................................................. 58

9.6 Chasing to timeco de ........................58

9.6.1 Machine ID and timecode.................58

9.6.2 T imeco de o ff set . ..... ......... .... ......... ....58

9.6.3 Setting timecode offset ....................58

9.6.4 Cancelling timecode offset ..............59

9. 6.5 Setting timecode offset “on the fly” 59

9.6.6 Par k p osi ti on .. ......... .... ......... ..... ........59

9.6.7 Automatic park positio n s e tting ...... 59

9.6.8 A bs o lut e a n d r elat ive d iffe renc e.. ....60

9.6.9 R echa sing t ime cod e... ......... ..... ........60

9.6.10 Bypassing timecode errors............ 60

9. 6.11 Indi vidual recording while chasin g

timecode.................................................. 60

10 - MID I control

10.1 MMC enable and disable................62

10. 1.1 A ss ig n in g a MIDI I D to the

DA -78HR.. ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .... ....62

10.1.2 MMC commands and the DA-78HR62

10.2 MMC Bit Map Array.........................63

10.3 MIDI Control Change......................65

10.4 MIDI System Exclusiv e...................65

10.4.1 Id e nt it y Re p ly.... ......... ..... ......... .... ....65

10.4.2 T ASCA M E xc lusiv e message s.......65

10.4.3 T rack dela y........ ..... ......... .... ......... ....65

10.4.4 C ross fad e . ......... ..... ......... ......... .... ....65

10.4.5 M ac hine o f fset........ .... ......... ..... ........65

10.4.6 T rack Copy Se tup.. .... ......... ......... ....66

10.4.7 T rack Copy En abl e............. ......... ....66

10.5 MIDI Implementation Chart............67

11 - Mainte nance, etc.

11.1 Head and tr a nsport cleaning .........68

11.1.1 To clean the heads and transport..68

11.1.2 Che cking error rates........................68

11.1.3 Che cking drum time........................69

11.2 Backup memory initialization........69

11.3 Checking version numbers............69

11. 3.1 Software upgrades .... .............. ........70

12 - O ptions, spec ificat io ns and ref eren ce

12.1 Options for the DA-78HR................71

12.1.1 R C-8 98 remote cont ro l u nit..... .... .... 71

12.1.2 R C-8 28 remote cont ro l u nit..... .... .... 71

12.1.3 R C-8 08 remote cont ro l u nit..... .... .... 71

12.1.4 IF-AE8 AES/EBU digital audio

converter..................................................71

12.1.5 IF-88SD SDIF-2 digit al audio

converter..................................................71

12.1.6 IF-TA D ADAT digita l a ud io

converter..................................................71

12.1.7 TDIF- 1EX extender box...................71

12.1.8 C able s... .... ......... ......... ..... ......... .... ....71

12.2 Spe cific ations........................... .......72

12.2.1 T ape rec ord er sect ion.... .... ......... ....72

12.2.2 A nalog i nput s and output s ..... ........ 72

12. 2.3 Digital inputs and outputs .......... ....72

12. 2.4 Remote/ sync connectors ............ ....72

12.2.5 W ord sync termi n als . ..... ......... .... ....72

12. 2.6 Timecode connec tors..... ............. ....72

12.2.7 M IDI conne cto rs..... ......... ......... .... ....72

12. 2.8 Remote contr ol connectors.... ........72

12.2.9 Phy sic al spec ifica t ion s .. ......... .... ....73

12.2.1 0 P ower spec if ica tio ns.... ......... ........73

12.2.1 1 Au dio s pec ifi ca tions..... .... ..... ........ 73

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 7

1 - Intr oduction to the D A-78HR

Th e TASCAM DA-78HR is a digital audio multitrack recorder designed for use in a variety of applica ti on s, i nclu di n g vi d e o po st-produ c ti on an d audi o multitr ack work.

It r ecords 8 tracks of full-q uality digital audio on standard Hi8 video cassettes using a speciallyde sig ned trans port and head mechanis m. Using this medi um, up t o 108 minute s of c ontinu ous re co rding is possible on a single NTSC “120” tap e

Recording is carr ied out at either 24 or 16 bits of resoluti on, and digi t al data may b e input at 16, 20 or 24 bits o f resolution. An alog signals are conver te d to digital da ta usi n g 64 t i mes over s am pl i n g de l ta - si g ma techniqu es.

The DA-78HR bu ilds on the foundation s laid by the TASCAM DA-88, DA-38 and DA-98 digital multitrac k rec orders, and retains compat ibility wit h them. 16-bit tapes record ed on on e of the DA series can be r eplayed and overdubbed on any other machi ne in the series, or any DTRS be replayed in DA-78HR recorders,

machine. 24-bit ta pes can only

1.1 Unpacking

The box contains the following.

• DA-78HR Digital Multitrac k Recorder (x 1)

• Accessories: –Ra ck mount screw ki t (x 1) –AC power cord, 2 m (6 ft.) long (x 1) –T his m anu al (x 1)

• Warran ty card (x 1)

1.2 Feat ures

Other key features of the DA-78HR include:

• TASCAM-exclusive high- performance/high wear resistive rotary 4-head mechanism with TASCAM original track la yout (DTRS standard )

• Use of stand ard, low-cost media with lon g record ing and playback times

• 24 - bit or 16-bit linear quantization a t either 44.1 kHz or 48 k Hz provides C D-quali ty s ound or bett er

• Fa st, frame-a ccur a te tape location and positioning; end-to-end winding for a “120” tape is around 80 seconds

1. DTRS is a tradema rk of TEAC Corporation

• Direct digital synchronization of up to 16 DTRS recorder s (128 tracks) without the use of any ex ternal synchronizer or controller

• Direct digita l dubbing b etween DTRS units

• A n inte rna l digita l patchbay, allowing input-totrack assignment and selection of digit al, analog an d off-tape sources without the use of external sw itc hing or routing equipme nt

• I nternal 8 x 2 mixer (lev el an d pan) for stereo replay of recorded tracks and ou tput through a stand ard SPDIF connec tor without ex ternal m ixing equipm ent

• SPDIF stereo input

• Balanced +4dBu analog inputs and ou tputs carried on a convenient compact D-sub connector

• Un balanced –10 dBV connectors (RCA) for conne ction to semi-pro fession al equipmen t

• 15 -seg men t p eak meters with u ser- selec table f al l ba llistics and variable hold time (includin g continuous peak hold)

• Meters also used fo r display of channel and track information

• Inte gra l digita l sin e oscillator, providing signals at 440Hz and 1kHz for tuning and other frequencies for lineup purposes

• D igital in put a nd output on a single convenient compact D-sub connector (T DIF-1 format)

• Settings carr ied out through a menu hie rarchy

• SM PT E /EB U timecode input and output

• MI DI Time Code and MIDI Machine Control

• Simplified source/tape monitoring functio ns with au tomat ic switching

• Auto punch-in and punch-out with rehearsal mode

• 2-point full functio n autolocator with A– B r epeat function.

• Variable speed reco rding and playback (up to 6.0% in 0.1% steps)

• Shuttle m ode enables “rock and roll” audio positionin g of key locations

• D ata e ntry mode allows use of shuttle knob to set da ta va lues

1.3 Using this manual

We suggest that you take the trouble to r e a d this manual thro ugh a t least once before s tarti ng to us e the DA-78HR. I n th is way, yo u will find out where to tur n when you need answers.

TASC AM D A- 78 HR

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1 - Introductio n to the DA-78HR

We sugg est that yo u make a speci al n ote of the section 1.4 , “Precautions and recommendations” as the se cont ain some informati on which is unique to the DA-78HR.

We also sugges t that you also read , a s this will help you when you come to perform basic operations.

When r eferring to a control or a connector on the DA-78HR, the name of the control or conne ctor w ill be written in bold type, and ma y be followed by a number, as in the exam ple belo w:

Ho ldi ng d own the

REC

the

D key w ill st art the reco rdi ng pr o-

PLAY

key C and pressing

cess.

The num bers refer to the front a nd rear panel illustr ations and description in this manual.

When referring to a word or phrase which appears on the display, the word or phrase wi ll be written as foll ows:

MEMO. 1 (

ME MO 1

If on -scree n p ara meter s are giv en as p art of a d isplay example, they m ay sometimes be shown in the following way, where the

;; represents an unknown

value:

ID SEL ;; (

ID SEL xx

), where xx is the

m achine ID

NOTE

Reco rding is an a rt a s well as a scien ce. A successf ul r ecord ing is often judged primarily on the qua l ity of sound as art, and we obviously cannot guarantee that. A company that makes paint and brushes for artists cann ot say that the pain t ings made with their pr od ucts will b e critically well-receiv ed. TASCAM can mak e no g ua rantee t ha t the DA-78HR by its elf will assure the quality of the recordings you make. Your skill as a tech nician an d your ab iliti es as an artist will be significant fact ors in the results you achieve .

1.4 Precautions and recommendations

As with any precision piece of electronic equipment, common-sense precautions apply with the DA78HR.

However, there ar e a few extra precautions which ap ply to the DA- 78 HR, and we suggest that you ma ke a note of the se, to prolong the useful life of the DA-78HR.

1.4.1 Clock source in a di gita l studio

The DA-78HR can be used in a variety of s ituatio ns, and wi th a v ar iety of equipment, either d i gital o r analog.

If you are working with more than one d igital audio unit in yo ur s etup, you should n ote that all units must be driven by the same central clock so urce (“word clo ck” or “word s ync ”) .

If differ ent word clock sources are used throughout the setup, it is actually possible to damage speake rs, etc. becaus e of m ismat ches.

The DA-78HR can be desi gnated as the wor d clock master for your studio, or can be slaved to external word cl ocks, us i ng a convenient fro nt-pan el swit ch and standard BNC co nnectors.

Even though AES/EBU stereo digital audio signals are sel f -clocking, any AES/E BU fo rmat signals con verted and fed to or from the DA-78HR mus t be synchron ized a t word level with the DA-78 HR.

1.4.2 HR re cording an d emphas is

R ec ordings ma de in 24-bit (HR) mode do not use emphasis.

If an attemp t is made to record a digita l signal that contains emphasis u sing either the TDIF or the SPDIF digita l a udio in puts, the display shows

E EM P

EMP (

), and the sig nal is muted.

A di gi tal emp hasis circui t is pr ovi ded, however, for co mpa tibility w ith previous models of DTRS recorder.

No te that if a rec ording using emphasis is dubbed to the DA-78HR via the analo g inpu ts, this signal will need t o be mo difi ed a ppropriatel y.

1.4.3 Environmenta l conditions

The DA-78HR can be op erated in most enviro nments, but we suggest th at you keep the environm ental conditions within the followin g limits:

• Ambient temperatu re between 5°C and 35°C (41°F and 95°F).

• Relative humidity should be between 3 0% and 80% non-con den s in g

• There should be no strong magnetic fields (speakers, etc.) near the DA-78HR.

• Avoid spra ying polish, insecticides, etc . near the DA-78HR.

NOTE

If you need to clean the DA-78HR, use a soft cloth, moistened if necessary with a little detergent and

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1 - Intr oduction to the DA-78H R

water. Do not use abra sive cleaner s or solvents such as alcohol or thinner.

Avoid subjecting the DA-78HR to jol ts, sudden shocks, etc.

NOTE

— IMPOR TANT

If you have to return the unit fo r ser vice or r epair, use t he original packing materials if pos sible. If the un it i s to be transported to a recordin g location, etc., use a suitable transport case with sufficient shock protection.

TASCAM does not accept r esponsibility for damag e resu lting from neglect or accident .

1.4.4 Installing t he DA - 78HR

T he DA -78HR ma y be inst all ed in a s tandard 19” rack, occu pying 3 U of space. Since the DA-78HR is quite h eavy (around bet ween 7 and 8 kg – ab out 16lb.), your rack should be strong and stable to take the weight of the DA-78HR.

The D A - 78 H R sh ou l d be m o un te d wit h th e fron t pane l verti cal .

1.4.6 Three-core power cord

In orde r to mainta in the best possib l e audio quali ty, the DA- 78H R is supplied with a 3-core (grounded) power cord. DA-78HR should be used wi th a grou nded po wer cor d, connected to a suitable electrical groun d, at all times. If it is not, ther e is a possibility that the audio quality will suffer.

1 .4.7 Po w ering the DA-78HR off and on

When powering the DA-78H R off and on, al ways wait for five seconds or more between powering the unit off and tu rning it on ag ain. If the power is switched t oo quickly, the precision power supply may no t provide the po wer of the prop er quality required for record ing .

If power is inadvertently swit ched o ff a n o n quick ly, an d t he po w er su pply do e s no t res p on d pr o pe r l y , switch the unit off again, wait f or five or more seconds, and swi tch i t on again.

1.4.8 Condensati on

If you use the DA-78HR in a warm place after mo ving it from a cold place (for instance, recor ding on location), or if there has been a sudden change in temperature, condensation m ay occur within the tap e mechanism, with a risk of possible dama ge to the unit.

1.4.5 Ele ct rica l co nside rat ions

Make sure th at your local power supply matches the voltage requirements marked o n the rear pa nel of the DA- 78HR.

If you are in any doubt co ncerning the local power supply, consult an electrician .

Av oid ex treme v oltage fluctuation s. If necessary, use an input voltage regulator to smooth the power supplied to th e D A-78HR.

Do not open the unit to clean inside, or to per for m any in ternal adjustm ents . Yo u sh ould not attem pt any cleaning or other maintenance proced ures which are not d escribe d in this manual.

Yo u may need to clean the heads occasi onally. Th e procedure for doing this, and for checking tape error r ates, etc. , is given in 11.1 , “Head an d transport cleaning”.

If condensation does occur, you will not be able to operate the DA- 78H R controls, a nd you will see the following me ssage on the display

E DEW (

E DEW

If you see the above messag e, leave the DA- 78HR s wi t ched on for o ne or tw o ho urs, then sw i tc h i t of f an d on ag a i n before starti ng rec or d i ng .

If you are going to use the DA-78HR in a location where you think condensation is likely to occur, move th e DA-78HR into the warmer location a bout one or two hours before recor ding is d ue to start, and leave it switched on. T urn the DA- 78H R off and th en on again bef ore starting recor ding.

1.5 Recommended tapes

Th e D A-78HR is designed for us e w ith Hi 8 vid eo casset t es. Y ou ca nnot u s e a n y ot h e r ki n d of t a pe w it h the DA- 78H R.

Alwa ys use new tapes, or tapes in the best possible condition, in o rder to achie ve the best possible r esults when recording. Tapes which have been over-used will no t give such good resu lts as ne w tape s.

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1 - Introductio n to the DA-78HR

There are two basic ty pes of Hi8 tape: MP and ME. Eac h has its ow n particular char acteristics and merits :

• MP tap es are manufactured using a d aubed magnetic particle deposit proc ess and exhibit a level of perfor mance which is more than acceptable. They have a durability which all ows them to be used as work tapes in st udi o an d post -producti on environme nt s.

• ME ta p es have the i r magneti c la yer p rod uc ed through a metal ev apo ration process. Generally speaking, th ough these tape s hav e a high p erformance level, they are not as robust as MP tapes (see above ) and s hould be us ed fo r l ive recordin g and archival purpo ses, rath er than as work tapes.

TASCAM does not endorse any specific tape or tape manufacturer. TASCAM has licensed th e use of the DTRS logo ( ) to tape manu fact ure rs, provided their tape meets the specifications required by DTRS tap e recorders. The table below lists several suc h tap es, certified for use w ith DTRS tape record ers. However, the use of the DTRS logo on the tape packaging d oes not imply any endors ement of the tape by TASCAM. It is possible that the characteristics and s ensitivitie s of tapes may be changed by the ma nuf acturers with out notice. The bra nds and mode l nu mbers of tapes listed below may not always meet the specifications required by DTRS sy stems for o ptimum performance. TASCAM assumes no responsibility for pr oblems r esulting f rom change s made by a ma nufactu rer to the materials or specifications of its ta pe prod uct s .

The electr ical characteristics of DTRS r ecorders are adjusted and set using Sony Hi8 tape parameters (MP an d ME) prior to shipme nt.

1.5.1 Tape brands

T he follow ing bra nds and models of tape ca n be use d with the DA-78H R. As mentioned above, this list does not constitute any endorsem ent by TASCAM of these prod ucts, nor is it a gu arantee t hat tapes b earing

this brand and model nam e will continue to give optimu m per formance.

Maker MP ME

Sony DARS-MP E6-HME

P6-HMP E5-HME P6-HMPX E6-HMEAD P5-HMP E5-HMEAD P5-HMPX E6-HMEX

E5-HMEX Quantegy DA8 MP BASF DA MP HHB DA113 Maxell DRS-113DA (P) Fuji DPD-MP

The electr onics of DTRS recorders are designed to operate within specific parameter s. The use of a tape with se ns itivity higher or lower than that of ta pes for wh ich th e DTRS recorder was originally designed ma y cause an error in fu nctio nality or prevent the user from gettin g optim um performa nce from the tap e. Always use the shorte s t poss ible t ape for a given project. Do not attempt to use 150-minute or longer tapes in DTRS machines, as the machine will detect the thick ness of tape and automatically eject any tape thinner than r ecommended.

Never attempt to use a tape with the DA-7 8HR that has previously been used in video equipment.

NOTE

— IMPOR TANT

You cannot cut and spl ice DTRS 8mm tapes for editing purposes. Using a spliced tape in the DA-78HR will inv ar iably result in serious dama ge to the heads, requiring replacement. All editing must be done digitally .

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1 - Intr oduction to the DA-78H R

1.5.2 A vailabl e recording and playback time

De pendin g on whe t he r t he t ape has be en purch a se d for use with an NTSC (P6/E6) or a PAL/SECAM (P5/E5) television sys tem, the same length of tape (as far as video length is concerned) will provide different times for audio work, as shown below, d ue to di ffere nt fr a me rates betwe en televisi on syst ems. The

indication P6/E6 or P5 /E 5 will be printed on the ta pe package:

Time on tape

label

20 18 25 30 27 37

45 40 56 60 54 75

90 81 113 120 108 –

P6/E6 (NTSC

tape)

P5/E5 (P AL/

SECAM tape)

TA SCAM DA-78HR

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2 - Fr ont and r ea r panel feat ur es

TASCAM DA-78HR

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2 - Fr ont and r ea r panel feat ur es

2.1 General contro ls and ind icators

Power switch

Turns the power to the DA-78HR on and off. When the DA- 78HR is turned of f, settings will be r etained in mem ory.

T ape loading slot and EJECT key

Only us e Hi8 ME or MP tapes as specified in 1.5, “Reco mme nde d tapes”. The DA-78HR will automatically eject all other tapes .

NOTE

—IMPORTANT

Do not use a tape whi ch has been used for recording video. Always use either new tapes or tapes which have been used in a DTRS recorder.

EJECT

The can only be ejected when the transport is stopped.

FORMAT/Fs

The an d allows selection of the sampling frequency used for recording (see 5.1, “Formatting a tape” for full de tails) . The current sa mpling fre que ncy is shown on the status indicators

Thi s key allows the selec tion of the recording resolution (16-bit or high-resolution 24-bit). See 5.1, “Forma tting a tape” for details.

key ejec ts an y loaded cassette. A casset te

FORM AT /Fs key

key controls the formatt ing of tapes

HR MODE key

Legen d Meaning Section

OFFSET

CLOCK (WORD)

C LOCK (DIGI TAL IN )

TAPE TC

Tape cou nter

M achine or tim ecode o ffset is in operation

W hen both of these are lit, the DA-78HR is using internal w ord

sy nc , and w hen nei t her is lit, w ord sync is being re ceived through the

SYNC IN

li t, t he wor d s y nc is being r ec eive d t hrough t he ap propri-

ate connector (digital audio

COAXIAL

( Lights when the DA -78HR is

reading time code fro m the tape

REMOTE IN/

connector. If one is

) or wor d sync).

8.3.1 an d

9.6.2

3.2

Th e tape counter gives th e current tape time in hours, minutes, seconds and f rames.

I t is also use d to disp lay menus, sub-m enu s and the va lues of the parameters of the unit, as we ll a s p roviding in forma tion on the current status of the unit.

PB CONDITION indicator

There is one mor e indicator:

PB CO ND I T I ON

, w h ic h l ights if there are many errors when reading or recording the tape. It also f lashes when the block error rate is being check ed (11.1 .2, “Checking error rates”).

If this lights frequently, the bloc k er r or rate can be checked and the head s cleaned (11.1, “Head and tr ansp or t cl eaning ”).

The app r opriate indicator 6 will light if the HR mode is selec te d.

CLOCK ke y

This is used to select the word sync source for the DA-78HR (either internal, shown on the indicator

Status indicators

6).

WORD

DIGITAL IN

, as

The status indicators show the current status of various DA-78HR functions. The legends of these indicators are abbreviat ed for r eason s of space. Here is a lis t of their full me a nings, toge ther with the pages on wh ich the function s are more fully described:

Legend M eaning Section

HR Fs (44. 1k) Fs (4 8k )

ABS

High-reso lut ion (2 4-bit) m ode 5.1 Either of these wi ll light to sho w

the current samp ling fre quency Tape s ubcode (ABS ) is bein g

used as the t iming reference

5.1

9.1

2.2 Tape transport keys and

controls

REW key

Rewinds the tape at high speed. If this key is pressed during recording, recording will

s top and the tape will rewind.

F FWD k e y

Winds the tape forwar d at high speed. If this key is pressed during recording, recording will

s top and the tape will win d forward .

NOTE

Wh en ei th er time after powerin g up, or load ing a ta p e, the u nit first

confi gures itself for the r eel hub diameter of the tape in use, during which the tape advances at low speed s. This takes several seconds. Thereafter, t he

REW

F F WD

is pressed for the first

TASCAM DA-78HR

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2 - Front and rear pan el features

transport momentarily goes into stop mode before the tape sta rts fast-winding.

STOP key

Cancels any current tape transport mode, and sto ps the tape. I f pressed in chase mode, can cels the mode and stops the tape.

PLA Y ke y

Starts playing the tape. If this key pr e ssed w hile r ecording is in progress , t he DA -78HR drops ou t of record mode.

RECORD key

PLAY

If the ke y is held down , recording will start on all “armed” tracks (5.2. 1, “Prep aring to record”).

If the DA-78HR is in play mode, and the pressed, recording will start immediately on any “armed” tracks.

RECORD

The during auto punch-in/out operations (5.6, “Punch-in and punch-out”).

When the tor will lig ht. The active as a shuttle control. Turning the control to the right provides forw ard c uein g and turning it to the left provides reverse cuei ng, similar to “rock and roll” o n open-r eel tape decks. For details, see 7.7, “Shuttle o per ation s”.

When the tio n with th e also used as a data entry control to make vario us settings, in c lud ing the sub-mixer settin gs. See 4.3.7, “ Usin g the DATA/LE VEL knob to set values” and

7. 4, “Sub-mixer” for details.

key C is pressed w hile the

k ey also is used to set punch-in poin ts

DATA/LEVEL co ntro l

SHUTTLE/DAT A

DATA/LEVEL

SHUTTLE/DA TA

SHIFT

ke y, t h e

key is pr esse d, the indica-

key is pr essed in c onjunc -

DAT A /L E VEL

control will th e n be

RECORD

REC

key is

control is

2.3 Syst em con trol keys

SHI FT key and ind icato r

C o nt ro l s th e be h a vi o r of th e ot h er keys (s e e 4.2, “Th e SHIFT key” for details).

R HS L (D E L AY ) key and i nd ica t o r

This ke y an d indicator a llow selection of the rehearsal mode in auto punch-in and out (5.6, “Pun ch-in and punch-o ut”).

When the DA- 78H R is in shift mode, this key allo w s the setting of tra ck d e la ys (7.3, “Track dela y”).

AUTO IN/OUT (OFFSET) key and

indic ator

This ke y and indic ator allow automatic punch-in and punch out foll owing r ehears al (5. 6, “ P unc h-in an d punch-o ut”).

When the DA- 78H R is in shift mode, this key allo w s the setting of chase offsets (8.3, “Mac hin e offset” and 9.6.2, “Timecode offset”).

CL E AR ( P RE ROLL ) key

T his k ey d efeats the rehearsal and au to modes during au t o punch -i n a n d out (s e e 5. 6 , “ P un ch-in and punc hout”) . It can also be used to canc el a fo rmat o perat ion (5.1, “Fo rmatting a ta pe”).

When the DA- 78H R is in shift mode, this is used to set pre- and post-roll times (5.6.4, “Editing the preroll and post-roll times” and 7.1.3, “Setting the location pre- roll time”).

V ARI SPEED / PI T CH key and

indic ator

Used to set the varispeed (pitch) amoun t, and to turn the function o n and off (see 7 .6, “Vari speed ( pitch control)”.

AL L I NP UT (▼) key an d i ndicat or

This ke y is used to switch the monitoring mode so that the o utputs mirro r the inputs (see 6.1, “A L L INPUT”).

The following keys all pr ovide access to more adva nced funct ion s of the DA- 78H R. M any o f t hem are also u sed in the menu system to v iew and set system parameters. See 4, “Menu in terface, etc.” for de tails.

M any of them als o serve two func tions, as shown by the blue “shifted” legends below the uns hifte d legends (shown here in parentheses). See 4.2, “The SHIFT key” for details.

AUTO MON (▲) key and in di cator

This ke y is used to c hange the monito ring mode to change automatically in punch operations (see 6.2, “AUTO MON”).

In menu mode and when editin g parameters, th is acts as a key to select and change (increm ent) parameters .

SHIFT

When used with the key.

key, it acts as a cursor

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2 - Fr ont and r ea r panel feat ur es

REPEAT (MENU) key an d indicator

Th is key is use d to provi d e a r e pe at fu nc t ion be tw e en the two location points (see 7.2, “Repeat function” ).

Wh en the D A-78HR is shift mode, it allows s election of the to p-level men us (se e 4. 3, “Me nus an d s ubmenus”).

CH ASE (SUB M E NU) key and

indicator

This k ey is used to set the DA-78HR to a slave chas e mode , eithe r to another DTRS unit, or to timecode (see 8.2.3 , “Master /slave settings (CHASE mode)” and 9. 6 , “Chasing to timecode”) .

W hen the D A-78HR is in shift mode, it allows selection o f the second level o f men us in the menu tree ( s ee 4.3, “Menus a nd sub-menus”).

LOC 1 (MEMO 1) key

This k ey locates the tape to the position set by

(this key used with the

“Autolocation” for details.

LOC 2 (MEMO 2) key

This k ey locates the tape to the position set by

(this key used with the

“Autolocation” for details.

MIXDOWN (LEVEL/PAN) key an d

SHIFT

key). See 7.1,

SHIFT

key). See 7.1,

MEMO

indicator

T his key turn s the 8 x 2 sub-m ixer ou tput on and off fro m the re ar pan e l outp ut s. See 7 .4, “Sub -mix er” fo r details.

W hen the DA-78HR is in shift mode, this key is u sed to set the level a nd the pan po sitio n of each track in the sub-mixer image (7.4, “Sub- mixer ”) .

2.4 Track controls

REC FUNCTION keys a nd indicators

Thes e eight switches and indicators allow the se tting and viewing of the record status o n a track -by-track basis.

When one of these switches is pressed, the appropriate indicator will flas h, the track is “armed” , and goin g into record mode will start recording on that track. When rec ording is being car ried out on a track, the track’s indicator will light steadily.

In ad dition, these keys are also used to selec t tracks and channels for different operations, including the input an d out put patchbays, the delay and su b-mixe r

f unc tions. See 7.3, “Tr ac k de lay”, 7.4, “Sub- mi xer ” an d 5.3, “Input selection” for de tails of these operations.

Peak me t ers

Th e se 15-segment peak meters show the input leve l or the recorded signal level, depending on the monito ring mo de currently in operation ( 6, “Monitoring”).

NOTE

When using digi tal recor ding equipment, there is no headroom above the 0 dB mark and no tape saturation is possible. Any signal which causes the “OVER” segment to ligh t will cause audible di s tortion. For this r eason you should ta ke care not to let recording levels exceed this level.

The ballistics and peak h old times are selectable (s ee

7.8, “Meter mo des”). T hey may als o be used to prov ide a qui ck visua l

guide to the s tatus of some of the s ettings ( sub- mixer , patchbay, etc.). See 4.1.1, “Peak meters” for details.

2.5 Rear panel features

See 3, “Connections” for full details of how to connect the DA-78HR to other units.

RE MO TE IN/SY NC IN

This connector is us ed to connect another “master” DTRS un it (e. g. DA-78HR, DA- 98, DA-8 8 or DA-

38). See 8, “Synchronization with other DTRS units” for further details.

A TASCA M remote control un it may also be conne cte d here, but not all f unctions of the DA- 78HR ma y be ava ila ble from the remote control un it.

MID I IN /OU T/TH RU

These conne ctors carry MIDI Time Code (MTC) and MMC ( MIDI Mach in e C ontrol) comm ands as well as MIDI System E x clusive mes sages. See 10, “MIDI co ntrol” for details o f how these fa c ilities a r e used wh en synch ronizin g to other units.

SYNC OUT

Th is is used to connect another DTRS unit in the “d aisy-chain” or, if this DA-78HR is the last unit in t he chain, to attach a termination plug.

REM OTE IN

Us e this to connect an optional RC-808 remote contr ol unit . No te that no t all feat ures of the D A- 7 8HR can be cont rol led using the R C-808.

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2 - Front and rear pan el features

REM OTE P UNCH IN/ OUT

Use this to connect an optional RC-30P footswitch to control punch operations.

TD IF - 1 (DI GITA L I/O)

This connector carr ies the digital signals to and f rom the DA- 78HR in TEAC Digital I nterface Format (TDIF-1).

T IME CODE (I N, O UT)

These RCA connectors are used to carry SMPTE/ EBU timecode to an d fro m the D A-78HR. For details of using th e DA -78 HR with timeco de synchronization, see 9, “Ope r a tions related to timecode ”.

WORD SYNC (I N, OUT, THRU )

These BNC connectors are used to carry the word cl ock b et w ee n the DA-78H R and oth e r ty pe s of di g i tal audio equipment. The terminated (i.e . there is no need for a terminator when this is unconnected).

DIGITA L IN, OUT (COAXIA L)

These RCA connectors provide an SPDI F stereo digital audio signal containing the submi x signal ( or accept an SPDIF signal ( “Sub-mixe r ” and 5.3.1, “Digita l input selection” ).

THRU

connec to r is auto-

) for recording (see 7.4,

OUT

ANALO G I N PUTS (unbal a nced)

These eight RCA connectors accept unbalanced analog audio inputs at –10 dBV.

ANA LOG INPUTS (BALANCED)

Th is conne ctor c ar ri es 8 balanc ed inputs at a nomina l +4 dBu level. This allows convenient an d reliable single-cable connection to th e GROUP outputs of a suitably-equipped console such as the TASCAM M1600 series.

ANALOG OUTPUTS (unbalanced)

These eight RCA connectors output unbalan ced analog audio signals at a – 10 dBV level.

ANA LOG OUTP UTS (BALANCED)

This connector carries 8 balanced outputs at a nominal +4 dBu l evel. This all ows conven ient and reliable single-cable connec tion to the tape return inputs of a suitably-equipped console such as the TASCAM M1600 series.

~ IN

Use the provided AC power cord to connect the DA-

)

78HR to the A C power supply through this connector.

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 17

3 - Connections

This section explains how to connect other equipme nt to the DA-78HR. It is not inte nde d as a complete ref erence to the use of the DA-78HR. See the appropriate sections for f ull details of h ow these connectors are used.

NOTE

S—IMPORTANT

When making connec tions bet ween the DA-78HR and other equipment, w hether audio or control, both the DA78HR and the other equipment m ust be turned wise damage may be caused to t he DA-78HR and/or the other equipment .

Only use T ASC AM-supplied and TASCAM-approved cables when m aking connections to the DA-78HR. T hough the cables and connec tors may resemble computer cables, they serve dif ferent purpos es, and meet a dif ferent set of specifications. The use of cab les other than TASC AM cables will at best c ause the equipment t o work errat ically, and at w orst c ause damage to the equipment .

If the use of cables other than TASCAM cables causes or results in damage, the warranty i s voided.

off

, other-

3.1 Audio connections

T he pinouts for bo t h t he

INPUT

co nnect ors are as follows:

where

=ground, H=”hot” (+) a n d C=”co ld” (–).

ANALOG OUTPU T

and

The i mpedance of the inp uts i s 20kΩ and that of the outputs is 10Ω.

3.1.2 U n balance d analog audi o connections

In add ition to th e balan ced an alog set of co nnection s, ther e are eight RCA jacks f or input signals and eight for o utput. These are, of co urse, unbalanced , and the nominal signal level is –1 0 dBV.

NOTE

On ly c onnect and u se o ne s et of analog input s at a time. There is no fac ility to swit c h b etween the two sets of ana log inp ut connectors.

Other audio equip ment can be connected to the DA78HR eith er using analog or digital interfaces.

Se lection for the input so urce ( analo g or d ig ital) on a global or individual track basis is made from the menus. See 5.3, “Input sel ect io n” for de t ail s .

3.1.1 Balance d an alog audio conn ection s

All balanced analog input and output aud io connections to the DA-78HR are made through 25-pin Dsub con necto rs.

All th ese audio inputs and outputs are balanced and are rated at a nominal + 4dBu level.

Th is allows convenient and tidy cabling between the DA- 78HR and oth er units su ch as the T A SCA M M1600 series of mixing consoles .

I t is not recomm end ed that you m ake up your own cables—con sult you r TASCAM dealer for availability of sui table ready-made cables ( and see 1 2.1.8, “Cables”). However, we recognize that every situation has its own unique features, and there are occasions when a special cable m ust be made.

Before starting to m ake the cable, we suggest you contact your T ASC AM de aler for full deta ils of cable specifications, etc.

3 .1.3 Digital audi o connect ions

Multitrack digital audio input and ou tput signals are carr ied on a single 2 5-pin D-sub connector. The signals are in TDIF-1 format.

To carry signals between a DA-78HR and another unit eq uipped with TDIF-1 in terfaces , such as the TA S CAM serie s of digital mixing console s or othe r DT RS recorders , u se a PW-8 8D cable (1 me t er lo ng) or a PW-88DL cable (5 meters long).

If you need to connect the DA- 78HR to a digital audio sour ce using a dif fer ent format , we recomm end the us e of the following units:

• TASCAM IF-88AE Interface Unit—converts between the TDIF-1 an d AE S/E B U f orma t s

(8 cha nne ls). It also provides SP DIF f ormat conversion fa c ilities.

• T ASCAM IF-AE8—also provides sophisticat ed convers i on facilities be tween the TDI F-

1 and AES/EBU data fo rmats.

• TASC AM IF-88 SD Int erf ace Un it—converts between the TD IF-1 a nd S DIF-2 digital audio formats.

• The TASCAM IF-TAD—converts betw een the T DIF-1 and A DAT data formats, using a

dig ital optical input/output for th e ADAT d ata.

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 18

3 - Connect i ons

3.1.4 SPDIF connectors

The coaxial RCA dig ital audio connector s on the rear panel all ow co nnecti on of an SPD IF-equip ped device (e.g. a DAT recorder).

This digital unit sho uld be us ed as a clock source if data is to be read fro m it

When synchronizi ng to the signal received at the

COAXIAL DIGITAL IN

DIGITAL IN

the

indicator lights.

, set the

CLOCK

key so that

3.2 Synchronizat ion connectio ns

The DA-78H R h as facilities for contro l and synchroniz ation with other units. For full details of how to operate the DA-78HR with other units, see 8, “Synchroniz ati on w ith othe r DTRS units” and 9, “Operations related to timecode” .

3.2.1 Wo rd clo ck connection s

This set of BNC connectors is used to synchronize the DA-78HR to other digital audio devices.

CLOCK

The so ur c es , a n d sh ou l d be set t o nizing to an exter nal word clock (the tor will light).

k ey is us ed to change between clock

WORD

when s ync hro-

WORD

indica-

3.2.3 Timecode connections

The DA-78HR can be synch ronized t o extern allygenerated timecode and is also equipp ed with an inte rna l timeco de gen erato r.

S MPTE/EBU timecod e can be received at the

CODE IN TIME CODE OUT

RCA jack , an d can be transmitted f r om the

RCA jack.

TIME

See 9, “Ope r a tions r elated to timecode” for details.

3.2.4 MID I timec od e conne ct ions

The thre e

MIDI

connecto rs, IN,

form to the MIDI standards for such connectors.

OUT

and

THRU

, con -

3.3 Connection to other TASCAM units

By a “TASCAM unit”, we mean anoth er DA-7 8HR, a DA-98, DA-88 or a DA-38 unit, or an optional remote control unit, which may also be connected in a “chain ” with multiple DTRS units.

3.3.1 REMOTE IN

This jack on the rear panel can be used to conn ect a remote control unit such as RC-808 remote control uni t.

jack should be connected to the WORD

The SYNC OUT of the digital audio device from which the DA- 78HR is to rec eiv e th e synchronization c lock.

OUT

Th e fro m the D A-7 8HR, w hile the signals received at

outputs word clock information provided

THRU,

to echoes the

No te that if the DA-78HR is connected to other DTRS u nits, the

W ORD SYN C

jacks do not need to

be connected between th e DTRS u nits.

3.2.2 MIDI conn ect ors (IN , O UT and THR U)

These standard 5-p in DIN MIDI connectors are used to carry MID I T im e C o de (MTC) and MIDI Mach ine C ontrol (MMC) informatio n be tween the DA-78HR and ot he r sui t ably- equipped units (for inst ance, sequencers capable of being synchronized to MTC, an d capab le of transmitting MMC commands).

The MI DI parameters are set through the menu system (see 10, “MIDI control”).

Note the di f ference b etween

TH RU

. Th e

OUT

connector outputs signals which

MIDI OUT

originate f rom the DA-78HR. The echoes mes sages received at the

THRU

MIDI

and

connecto r

B asic c ontrol can be carried out using this unit, but more advanced ope rations will not be possible.

3.3.2 Footswitch

A footswitch such as the o pt ional TASCAM RC-30 P footswi tch can be co nnected to th e

IN/OUT

jack on the rear panel.

REMO T E PUNCH

This footswitch allows hands-free punch-in and punch-out.

When a track o r track is arm ed, and the unit is in play mod e, pr essing the foots witch o nce will drop the unit into re c ord mode , and pressing it again will drop it back into play m ode.

Th e footswitch , rather than the transport keys, can als o be used to set punch points, as described in 5.6, “Punch-i n and punch-out”.

3. 3. 3 Multiple DT RS units

Use a TASCAM P W-8 8S cable when co nnect ing other units to the

SYNC OUT

the Th is sy nchro nization c able will carry the internal

synchronization code and the transport s ignals, etc. There is no need to make any other connections,

REMO T E/SYNC IN

connecto r.

connec tor or to

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 19

3 - Connections

ap art from the audio connections (either digital o r analog).

If more than one DTRS unit is to be used, the first unit in the chain mu st ha ve its Machine ID set to “1 ”, (“0” in the case of DA-88s) and subsequent units mus t have their IDs se t in o r der with no ga ps in the numbering sequ ence. No te that the diagram below does not s how any audi o co nne cti ons .

M achi ne I D 1

(ma ster)

PW-88S PW-88S

Machine ID 2

(slave 1)

Machine ID 3

(slave 2)

Termination

plug

See 8.2 , “M a c hine ID and ma ster /slave settings” for de tails of settin g the Machin e ID using the me nu syst em

NOTE

T he l ast unit in the cha in must be ter minated (a TASCAM terminatio n plug must be plugged into the

SYNC OUT

again, only use TASC AM cables for connection of equip ment to and from th e DA-78HR.

of the last machine in the cha in. On ce

3.3.4 “Indirect” word sync

As mentioned earlier, there is usually no need to use a word clock when c onnectin g D TR S un its to g ether . There is, however, an occasion when it is necessary to carry ex t er nal w or d sy nc bet w een DTRS un its .

This is when a slave DTR S unit is recording digit ally f rom an ot h e r di g ital aud io devic e:

Digital SDIF- 2

device

Word clock signal

Machine ID 1 (master, but

CLOCK se t to WORD)

PW-88S

Though the s lave will receiv e its word clock f rom the m aster u nit, the master it self mu st recei ve its wor d clock fr om t he other di gital audio device .

In this c ase, th e m aster un it will have its clock so urce

WORD

set to

, an d the slav e will recei ve its clock

from the master unit through the

Mach ine ID 2

(slave 1)

Termination

plug

TDIF -1 d igital

audio

SY N C IN

SDIF-2

digital audio

IF-88SD

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 20

4 - Menu interface, et c.

R ead this section to understa nd the basic principles of the menu operations. These men us are used for ma king settings wh ich cannot be made directly from dedi cat ed f ront pa nel ke ys.

In ad dition, this section give s a brief description of the top-level menu groups as we ll a s th e sub-me nu item s and the parameter s. This is not a detailed description of the s e m enus a nd parameter s , but ma y be consulted for quick reference. See the appropriate se ctions of the manual for deta ile d in forma tion regar ding these menu settings.

4.1 The display

The DA-78HR ’ s menus an d their op ti ons are dis pla yed using the time counter. Since the d isp la y is composed of 7-segment LED counters, a special alphabet is used to show the letters of the alphabet.

The character s on t he DA-78 HR time c ounter are s hown as in the table below:

ABCDEFGHI JK

ABCDEFGHIJK

L MNOPQRST UV

graph d isplay to show the “fader” settings of the trac k levels.

Typically, the higher the va lue of the parameter, the more segments of the meter are lit (at minimum value s, no segments are lit, at maximum values, all segmen ts are lit) .

Pr es sing and ho lding

FUNCTION

key in these editing mod es will toggle

SHIF T

and pressing any

REC

th e meter s between data v alue displ ay and the normal me ter disp lay.

4.2 The SHIFT key

SHIFT

The the action of another key when the presse d an d held wh i le t he other key is pr esse d, and secondly, to enter “shift m ode”. These two are expl ained below.

4.2.1 Shif t ed ke ys

Some keys of the DA-78HR perform two functions, l abels associated with the key. For instance, th e

(locate to memory position 1) key, has the alternat ive “shifted ” function marked as cu r ren t time into me mor y locatio n 1).

key serves two functions: first, to modify

SHIFT

key is

LOC

MEMO 1

(st ore the

LMNOPQRSTUV

WXYZ0123456

789-.x

789-. ;

a . Thi s is a lo wercase " x ", u s ed to den o t e an

unknown va lue.

When a menu item or a value is given in this manual, we show it in the following way:

Pk. Hld (

PK HLD

Notice also that b ecause there are not m any char acter pos ition s on the time counter, the E ng lish menu titles, etc . may be abbrevia te d sometime s.

4.1.1 Pe ak meter s

In ad dition to the time display, the b a rgraph meters are sometimes used to show a value. For ex ample, in the stereo sub-mixer settings, the meters ac t as a ba r -

SHIFT

When th e

key i s pre s s ed and hel d dow n, and one of these keys, as described in the relevant part of this m a nu al, is pressed, the shifted function will be performed.

The two keys can then be released in either order (eithe r the

SHIFT

ke y or the other k ey c an be rel eased

firs t).

4.2.2 Shif t mode

By contrast, pressing the ing it will place the u nit int o “shift mode”. The

SHIFT

indicat or flashes to s how this.

Pressing any of the two-function keys while th e unit is in sh ift mode will automatica lly enter the shifted function.

W hile th e unit is in shift mode, pressing the ke y once again will turn the indicator off and exit

SHIFT

mode.

No te, however, that pressing and holdin g the key and pressing another k ey to access the shifted func tion of that ke y will n ot affect the current shift mode.

SHIFT

ke y a l on e a n d re le as-

SHIFT

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 21

4 - Menu interface, et c.

4.3 Men us and sub-menus

W hen the unit is in shift mode, th e key is the “gateway” to the menus. This key is used to sh ow the top level gr oups of the menu tree:

REPEAT (MENU

4.3.1 Exiting menu mode

To ex it men u mode, either:

SHIF T

)

• turn of f t he sh i ft mo de (p r es s th e its indicator is no longer flashing)

ke y so th a t

SYSTEM--

AUDIO. 1--

AUDIO. 2-TC--

TC. CHS--

TCG. REC-- TCG.REC--Timecode generator recording

MIDI-- MIDI-- Para me ters concerned w ith the

MAINTN-- MAINTN-- Maintenance, etc. parameters,

When the

SYSTEM-- Ba sic system parame ters an d

functions

AUDIO 1-- P ara me ters affectin g the audio

functions of the DA-78HR

A U D I O2-- Addit iona l audio f eatures TC -- Tim ecod e param eters (genera-

to r , d isplay, etc.)

TC.CHS-- Para me ters a ffecting the time-

code cha s e m ode of t he DA 78 H R

parameters)

MIDI fu nctio ns of the DA -78HR

concerned w ith the DA-78HR

key is presse d, one of this grou p na mes is displayed on the screen and the unit ente rs menu mo de. W hen the

MEN U

key is presse d again, the next men u group na me in this list above is shown (the list is “circular”, i.e . th e first gr oup name follows the last in the list).

Pr es si n g a nd holding dow n the ing th e

key goe s to the previous menu gr oup,

SHIF T

key and press -

followin g th e order describ ed ab ove. Once again, the list is regard ed as “circular”.

MEN U

SYSTEM--

AUDIO. 1--

MAINTN--

MIDI--

TCG. REC--

SHIFT + MENU

AUDIO. 2--

TC--

TC. CHS--

Note that the titles of these to p-level menu groups a re all follo wed by two dashe s (

--), sho wing tha t there

are su bmenu s “un der ” th is lev el.

• e nter ano ther shifted func tion (except for the shif ted

SUB MENU

fun cti ons)

4.3.2 Sub-menus

When a menu is displayed, pr essing the sh ifted

CHASE

ke y (

SUB MENU

) b ri ngs up t he sub-me nu items associated with that particular top-level menu group.

There are two dif ferent way s of displaying sub- menu items:

• one is that the name of the pa r a meter to be

adjus ted, and the current v alu e o f the parameter ar e displ ayed together.

• the other wa y is to th at th e nam e of th e p aram eter is

displayed for one seco nd, a nd the display the n changes to the current value of the parameter (th is is when the par ameter name and/or th e value are too long to be displayed together).

Pressing the

SUB MENU

key cycles through the list of su b-menu items in a top-level menu group (th e list is regarded as circular).

Pressing and holding the

SUB MENU

key cycles through the s ub-m enu item s

SHIFT

key and pressing the

in the reverse order.

4.3.3 Adjusting parameter values

In menu mode, the

AU TO MO N

and the

keys pe rfor m th e functi on of up and d own keys (▲ and ▼) and th ey are used to change the values of parameters in the sub-menu items.

As soon as the valu e of the parameter is changed on the dis play, the p a rame te r itself is changed (i.e. there is n o need to confirm changes with an ENTER key or the equivalent).

If one of these keys is pr essed and held down fo r ha lf a second, the key changes to a “repeat” m ode. If the key is held down for one second, the rep eat mo de changes to a “fast repeat” mode, and the value of th e p arameter chan ges fa st er.

ALL INPUT

4 .3.4 Resetting parameters to d efault

values

To reset a para meter value to the def ault value, pres s and hold down the ▲ key and immediately after- w ard s, pr ess th e ▼ key, or vice versa.

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 22

4 - Menu inter face, etc.

4.3.5 “Le f t ” and “ right” keys

W hen editing time values, etc. it is useful to be able to edit one particular element (i.e. hours, minutes, s e conds or frames) of the time value.

The “cursor ” is indicated b y a flashing d ot follo wing the “field” currently being edited.

There are no dedicated left and right cursor keys. Instead, when th e unit is in men u mode, press ing and hold ing the

SHIFT

key and pres sing the ▲ key will

have the effect of a left cursor key.

SHIFT

L ikew ise, pr essi ng a nd holdi ng the

key an d

pres sing the ▼ ke y will have the effec t of a right c ursor key.

It sh ould be noted that there is an “invisible ” field to the right o f the frames field . This allows th e who le o f the displayed value to be increm ented, not just the highlighted field. In other words, frame values, etc. will “roll over” and increment the next field to the left. In this mode , there is no flashing dot to indicate the cursor.

R epeate d press es of these keys will a llow the edit ing of the following fields (in order):

Hours ⇔ Minutes ⇔ Secon ds ⇔ Frames ⇔ Frames (with in crem ent o f whole time value ) ⇔ Sub-frames

percentage ⇔ Sub-fram es perce nt age (w ith inc r ement of wh ole time value) ⇔ Sub-frames sampl e s ⇔ Sub - frames samples (with increment of whole time value) ⇔ Hours , etc.

T he ri ght “cursor key” ( through th e list, and the right “cursor” key (

SHIFT

+ ▼) moves forward

SHIFT

▲) moves backward. The sub-fra me dis plays (in italics abov e) a re

explained in the section below (4.3 .6, “Sub-frame values”).

4.3.6 Sub- f rame values

There are two ways of r epresenting sub-fram e values: as “percentage” subframes, or as s amples.

When sub-frames are displayed as percentages, the mini mum di sp l ayed va lu e i s al w ays 00 and t he max- imum displa yed value is 99.

When displayed as a sample value, the n umber o f samp les per frame varies, according to both the samplin g rate, and the frame rate currently selected:

Sampling

frequency

29.97

AB S

→→→→

↓↓↓↓

48 kHz 44.1 kHzFrame rate

1999 1469

1919 1763

1601 1471

1599 1469

1439 1322

When moving around a time value in the way described above, moving the “cursor” past the frames field will c hange the d isplay to a sub-frame display.

A s ub-f ram e display shows SF (

), followed by either the 2-digit rep resenta tion of the percentage subframe value

SF ;;

of the sample value

, or the 4-digit representation

SF ;;;;

There are four modes of sub-frame display:

• Percentage

• Percentage with increment of whole time value

• Samples

• Samples with increment of whole time value I n the two d ispl ay modes where ther e i s an incremen t

of the whole time value , there is no dot displayed. T hese modes are acce ssed , as expla ined above ( 4.3.5 ,

““Lef t” and “right” keys”) using the “cursor keys”. To retur n to the hh :mm:s s.ff d isplay , m ove the cursor

“outside the display”, i.e. to the right of the subfr ame field when the “samples with increment of whole time value” mode is display ed.

4 .3.7 Usi ng the DA T A/LEVEL kno b to set

valu es

In some menus and other parameter settings, it is possible to use the cal values.

DATA/LEVEL

knob to set numeri-

Press and ho ld down the

SHUTTLE/DATA

the

key.

SHIFT

key, and pre ss

This data setting is the defa ult setting, made at power-up.

When ed iting the valu e of a par amete r , and the

SHUTTLE/D ATA

indicator is blinking slowly,

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 23

4 - Menu interface, et c.

the current position of the knob and the current param eter val ue do not match.

Whe n the

SHUTTLE/D AT A

indicator knob blinks rapidly, the cu rrent position of the knob m atches the curren t para meter value. Turning the knob from this position will now allow the p aram eter val ue t o be changed.

Turn off th e “data en tr y” mode us ing the

SHIFT

SHUTTLE/DATA

and

ke y com b i n at i on .

Un til the match described above has been made, the val ue of the p ara meter can no t be changed using the kn ob.

Disp lay shows as the curr ent value

In dicator flashes slowly

Current position cor respon ds to

D isplay now shows as the current value

Indicator f l ashes fast as

soon a s dial is turne d past

po s it i o n

102

110

This position corresponds

102

This position corresponds to

102

Current posit i on corresponds to

110

Note th at because of the p recisio n of the knob, the value may sometimes appear to “jump”.

Fi ne - tu ni n g of v al ues sh ould be done w it h t he ▲ and ▼ ke ys.

Display

PK. HLD

(peak hold)

Met er peak hold time

RLs.

(re lease tim e)

Met er release tim e

save.

(save)

Saves the cur rent settings to the tap e

Load.

(load)

Loads se ttings from tape

V alues

(*=d efault)

0, 1

through 9

seconds (default

CNT

(contin-

uous)

FAST

SLOW

MED

(slow ), (medium)

OFF

* 7 . 14, “Sav ing set-

Describ ed in

7.8. 1, “Pea k hold time”

7.8. 2, “Meter ballis ti cs”

t ings to tap e”

7.15, “Restoring settings fr om tape”

4.5 AUDIO1 menu

AUDIO. 1. --

are used to contro l the aud io operati on of the unit usin g th e first a udio menu:

Display

D. IN.

The following parameters

V alu es

(*=d efault)

TDIF SPD

(SPDIF)

(TDIF)*,

5.3. 1, “Digi ta l input sele ction ”

Describ ed in

4.4 SYSTEM menu

SYSTEM--

used to con trol an d provide inform ation regarding the ov eral l ope rat i o n of the un it:

Display

iD. sel.

(ID selection)

ID w hen the unit is connec t ed in a c hain of DT RS un it s

time. mode.

(time mode)

Reference t iming source

CLOK. MODE

(clo ck mode)

Clock source fo r a slave unit.

The following parameters are

V alues

(*=d efault)

* through

ABS

AUTO

INDViD

(individual)

Described in

8 . 2. 2, “S et t ing machine ID”

9.1, “ABS and timecode”

8.6, “Individual clo ck mo de”

Selects digita l audio source (for tracks 7 and 8 only)

IN. PATCH

(input patch)

Track input source can be eit her analog, digital or a recorded track

TDIF.

(TDIF)

Input digital word length

DITH

(dit her)

Dit her nois e s hap e

ALL. ANALG

analog),

DGTL

in dividu al t rack s set to

lo g),

*, 20,

OFF

angular), angular)

* (all

ALL.

(a ll digita l),

(a na-

(d igital)

(track)

RECT

(rect-

TRI

(tri-

5.3, “Inp ut selection”

5.4. 2, “S elect ing input word length”

7.11.1, “Select ing dither se ttings ”

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 24

4 - Menu inter face, etc.

Display

REC. MUTE.

(rec mute)

V alues

(*=d efault)

ALL OFF. ON

or individual

tracks

ALL

OFF

Rec mute fun ction

4.6 AUDIO2 menu

Audio. 2. --

tional audio p a rame te r settings:

Display

C. FADE.

(crossfade)

Crossf ade tim e for p unch, et c .

Out. Patch

(output patching)

Output patchbay

out. bit.

(ou t put word len gt h)

(word length of digital output)

ShTL. MoN.

(shu ttl e monitor)

Shuttle m onitor function

ShTL. MuT.

(shu ttl e mute)

Shuttle m ute function

OSC.

(oscillator)

Line-up oscillator

T his menu provide s add i-

V alu es

(*=d efault)

* through

( in 10 ms increment s)

Normal*

mal or as s et )

16, 24

(off)*, 1 (on ) 6.3, “Shuttle m oni-

(off)*, 1 (on ) 6.4, “ S huttl e mut-

OFF

(1k)

200

(nor-

* 7.12 .1, “O utput

440, 1k

Describ ed in

7.10, “REC MU T E (re c ording s ilenc e)”

Describ ed in

7.5, “Cr os s f ade times”

7.12.2, “Out put patchbay”

word le ngth ”

tor”

ing”

7.9, “Sine oscillator”

4.7 TC menu

TC --

control timecode operatio ns:

Display

TAPE. TC

(tape TC)

Tap e time code source

FRm mode

(frame mode)

System frame mode and external/tape frame rate display

DISP.

(TC display)

Timecode display source

In. TC. TMG

( input TC t im ing)

Incoming timecode refe rence

OUT. TC. TMG

(output TC timing)

Outgoing timecode reference

OUT. TC. SRC

(output TC source)

S ource of outgoing timeco de

The fo llowin g parameter s are us ed to

V alu es

(*=d efault)

TC TRK

* (TC

CONV

track), (converted),

(absolute)

SYS*

(EXTERNAL),

TAPE 29DF

29ND, 25, 24 30DF

TAPE EXT

diff

ANALOG DIGITAL

ANALOG

log), (digital)

TAPE tc

tape), (regenerated),

RESHAPE

(reshaped)

ABS

(SYS),

(T APE):

30ND

* (off -t ape ),

(external),

(di fferenc e)

* (ana-

DIGITAL

* (f rom

REGEN

EXT

Describ ed in

9.2, “Tape timecode mode”

9 . 3, “Selec t ing th e frame mode”,

9 . 4. 1, “Show ing input timecode”,

9 . 5. 8, “C hec k ing the fra m e mod e of

st riped t im ecode”

9 . 4. 1, “Show ing input timecode”

9 . 4. 2, “T imecode input timing”

9 . 4. 6, “T imecode output timin g”

9 . 4. 3, “T imecode output”

FAST lTC

(fast LTC)

Fast LTC output mode

5 FRm

* (5

frames), (l ea p),

LEAP

OFF

TA SCAM DA-78HR

9 . 4. 5, “Fast linear timecode (LTC)

output”

Page 25

4 - Menu interface, et c.

4.8 TC chase menu

TC. CHS --

used to control th e DA-78HR operations when ch asing to an incom ing timecode signal:

Display

INDiv. REC

(individual recording)

En abling i ndividua l rec ord ing whi le c hasing

RECHS. MD

(re c hase mode)

Rec hase m ode

RECHS. WD

(re c hase window )

Width of recha s e “wind ow”

ERR. BYPAS

(e rror byp ass )

The following parameters are

V alues

(*=d efault)

* (off) , 1 (o n) 9. 6.11, “Individ ual

RECHASE

(rechase), (free)

1 SEC

or 2 seconds)

10 FRM

(10 or 30 frames)

2 SEC

FREE

30 FRM

Described in

re c ording w hile chasing timecode”

9 . 6. 9, “Rec hasing timecode”

9.6.10, “Bypassing tim ecod e errors ”

Display

TC. REC. EN

V alues

(*=d efault)

* (off ), 1 (o n) 9.5. 2, “R ec ording

(TC recor ding en able)

En abling of t im e c ode rec ording

STRT. Time

(TC generator)

Time value in hh:mm :ss.ff

(00:00:00.00*)

Start t im e for o n-boa rd generato r

TCG. MODE

(TC generator mode)

reset CoNT

* (reset) ,

(continue)

Res t art m ode f or on-board generator

TCG

(TC generator)

stop run

* (stop ),

(run)

Start/stop timeco de generato r

4.10MIDI menu

Describ ed in

tim ec ode us ing the ge nerato r”

9.5. 2, “Recording tim ec ode us ing the

ge nerato r”

9.5.3, “Generator modes”

9.5. 2, “Recording tim ec ode us ing the

ge nerato r”

Le ngth of t im e for e rror b y pass when c hasing

PK. POS . TST

(park p osition

OFF

9 . 6. 6, “Pa rk pos itio n”

test) P erforms the park position test

PARK. POS.

(park p osition)

00 00

* (0 se c-

onds, 0 frames) to

01 29

(1 second,

9.6. 7, “Automatic pa rk position set-

ting ”

29 frames)

Park position timing

4.9 TC generator me nu

TCG. REC--

used to contro l the internal timecode gene rato r.

Display

TC. REC. SRC

(TC recor ding source)

Selects the source of th e time code “stripe”

The following parameters are

V alu es

(*=d efault)

EXT

* (external),

TCG

( T C genera-

TAPE TC

tor), (tape timecode)

Described in

9 . 5. 1, “S elec ting the timecode

source ”

MIDI--

The following p arameters are used

to c on trol the MIDI parameters of the DA-78HR.

Display

MIDI

(MIDI)

Enables or disables MIDI (including MTC)

(MIDI ID )

MMC ID

MTC

(MTC) MTC output

FAST. MTC

(fas t M T C ) MTC output in fast wind mode

STOP. MTC

(stop MTC) MTC output in st op mode

V alu es

(*=d efault)

off

ALL

*, 1 to 1

OFF

off

Describ ed in

10 .1 , “MMC enable an d disab le”

10 .1 . 1, “As s ignin g a MIDI ID to the

DA-78HR ”

9.4.4, “MTC output”

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 26

4 - Menu inter face, etc.

4.11M aint ena nce men u

MAINTN--

informa tion relating to main te nance procedures, etc.

Display

version

(version)

System , front panel driver, servo software (f irmware) versions

DRUM. TIM

(dr um time )

Numbe r of hour s th e drum h as been in use

CLEN.

(cleaning)

Starts the head cleaning process

B. E. R.

(b loc k error rate)

Displ ays the current b lock error r ate

init.

(ba cku p memo ry initialization)

The following menu provides

V alu es

(*=d efault)

SYS

(system).*

Frnt

(servo)

TOTL SRCH

OFF

* 1 1.1, “He ad and

OFF

off

* 1 1.2, “Bac k up

(front),

* (total), (searc h)

Svo

Describ ed in

11. 3, “Checking version numb ers”

11.1 .3, “Ch ecking dru m time”

transpor t c leani ng”

11.1 .2, “Ch ecking e rror ra t es ”

memory initial iz ation”

4.12Dedicated keys

The follo wing (shif ted) k eys also allo w settin gs to be made. These are fully described in the appropr iate sections of the manual:

Ke y D escription Describ ed in

DELAY

OFFSET

PREROLL

PITCH

LOC/MEMO 1 LOC/MEMO 2

Individual relative track delay

Offset r ela tive to timecode or abso-

lute times Locate pre-roll

an d aut o-p unch pr e- and post -r oll

times

Varispeed (±6.0%)

Lo c at ion me m ory po int s

7.3, “Tr ack delay”

8.3, “Machine off set” an d 9.6 . 2,

“Timecode of fset ” 5 . 6. 4, “Editi ng t he

pre-roll and postroll times” and

7.1.3, “S ettin g the location pre-roll

time”

7.6, “Vari speed (pitch control) ”

7.1, “Autolocation”

DEVTYPE

(emulated device type)

DA-78HR

da-38, da-

da-

7.13, “Emulation”

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 27

5 - Basic operat io ns

This section explains some of the basic operation s using the DA-78HR. Section 7, “Advanced operations ” describ es mo re advan ced operatio ns.

Most operations on a DA-78 HR are similar to th ose on a tr aditio nal analo g multitrack recorde r, but we s uggest th at you read this section and the next to learn about th e features of the DA-78HR.

5.1 Formatting a tape

Before you use a tape in the DA-78HR, you must fir st format it. This marks internal synchron iza tion p attern s for the serv o to follo w on su bsequent passes through th e tape as well as the subcode data (ABS).

Th e process also initializes the tape for recording at eith er 16-bit o r 24-bit resolution.

No audio data is normally recor ded during a formatting o per ation (but see below).

5.1.1 Sel ect ing a w ord cl ock sou rce

Use the

NOTE

Remember that in your digital audio setup, only one digital audio device should be set to be a clock master. All other digital audio devices must derive their cl ocks from it.

There are four optio ns available:

• WORD (the

word clock received at the nector. You may u se this setting wh en reco rding digital audio throug h the TDIF-1 input, if the source of the audio is set to be a clock m aster.

• I NT (i nternal)—both the

CLOCK

other digital audio devices are to be word clock slaves, or if the in put signals are analog.

• DIG ITAL IN— thi s re f ers t o th e SPD I F (

input . Use this if the r e c ording source is to be received here, and the source device is a word clo ck mas ter .

• SYNC IN—this cannot be set using the

key, but occurs automa tically when the DA-78HR is being controlled from another DTRS unit, and the made (see 8.1, “Synchronization connections”). Neither the light at this time.

CLOCK

key t o select a clock source.

WORD

indicator lights)—th is is the

WORD S YNC IN

WORD

and

DIGITAL IN

indicators light. You m a y use this settin g if

COAXIAL

CLOCK

REMOTE IN/SYNC IN

WORD

nor

connectio n ha s been

DIGITAL IN

indicators will

con-

5.1.2 Formatting

While f ormatting is proceeding, you cannot perf orm any other transport oper ation except stopping the tape.

Yo u cannot change the sampling ra te or the bit resolution wh ile fo rmattin g is in progress.

Swit ch on the DA-78HR and load a tape into the tape loading slot. As the tape is loaded and t hread ed, the tape counter sho ws “

--LOAD--”.

For de tails of tape s that you can use in the DA78HR, see 1.5, “Recomm ended tape s ”.

NOTE

If you do press the then change your mind about formatting the tape, use either the operation.

)

NOTE

If a digital signal is received at the or at the SPDIF ( recording and playback sampling frequency is automaticall y determined by the sampling frequency of the i nput signal and you cannot change it.

REW

Press

to ta ke the tape to th e beg in n ing

and s top the t ap e. Pr ess the

FORMAT (

Pr ess the

FORMA T/Fs

FORMAT

FORMA T/Fs

onds. The display will then sho w a flashing followed by all dashe s (

If yo u do not press the within 5 sec onds the

key. The di sp lay sho w s

key ag ai n wi thi n 5 s ec-

F- -- -- --).

FORMA T/Fs

FORMAT message will dis-

key twice

appear. This is a feature designed to s top you formatti ng a tape a ccident ally.

FORMAT/Fs

CLEAR

key twice and you

STOP

key to cancel the

Select the sampli ng frequency (eit her 44.1k Hz or 48k Hz), using the

FORMAT/Fs

key.

The sampl ing frequenc y that you sele ct depends on t he eventu al use for t he recording. For audio work, select ing 44.1kHz w ill allow you to produce C D mas ter tapes with no frequency convers i on.

DIGITAL I/O

COAXIAL

) inpu t, the DA-78 HR’s

Select the recording mode using the

ja ck

HR MODE

key. W he n HR mod e (24-bit recording) is selected, the

indicator to the left of the time

counter will light. Remember that if HR mode is select ed, the

tape must be repla yed on an HR DTRS

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 28

5 - Basic operati ons

record er . Of cou rse, a no n-H R (1 6- bi t ) r ecor ding made o n the DA-78HR can b e replayed on any DTR S record er .

To start for matting the tape, hold down the

RECORD

NOTE

The ta pe counter may show a n egative A BS time for a shor t while at the start of the formatting process. While it is displaying a negative value, no audio recording can take place.

T he tape will format to the e nd, and then

key and press the

rewind automatically. You are now able to u se t he tape fo r recording.

All transport con trols are disabled during for matting, except for the

STOP

key, which can be us ed to abort

the for mat proces s. I t is possible t o for mat t apes on a number of DTRS

units simultaneously. For details, see 8. 5, “ Synchroniz ed formattin g”.

5.1.3 Abo rt in g the fo rmat pr oces s

To abort the process befor e formatting actually takes place (i.e. you have pressed the twice in error) , press the

CLEAR

The only transport operation you can perform once form a tting has starte d is to st op the ta pe.

However, we do not re c ommend interrupting the forma tting process, but suggest that you let the tape run to the end.

If you interrupt the formatting (or the formatting is interrupted by a pow er cut or e ven ts beyond your control), rewind the tape and start the format from the beginning of the tape again .

5.1.4 Recording while formatting

If you have armed any tracks (you have press ed its

REC FUNCTI ON

ing), any audio signal routed to that trac k will be rec orded while formatting is in progress.

NOTE

If y ou have recorded and formatted part of a tape, and you wish to cont inue formatting and rec ording on t he rest of the tape (“assembly ”), you should rewind t o a pre-formatted, blank sec tion of the t ape and resum e f ormatting and recording from there.

Recording and for matting will continue at the sam pling frequency used on t he f i rst part of the tape.

A v oid re -s t artin g re c or di ng and form at t in g fro m an unfor matted section of the tape.

switch , and the in dicator is flash-

PLAY

key.

FORMAT/Fs

STOP

or the

switch

key.

5.2 Recording the first tr acks

There are a number o f differ ent way s of recordi ng t he fir st tracks. Howe ver, all follow the sam e basic principles.

• When usi ng a n ew l y-forma tte d t ape, we suggest that y ou record a blank “leader” about 30 seco nds long , starting from the beginning of the tape, to avo id d ro pout. Leave a similar recorded b lan k “trailer” at th e end of the recor ding. You can use the Rec Mute fun cti on as a conve ni ent w ay o f recording silence. See 7.10, “REC MUTE (recording silence)”.

• If the tape cou nter shows a n egative value, you cannot record on the tape at that pos ition.

5.2.1 Preparing to record

If you have not a lready loaded a formatted blank tape, do so now.

Make sure th at varispeed is turned of f. Check

VARI SPEED

the (pitch control)”.

Select the recording source (see 5.3, “Input selection”) as either all digital, all analog or a mixture of these sources. The DA-7 8HR conta ins a “patch bay ” which allo ws you to route inputs to tra c ks.

5.2.2 Sel ect ing a cloc k source

If y ou ha ve select ed a digital s ou rce, you s hould select the wo rd clock master using the key.

This can either be an external wo rd clock connected to the rear panel BNC necto r, or it ca n be the SPDIF ( digital audio signal. The appro priat e indicat or to the right of the time counter will light.

Alternatively, if both of these are lit, the unit will serve as th e word clock mast er in t he audio syst em.

NOTE

Remember that there must be one, and only one, w ord clock master unit in a d ig ital audio system.

5.2.3 Write-protecti ng cassettes

Yo u cannot record on a cassette where the write-prot ect tab has been closed (write-protected).

indicator 7.6, “Vari speed

CLOCK

WORD IN

COAXIAL

con-

)

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 29

Hi8 cassette write tabs work in the opposite manner to DAT cassettes , and “closed” m eans “writeprotect”.

If the tape is write-prote cted, eject the tape, open the write-protect tab, replace th e cassette, and try again.

• Sony Hi8 cassettes (and those from some other manufacturers) have th e words “SAVE” (write-pro tected ) and “R EC” (wr ite -enabled ) mold ed into the cassette she ll by the protection ta b.

5.2.4 Reco rding the first tracks (i)

Arm the tracks on which you wish to record. Press the

the indicator will start flashing.

Adjust the input signal levels so that the track meters read high, but the not light.

Hold d o wn the

PLAY

re c ording will star t. The

tracks will light steadily.

REC FUNCTION

RECO RD

key of these track s;

OVER

segment d o es

key, and press t he

key. The tape will start moving and

REC FUNCT ION

in dic ators of all arme d

5 - Basic operat io ns

Stop recording as described above.

5 .2.6 Replaying the first tracks

When you ha ve positio ned the tape at the beginning o f t he r e c ordin g yo u have ju st made (or at th e pr e -ro l l point), you can start playing back the tape.

T urn off the track you have just recorded ( no t compulsory, but recommended, as this will preve nt you from accide ntally hit ting the going into record mode, overwriting what you have already recorded).

Rewind the t ape t o the point that yo u star ted reco rding and press

5.3 Input s election

This s ection descr ibes ho w to cho ose all analog or all digital input sources when recording with the DA78HR. For othe r routing pro cedures , se e bel ow (5 .3.2, “Input patchbay routing ”).

Pr ess the mod e (

RECORD FUNC TION

PLAY

SHIFT

key so that the unit is in shift

SHIFT

indicator is f lashing).

RECORD

switch of the

key and

When y ou start recording, the po int at which rec ordin g s tarts i s automatically stored i n to memory for punch-in pur poses.

To stop recording and stop the tape, press the

STOP

key. You can also press the

PLAY

key, which will continue t he ta pe movement, but stop recording.

5.2.5 Rec ordin g th e basic t racks ( ii )

Th is is an alternative method of recording basic tracks o n a blank, formatted tape.

Arm the tracks and adjust the levels as describe d in [1 ] and [2] above (5.2.4, “Rec ordin g th e fi rs t tra c ks (i)” ).

REC FUNCT ION

The tracks will flash.

Press the

When y ou rea ch the point at wh ich y ou want t o

PLAY

sta rt recordi ng, press the

REC FUNCT ION

The tracks will light steadily.

The point a t which rec ording starts is automat ically stored into memory for punch-i n purposes .

in dic ators of all arme d

key. The tape wi ll start mo ving .

RECORD

key.

in dic ators of all arme d

Pr ess the

AUDIO. 1-- (

Pr ess the briefly shows

key until th e dis play shows

AUDIO1--

SUB MENU

IN. PAT CH (

key until the display

IN PATCH

) and then

chang es to the current set ting.

To change between all analog and all digital inputs, pres s the ▲ and ▼ keys (

ALL ANALG

(

DGTL

– all digital).

– all an al og) or ALL DGTL (

ALL ANALG

ALL

In the above two settings, the inp uts are map ped to the tracks o n a on e- to-on e ba sis (i.e. input 1 is ro ut ed t o track 1, input 5 is routed to tr ack 5, et c.).

5.3.1 Digital input sele ction

If 7 and 8 are selected for digital input, the D IN (

IN)

menu item allows you to choose between the

TDIF-1

If the SPDIF ( nals (

input a n d t he SP DIF (

COAXIAL

D7 an d D8) can t hen be route d to any track (see

COAXIAL

) input.

) inp ut is sele cted, these sig -

below, 5.3.2, “ Input patchba y routi ng” ).

NOTE

If the SPDIF ( poss ible to us e the other six ch annels of the digital input. It is, however, possible to re cord analog

COAXIAL

) inpu t is selected, it is no t

TDIF-1

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 30

5 - Basic operati ons

signals or to perform track-bounce operations with the SPDIF (

COAXIAL

) input selected.

No te that whatever digital source is selected, the appropr iate clock must be selec t ed. If you are record ing fro m (say) a CD player, which typically cannot accept a word clock, as well as fro m a TDIF-1 source (e. g. a TASCAM dig ital mixer) the DA-78H R m us t be set to ac cept the clock fr om the

DIGITAL IN

(see

5.2.2, “Selecting a clock source”) . This clock mu st the n be sent fr om the

THRU

of the DA- 78H R to the

IN of the TDIF-1 device, which m ust be s et as a wo rd sy nc sl ave.

Press the is fla shing, and press the display shows

Press the shows

SHIF T

SUB MENU

D. IN (

AU DIO1--

SHIF T

key until the

ke y so that the

AUDIO. 1-- (

key until the displa y

D IN

) f ollowed by the current

indi cator

setting.

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change between

TDIF (

NOTE

You c annot use the SPDIF ( sub-mixer while accepting a signal f rom the SPDIF

COAXIAL

(

You must use a tap e formatted at the s ampl ing frequency of this input (i.e. you cannot use the SPDIF

COAXIAL

( V ar i speed is al so not po s sib l e wh en r ec o rd in g us ing this input.

TDIF

) and SPD (

) input.

) input to record a CD on a 48kHz tape.

SPDI F—COAXIAL

COAXIAL

) output f rom the

5.3 .2 In put pa tch bay rout ing

To route inp uts to tracks whose n umbers do not co rresp on d to those of the inputs, or to mix the types of inpu t sour ce (digital, analog or off-tap e):

Follow steps 1 through 3 in 5.3, “ Input select io n” above,

Press the whic h the input will be routed.

The dis pla y c hanges to show the t rack n um ber of the destination track, together with the source (e.g. track 1 has been selected, and that analog input 1 is the so urce.

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change t he i nput source from

8), through

REC F UNCTI ON

TRK 1 A1 (

A1 through A8 (analog 1 thro ugh

D1 thro ugh D8 (digital 1 thr ough 8 ) and T1

T8 (t rack 1 t hrough 8).

key of th e track to

TRK1 A1

) shows that

To select ano ther de st inati on tr ack, pr e ss that

REC

track’s

FUNCTION

key and repeat the

proc ess.

NOTE

If your setting results in al l tracks being fed on a onet o-one basis fr om the same input sourc e (analog or d igital), t he display will chan ge to show this, a f ew sec onds aft er the pa tchbay operation t hat caus ed this to be the ca se.

The meter s can be used to see t he

T 7/ 8 T 5/ 6 T 3/ 4

T 1/ 2 D7 / 8 D 5/6

D 3/4 D 1/2 A 7/8

A 5/6 A 3/4 A 1/2

patchbay assignment using the meters, as shown here. Each meter gives the status of its correspondingly-numbered track.

SHIFT

Press

FUNCTION

and one of the

keys (as descr ib ed in

REC

4. 1.1, “Peak meters”) to toggle this meter mode off and on. The de fault at power-on is for this mode to be on.

B ec ause of the limitation s of the number of meter segments avail-

able, each segment is used to represent two inp ut po ss ibilities . The top third is us ed to s how track sources, the middle third is used for digital, a nd the lower third for analog sources.

Wi th a digit al reco rder such as the DA- 78 HR, track crosstalk is almost negligible (better than 9 0dB at 1 kH z) . F or this reason, you do not ha ve to w orry s o much about the con straint s of c hoosing physi cal t rack lo cations as y ou do with analog record ings.

5.3.3 Track bouncing

If you need to copy a track to another tr ack at any time in the recording p rocess, rem emb er that track copying in the digi tal doma in will a dd no no ise or disto rtion. A digital c opy is a “clone” of the original, and no loss of quality i s incurred .

Th e DA-78HR a llows you to copy tracks digitally, and you can use the inter n al su b-mixer (see 7.4, “Sub-mixer”) to com bine all tracks (level and pan can be set) to track s 7 and 8.

NOTE

Becaus e the DA-78HR also allows a track to be re pla yed a nd r ecor ded on to itsel f , a ll eight t racks can be mixed i nte rnal ly and merged into tracks 7 and 8.

The basic method fo r going about this is:

Exit shift mode and ent er the

MIXDOWN

mo de.

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 31

Enter shift mode, and enter the sub-mixer mode.

Make the level and pan sett ings for th e tracks which are to be combi ne d, as desc r ibe d in 7.4, “Sub-mix e r ”. Se e this sect i on for full det ails o f ho w to operate the sub-mix er.

You can use the D A-78HR’s SPDIF (

TDIF-1

and analo g ou tputs to moni tor track s 7

COAXIAL

and 8. Only tracks 7 and 8 will be output f r om

TDIF-1

the

and analog outp uts, and the other

track outputs will be mut e d.

5 - Basic operat io ns

5 .4.1 S amplin g freque ncy and word

length

If you attempt to recor d digitally from a digital sou r ce which has a different frequency from that previousl y record ed as the DA-78HR’s tape format, th e

indicat or c orr espond ing t o the t ape’s sampling

frequency will start to flash. This indicates a f requency mismatch .

Recording with differen t sampling frequ encies is not recomm ended – problems wil l cer tainly occur on replay of such a recor ding.

Arm tra cks 7 and 8.

Reco rd tracks 7 and 8.

5.3.4 Returning to ALL ANALOG setting

Afte r tracks have been set individually, it may be ne ce ssar y to return the inputs to all analo g. It is then easy to return to all digital (see 5.3, “Input selection”), but setting all inputs to “all trac k” would be a so mewhat po intless settin g!

While the unit is in “pa tchba y” mode, as described in 5.3.2, “Input patchbay routing ”, pre ss and hold down one of the ▲ or ▼ keys, and press the o t her of these keys.

The routing will change to all analog (

ANALOG).

ALL

5.4 More on digital recording

The DA-78HR is able to ac cept (and o utput) digital signals at the for mat.

The DA-78HR should be connected to oth er TDIF-1 equi pme nt us in g a PW-88D or PW-88DL conne ctor cable.

NOTE

Only use a TASCAM digi tal cable w hen making digital audio connections to the DA-78HR. Other types of cabl e may ca use damage to the syst em, and the wa rranty will be voided if such damage is ca used by use of the wrong cabl es .

The DA-78HR should be set to be either a word clock master or a word clock slave when connected to oth er digital equipme nt. Ther e can only be one word cl ock m aster in a setup.

DIGITAL I/O

con nector in T D IF-1

If you attempt to recor d digitally from a digital source with a word length (5.1, “Formatting a tape” ) different from that for which the tape has been f ormatted, errors will occur. A g ood rule is therefor e to keep one wor d length and one s ampl ing f r equency throughout a tape.

5.4.2 Selecting input word le ngth

When data is acce pted thr ough the nector, the word length of the inco ming data mu st be set. T his can be selected f rom between 16- bi t, 20-bit or 24-bit. This is no t the same as the re solution record ed on tape.

To set the word length:

Pr es s t he

SHIFT

key so that t he is flashi ng, and pre ss the displ ay shows

Pr ess the shows

TDIF. ;; (

AUDIO. 1-- (

SUB MENU

TDIF xx

key until the display

re nt input word length).

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to c hoose betwee n 24, 20 and 16 -bit word le ng ths.

We suggest that you experiment with the dither settings (7.11, “Dither”) if you find you are r ecording qua ntization n oise at low levels when the input w ord length is set to 2 0 or 24 bits and yo u are record ing at 16 -bit resolution. Though you will lose a little in the signal-to-noise ra tio, total harmonic distortion figures will be improved.

NOTE

If you are dubbing t r acks fr om a D A-88, this value must always be set to 16 bi ts.

DIGITAL I/O

SHIFT

AUDIO1 --

key until the

con-

indicator

, where xx is the cur-

5.5 Overdubbing

Overdub bing subsequ ent track s is carried out in a very similar way to r e cordin g the first trac ks .

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 32

5 - Basic operati ons

If you are unsure about the differen ce between monitoring m ode s as implemented on the DA-78H R, now is a good time to read 6, “Monitoring”.

Obv iously yo u will w ant to record while you listen to the off- tape signals f rom previously- recorded tracks and the input source on tr acks where recor d ing is taking place.

5.6 Punch-in and punch-out

There are a num ber of ways in which the DA- 78HR ca n be us e d to pe rfor m reli abl e pu nch-in and punc houts automatic a lly. Punc h poin ts can be set and edited to frame accuracy, either from a cue list or “o n-the-fly” in real time.

The DA- 7 8HR provides a rehearsal mode which simulates the punching process, allowing the artists to pe rfect the timing of the new mate r ia l.

The mechanics of punching on a digital recorder appear to the operator to be the same as on an analog recorder.

Crossfading, however, is an im portant and u seful func tion on digital recorders, to ensure continuity between original and punched m aterial. In the cas e of the DA-78HR , this crossfade tim e is adjustable from 10 millisec onds to 200 milliseconds (7.5 , “Crossfade times”).

AUTO MON

The rehear sal a nd punch modes, the material prior to the pun ch po i nt is monitored off tape. T he m onitor ing of armed tr ack s changes to source while rehearsals and pu nching a re c ar r ie d out a n d t hen chan ge s to off- t ape ag ain after the punch-out poin t See 6, “Monitoring”f or details of monitoring modes, includin g the

AUTO MON

Pre-roll poin t

P re- r o ll time Post-roll time

TAPE SOURCE TAPE

TAPE TAPE TAPE

mode is essential he re: in bo th

mode.

Punch-in point

Rehe arsal learn

Rehe arsal

AUTO IN/OUT

Repl ay check

Punch-out point

Post-roll point

NOTE

Though it is possible to perform punch r ecording in ALL INPUT m ode, the monitoring in this mode does not make it easy to perfor m accurate punch operations. We suggest th at yo u turn this mode off when performing punch-ins.

5.6.1 Automatic punch point s etting

Whenever recording takes place, the time when recording begins is automatically stored as a p unchi n time, and th e time when recordi ng stops is stored as a punch-out time.

This is no t usu ally the way in which y ou will want to set the pu nch po ints, ho wever. There are sev eral alterna tive way s in which you can set these points, as des c ri b ed be l o w :

5.6.2 Setti ng punch points “o n the fly”

This method d emands sharp reflexes (but you can ed it the punch poi nts later as we show b e low).

NOTE

If an optional footsw itch has been atta ched to the rear panel can be used in the following steps instead of the

RECORD

to set the punch-in point, and again to set the punchout point).

Press the light).

This is not strictly spea king necessary for setting the punch poi nt s, but the necessary for punch o pe rat ions, so we suggest you turn i t on here.

Use the track(s) on which you will be recording.

Press the The indicator will flash, showing that the DA-

78HR is in “rehearsa l learn” mode.

Rewin d the tape to before where the punch is to occur.

Start playing the tape ( pres s You wi ll m onitor the off-ta pe signals.

At the poi nt wh ere th e punch is to occu r, pres s

RECORD

The

FUNCTION

light steadily. M onitoring will change t o input source record ing for these t racks.

REMOTE PUNCH IN/OUT

PLAY

and

AUT O MON

REC FUNCTION

RHSL

keys (i.e. press the switch once

key (t he indicator will

key(s ) to arm the

(rehearsal) key.

RECORD

key will flash, and the

indicator of any armed tracks wi ll

jack X, this

AUTO MON

PLAY

REC

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 33

5 - Basic operat io ns

NOTE

If you do not w ant to change to source monitoring on the punch track(s) between the punch points when setting the poin ts, do not set th e for these tracks.

At any tim e w h en the

REC FUNCT ION

RHSL

indica tor is lit or

flashing, this means that recording will not actually be ca rried out, even if the key and/or the

REC FUNCTI ON

RECORD

indic ators ar e

lit.

At the poi nt wh ere you want to punch out,

PLAY

pre ss The

tracks will start flashing again. The

REC FUNCT ION

i n di c at or of an y arme d

RECORD

key will g o o ut. Monitoring of these tracks will r e turn to off -t ap e s ta tu s .

After the post-roll period, the tape will retur n to t he pre-roll point (the punch-in point minus t he p re- ro ll of fset).

RHSL

The

indicator will now light steadily, showing that the DA-78HR is in rehearsal mode.

If you need to trim these punch points to s ub -fra me accuracy, you can do so u sing the procedure de scr ibed in 5.6.3, “Setting pu nch points using the f ront pa nel” below.

NOTE

If you want to alter the pre-roll and post- roll times, see 5.6.4, “Editing the pre-roll and post-roll times”. The punch-in and pun c h-out poi nt s will rem ain th e same while you change the pre- and p ost- rol l ti mes.

5.6.3 Setting punch points using the fr ont pa ne l

Se tting the punch -in point:

Press the the indicator l ights flashes or l ights st eadily.

Press the light).

Press the indicator f lashing).

Press the The display will briefly show

Point

the punch-in point.

Us e th e s h ifted ▲ and ▼ keys (

RIGHT)

RHSL

(rehears al) key twice so tha t

AUT O MON

SHIFT

LO C 1 (MEMO 1

key (t he indicator will

ke y to enter sh i ft mod e (

) key.

IN POINT (

SHIF T

), and will then show t he c urrent value of

LEFT

and

to select t he “field” (hours, minutes,

seconds, frame s or sub-frames) that y ou want t o edit, an d us e t h e ▲ and ▼ keys to change the value of the punch-in time. Se e 4.3.5, ““Lef t” and “right” key s ” for detail s.

Setting the punch-out point:

I f yo u h ave not al read y p e rforme d s teps 1 a n d 2, as described f or setting the punc h- i n point, do them now.

Pr ess the

SHIF T

key to enter shift mode (

SHIF T

indicat or flashing) .

Pr ess the

Use the shifted ▲ and ▼ ke ys (

RIGHT)

LOC 2 (MEMO 2

) ke y .

LEFT

and

to select the “field ” (hours, minutes,

seconds, frame s or sub-frames) that y ou want t o edit, an d us e t h e ▲

and ▼ keys to change the

value of the punch-out ti me. See 4.3.5, ““Lef t ” and “right” key s ” for detail s.

The value of the punch-in point can be reset to

00:00:00. 00 (this in clud es in “invisible” sub-

fr ame value) by pressing the ▲ an d ▼ ke ys to gether.

SHIFT

After setting the punch time s, pr ess

so that the

indicator i s no longer flashing. Yo u can locate the tape to the punch-in point (minus

the pre-roll time ) by pressing

NOTE

The methods descri bed above can be used to “trim” punch points which have been captured “on the fly”.

LOC 1

5.6.4 Editing the pre-roll and post-roll times

As a def ault (factory) setting, the DA-78HR will position the tap e 5 sec onds before the p unch-in point, however this has been set.

The defa ult post-roll time is 3 seconds. You can alter both the se times using the following method:

Make sure the unit is in shift mode).

Pr ess the

When the display shows

PR 0005 RH

( shown in minutes and seconds (when the displ ay sh ows refers to the location pre-roll t ime, which is different).

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to c h an g e t he va l u es (the sh ifted ▲ and ▼ keys act as cur sor ke ys between minut e s and seconds).

SHIFT

indicator is flashing (the

CLEAR (PRE ROL L

) ke y .

PR. 0005. rh

), the t ime of the punch pr e -roll is

PR 0000 LC (

P R 000 0 LC

), th is

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 34

5 - Basic operati ons

Press the so that the display shows

CLEAR (PRE ROLL

PO 0003 (

) key once m ore

PO 0003

i.e. the post -roll time.

Sinc e ther e is little point in setting pre- and post-roll times to frame accu racy, you can only set t hese values to second accuracy.

The minimum values you can set ar e 5 seconds (pr eroll) and 3 seconds (post-r oll) and the maximum valu e is 59 minut es 59 secon ds for bot h.

An y punch operatio n from now will take your setting for pre- roll and use it when locating the tape to the pun ch-in point. For example, if your pre - roll time has been set to 10 seconds (00:00:10.00), and t he punchin po int is at 00:06:03.12, the tape will locate to 00 : 05 : 53 .12 wh e n sta r t i ng reh ea rs a l or pu nc h -i n .

5.6.5 Rehe ars ing the punc h-in

After you have set the punch points, and you have loc ate d the tape to the pre-roll point, as described above, you can rehearse the punch process.

Press the steadily.

This indica tes that yo u are now in rehearsa l mode.

Press the pre-roll point .

At the punch-in point, monitor ing will change to so urce.

RHSL

key so that the indicator lights

PLAY

. The tape will start playing from

While the tape is running, press the ( there i s no need to press

STOP

LOC 1

first).

The tape will return to the punch- in point, minus the value specified in the punc h-in o ffset (5.6.4, “E diting the pr e -ro ll and post-roll times”).

Pressing

PLAY

will then re-s tar t the rehearsal

or punch-in proce ss.

• Pressing the

LOC 2

key will locate the tape to the punch-out pos ition minus the punch-in pre-roll time .

• These functi ons are on ly operativ e when the

AUTO IN/OUT

or When th ey are off , the

indicators are lit or flashing.

LOC 1

and

LOC 2

ke ys

act normally.

5.6.7 Recor ding the punch-in

Make sure the tape is at the pre-roll point , and pres s the

The indicator will flash, showing that the DA78HR is in auto -punch mode.

Press At the punch-in point, the

will light steadily, a s will th e indicators of any armed tracks. Monitoring will c hange from off-ta pe to sour ce and the

INPUT MONITOR

light.

AUTO IN/OUT

PLAY

. The tape will start playi ng.

key once.

RECORD

of any armed trac ks will

indicator

REC FUNCTI ON

key

RHSL

will

RECORD

Th e

FUNCTION

key will flash, and the

indicator of any armed tracks will

REC

light steadily. However, recording will not be carried out.

At the punch-out po int, monitoring will change back to off-t ape monito r ing.

T he tape will contin ue playing to the post-roll point and then rewind to the pre-roll point.

Repeat the rehearsal process until you are satisfied with the performance.

5.6.6 Interrupting a rehearsal o r punch recording

Ve ry often while rehear sing a punch-in, you will not want to run the ta pe all the way to the pun ch-ou t point (an entry cue is missed, or a mistake is made ear ly on in the take ) . In the se c ases, the following procedure applies to both rehearsal and punch record ing:

Reco r ding will now actually take place. Any r ecor ded material whi ch wa s previ ously on the armed tracks between the punch points will be replaced by th e new reco rding.

At the punch-out point , the monito ri ng will go back to off-tape (the

INPUT MONI TOR

indicators of armed tra cks will go out ), and when the post-roll point is reached, the tape will rewind to the pre-roll point.

AUTO IN/OUT

The

indicator will light steadily, showing that the DA-78HR is now in replay mode.

5.6.8 Replay ing the punched material

To replay the punch- i n, press the PLAY key. Playback will start (the

cators of the armed tra c ks will co nt inue to flash).

At the post-roll point, t he t ape will autom atically rewind to the pre-roll point.

REC F UNCTI ON

indi-

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 35

If you want to r ecord the punch-in again, pr ess

AUTO IN/OUT

the

key so that the indicator fla shes, and repeat the process describ ed above.

If you are satisfie d with t he punc h-in, follow the steps below, o therwise, press re turn t o t he punc h- i n point, press the

IN/OUT

key so that the indicator flashes, and

LOC 1

AU TO

repeat the take.

5 - Basic operat io ns

5.6. 9 Ex it i ng punch -in mo de

Di sarm any armed tra c ks (pr es s th e

FUNCTION

switches so that the indicators go

out).

Pr ess the This will exit the

CLEAR

key.

AU TO IN /OUT

mode. The

LOC 1

and

LO C 2

keys will ret urn to their usual functi ons, but the punch poi nt s are still r eta ined in memory.

REC

(or rehearsal)

Pr ess the

AU TO MO N

key so that the indicator

goes ou t. Normal monitoring modes will now be in o per-

at io n (see 6, “Monitor ing”).

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 36

6 - M onitoring

NOTE

We strongl y advise you to read this section – the effective use of multitr ack monitoring i s one of the keys to an e fficient recording session.

Like all multitr ack recorde rs , the DA-78HR has a number of di fferent mo ni to ri ng modes, de pen ding on the curren t monitor status, tr ansport status and whether the tr ack is armed o r not.

When a DA-78HR track is in playback mode, the monitoring is off-tape.

The con trols which affect mon itoring are:

•ALL INPUT

• AUTO MON

In ad dition, there are two men u items affecting the monitoring:

• shuttle monito r

• shuttle mute

6.1 ALL INPUT

When th is is active, the signal from the DA- 78HR’s outp uts will always be the appropriate input source sig nal fo r all tr acks .

NOTE

ALL INPUT

tions described below. Any shuttle monitor ing while

ALL INPUT

Th e shuttle monitor mode has no effect when

MON

When th e

overrides any shuttle mon it oring sel ec is on will always be source mo nitoring .

is off.

AUT O MON

and sh uttle mo nitor ing are

AUTO

both on , the output from a ll armed tr acks w ill be the source input.

AUTO MON

is on, b ut shuttle mo nitoring is o ff, all

armed tracks will monitor off-tape in shuttle mode. Y ou c an also disable off- tape s huttle m onito ring with

the Shuttle Mute functio n (6.3, “Shu ttle monito r”)

Shuttle m on itoring is atte nua te d by 12 dB compared with other monitoring modes. T his hel ps to avoid da mag e to tweeters, etc. when shuttlin g fast.

6.3.1Enabling a nd disa bling shuttle monitoring

Press the is flashing.

Press the

AUDIO. 2-- (

SHIFT

key so that the

key until the display shows

AUDIO2 - -

SHIFT

indicato r

When the

ALL INPUT

key is pressed, its indicator will lig ht. Mon itoring for all tracks will be source monitoring, rather than off-tape.

6.2 AUTO MON

Thi s mode is primarily used in punch operations. When au to moni tor mode is entered (by pr essing t he

AUTO MON

key), the

AUTO MON

indicator lights .

This au tomatically changes the moni toring on armed tracks fr om off- tape to source when recording or rehears i ng a recordin g, a n d ba c k t o off- ta pe w hen the pun ch-ou t point is reached.

6 .3 Shuttle mo nitor

In ad dition to these modes, there is one further setting, that affects monitor ing , but on ly in one special case – s huttle m ode. Usually, when shuttling the tape, you will want to m onito r of f-tape. Ho we ver, if a tra ck is armed, you m ay wan t to listen to the source input sig nal, rather than the off-tape record in g.

Press the shows

SUB MENU

ShTL. MoN. ; (

key until the displa y

SHTL MON x

, where

can be 1 (on) or 0 (off).

Use the ▲ or ▼ key to change the valu e to (shuttle monitoring ena ble d) o r

(shuttle

monito ri ng disa ble d).

6.4 Shuttle muting

It may be sometim es desirable to mute off-tape output when sh uttling . The sh uttle mute fu nction allo ws you to do this:

Press the is flashing.

Press the

AUDIO. 2-- (

Press the shows can be

Use the ▲ or ▼ key to change the valu e to (shuttle mute enabled) or disable d).

SHIFT

key so that the

key until the display shows

AUDIO2 - -

SUB MENU

ShTL. MuT. ; (

(on) or 0 (off).

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the displa y

SHTL MUT x

(shu tt le mute

, where x

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 37

6 - M onitoring

6.5 S ummary of moni tor modes

The following table sh ows what will be mo nitored from a track. This depends on th e

AL L INPUT ON

AUTO MON

OFF

A L L INP U T

OFF

AUTO MON

ALL INPUT, AUTO

REC

FUNCTION

OFF

PLAYRECORD

TAPE

MON

and the

REC F UNCTI ON

settings, and on the

tr ansp or t mo de cur ren tly en gag ed.

STOP , R EW ,

FFWD

INPUT

MUTE

(shu ttle m on ito r)

OFF

SHUTTLE

TAP E

INPUT

TAP E

MUTE

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 38

7 - Advanced operations

7.1 Autolocation

The DA- 7 8HR contains t wo location memories, access ible throu gh t he also a llow a “A

↔B repeat” facility, which allo ws

LO C 1

you to rehearse part of a mixdown, for ins tance. These two location memory points are referred to as “MEMO 1” and “MEMO 2”.

As with the punch recording points (5.6, “Punch-in and p unch-out”), it is possible to set and ed it these poin ts in a number of ways.

7.1.1 Setting MEMO 1 and MEMO 2 “o n

the fly”

T his ca n be done regardless of the current status of t h e t a p e tran s port (playi ng, r e c ordin g, w in d i ng, s topped, or shuttle).

Pre ss an d hold down the

MEMO 1

the The curre nt tape posit ion (when the

was pressed) will be stored to the appropriate location memory (MEMO 1 or MEMO 2).

MEMO 2

and

SHIFT

key.

LOC 2

keys . Th ese

key and press

MEMO

key

When t he location times have been set, press the

SHIFT

key to turn th e

SHIFT

mode of f and

return t he count er to its normal display.

7.1.3 Sett ing the locati on pre-roll t im e

W hen you locate to a location memory, the tap e will s top at the memor ized location point, minus a prede fined pre- roll time.

As shipped , the DA-78HR’s defau lt location pre - roll time is 0 seconds. You c an edit this to a value between 0 s econds ( t he tape will locate to th e exact loc a tion po int) and 59 minutes, 59 seconds, in 1 second incremen ts.

NOTE

This pre-rol l time is independent of the punch pr e-roll tim e. See 5.6.4, “Editing the pre-roll and post-roll times”.

Set the u nit into shift mode (press the key so that the

Press the

The display will show

SHIFT

indicator is flashing) .

CLEAR (PREROLL

PR 0000. LC (

) ke y .

SHIFT

PR 0000

T he displa y will indicate that the location m emory point h as been stored (

PRESET

(

)).

PRESET

7.1.2 Checking, ed iting and manually

entering MEMO 1 an d MEMO 2

The check ing, editing, and man ual entry of the Memo 1 and Memo 2 location points are all essentially the same opera tion. Locatio n points can be edited and entered to frame accuracy.

Press the flas h es .

Press eit her the de pending on which loca tion p oint is to be accessed.

T he display briefly shows and then the currently-s tored l ocatio n memory is shown on the d ispl ay. The “cu rsor” (flashi ng pe ri od ) i s at th e “h ou r s ” fi el d .

Use th e ▲ and ▼ k eys to s et th e “hou rs ” valu e, and mov e the “cursor” wit h the and ▼ keys.

For details rega rding the entry of t ime values, inc luding sub-f rame entry , see 4.3, “Menus and sub-menus ”.

SHIF T

ke y so that the

MEMO 1

SHIF T

MEMO 2

MEMO ; (

key,

MEMO x

SHIFT

indi cator

ed ▲

Use the ▲ and ▼ k eys to set the location preroll time in minute s and s e conds ( up to 59 minutes, 59 second s). The

SHIFT

ed ▲ and ▼ keys

can also be used to move the cursor between the minutes and s e c onds “ fields” .

When a loca tion memory is used, the tape will now locate to the location po int, minus the value y ou ha ve just enter ed . For i ns tance, if the locat i on poi n t i s at “00:12: 0 4.03” an d y ou h av e set a location pre-roll time of 5 seconds, the ta pe will locate to “00:11:59.03”.

This pr e-ro ll tim e is d ifferent to the p re-roll time used for punch oper a tions as described in 5.6.4, “Ed iting t he pre-roll and post-roll times”.

7.1.4 Moving to MEMO 1 a nd MEMO 2

When you have set the locatio n memories as des c ri b ed a b ove, yo u s i mp ly ne ed to pre s s t h e

LOC 2

keys to move the tape to these lo cation

LOC 1

poi nts. Th e tape will locate to the location memory minus

the loca tion pre-rol l time, as de s cribed ab ove.

7.1 .5 L oc ation an d playba ck

I f you press t he

PLAY

(the wh en it reache s the location point.

PLAY

key while the tape is locati ng

key will flash), th e tape will start playing

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 39

7 - Advanced operations

If yo u pr es s

PLAY

the

PLAY

twice while the tape is locating,

key will light steadily, th e tape will stop

an d playback will start immediately. If yo u a re u s in g t he D A - 78HR with a remote c o ntrol

un i t, a n d yo u ha v e have pr ess e d t he

AUTO PLAY

key on th e remote control unit, replay will start auto matically wh en the lo cati on poin t is reached.

7.2 Repeat function

You can repeat playback continuously between the two location mem ory p oints (Memo 1 and Memo 2 ).

NOTE

When we talk about the “first” and the “second” locations here, we are referring to the earlier and later locati on times. Memo 1 could be at a later time than Memo 2, and hence we would refer to it in thi s section as the “second location point”.

The tap e will wind to a little before the first point (if it is not there a lr e a dy) and s ta rt playing. The off-tape monitoring will star t at the fir st memory location and co ntinue until the second loc ation is reached. The tap e will then stop playing, and rewin d to a little be fore the firs t point and start playin g again.

7.2.1 To sta rt repeat p lay

When the two location points have been set, press the

T he tape will locate to the first location point and st art playi ng until the sec ond location point, rewind to the firs t locati o n poi nt, a nd pla y ag ain. This pro cess will be repeated.

While the tape positio n is be tween the t w o loc ation points, the lit ste adily. It will flash while the tape position is outside the two location points .

Stop the r ep eat funct ion by press ing the

REPEAT

out ). If the tape is playing, it will c ontinue pla ying

(past the second location point). If the ta pe is rewinding to the first loca tion

poi nt when the stop.

NOTE

The two locat ion point s must be at least 5 seconds apart for the repeat fac ility to be operat ional—if you att empt a repeat operation when they are c loser toget her than t his, the display show s

REPEAT

key (the

REPEAT

Too NEAR

key.

REPEAT

indi cat or will be

in dicat or will go

key is pressed, it will

TOO NEAR

(

If y ou hav e only set one locat ion point , the repeat will be between “00:00:00.00” and t he loc ation point.

Pre ssi ng any transport control whil e repeat play is in p rogress will stop the repl ay, but will not cancel the repeat mode. To restart the repeat playback, locate to e ither loc at ion point, an d while the tape is wind ing,

PLAY

press is before the second location point.

. Alternativ el y , pr ess

PLAY

while the tape

7.3 Track delay

The DA-78HR allows you to delay tr acks relativ e to t he other tracks, either when r ecording or playing back. You can use this function for post-production “slip”, compensate f or d elays caus ed by external pro cessing eq uip men t, allow for propagation delay in multi-microph one sessions or add special effec ts.

Th e track delay can be set from –200 samples to +7 20 0 samples . A nega tive numbe r me an s t hat th e trac k o n which the “delay” setting is made is ad vanced in time relative to the other tracks. However , t his d oe s not mean that the DA-78HR inclu des a t ime mach ine! Since the mo nitoring head is a “v irt ual” head, made of a composite of delayed off - tape an d input source signals, the “ position” of the recordi ng head can be adjusted in both directions.

Make sure th at the unit is in shift mode (the

SHIFT

indicator is flashing).

Press the

The display can s how the delay in samples or milliseconds in which the delay is counted. Press and release the order to change between these two units.

Millisecond delays are shown as 3-digit values, and sample displays are shown as 4-digit values (always with lea ding zeroes).

Ty pically, all tracks will have their delay set toget her ( as shown by the display). Use t he ▲ and ▼ keys t o change the value.

Yo u can also use the t he d elay value (see 4 .3. 7, “Us ing the DATA/ LEVEL knob to set va lue s”).

Press a track’s individu al trac k whose delay value can be chang ed.

To change from e d iting individual track val ues back to all tracks tog e ther, pre ss and hold the

DELAY

RHSL (DELAY

R EC FUNCT I ON

) key.

DELAY

DATA/LEVEL

key briefly in

key to select an

knob to set

key for more than one second.

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 40

7 - Adva nced operat ions

Press and hold the

SHIFT

key f or more than

three seconds to exit the delay setting mode.

The meter s can also be used to give a vi s ua l indication o f t he track delay.

SHIFT

Press

REC FUNCTION

and one of the

keys (as

des cr i bed in 4. 1.1, “Peak

positiv e values

meters”) to toggle this meter mode off and on . The default

0 (zero) neg ative v alues

a t p ower-on is for this mode to be on.

The track delay, expressed in s e conds, is between –4 to +150 milliseconds. At a typical sound propagation rate, the maximum value corres po nd s t o abo ut 50 me t ers (abo ut 16 0 feet ) of distance .

7.4 Sub -mixer

One importan t fea ture of the DA-78HR is the ability to mi x in put s ou r ces an d of f - ta pe s i gn al s i nto a s t ereo signal wh ich is r outed to tr acks 7 an d 8 and can be output at the rear panel SP DI F ( well as through channe ls 7 and 8 of the tal an d analo g outputs). As well as the tr a ck delay available on the DA-78H R for the tape tra cks, this internal mix er also featu res l e ve l an d pan con trols, s o that a simple mix can be obtained.

T his mixed signal is output only w hen the indicator is lit. Pr e ssing th e (unshifted) ke y will toggle the indicator between on and off.

COAXIAL

TD IF-1

MIXDOWN

) output (as

digi-

MIXDOWN

With mixdown mo de enable d, press the

SHIFT

key so that the indicator is fl as hi ng.

Pr ess the

MIXDOWN (LEVEL/PAN

) key. This

enters the level/pan setting mode.

If the display does not sho w

L xxx

— master level) , continue to press the

LEVEL/PAN

key until this is shown.

Repeat ed presses of the

MST. L ;;; (

LEVEL/PAN

MST

key o r the currently-selected channel (as explained below) will cy cle through the fo llowing :

master level →

→ channel level →

→ →

→ channel pan →→→→

→ →

channel input selection

Use the data knob a nd/or the ▲ and ▼ keys to chang e the level between

0 (–∞

∞ dB) and 127

∞ ∞

(0 dB). The 7 and 8 meters may be used to sho w the

level (toggle with

0dB

segment represents a value o f 12 7, and

–12 dB

the

SHIFT+REC FUNCT ION

). T he

segment represents a v alue of 64.

7 .4.3 Leaving ed it/pan setti ng mod e

When th e un it is in edit/p an setting mode as ab ove, it can be returned to normal operations (as s hown by a change in the di splay) by either of the f ollowing methods:

Entering another shift mode function (e.g. delay)

SHIFT

Press ing the

key so that the

c a tor stops flashing (ex iting shif t mo de ).

SHIFT

indi-

A temporar y “patch ” can als o be set up for this submix, o verriding th e curr ent input patch settin gs while the mixdown mode is active.

NOTE

MIXDOWN

When through 6 (anal og and digital) are not output.

is on, the signals from channels 1

7.4.1 Entering mixdown mode

Make sure th e

Press the cator will light.

Pr es sing the off) will exit mixdown mode .

SHIFT

MIXDOWN

indicator is off.

key. The

MIXDOWN

indi-

key ag a in (with shift mode

7.4.2 Sett ing the m ast er level

Th is is the master level of all signals output through channels 7 and 8 .

NOTE

Remember that turning off the edit/pan setting mode will n ot automat ic ally turn off the mixdown mode. To turn off the m ixdo wn mode, you must turn o ff th e shi ft mode and then press the

MIXDOWN

key.

7 .4.4 Sett ing le vels and pan posi t ions

To set the individ ual channel levels and p an positions:

Make sure that the unit is in level/pan setting mod e, as described abov e (7.4.2, “Setting the master level”).

Pr ess the corresponds to the chan nel y ou want to set. The the meter will start to flas h, showing that t his is the active channel being edited.

REC FUNCT ION

R EC FUNCT I O N

key who se numbe r

indi cator at th e bot tom of

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 41

7 - Advanced operations

T he displa y will show the level and pan position of the channel . For ex ample,

L. 02. P -C-

wo uld indi c ate a level of 102 and a center pan position.

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys and/o r the knob to change the level of the active channel.

To change the level of another channel, press that channel’s

REC FUNCTION

key.

The meters may be used to show t he value of the c hann el levels (the default is for this function to b e on, and it may be togg le d wi th the

SHIFT+REC FUNCTION

Press the

FUNCTION

LEVEL/PAN

key of the currently active channel

com bination).

key or the

REC

to change the cursor (fla shing period) to the pan setting.

--R R62

-C-

L62 L--

Pan values range from

P.L --

(

hard left) through P. L62 (immedia tely to the right of the hard le ft set tin g) , center) and

P. R62 (

almos t hard right) to

P.--R

(

—h ard right) .

The meters are also b e used to sh ow the pa n settings. Press

SHIFT

and one of the

FUNCTION

keys (a s described in

P. L--

P. -C- (

P.R 62

P. --R

REC

P.-C -

—

4. 1.1, “Peak meters”) to tog gle this meter mode off an d on. Th e de f a ult at po wer-on is for this mode to be on.

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys and/o r the knob to adju st th e pa n setting s of the ac tiv e ch a n nel .

7.4.5 Setting the sub-mixer inpu t sources

wit h th e o utpu t of the corre spon di ng ly- nu mbered track.

NOTE

These as signments are temporary, and remain only as long as the mixdown mode is enabled. When the mixdown mode is disabled, the previous input patchbay settings are restored.

To record the mixer outputs onto tracks 7 and 8, arm these tracks a nd reco rd in the usual way.

7.5 Crossfade times

As menti on ed e ar li e r (5.6, “ P un c h- i n a nd punch out”), digita l punch recordin g requires that the original and new s i gna l be cros sfa ded over a shor t period of time.

The factory default crossfad e time for th e DA-78HR is 10 ms, an d th is can be adjusted in 10 millisecond steps t o a max imum of 200 m s .

For the most part, 10 m s is an ad eq uate value and wi ll produc e seamle s s pu nches , but the r e m a y be time s ( match ing reverb settings, e tc .) when a longer crossfad e is required.

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows

SHIFT

key so that the

AUDIO. 2-- (

SUB MENU

C. FADE;;; (

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

AUDIO2 - -

key until the displa y

C FADE xxx

), where xxx

is the current crossfade time in millisec onds.

Use the ▲ and ▼ k eys to ad ju s t th e c rossfa de time (10 throu gh 200 ms i n 1 0 ms steps)

7.6 Vari speed (pitch control)

From t he pan setting, as describe d i mme diately a bov e, press ei ther t he key of the act ive c hannel, or t h e

REC FUNCTION

LEVEL/PAN

key.

T he displa y will show the c urrent inpu t s ource for th e channel, e.g .

In 1 t1 (

In 1 t1

—the

input source for channel 1 is track 1).

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to cycle through through

a8 (analog inputs 1 thr oug h 8) and d1

through

Pressing the ▲ and ▼ keys together will “nor -

t8 (t rack 1 t hrough 8), a1 through

d8 (digital input s 1 thr oug h 8).

m alize” the sub-mixer, feeding each channel

TASCAM DA-78HR

The speed o f reco rding and playback (and hence the pitch) of the DA-78HR can be adju sted to 6% above or below normal s peed i n 0.1% steps.

NOTE

You cannot operate the pitch control when the DA78HR i s slaved to another unit, or synchronized to an external word clock. If the clock is changed to external whi le varispeed is on, the will go o ut. The indic ator will also go out if ch asing is en abled while varisp eed is o n.

VARI SPEED

indicator

7.6.1 To set a non-standard spe ed

Press the light, and the

VARI SPEED

SHIFT

indicator will flash.

key. Its indicator will

Page 42

7 - Adva nced operat ions

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change the value (maximum +6.0%, minimum –6.0%, in 0.1% steps).

Reset the value to 0.00% by pressing and holding either of the ▲ or ▼ keys, and pressing the other.

Press the mode. The

SHIFT

key to turn off the setting

V A RI SPEED

indica tor will continue to be lit, showing tha t varispeed is currently enabled.

Turn off varispeed (when the indicator is lit ) by pres sing t he

VARI SPE ED

key to turn the indicator off.

NOTE

VARI SPEED

The varispeed i s enabl ed, even if the speed is set to

0.0%.

in dicator will light whenev er th e

Play back an d recor ding will now take p lace at the new speed.

7.7 Shuttle operations

AUT O MON

Wh en armed tracks will be off-tape, unle ss the

is on, the monitoring of any

SHTL MON

is on, in which case, t he monitoring of armed tr acks will be source input. The monitoring of all other (unar med) tr acks can still be s witched on a track -bytrack ba sis using the tracks’

I NP UT MONITOR

switches.

SHT L MON

The

MON

is on. W hen

key is only enabled when

AUTO MON

is off, it has no effect.

AUTO

7 .7.2 Shu ttl e muting

As expla ined above, shuttling the tape will usually allow off-tape monitoring. However, there may be times whe n you will wan t to mute all off- tape signals when shuttling. This procedure is described in 6.4, “Shuttle mu tin g”.

7.8 Meter mode s

Th e D A-78HR peak bargraph meter s ca n be customized to suit your working preferences. Both the peak hold time and the “ ballistics” of the meters can be adju sted.

Th e shuttle key, ind ic ator and knob are used to simulate the “rock and roll” location method on o pen -ree l tap e decks , allowing you to locate a p oint on tape through audible cues.

As the knob is moved f rom the cen ter detented po sition, the sh uttle speed becomes highe r.

Th e va r ia tion in speed is not continuous; but as you turn the k no b from the center position, the shuttle speed changes, follo wing these values (relative to norma l speed): 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2. 0, 4 .0, 8.0. The 1.0 s peed is only ava ila ble wh en shuttlin g in the forwar d direction.

Shuttle ope r a tion s are only possible when the

TLE

indicator is lit (pre ss the

SHUTTLE

If the

knob remains untouched at the

SHUTTLE

SHUT-

switch).

center positio n for 10 seconds, the shuttle mode is disabled, and the indicator goes off.

7.7.1 Shut t le moni t oring

Th is is also covered in 6.3, “Shuttle monito r ” . T he de fault behavior of the DA-78HR is tha t when s huttling th e tape, you monitor off the re c orded ta pe.

NOTE

When monitoring in shuttle mode, the monitor signal is attenuated by 12 dB (to avoid possible dam age to ea r s an d sp eak er s ).

7.8.1 Peak hold time

Pr es s t he is flashi ng, and pre ss the displ ay shows

Pr ess the shows with the current value for this setting.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change the value between 0 and 9 seconds or t in ue—whi ch wil l p ermanently di sp lay th e maximum peak signal level. T his can be useful if you are do i ng a “dry run” re he arsal, but you canno t keep your ey es o n the meters all the time that the rehearsal is going on).

To turn off the peak hold display if been set, change the peak hold value t o onds and the meter segments will “drop back” .

SHIFT

key so that t he

SYSTEM-- (

SUB MENU

PK. H. LD. ;; (

SHIFT

indicator

key until the

SYSTEM--

key until the display

PK HLD xx—

CNT

peak hold)

CNT

(

—con-

CNT

0 sec-

has

7.8.2 M e t er ball ist ics

Use a similar pro ces s to chan ge the “fal l- back” ballistics of the peak me ters. You can not change the rise time of the meter s, which are fixed with peak meter characteristics.

Pr es s t he is flashi ng, and pre ss the displ ay shows

SHIFT

key so that t he

SYSTEM-- (

SHIFT

SYSTEM--

indicator

key until the

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 43

7 - Advanced operations

Press the shows

SUB MENU

RLs. (

key until the displa y

RLS

—release) and then changes

to th e current va lue for t hat setting .

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change the value b etween the

MEDIUM

MED

and

(

FAST

(

) settings.

SLOW

(

)

7.9 Sine oscillator

The DA-78H R in c orporates a digital oscillato r for line up and signal trac ing purposes. This oscillator is a sine -wave osc illa tor at e ither the stan dard tuning frequency of 440 Hz or a tape line-up signal at 1kHz.

The oscilla tor sig nal level is at the nominal signal level (but note tha t since th e oscillato r is a constant sine wave, it can not truly b e comp ared with “realworld” tran sient signals).

To operate the oscillator :

Press the is fla shing, and press the display shows

AUDIO2 --).

(

Press the shows with the current s etting) .

SHIF T

ke y so that the

Audio. 2--

SUB MENU

OSC. ;;;

SHIF T

key until the

key until the displa y

OSC xxx

(

, for oscillator,

indi cator

7.10REC MUTE (recording silence)

There may be times when you wish to pr event any signal fr om reaching an armed track (in other word s, when you record, yo u are r ecording silen ce onto the t rack.

Press the is flashing, and t he n press the the display shows

Press the bri efl y shows then changes t o show the current setting (the default is all off).

Change the settings using the ▲ and ▼ keys.

To set record muting for individual tracks, use the track tion k eys, an d change th e se ttin gs i ndivi dually for each t rack using the ▲ and ▼ keys.

The display will show the tr ack number a nd the current mute setting ( e.g.

1 O FF

When no track is selected usin g the

FUNCTION

ALL

( value.

SHIFT

key so that the

Audio. 1-- (

SUB MENU

REC. MUTE (

REC FUNCTION

key until the displa y

SHIFT

indicato r

key until

AUDIO1--

REC MUT E

) and

keys as track selec-

TR 1 OFF

REC

keys, the display reverts t o

ALL

), as it does if all tr acks are the s ame

(

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to switch the oscillator

OFF

b etween the different sett ings (

440

(

), and 1k (1k).

OFF

(

When the oscillator is turned on, it overrides all other tra ck inputs.

The oscilla tor setting is not backed up with the other s ett ings.

NOTE

When using the oscillator, you should turn down the monitor levels in the control room and studio to avoid damage to your ears ( and the speakers).

7.9.1 Recording the oscillator

As m entioned above, the oscillator ov er ride s all other trac k inpu ts, regardless of whether digital or analog inpu t has been select ed.

R ecor ding the oscillator te st tone is therefore similar to an y other recording o per ati on.

SHIFT

If the

keys are used, each meter sh ows the

REC FUNCT ION

and

record mute status of th e corresp ondingly-n umbered tr ack, as shown her e (only one segment lights to show the mute status).

SHIFT

Press

FUNCTION

4.1. 1, “Peak meters”) to toggle this

OFF

and one of the

keys (a s described in

REC

met er mode o ff a nd on. The default at pow er-on is for t his mode to be on.

Pr es sing th e ▲ and ▼ keys together makes the default

ALL OFF setting.

7.11Dith er

Dither is the technique of add ing a k nown noise t o l ow-level sig nals, esp ecially when converting f r om a high number of bits (for instance 24 or 20 input bits, as in the case o f the DA-78HR) to a lower number

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 44

7 - Adva nced operat ions

(for instance 16, the DA-78HR’s non-HR tape word len gth) to imp rove quantization.

Paradoxically, th is technique of addin g noise removes quantization noise and distortion at low signal le ve ls and improves the overall distortion fig-

ures . Though quantizatio n noise is red uced, there is a loss

of a few dB in the signal- to-noise ratio. For this r e ason, the DA-78HR does not implement dith er as a stan dar d, but allows you to choose b etween n o dith er, rectangular or triangular (the shapes refer to the distribution of value s in the dig ital noi se). Rectangular gives about 3dB better signal-to-noise ratio than t riang ular, but there is noise m odulation, which m ay be audi ble when recording a nd playing back low-leve l pro gram so ur c es .

NOTE

Dither can be turned on and off while recording is takin g plac e. Howeve r, the re will prob ably be an audible change in the sound quality. We suggest maki ng a tes t recordin g befo re a s ession. In this way y ou will be abl e to make an i nsta nt assessment of th e e ffects of the dif ferent dither sett ing s on you r program material.

7.11.1S electi n g d ither set t ings

Pr ess the mod e (

Pr ess the

Audio. 2-- (

Pr ess the briefly shows

SHIFT

key so that the unit is in shift

SHIFT

indicator is f lashing).

key until th e dis play shows

AUDIO2--

SUB MENU

Out. bit. ;; (

key until the display

O UT B IT xx)

where xx is the current sett ing.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change between 16 and 24 b its .

NOTE

S im p ly c ha ng i ng the out pu t wo r d le ng th t o 24 bits w ill not automaticall y provide better sound quality, i f the equipment being fed by the DA-78HR is not capable of accepting 24- bit audio.

7.12.2 Output patchbay

In addition to the integral input patchbay, the DA78HR also featu res a patchbay which al lows track s to be routed to differ ent output channels.

This routing is carr ied out in parallel to both the TDIF di gital and the anal og sets of output s.

The defa ult setting is

NORMAL (

track s are output to their cor respondingly-numbered outp ut channels.

NORMAL

), i. e.

Press the is flashing, and t he n press the the display shows

Press the shows

SHIFT

k e y s o tha t th e

Audio. 1-- (

SUB MENU

DITH. ;;; (

SHIF T

indicato r

key until

AUDIO1--

key until the displa y

DITH xx x

where

xxx

current se t ting).

Use the ▲ and ▼ to se lect the dither function you want (either ( rect angular) or

OFF

TRI

OFF

(

TRI

RECT

) (triangula r)).

RECT

(

7.12Advanced output options

7.12.1Ou t put word leng t h

Th e output word length from the SPDIF (

COAXIAL

)) o utputs can be set to eith er 16 o r

24 bits.

1. A full discussion of dither and othe r digital audi o techniques i s outside the scope of this manua l. H owe ve r , a good starting point for lea r ning about this, and other aspects of digital audi o, is John Watkins on’s

Audio

, pub Foc al Pr e ss.

TDIF-1

The Art of Digital

(a nd the

is the

)

To ma ke an output patch setting :

Pr ess the mod e (

Pr ess the

Audio. 2-- (

Pr ess the briefly shows

SHIFT

key so that the unit is in shift

SHIFT

indicator is f lashing).

key until th e dis play shows

AUDIO2--

SUB MENU

Out. Patch (

key until the display

OUT PATCH

lowed by the current setting.

Press any of the

REC FUN CTI ON

keys to select an output channel (not a track) which will have a t rack ass igned to it.

The display shows the current setting of t his output c hannel, e .g.

Ch. 1 Tr. 3 (

Ch1 tr3

means that output c hannel 1 is fed by ta pe track 3. Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change the track numbe r.

), fol-

)

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 45

7 - Advanced operations

Pr essing the ▲ and ▼ keys simulta neously returns the output patchbay to the nor mal state.

Track 8 Track 7

Track 6 Track 5

Track 4 Track 3 Track 2

Track 1

The meters display the current as s ignments of tracks to t he ou tput channels. In this case, each meter shows t he as si gnme nt s t atus of the correspondingly-n umbe re d output channel (not track), as shown here.

SHIFT

Press

FUN CTION

and one of the

keys (as described in

REC

4. 1.1, “Peak meters”) to tog gle this meter mode off an d on. Th e de f a ult at po wer-on is for this mode to be on.

7.13 Emu lation

The DA- 7 8HR can be set to emulate other DTRS type s wh en inter rogated by an RC-898 remote control unit o r other remote control devices (such as the co ntrollers on the TM-D series of TASCAM digita l mixers).

Press the is fla shing, and press the display shows

MAINTN--

(

Press the brie f l y sho w s lowed by t he current sett ing.

T he defa ult is (natur ally) can use the ▲ and ▼ keys to select any of the following: fitt ed giving a ll timeco de f unctions when working as a slave wit h ID 2 or greater), (DA -88 pre -V4 , with tra c k copy) and (DA-88 pr e-V4).

NOTE

None of these emulations provides full control of all facilities available on the DA-78HR from the remote control unit. If the remote control unit d oes not support t he DA-78HR, select I f th e co ntroll er does not support the DA-98, select

DA-88

SHIF T

ke y so that the

MAINTN--

SHIF T

key until the

SUB MENU

DEv TYPE (

da-88 (DA-88 post-V4 with S Y-88

as the emulation.

key until the displa y

DEV TYPE

DA-78HR, but you

DA-98

as the emulati on.

indi cator

), fol-

da-38

DA-98

to ano ther f acility usin g the D A-78 HR, and set up th e othe r mach ine in exactly th e same way as the original at h ome. Of cours e, there are many other uses for this facility .

Th e settings stored on the tape do not a ffect the recorded aud io data.

To save the current se ttin gs to tap e:

Make sure that there is a formatted tape in the rec order befo re you start to save th e se ttings to tape. The tape must be stopped be fore y ou start the save operation.

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows

Press the ▲ key to make the DA-78 HR ready

SHIFT

key so that the

system--

SUB MENU

SAVE. OFF

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

SYSTEM --

(

key until the displa y

SAVE OFF

(

for sa ving the settings. The display will show

READY

Press the ▲ ke y again to act u ally start t he save

READY

(

operation. The DA- 78 HR will auto matically search to the

po sition on the tape where the data will be sav ed, will write the data , and then re wind and check that the da t a has been correctly written. While the data is be ing writ ten and checked,

DONE

(

SAVING

(

). The t ape

the display shows

When the s a ve o perat ion has f inished correctly, the display shows

SAVING

done

may now be ej ected.

If there is no tape inserted (or the tape has not been formatted) when the save operation is r e a died , the d i splay shows

no TAPE

NO TAPE

(

If the tape is not stopped when the save opera tion is read ied, the dis play sho ws

STOP

not stop

NOT

(

If an error is encountered while saving is taking place, the display will sho w

ERR

SAVE ERR

SAVE

(

7.15Rest oring settings from tape

7.14Saving settings to tape

This fu nctio n allows you to store yo ur settings convenie ntly on the tape that you ha ve used t o ma ke yo ur record ings. T his mean s that you can wo rk at home on your project using your own DA-78HR, take the tape

TASCAM DA-78HR

Th is allows you to rec a ll settings stored on tape as described ab ove (7.14, “S aving se ttings to tape”).

To restore set t ings, the tape co ntaining the settings must be loa ded. The t ape must be st opped before you start this restore operation.

Page 46

7 - Adva nced operat ions

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displ ay sho w s system-- (

Press the shows Load. OFF (

Press the ▲ key to make the DA-78 HR ready

SHIFT

k e y s o tha t th e

SUB MENU

SHIF T

indicato r

key until the

SYSTEM --

key until the displa y

LO AD OFF

for loading the setti ngs. The display will show READY (

Press the ▲ key a gain to actually start the

READY

restore operation. The DA- 78 HR will auto matically search to the

position on the t ape where the data ha s been saved, and w ill r ead the data, loading it int o memory. While the data is being read from tape, the di sp l ay shows READING

READING

(

If the settin gs data on the tape has been read successfully, the display will show READ OK

READ OK

(

). The unit will then re-start, as if

power had just be en turned on.

If there is n o tape in ser te d (or the tape has not been f ormatted ) wh en the lo ad operatio n is readied, the displ ay shows no TAPE (

NO TAPE

If the tape is n ot stopp ed when the loa d oper at ion is readied, the display shows not stop (

STOP

NOT

If n o data can be located on the ta pe, the dis play will show NO DATA (

NO DATA

If an err or is enco untered while the reading is tak in g pl ace, the di splay will show READ ERR (

ERR

READ

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 47

8 - Syn chr oni z ati on w it h ot her DTRS unit s

This section describes th e te chniques and method s to be followed when the DA-78HR is linked to othe r DTRS units (e.g. TASCAM DA-98, DA-38 , DA-88 and of cours e other DA-78HR units).

Up to 16 DTRS u nits can be link ed, for a to tal o f 12 8 digita l tracks.

I f you are con necting DTRS unit s of differe nt ty pes to the DA-78HR, use the DA-78HR or a DA-98 as the master unit an d the o ther units as slave units.

8.2 Mac hine ID and master/slave settings

Each DTRS unit in the chain m ust be assigned a machine ID. The unit at the head of the chain (the m a s te r) sh ould hav e ID numbe r 1.

Thou gh not s trictly necessary, we suggest that IDs ar e as sign ed in a consecuti ve seque ntial o rd er f rom the head of the chain.

8.1 Synchronizat io n con nection s

The cable t o be used when con nectin g the DA-78 HR to othe r DTRS un i ts f or synchroniz ati on purp os es sh ould be a PW-88S cable. Th is is 1 meter (3 ft.) long. I f you require a longer cable, please consult your TAS CAM dealer .

NOTE

Be sure to use only the optional PW-88S s ync cables. The use of any other cables c ould damage the DA-78HR.

Be sure to connect the ter mination plug to the last slav e’s

SYNC OUT

occur. Turn on all the DTRS units in your system, regardles s of

whether you act ually use all of t hem. A unit or unit s turned off will mak e s ynchronization impossible.

To synchronize multiple DTRS unit s, us e a pre-f ormatted tape in the m aster unit , and als o in the slav e units. Since the DT RS sy stem uses ABS tim e t o ac hiev e synchronization, it is impossible to synchronize using tapes w ithout ABS t ime recorded on t hem.

To synchronize multiple DT RS u nits, all the tapes in ea ch un i t must be for m atted at t he sam e sampling r ate, or synchronization is imp ossi ble.

Th e synchron ization conn ections form a “daisychain”, with the master u nit at the head of the ch ain, an d the last slave at the tail.

Connections are made from the unit to the connection also carr ies the word clock between the DTRS u nits . Slave units will automatical ly take their clock through this, as shown by the front panel

CLOCK

There are exceptional circumstances when ind ependent clocks may be necessary. See 8.6, “Individual clo ck m ode” for details.

connector, or else incorrect func tions m ay

REMOTE IN/SYNC IN

SYN C OU T

of the next. Thi s

of on e

indicators, neith er of which will be lit.

8 .2.1 Differenc es betwee n DTRS models

The DA-78HR , DA-98 and DA-38 u se machine IDs that are set by sof tware (the machine must be tu rned on f or the ID to be set). The valu e s for the IDs of these models start at “1” and go up to “16”.

The switch on the back of th e DA-88 is only o perative wh en the unit is turned off. It is ma rke d from “0” through “F ”.

When including DA-88s and DA-78HRs in the same chain, add 1 to th e number shown on the DA- 88’s rear pan el machine ID switch to ma ke the D A-88’s machine ID match the series of the DA-78HR (and DA-98 and DA-38) IDs . Any DA-88 whose Machine ID is not 1 (the switch has been set to a valu e other than 0) will show its Slave ID brie f ly at power-on.

Therefore, f or a chain of three units; a DA- 78HR as master, with a DA-98 and DA-88 as slaves, the machines’ IDs should be s et as follows:

“Real” ID

m enu system

r ear panel

How t h e ID is

set

Po w e r o n or off

ON OFF

when ID is set

Un it

ID as sh own

DA-78HR 1 1 Tape counter

D A -98 2 2 Menu system D A -88 2 3 Rotary swi tch on

It therefore ma kes sense to set th e machine IDs of all DA-88s in the chain fir st, imme diately af ter co nnections have been ma de with the power off, and then turn on power to all units before setting the mach ine IDs of all DA-78HRs, DA-98s and DA-38s in the chai n.

NOTE

Always m ake and break all co nne ctions with the power to a ll units in the ch ain turned OFF.

NOTE

When yo u set the machine IDs, you can se t the ID of any mach in e first, but we r ecommen d doing th is in a

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 48

8 - Synchronization with other DTRS units

standard sequence, working from the head of the chain to the end.

8.2.2 Setting machin e ID

Press the is fla shing, and press the counter sh ows

SYSTEM--

(

Press the shows current machine ID setting.

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change the value between 1 and 15.

NOTE

If you try to set the m achine ID to anything other th an 1, when no sync cable is connected, an error message will b e shown.

SHIF T

ke y so that the

SYSTEM--

SUB MENU

id. sel. ;; (

SHIF T

indi cator

key, until the

key until the displa y

ID SEL xx

), wher e x x is the

8.2.3 Mas t er/slave setti ngs (CHASE mode)

Each un it with an ID great er than 1 is regarded as a slave unit.

For each slave unit in the chain, pres s the

SHIFT

key so that the ing, and press the shows

Press the brie f l y sho w s

SYSTEM-- (

SUB MENU

TIME. M ODE (

then changes to sho w the current time mo de (which is either ABS —absolute or TC—timecode).

If a n y s lav e unit shows keys to change this to

On each slave unit, press the

CHASE

P ress any of the t ransport control s on the mas-

indicator w ill start flashing.

ter unit (machine ID 1). The slave unit( s) w ill s ynchr onize and follow the transport comm ands o f the mas ter.

When a slave unit is locked to the master uni t,

CHASE

its

indicator will light steadily. W hile chasing, the tr ansport key s of the sl a ve unit a re disabled.

SHIFT

indicator is f lash-

key, until t he count e r

SYST EM--).

key until the displa y

TIME MO DE

, use the ▲ and ▼

ABS

CHASE

) and

key. The

NOTE

When chasing, it ma y take some t ime before chase lock is achieved. A slave unit cannot start recording until it has achieved chase lock status.

8.3 Machine offset

It is so metimes necessary to off set a slave u ni t in the chain relat ive to the master unit. T his off set can be s e t to sample accuracy to a max imum v alue of ± two hours.

NOTE

This offset is unrelated to timecode offset and refers only to the machine offset when synchronized to other DTRS units.

8.3.1 Sett ing machine off set

Press the mode (flashing

Press the

The display will show

OFST

set).

Use the ▲ and ▼ k eys to set the of fset for the slave unit, and the mov e the cu rsor to the different fields. The

OFFSET

key. Se e 4.3.5 , ““Le ft” and “ri g h t” k e ys ” for d etails

of setting values in a time field.

You can al so chang e the s ign o f the o ff set v alue between by mo ving the cursor to the sign.

When a non-zero offset is set, the front panel

OFFSET

NOTE

When a non-zero offset is set, the front panel indicator will light.

If you change an offset val ue ( timecode or ABS), any punch points, location memories, etc. wil l be invalidated. For exam ple, if you change the offset to 00:30:00.00 (30 minutes) from 00:00:00.00 (no offset), a punch point which was previously at 00:33:00.00 (33 minu tes in to the tape) will still have t he s ame value (0 0:33:00.00 ) , but will now be only 3 minu tes in to the tape.

SHIFT

key s o t hat the unit enters shift

SHIFT

indic ator).

AUTO IN /OUT ( OFFSET)

ABS. OFST. (

key.

ABS

) and t he cu rrent offset (if any has been

SHIFT

ed ▲ and ▼ keys to

key can also be used as a right cursor

indicator will light.

To turn off chase mode on a sla ve unit, press the

CHASE

key so that the

CHASE

indicator

go es off.

TASCAM DA-78HR

8.3.2 Cancelling machine offset

To cancel machine off set, simp ly set th e off set value to 00:00:00. 00.

Ente r t he offs et setting, as describ ed above .

Page 49

8 - Syn chr oni z ati on w it h ot her DTRS unit s

Press and hold down the ▲ key and press the ▼

key to res et the v alue.

Ma chine offset will now b e cancelled and the

OFFSET

indicator will go out.

at the co rr ect time relati ve t o the dial og an d reference tr acks.

Copy of video worktape audio tracks

8.3.3 Sett ing machine offset “ on the f ly”

As well a s ente ring a n absolute n umber, it is also possible to enter a nu mber “on the fly ” as th e tapes are playing.

Locate th e tw o tap es (ma s ter a nd slave) so that t hey have the right offse t, either by p la ying the tapes and pausing them o r car ry out the nex t operation while one or both tapes is being played back.

On the slave unit to be offset, press a nd hold

SHIFT

the

OFFSET

(

key, and pre ss the

) key at the co rrect of fset time to cap-

AUT O IN/OU T

ture and store the off set. The display will brief ly show

OFFSET

), and the current difference between

AT. OFFSET (

the master a nd slave tapes will be stored as an offset.

NOTE

The value entered in this way can be edited later using the technique described abov e.

You cannot determine the offset from an unform atted t ape, or if ei ther tape is c urr ently displayi ng a negative ABS value.

8.3.4 An exa mple of setting offsets

A p ractical example of setting offsets is given here. The master DA-78HR co ntains the tape with th e dia-

log and ref er ence tracks from the video worktape. Anot he r D A-7 8HR ( t he slave) has a tape w ith some tracks co ntaining video backing music. I t is necessary to produce an o ffset b etween the two so that wh en the master is pla yed, th e music tracks will start

01:02: 21:180 1:00: 00:0 000:57: 00:00

Start of tape

Connection from

SYNC OUT SYNC IN

Start of video Music entry

Start of tape

Press the

Backing music

01:00: 00:0000:57:00:00

Start of musi c (tape is cued here)

▲▲▲▲

key at

▼▼▼▼

this point. Offset will b e set to

Loca te the sla ve tape with the back ing music to

00:02: 21 18

the star t of the m usic. The shutt le mode is usef ul he re (see 7.7, “Shut-

tle o perations”).

Rewi nd the ma st er to a litt le before you want t he music to en ter.

Start playing the master DA- 78HR.

When the music ent ry point is reached, pres s

SHIFT

and ho ld the

OUT

key to c apt ure the offset poi nt.

Stop the ma s te r, and set the slave i n to

key and pres s th e

AU TO IN /

CHA SE

mode (8.2 .3, “ Master/slave settin gs (CHASE mode)”).

Rewind the master t o a litt le bef ore the music entry and s tar t pl aying.

The slave machine shou l d now fol low the transport movements of t he mast er, with the appro priate offset, so that t he music enters at the right point.

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 50

8 - Synchronization with other DTRS units

Select “all digit al” as t he input source on the

8.4 Digital dubbing

target slave (5.3, “Input selection ” ) .

SO UR CE MASTER

PW-88S (sync ca b le)

Te rm in a tor plug

P W - 88D o r PW-88DL ( d igita l I/O c a bl e)

TA R G ET SLAVE

W hen you c opy tapes between DTRS units in the digital d oma in, there is no lo ss of quality. A “ worktap e” or copy is therefore indistin guishable from the original. A dditionally, the DA-78HR uses low-cost medi a (Hi8 vi de o cass ett es) , which makes it easy to back up i mportant projects.

NOTE

When you copy tracks from DA -8 8 units, the wo rd length should be set to 16 b its (5 .4.2, “Selec ti ng i np ut word length ”).

You may want to exploit these features of the DTRS system to make ar chive copies, and “safety copies” of important material (see 1.5, “Recommended ta pes ” for ou r su gg e s t ions on ta pe use ).

With the power to all units turned OFF, ma ke the sy nc hroniz ation connections a s de scr ibe d in 8.1, “Synchronization connections”.

Remember t o terminate the slave unit.

P ut t h e t ar get sla ve machine into

CHAS E

mode

(8 .2, “Machin e ID and master/sl ave se ttings”).

Loca te the master tape t o a point before the material you w ant to duplic at e .

The target slave will als o locate since it is in chase mode.

Arm all tracks (

REC F UNCTI ON

) on the target

slave machine.

Mak e sure tha t all

REC F UNCTI ON

switches on

the source master are turned OFF.

NOTE

REC FUNCTION

If an y t er are turn ed on, you wi ll era se your master t ape! You may want to use the tape’s wr ite-protect tab (5.2.3, “Write-protecting cassettes”).

On the master machine, hold down and press

PLAY

switches on th e source mas-

RECORD

No recording will take place on the source master, but th e tracks will be re corded digitally on a one-to-one basis to the target slave.

There is no need to carry out any special predubbing procedu re such as timing the di gital output – the digital and analog outputs are s e parate.

Yo u can use the input patchbay on the target slave machine (5 .3. 2, “Input patchbay routing”) to transfer tracks from the source master tape to di fferen t tracks on th e targ et slave. Note that you canno t com bine tracks by thi s method.

Connect t he (source) to the

DIG ITAL I/O

DIGITAL I/O

of th e ma ster unit

of th e slave (tar get).

Use only the approved cables (PW-88D or P W88DL) to connect the DTRS units. Use of any other cables can cause damage to the units and will inv alidat e t he war ranties.

Turn on both units. Make sure the ma ch ine s’ IDs are correctly set (8.2.2, “Setting mach ine ID”).

Insert t he master tape into the source master and a bla nk ta pe , formatted w ith the sam e sampling frequency and with the same recording resolution as the master tape, into the target slave.

TASCAM DA-78HR

8.5 Synchronized formatting

When sev eral un its are connected togeth er, you can f ormat s evera l ta pes simult aneousl y, usi ng one machine as the m aster. This can be a very co nvenient wa y of sa vi ng ti m e a n d ef f ort.

Make sure th at all machin es are connected t ogether using the describe d abo ve, and that the las t unit in the chain is terminated.

Load a blank unfor matted t ape into each DTRS unit.

Make sure all tapes a re the same length.

SYNC

connectio ns, as

Page 51

8 - Syn chr oni z ati on w it h ot her DTRS unit s

Press the

CHASE

key o n all of th e slave DTRS

units. The indicator will flash.

Press

FORMAT/Fs

twice within fiv e secon ds, on each of the DTRS units (master and all slaves) so all ma chi n es ar e ready t o s tar t fo rmatting.

If you press the

CLEAR

key while t he

FORMAT

indicator is lit steadily, you will c ancel the for mat ope ra ti on.

S elect the same sampling rate (48 kH z or

44.1 kHz) o n each DTRS unit. Any slav e DTRS unit which has a different

sampling frequency selected from that select ed on th e master will display an error message.

Press and hold the master. All sl ave units’

PLAY

and press

CHASE

RECORD

indicators

will lig ht steadily, and the tapes will start to be forma tte d in synchronization .

8.5.1 Recording while formatting

As with a single-machine format (5.1.4, “Recording wh ile formatting ”), it is possible to record while forma tting on multi ple machines.

You m ay want to u se th is featu re when making a liv e multi-mac hine r ecor ding, an d there ha s no t been time to format all the tapes in adva nce of the perf ormanc e.

Th e re are two settings,

AUT O

ual).

is the default, and the u nit behaves as f ol-

AUTO

and

INDVID

(individ-

low s when this is selected.

Slave unit’s Time Mod e

ABS Al l clock sources DTRS sync

Master DA-78HR Slave DA-7 8HR units

Internal Internal Word sy nc DTRS sync

In individual mo de, the un it behaves as fo llo ws:

Slave unit’s Time Mod e

ABS

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the cou nter shows

Press the briefly shows

Master DA-78HR Slave DA-7 8HR units

DTRS sync

All clock s ources

SHIFT

key so that the

SYSTEM-- (

SUB MENU

CLOk. MO DE (

Internal,

DIGITAL IN

key until the displa y

WORD

SHIFT

indicato r

key, until the

SYST EM--).

CLOK MO DE

) and

then changes t o the current setting.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change bet ween the

AUTO (

AUTO

) and INDViD

(INDV ID)

mode s.

R emember tha t you should let the ta pes run to the end —you should no t halt the formatting/rec ord ing proc ess part of the way through the tape.

8 .6 Individua l clock m ode

There are some circumstances where it may be necessary to use in dependent re ference cloc ks on a ch ain of DTRS units wh en TC time mode (see 9.2, “Tap e timecode mode”) is selected.

8.7 Error messag es

These error messages refer to DTRS synchronization:

E. DIO (

connected. Re-connect the correct cable to the

DIGITAL I/O

E. CLOC (

not connected, the master has been turned off, or the master’s samp lin g fr equency is diff erent fr om that o f t he slave unit’s. R echeck thes e param eters.

If either of these messages app ears, correct th e fault to retu r n to normal operation.

E DIO

)—appears if the digital cable is not

connecto r.

E CL OC

)—appear s when the sync cab le i s

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 52

9 - Operation s relate d t o t imecod e

The DA-78H R contains s yn chron iza tion facilities, inc luding a SMPTE/EBU timecode generator, which allow it to act either as a timecode master or a timecode slave when connected in a timecode chain.

If timecode is reco rded on tape, a s pecial discrete subcode track is us ed, wh ich leaves all eight tr acks free for recording and playb ack of audio material. No te that this subcode is available both as analog SMPTE/E BU timecode and al so as MTC .

The DA-78H R is ab le to synchronize with exte rnal timecode devices, even if the DA-7 8HR tape has not bee n s triped, by converting its inte rnal servo subcode (ABS) to timecode “on-the-fly”.

A full range of options is provided for full compatibility with the widest possible r ange of other equipment.

9.1 ABS and timecode

In some parts of this manual we will use the phrases “ABS” and “TC”. Here, we explain these two different tim ing re fere nce methods and the dif ference s between them.

9.1.1 ABS time

“ABS” stands for “Abso lu te”, and is the absolute time of the tape as recorded on the subcode of the tap e. This timin g starts at the beginning of the tape with a va lue o f 00:0 0:00:0 0. T his is the timing reference used when the DA-78 HR is not using timecode.

Timecode contains a fixed number of frames per second. However, the ABS method of timing works in a s lightly di fferent way.

In three seconds of time, t here ar e 100 frames. These fra mes ar e allocated as follo ws:

Second

00 – 01 3 3 32 01 – 02 3 3 32

02 – 03 3 4 33

Number of

fram es

Maximum frame

value displayed

received and transmitted via the MIDI conn ectors, or timecode s ynthesized from the ABS subcode (9.2, “Tape timecode mode”).

Whether the timecode is generated or synthesized, we will r efer to it as “timecode” in this manual, to disting uish it from ABS timing v alue s.

Timecode can be re-produced independently of ABS ti mi ngs and can be of an y frame forma t supported b y common timecode standards.

Timing info r mation received and transmitted from an d to external controll ers will always be referenced to timecode values.

W hen the DA-78H R is referenced to its absolute t imecod e, the

ABS

indic a tor to the left of the tape co unte r will light, and when refe r ence d to timecode (i nte r na l or ext erna l) , t h e

indicator will light.

9.1.3 Sel ect ing T C or A BS t iming

NOTE

This procedur e is fundamental to synchronization opera tion s. If you select absolu te timing mode when you want to synchronize with timecode, you wil l be unable to synchr onize the DA-78HR.

T o chan ge betwee n th e t wo diff erent ti me refer enc e modes, perform the following procedure:

Press the is flashing, and t he n press the that the display shows

SYSTEM--

(

Press the bri efl y shows lowed by

SHIFT

key so that the

SUB MENU

TIME. MODE (

T. Md. ;;; (

SHIFT

indicato r

key so

SYSTEM--

key until the displa y

TIME MOD E

T MD xx x

)—the current

) fol-

setting for this parame ter, as described below.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to select either

ABS

(

) or TC (TC) (the default is ABS).

ABS

The appro priate in dicator by the time display will ligh t.

9.2 Tape timecode mode

This pattern is repeated every three seconds, as you will notice when y ou set frame values usin g the men u sy stem in AB S m ode. When m ultiple DTRS units are connec ted to ge th er in DT RS sync mode, the mas ter unit always outputs ABS timings to the slave u nit(s) .

9.1.2 Tape t imecode

“TC” stands f or timecode, and is shown whenever a time cod e va lue is used ra ther than the ABS value. The timecode may be internal or external and can be

TASCAM DA-78HR

The fo llowin g proced ure allows you to s elect t h e source for tape timecode (including using ABS timi ngs, wh ich are u sed to synthesize SMPTE/EBU t imecod e. Thi s synthesi zed timecode is treated exactly as if a tape had b een str iped with timeco de).

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displays shows

SHIFT

key so that the

TC-- (

TC--

SHIFT

key until the

indicato r

Page 53

9 - Operation s relate d t o t imecod e

Press the brie f l y sho w s

SUB MENU

TAPE. T C (

key until the displa y

T A PE TC

), followe d

b y the current setting.

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change the value of this paramet er between

CONV ABS (

TC TRK

CONV ABS

means that t imecode reco rded on t he

TC TRK (

TC TRK

) and

tape will be used a s the sourc e for the timecode.

CONV ABS

means t hat the A BS time (subc ode) will be c onvert e d to timecode and output as timecode.

9.2.1 TAPE TC setting

You should on ly use this setting if you have alrea dy s triped the dedicate d timecode tra ck with timecode (either from an external source or from the DA78HR’s ow n i ntern al ge nerator).

If you have selected

TC TRK

from the menu above, any timecode recorded on the tape will be used as the ta pe t i mec o de so ur c e.

9.2.2 ABS setting

If you have selected the ABS subcode time from the tape will be used as the timecode, with the start of the tape ha ving a time code value of 00:00: 00.00, as wi th the ABS code its elf.

The time c ode frame rate used will be the frame rate as selected in 9. 3, “Select ing th e frame mode”)

NOTE

I f you are using ABS timings as timeco de, t he hours, min utes and seconds of the ABS t ime will correspond to th e converted timecode, set to 29.97 non-drop or 30 drop. In these cases, the difference between ABS values and timecode values wil l be about 2 seconds per hour.

CONV ABS

unless

in the menu above,

t he frame rate is

Frame mode (fps)

29 .9 7 drop (defa ult ) 25 24

Display

29DF (

25 (

24 (

29D F

) )

)

When using the DA-78HR to chase to a timecod e master, the system f r ame mode on the DA-78HR must matc h the frame mode of the timecode master, otherwise chase operations are not possib le.

The system frame mode is au tomatically set when a tape which has been striped with timecode is inserted, (or if power is switched on with a st ripe d t ape already inserted in the unit). The frame mode reco rded on th e ta pe will be used as th e system frame mod e.

However, the sy stem f r ame mode may be changed f ol l owing the procedure bel ow.

Th e system frame mode will determi ne the type of t imecod e output, even if it differs f r om the tape timecode (the type of which can be viewed as described in 9. 5.8, “Checki ng the f ra me mode of st riped time code”).

The DA-78HR also outpu ts timecode synthesized from th e ABS code (

CONV ABS

) as descri be d in 9.2, “Tape timecode mode”) using th e frame mode set here.

Th e DA-78HR’s interna l timecode gen e rator also uses th is fram e mode when generating timecode.

T o chan ge the sy ste m f ram e rate:

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displays shows

Press the bri efl y shows

SHIFT

key so that the

TC-- (

SUB MENU

FRM. modE (

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

TC--

key until the displa y

FRM MODE

), followed by the current system set ting fo r this parameter (e. g.

Sys 29dF (

SYS 29DF

)).

9.3 Selecting the frame mode

The DA- 7 8HR can use the following standards for timecode (includin g timecode sy nt hesized by the ABS to T C facility):

Frame mode (fps) Display

30 non-drop 30 drop 2 9. 97 non- drop

TASCAM DA-78HR

30ND ( 30DF ( 29ND (

30ND 30DF 29ND

)

Use the ▲

and ▼ keys to select the frame mode

for your pro ject.

9.4 Timecode input and output

Remember in this section, “timecode” means SPMTE /EBU timec ode when referri ng to incoming ti meco de. Outg oing timeco de w ill also r efer to SM PTE/EBU timec ode, un less MTC ou tput is turned on (s ee 9.4.4, “MTC output”).

Page 54

9 - Operations rel ated t o timecod e

9.4.1 Showing input timecode

There are two prim ary reasons for the DA-78HR to receiv e timecod e: when the DA-78HR is chasing to timecode, and must receive t he mas ter timeco de , an d wh en th e DA-78HR is to record timecode from another unit (but see 9.5.5, “External timecode sources” below).

T o vi ew inco min g tim eco de, follow the p roced ure bel ow:

Press the is flashing, then pre ss the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows the current setting.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change bet ween

TAPE

timecode received at the timecode input) and

diff

r eceiv ed tim ecode and the actu a l p osit ion). Us e

EXT

NOTE

Eve n when the DA -78HR is in ABS mode , this settin g has some effe ct. If TAPE is selected here, th e ABS tape time is shown. If DIFF is selected here, a nd the DA-78HR is chasing using DTRS syn c, the difference between the ABS time of the master unit and the slave unit is shown.

To show the frame mode of the inc oming timecode:

Press the is flashing, then pre ss the displ ay sho w s

SHIFT

k e y s o tha t th e

TC-- (

SUB MENU

DIsp. ;;;; (

(TAPE)

(DIFF

(off-tape setting), EXT

—the d ifferen ce between the

TC--

key so that the display

DISP xxxx

SHIF T

key until the

) where xxxx is

to view the received timecode.

SHIFT

k e y s o tha t th e

TC-- (

TC--

SHIF T

key until the

indicato r

(EXT—

indicato r

Pr es s t he is flashing, then press the displ ay shows

Pr ess the briefly shows

SHIFT

key so that t he

TC-- (

SUB MENU

IN. TC. TMG (

SHIFT

indicator

key until the

TC--

key so that the displa y

IN TC TMG

) and

t hen chang es to th e c ur rent setting .

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change between

ANALOG (

ANALO G

) and DIGITAL(

DIGITAL

9.4.3 Timec o de ou t put

The t imecod e received at the timecode inp ut jack, or the timecode record ed on tape (or syn thesized from ABS) , can be output f rom the tim ecode output jack .

When the DA-78HR is the timecode m aster, th e timecode it outputs should be off ta pe.

However, when the DA-78HR is in the m iddle of a timecode chain , yo u will pr obably w ant to retran smit the incoming timecode ( the

THRU

). This section explains how to perform these

operations.

Pr es s t he

SHIFT

key so that t he is flashing, then press the displ ay shows

Pr ess the shows

OUT. TC. SRC (

TC-- (

SUB MENU

and then changes to the current setting.

Use the ▲ and ▼ k eys to choo se between

TAPE T C

tc (

), which includes off-t ape and synthesize d timecode, is reg enerated timecode, and

RE SHAPE

(

) which is filtered and re-t ransmit-

ted by the DA -78HR.

OUT

functions as a

SHIFT

indicator

key until the

TC--

key so that the displa y

OUT TC SRC

REGEN (

) br iefl y ,

REGEN

RESHAPE

), wh ic h

TAPE

Press the briefly shows

SUB MENU

FRM. MODE (

key so that the display

FRM MODE)

, followed by the system f rame mode as described in 9.3, “S electing the frame mode”.

Press and hold the key so t hat t he display shows

xxxx

) where xxxx is the abbreviation for the

SHIFT

key and pres s the ▲

EXT ;;;; (

EXT

ex t ernal timeco de frame mode. If no external timecode i s being received, the di splay shows:

EXT -- (

EXT --

9.4.2 Timecode input t iming

Because of the natu re of analog- to-digital conversio n, the tim ecode input to the DA-78HR must be synchronized either to the audio from the digital or analog outputs.

9.4.4 M TC ou t put

It is possible to s elect whether or not the DA- 78HR outpu ts MIDI timecod e, and under what circu mstances. The following functions ar e available:

•MTC output

• MTC output in fast modes (allows sequencers, etc. to keep tra ck)

• MTC output when stopped

The last two of these are dependent on the first, i.e. if MTC is set to be off, it cannot be output in fast or stop modes. All of these are accessed fr om the MIDI menu:

Pr es s t he is flashing, then press the displ ay shows

SHIFT

key so that t he

MIDI-- (

SHIFT

indicator

key until the

MIDI--

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9 - Operation s relate d t o t imecod e

To set th e MTC output on or off:

Press the shows

OFF

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change the setting to

SUB MENU

MTC ON (

key until the displa y

MTC ON

) or MTC OFF (

MTC

the required value (on or of f ).

To set t he M TC output w hen f ast or st oppe d:

Press the shows either

STOP. MTC (

rent setting (on or

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change the setting to

SUB MENU

FAST. MTC (

STOP MTC

key until the displa y

FAST MTC

) or

), followed by the cur-

off

the required value (on or of f ).

NOTE

If MIDI is turned off using the MIDI menu (1 0.1, “MMC enable and d i sa ble ” ) , MTC outp ut is also disabled.

9.4.5 Fas t linear timecod e (LTC) ou tp ut

The Fast LTC f un ction c ontrols the way in which time cod e is output when fast winding the tape, or if s huttling is carried out at greater than normal playback speed.

9.4.6 Timecode output timing

B ec ause of the nature of the digital-to- analog convers ion, the timecode which is output from the DA78HR must be synchroniz ed to match the audio timing from either the digital or the analog audio outputs, whichever s et of outputs is in use at the time.

Press the is flashing, then press the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows

SHIFT

key so that the

TC-- (

SUB MENU

OUT. TC. TMG (

SHIFT

indicato r

TC--

key until the

key so that the display

OUT TC TMG

) br iefl y ,

and then changes to the current setting.

Use the ▲

ANALOG (

DIGITAL

(

and ▼ keys to select bet ween

ANALO G

) and DIGITAL

9.5 Recording timecode

9.5.1 Sel ect ing the timecode source

The DA-78HR allows you to select one of three sources f or record ing timecode: the DA-78HR’s inte rna l gen e rator, ext ernal timecod e, or timecode based on tape.

Press the is fla shing, then pres s the display shows

Press the shows

SHIF T

ke y so that the

TC-- (

SUB MENU

FAST LTC (

SHIF T

indi cator

key until the

TC--

key so that the display

FAST LTC

) briefly, and

then changes to the current setting.

Use th e ▲ and ▼ keys to make the appropriat e setting.

There a re three settings: The

5FRM (

5 FRM

) setting mean s that timeco de infor matio n is not output continu ously. H e r e, the DA-7 8HR reads the timecode from the tape as it is spooling, outputs 5 consecutive f rames at nor m al s peed starting with th e va lue which has been read from tap e, then reads the tape again, outputs another 5 consecutive frame s based on the new tape position, and s o on.

Th e

LEAP (

LEAP

) se tting me ans that timecode is outp ut contin uo usly during fast operatio ns, and will not b e contiguous (it will leap between frame s).

The OFF (

OFF

) se ttin g means that timecode is not

output during fast operations.

T o select the so ur ce f or recordi ng t imecode :

Press the is flashing, then press the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows

SHIFT

key so that the

TCG. REC-- (

SUB MENU

TC. REC. SRC (

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

TCG REC--

key so that the display

TC REC SRC

) briefly,

and then changes to the current setting.

Use the ▲

and ▼ keys t o select a source for the

t imecode rec ordin g from the f ollo wing optio ns:

EXT

EXT (

and

), TCG (

TAPE. TC (

If you select

TCG

—timecode generato r)

TAPE TC

TAPE. TC, the so urce of the tape

timecode will be used , as det ermined in the tape timecode sele ction menu (9.2, “T ape timecode mode”).

NOTE

Generally speaking, timecode should be recor ded from an external source onl y when audio tracks and timecode must b e tra nsferred together from external units. In all other cases, we suggest that you use the internal generator or the tape as sources for recording timecode.

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9 - Operations rel ated t o timecod e

If you are record ing timecode only, we suggest that you do not use external sources for recording timecode.

Set th e source to above , an d use

TAPE TC

AB S

as descri be d i mme diat ely

(see 9.2.2, “ABS setting”) as the tap e timecode source. This will ensur e an accurate match b etween the timecode and th e ABS timin g reference (the fact that th e generator must be started ma nua lly means that there w ill not be a tig ht re la tion be twe e n timecode and the ABS timing).

Th is will also allow you to synchronize multiple DTRS un it s accur atel y to exter nal t im eco de, even though the slave units are not timecode-based.

9.5.2 Reco rding timecode using the

generator

Insert a formatted tape into the DA-7 8HR. It is possible to format and st ripe a new ta pe

simultaneously, by se t ting up the formatting procedure as desc r ibe d in 5.1, “Formatting a tape” and t hen following the instructions below.

Select timecode as the timing referen ce ( 9.1.3, “Sele cting TC or ABS timin g”).

To s tart the genera tor, pr ess the key until the display shows

STOP

). Then use the ▲ or ▼ key t o st art th e

SUB MENU

TGc. STOP (

TCG

gen erator running . The display will show

Press and ho ld the

RECORD

The

key and th e tape will start reco r ding.

indicator will sta rt flashing fast er

TCG. RUN (

PLAY

and

TCG RUN

press the

while timecode stripin g is going on.

NOTE

You can also star t recording (steps 8 and 10) and th en s tart the t imecode generator (s tep 9 ) .

If the method described ab ove (arming the timecode track, and then starting recording) is used, the tape counter is used to show the output from the timecode source (the gen e rator) when the timecode track is armed, flashing when the tape is s topped, and steady when the tape is running.

9.5.3 Generator modes

When the time c ode gen e rator is stopped, using the sub-menu command to restart the ge nera tor will either restart fr om the star t time as set in 7, or to continue fro m the tim e when it was stopped.

Select a frame rate (9.3, “Selectin g the frame mode”).

Press the is flashing, then pre ss the displ ay sho w s

Se lect the s our ce of th e ti me c od e as the i n terna l

SHIFT

k e y s o tha t th e

TCG. REC-- (

SHIF T

TCG REC--

indicato r

key until the

generator (9. 5 .1, “Selecting the timecode source”).

Press the briefly shows

SUB MENU

STRT. TIME (

key until the displa y

STRT T IME

lowed by the current start time of t he generator.

Edit the genera tor sta rt time as described in

4. 3, “Men u s and sub -menus”.

To reco rd the timecode, press the key until the display sho ws

REC EN 0,

i.e. disabled ). Use the ▲ and ▼ keys

TC. R EC. EN 0 (

SUB MENU

to change the sett ing to 1 (en abled).

The ting will re t ur n to

indicator will start flashin g. This set-

0 (disabled) when timecode

reco rdi ng has finished.

), fol-

Pr es s t he is flashing, then press the displ ay shows

Pr ess the shows

SHIFT

key so that t he

TCG. REC-- (

SUB MENU

TCG. MODE (

SHIFT

indicator

key until the

TCG REC--

key so that the displa y

TCG MODE

) briefly, and

t hen chang es to th e c ur rent setting .

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to choose between

RESet (

and

RESET

CoNT (

—resume start from set value)

CONT

—continue fro m cu rrent ly

re ached value).

9.5.4 S y n t hes i z ing t imec o de f rom AB S timing

When you are synthesizing timecode fr o m ABS, the tape counter display behav e s differently from the way as described above.

The tape counter will not flash when the timecode track is armed and the tape is stopped, and it will not display all hyphens, sin ce the timecode source is always available.

In this case, you can start recording the timecode at any time ( b efore or after) the tape has started moving.

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9 - Operation s relate d t o t imecod e

9.5.5 External timecode sources

T he followi ng note s s hould help yo u wh en yo u must record timecode on the DA-78HR fro m an external source (analog or digital).

As mentioned earlier, you should only need to record timecode f rom an ext ernal sour ce when the audio an d time cod e tracks have to be tran sf erred to gether, ke e ping a strict relationsh ip b etween the audio and timecode tracks.

In all other cases, we suggest using either the DA78HR’s internal generator or timecode from tape. If you use these as sources, there will be no jitter problem s, and any problems of synchronization with the digital audio clock are eliminated

NOTE

When recording timecode from an external di gital source, make sure the digital clock of t he DA -7 8H R and that of the external source are synchronized. A wa rning mes s age will app ea r if the tim ecode sourc e and the DA-78HR are not synchr onized, but timecode can still be record ed. Howeve r, the resulting tim ecode recordin g will probably cause synchronization problems in the future.

Set the timecode record source t o

Ext (9.5.1 ,

“Selecting the t imecode source”) .

To reco rd the timecode, press the key until the display shows

REC EN 0

), mean ing that tim ecode r ecording is

TC. REC. EN. 0 (

SUB MENU

disabled. Use t he ▲ an d ▼ keys to change the sett ing to

Sta rt the ext ernal source to check the status of

1 (1—e nabled).

the external timecode. If no external timecode has been received since

the DA-78HR ha s been switched on, the tape counter will show all hyphens.

If external timecode ha s been received since the DA- 78HR has been swit ch ed on, but is not currently being received, the tape counter will flash.

If the external timeco de is currently being received at normal (play) speed, the tape counter will show the value of the timecode currently being received. If the external timecode is being receiv ed from a source in f a st wind mode, the tape coun ter will flash.

When recording timecode f rom another DT RS unit, synchroniz e the two unit s using ABS chase

(settin g th e timecode/audio sour ce unit to be a slave unit). After the two units have been s yn c hronized in this way, timecode and audio can be transferr ed together.

When recording timecode f rom a digital source ( audio or video), m ake sure that the DA-78HR and

the other unit are locked to a co mmon word (audio recorder ) clock reference. After the two machines have been synchronized in this way, timecode and audio can be transfe rred to geth er .

If yo ur an alo g recorder cannot chase to ex terna l ti me code, you mu st first recor d the timecode f rom the analog record er o n an aud io tr ack of the DA- 78 HR and then transfer the timecode to the dedicated timecode track.

Timecode recorded on the audio track in this way is synchronized to the aud io clock, and can su bsequentl y be trans ferred (through patc hing) to the t imecode track.

9.5.6 Recording timecode from external sources

Set the time mode to or ABS timing”).

TC (9.1.3 , “Select ing T C

If the timeco de source is not clock-synchro nized w it h the DA-78HR, a warning will be shown on the display screen. In this case, alt hough yo u can record timecode, it is not recommended, as this will prob ably cause problems later on.

Stop the external t ime c ode so ur ce, and rewi nd or res et it to a p oint prior to where you want rec ordin g to begin.

The tape counter will now start to flash.

Restart the source. The tape counter will display received time-

code.

Press and hold down

PLAY

and press

RE CORD

Timecode will now be reco rded from the exte r nal source onto the t ime c ode tra ck.

If the tape count er was flashing when the timecode tr ack was armed, the tape counter will now show all hyphens, and nothing will be recorded.

9.5.7 Checking extern al tim ecode

Yo u can check received timecode by using the timecode di spla y f unction a s described in 9.4.1, “S how in g input tim ecod e ”.

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9 - Operations rel ated t o timecod e

9.5.8 Checking the frame mode of st r ipe d tim ec od e

To view th e frame mode of a tap e which h as been str iped with timeco de, fo llow the step s below:

Press the is flashing, then pre ss the displ ay sho w s

Press the briefly shows

SHIFT

k e y s o tha t th e

TC-- (

SUB MENU

FRM MODE (

SHIF T

indicato r

key until the

TC--

key so that the display

FRM MODE)

, followed by the system f rame mode as described in 9.3, “S electing the frame mode”.

Press and hold the key twic e so that the d i spl ay sho ws

;;;; (

TA PE xxxx

SHIFT

key and pres s the ▲

TAPE

) where x xxx is the ab brev iat ion for the fra me mode of t he t ime code striped on the tape. If no timeco de has been striped o n the tape, the dis play show s :

TAPE --

(

TAPE --

9.6 Chasing to timecode

locked to the incoming timecode, the

CHASE

indica-

tor will lig ht stea dily.

NOTE

The tim ecode frame rate used on t he DA-78H R mus t match the frame rate of inc oming tim ecode (9.3, “Select ing the frame mode”). If t hey do not m atch, the D A-78HR will not chas e t o timecode. C heck the f rame rat e of t he inc oming timecode at the sourc e and of the tim ec ode rec orded on the DA-78HR’s tape .

The tim ecode used internally by t he DA-78HR does not ha ve to be an act ual t imecode striped tape. I nstead, tim ecode can by “synthesized” f rom the ABS subcode tim ings, as desc ribed in 9.2, “Tape tim ecode mode”.

The exact ways in which it chases the timecode and handles transp ort functions, etc. ar e determined by a number of settings, a s described below:

9.6.2 Timec o de of f set

Whe n a DA- 78HR is a timecod e slav e, you may enter an offset for the audio from the DA-78HR to match the audio (or video sequence) fr om t he timeco de master.

Th e following s e ction s describe the opera tion of the DA-7 8HR when chasing to extern al timecode.

The op eratio n o f the way the

CHASE

key is used when synchronizing

CHASE

key is simila r to the

DTRS u nits , but in this case, the ma chin e ID is not used.

9.6.1 Machine ID and ti mecode

Sin ce a D A-78HR with machine ID set to 1 is always a master unit as regards DTR S sync oper ation, th ere is no ne e d to make any se tting on such a m achine if it is to be a timecode slave. As long as timecode is receiv ed at the who se ma chine I D is set to 1 will automatically enter timecode chase m od e wh en the pres sed.

How ever , when a DA -78HR un it has its mach ine ID set to a value o ther th an 1, there is a c onflict when th e

CHASE

key i s pressed. You must determine whether the chase mode refers to timecode or to the DTRS sy nc, an d th i s is do ne us i ng t he T im e Mode me n u (9.1 .3, “S electing TC or ABS timing”). If select ed, when ent er DTRS sync mode , bu t if ma chin e will attempt to lock to external time c ode.

When th e DA-78 HR is in “chase- r eady” mode (the

CHASE

indicator is flashing) and timecode is receiv ed at the 78HR will start to chase the tim ecode. When it is

T I M E CODE IN

CHAS E

TIME CODE IN

is pressed, the machine will

connector, a unit

CHASE

TC is selected, the

key is

ABS is

connector, th e DA-

As with the machine offset ( 8.3, “Machin e off set”), you can either set this manu ally, e nter ing the numbers, or set it “on-the-fly” by ear. In either case, once the offset h as been entered, it can then be ed ited.

T he offs et can be set to subframe o r sample accu rac y (4 .3.6, “Sub -frame values”).

The wa y in which the timecode offset is s et is ex ac tly the same as f or a m achine ( ABS) offset, except that the DA-78 HR must first be s et up as a timecode slave, as d escribed abo ve (9.6.1, “Machine ID and timeco de”).

NOTE

If you change an offset value (timecode or ABS), any punch points, locatio n me mories, e tc. will be invalidated. For example, i f you change the offset to 00:30:00.00 ( 30 m inutes) from 00:00:00.00 (no offset), a punch poi nt whi ch was previously at 00: 33 :0 0.0 0 (33 minut es into the ta pe) will s till have the same value (00:33:0 0.00), but will now be only 3 minutes i nto the tape.

9 .6.3 Setting timecode offset

Pr es s t he is flashing (shif t mo de ).

Pr ess the

The display will show followed by the current offset (if any ha s been set ).

SHIFT

key so that t he

AUTO IN/OUT (OFFSET)

tc. ofst (

SHIFT

indicator

key.

TC OFST

)

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9 - Operation s relate d t o t imecod e

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ key s to set the offset for the slave DA-78HR, and th e

SHIFT

ed ▲ and ▼

k eys t o move the cu rsor to t h e diffe rent f ields . You can also use the

OFFSET

key as a right

cursor key. The front panel

OFFSET

indicator will light

when an offset va lue has been set. See 4.3 .5, ““L eft” an d “right” keys ” for de tail s

of setting values in a time field. You can set the offset to sub-frame (percentage or sa mple) accuracy.

You can al s o ch an g e the si gn of th e of f set v a lue to a minus value by moving the cursor to the appr opriate position and using the ▲ and ▼ keys.

9.6.4 Cancelli ng timecode o f f set

To cancel the o ffset, simply set the offset value to

00:00:00:00.

Enter the offset setting, as described above.

Pre ss an d hold down the ▲ key and press the

key t o reset the v alue.

▼

T imec ode offset will now be cancelled and the front panel

OFFSET

indicator will go out.

9.6.5 Setting timec od e offset “ on the fly”

As well as en tering an abs olute nu mber, it is also pos sible to enter a number “on the f ly ” as th e tapes are playing.

These fun cti ons allow y ou to measur e an d test the optimum pre-roll position for the DA-78 HR (when it is a time cod e slave ) to p ark itself rela tive to the mast er timecode device so that it will lo ck up and start playing quickly.

Press the is flashing, then press the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows then changes t o

SHIFT

key so that the

tc. chs-- (

SUB MENU

PARK. POS (

PRK

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

TC CHS--

key so that the display

PARK POS

PRK

(

) briefly, and

) fo ll owed by th e

current setting, sh own in seconds and frames.

Use the ▲ and ▼ k eys to ad ju s t th e val ue (maxim um is 1 second and 29 frames)

9.6.7 Automatic park position s etting

When the DA- 78HR is acting as a timeco de slave, it can automatic a lly determ ine the optimum park preroll position to sync with the master.

Turn the D A-7 8HR’s make sure that the time mode is set to TC.

Press the

SHIFT

is flashing, then press the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows

PK. POS. TST (

TC. CHS-- (

SUB MENU

and then chang e s to

Pla y and stop the ma ster tape.

Use the ▲ or ▼ key to turn the park test on.

CHASE

key so that the

on, if it is off a nd

SHIFT

TC CHS--

key so that the display

PK POS TST

OFF

OFF (

indicato r

key until the

) briefly,

Locate the two devices (maste r and slave DA78HR) so that they have the right offset, either by play ing the ta pes and pausing t hem o r carr y out the next operation while one or both tapes is be i ng pla yed back.

On the slave DA-78HR, pr ess and ho ld the

SHIFT

key, and pre ss the

OFFSET

(

) key at the co rrect of fset tim e to ca p-

AUTO IN/OUT

ture a nd store the off set. The display will briefly show

OFFSET

), and the current difference between

AT. OF FSET (

the mas ter unit and slave DA-78HR will be stored as an offset.

9.6.6 Pa rk position

When the DA-78H R is s laved to an exte rna l t imeco de sourc e, it will take some time betwee n the master un it starting to play and starting to transmit timecode for the DA-78 HR to read.

The DA- 78 HR will then rewind so t hat the relative difference is zero. When the DA- 78H R has stopped, go on to the next step below .

Pla y the timecode master. When t he value shown on the display has

stopped c hanging an d is stabiliz ed, go on to th e next step belo w.

Use the ▲ or ▼ key to turn the park test off. The di sp l ay sho w s

done

DONE

(

), and th e opt imum park pre-roll tim e for the timecode master is now stored.

9.6.8 Absolute and relative differe nce

The off set as set above (“Timeco de offset” on page 58) can be called the “ absolu te diff erence” be twe e n the two times. H owever, if the slave machine “wanders” (actually, this is u nlikely) , the offset ( theoretical differe nce) will not be eq ual to the

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9 - Operations rel ated t o timecod e

absolute diff erence. The “relati ve differe nce” is expressed as below:

Relativ e difference = Absolute difference – Off set Th us, if the off set is set o n a slave machine to

+00:10:00.00 (10 minutes) and while chasing, the two machines’ counters read as follows:

Master Slave

10:15:12:12 10:05:12:08

the slave is now 10 minutes and 4 frames behind th e master.

S ince the slave is meant to be ex actly 10 minutes behind the master, the difference, +4 frames, is the “relative differ ence” between the master and the slave.

To view th e and relative differences b etween mast er and slave machines:

Press the is flashing, then pre ss the displ ay sho w s

Press the shows

SHIFT

SUB MENU

DISP (

SHIF T

key until the

k e y s o tha t th e

TC-- (

TC--

key so that the display

DISP

) followed by the current

indicato r

setting.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to make the

DIFF

(

) setting—the di fference between the

diff

received timecode and the actual position.

timeco de master tape includes a break in the timecode, though, you may want the DA-78HR to rechase the ma ster.

As well as selecting rechase, you can also select the length of the “rechase window”. This means that if the differ ence between internal and incoming timecode is greater than th e value of th is window (1 or 2 secon ds in the case o f the DA-78HR), the synchronizer will start to re chase.

Pr es s t he is flashing, then press the displ ay shows

Pr ess the briefly shows

SHIFT

key so that t he

tc. chs-- (

SUB MENU

RECHS. WD. (

SHIFT

indicator

key until the

TC CH S- -

key so that the displa y

RECHS WD

) and

t hen chang es to th e c ur rent setting .

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change between 1 and 2 seco nds.

9.6.10 Bypassing timecode errors

As timeco de is received fro m a remote m aster un it, it may be subject to errors (dropouts on the timecode master tape, etc. ) . These errors can cause synchronization failure ( the DA-7 8HR will n o longer be loc ked to the timecode of the master unit).

You can set the DA-78HR to bypass and i gnore incoming timecode errors of up to 30 frames in length, or up to 10 f r ames in length .

9.6.9 Rec hasing t imec od e

When timecode is received, the DA-78HR can either co ns ta ntly monitor the interna l off-tape timecode (or the ABS equivalent as set in 9.2, “Tap e timecode mode”) and the external timecode, issuing “speedup” and “ slow-down” me ssag e s to the tra nsport to keep itself in sync (rechasing) , or it can synchr onize once and run freely, ig noring th e incoming timecode.

Press the is flashing, then pre ss the displ ay sho w s

Press the briefly shows then changes t o the current setting.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to choose between

RECHASE (

Whil e the DA-78HR is re-s ync ing (spe eding up and s lowing down), playback output will be muted, unless the clock is set to that the D A-78HR do es not need to r echase, ho wev er , and you can leave it in free- running mode. If the

SHIFT

k e y s o tha t th e

tc. chs-- (

SUB MENU

RECHS. MD (

RECHASE

SHIF T

indicato r

key until the

TC CHS--

key so that the display

RECHS MD

) and FREE (

INT

. Usually you sh oul d fi nd

) and

FREE

Pr es s t he is flashing, then press the displ ay shows

Pr ess the briefly shows

SHIFT

key so that t he

tc. chs-- (

SUB MENU

ERR. BYPAS . (

SHIFT

indicator

key until the

TC CH S- -

key so that the displa y

ERR BYPAS

) and

t hen chang es to th e c ur rent setting .

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change between

FRM (

10 FRM

) and 30 FRM (

30 FRM

9.6.11 Individual recording while chasing

timecode

If slave DTRS units are chasin g a master DTRS unit, the defa ult action is for the slaves’ record status to follow that of the master. If the slaves ar e connected with TC as well as SYNC, a nd have TC rather than ABS selected as the tim ing referen ce, this default behav ior ca n be over ridden us ing th e fu nction described here.

Pr es s t he is flashing, then press the displ ay shows

SHIFT

key so that t he

tc. chs-- (

SHIFT

key until the

TC CH S- -

indicator

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 61

9 - Operation s relate d t o t imecod e

Press the shows

(disa bled) or 1 (enabled).

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to choose between (disabled) and

SUB MENU

INDV. REC ; (

1 (enabled).

key so that the display

INDV REC x

) where x is

When this functio n is enabled, individual r ecor ding is possib le when chasing to timecode , and when it is disabled, all s lave units follow the mas ter ’s lea d.

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 62

10 - MIDI control

10.1MMC enable and disable

Set th e MIDI ID using the method d e scr ibed immediately ab ove.

T he DA- 78H R can be controll ed us ing MI DI Machine Control Commands (M MC). To enable and disable th e DA-78HR’s response to th ese co mmands:

Press the is fla shing, and the n pr e ss t he th e display sh ows

Press the shows

MID I O F F

Use th e ▲ and ▼ keys to make the appropriat e

SHIF T

ke y so that the

MIDI-- (

SUB MENU

MIDI on or MIDI OFF (

key until the displa y

SHIF T

MIDI--)

indi cator

key until

MIDI ON

setting.

NOTE

T urning this pa rameter o n and of f will a lso enab le and disable respectively the transmission of MID I timecode (MTC).

10.1.1 Assigning a M IDI ID to the D A78HR

A MIDI ID is used in a MIDI Mach ine Control setu p to id en ti f y each un it in the MIDI chain .

One (and only one) of up to 127 units can be designated as the MIDI Timecode Master for the whole chain.

This MI DI ID is not the same as a MI DI Chann el number (even t hough s ome u nits’ manuals may re fer to it as a “chan nel nu mber”), an d is not con nected with the Machine ID (8.2.2, “Setting machine ID” ). To set th e MIDI ID:

Press the is fla shing, and the n pr e ss t he th e display sh ows

Press the shows number.

SHIF T

SUB MENU

ID (

ke y so that the

MIDI-- (

SHIF T

MIDI--)

indi cator

key until

key until the displa y

), followed by th e current ID

The MMC comman ds used by the DA-78HR are listed in th is section (10.2, “MMC Bit Map Arr a y”).

10.1.2M M C command s and the DA-7 8HR

An example o f a MIDI sequencer being used to control a DA- 78H R (using the auto-punch of the sequencer to punch in and out on the D A-78HR t racks) is giv en below. No te that th e sequencing software m ust be able to transmit MMC command s and also to sync to MTC for this to be ef fective:

MIDI IN (2) (k eyboar d events)

MIDI OUT (MTC)

MID I OU T keyboard events)

The sequen cer is s et up t o transmit M MC co mmand s, an d is set so that it synchronizes to SMPTE/MTC.

When a “tr anspor t” command is given from the sequencer, the appropriate MMC command is transmitte d to the DA-78HR. When the DA-78HR ha s l ocated and starts playback (or r ecording), the MTC is transmitted back to the sequencer, which locks in and star ts at the correct p oint.

MIDI IN ( 1) (MTC)

MIDI OU T ( 1) (MMC com mands)

MIDI OUT (2) (m us ical da ta)

MIDI IN

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to change the ID to a value bet ween

1 and 127, maki ng sure t hat

this is unique in your s etup. You can also select the default value of

ALL

(

), which a llows the DA-78HR to a c c ept all MMC commands transmitted over the MIDI network.

TASCAM DA-78HR

ALL

In this way, thou gh the DA-78HR is the timecode master, the sequencer is the transport master.

Th e arrangeme nt shown here us es 2 inputs to the sequencer. The same effect could be achieved with the intellig e nt use of filtering mechanisms.

Page 63

10 - MIDI control

10.2MMC Bit Map Array

Commands u navailable on the DA- 78HR are struck thr ough, as for ex ample (REC ORD PAUSE).

B yte Bit 7 Bit 6 (40H) Bit 5 (20H) Bit 4 (10H) B it 3 (08H) B it 2 (0 4H) B it 1 (02H ) B it 0 (01H)

c10

c11

c12

c13

c14

c15

c16

c17

c18

c19

(06)

RE CORD

STROBE

(0D)

MMC

RESET

(14) (13) (12) (11) (10) (0F) (0E)

(1B) (1 A) (19 ) (18) (17) (16) (15)

(26) (25) (24) (23) (22) (21) (20)

(2D) (2C) (2B) (2A) (29) (28) (27)

(34) (33) (32) (31) (30) (2F) (2E)

(3B) (3 A) (39 ) (38) (37) (36) (35)

(46)

(4D) ADD

(54)

DE FERRED

VAR I. PLAY

(5B) (5 A) (59 ) (58) (57) (56) (55)

(66) (65) (64) (63) (62) (61) (60)

(6D) (6C) (6B) (6A) (69) (68) (67)

(74) (73) (72) (71) (70) (6F) (6E)

(7B) (7 A) (79 ) (78) (77) (76) (75)

(05)

RE WIND

(0C)

COMMAND

ERROR RESET

(45)

VARIABLE

PLAY

(4C)

MOVE

(53)

COMMA ND

SEGMENT

(04)

FAST

FORWARD

(0B)

CHA SE

(44)

LOCA TE

(4B)

MTC

COMMAND

(52)

GROUP

(03)

DE FERRED

PLAY

(0A)

EJECT

(1F) ( 1E) (1D) (1C)

(3F) ( 3E) (3D) (3C)

(43)

UPDATE

(4A)

GENE RATOR

COMMAND

(51)

EVENT

(5F) ( 5E) (5D) (5C)

(7F)

RESUME

(02)

PLAY

(09)

PA USE

(42)

READ

(49)

ASSIGN

SYS. MAS

(50)

PRO CEDURE

(7 E) (7D) (7C)

(01)

STOP

(08)

REC ORD

PAUSE

(41)

MASKED

WRITE

(48)

STEP

(4F)

DROP FR.

ADJUST

(00)

reserv ed

(07)

RECORD EX IT

(40)

WRITE

(47)

S HU TTLE

(4E)

SUBTRACT

REC STROBE

VA RI AB L E

WAIT

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 64

10 - MIDI c ontro l

Byte Bit 7 Bit 6 (40H) Bit 5 (20H) Bit 4 (10H) Bit 3 (08H) Bit 2 (04H) Bit 1 (02H) Bit 0 (01H)

r10

r11

r12

r13

r14

r15

r16

r17

r18

r19

(06)

GENE RATOR

TIME CODE

(0D) GP5

(14) (13) (12) (11) (10) (0F)

(1B) (1A) (19) (18) (17) (16) (15)

(26)

Short

GENE RATOR

TIME CODE

(2D)

Short GP5

(34) (33) (32) (31) (30) (2F)

(3B) (3A) (39) (38) (37) (36) (35)

(46)

SELECTED

TIME CODE

SOURCE

(4D)

REC ORD

STATUS

(54)

STEP

LENGTH

(5B)

GENE RATOR

COMMAND

TALL Y

(66) (65)

(6D) (6C) (6B ) (6A) (69) (68) (67)

(74) (73) (72) (71) (70) (6F) (6E)

(7B) (7A) (79) (78) (77) (76) (75)

(05)

LOCK

DEVIATION

(0C) GP4

(25)

Short

LOCK

DEVIATION

(2C)

Short GP4

(45)

TIME

STANDARD

(4C)

REC ORD

MODE

(53)

TRACK INPUT

MONITOR

(5A)

CHA SE

MODE

FA I LURE

(04) ACTUAL OFFSET

(0B)

GP3

(24)

Short ACTUAL OFFSET

(2B)

Short GP3

(44)

COMMAND

ERROR

LEVEL

(4B)

FA ST

MODE

(52)

TRACK SYNC

MONITOR

(59)

RESOLVED

PLAY

MODE

(64)

RE SPONSE

SEGMENT

(03)

REQUESTED

OFFSET

(0A)

GP2

(1F) (1E) (1D) (1C)

(23)

Short

REQ UIRED

OFFSET

(2A)

Short GP2

(3F) (3E) (3D) (3C)

(43)

COMMAND

ERROR

(4A)

STOP

MODE

(51)

RECORD

MONITOR

(58)

CONT RO L

DISABLE

(5F)

MTC

SETUP

(63)

VITC INSERT

ENABLE

(7F)

RESUME

(02)

SELECT ED

MASTER

CODE

(09)

GP1

(22)

Short

SELECTED

MASTER

CODE

(29)

Short GP1

(42)

RESPONSE

ERROR

(49)

VELOCITY

TALLY

(50)

GLOBAL

MONITOR

(57)

LIFTER

DEFEAT

(5E)

MTC

COMMAND

TALLY

(62)

TRACK

MUTE

(7E) (7D) (7C)

(01)

SELECT ED

TIME CODE

(08)

GP0/L OCATE

POINT

GP7

(21)

Short

SELECTED

TIME CODE

(28)

Short GP0

LOCATE

POINT

Short GP7

(41)

UPDATE

RATE

(48)

MOTION

CONTROL

TALLY

(4F)

TRACK

RECORD

READY

(56)

FIXE D

SPEED

(5D)

GENE RATOR

USER BITS

(61)

EVENT

RESPONSE

(00)

reserved

(07)

MTC

INPUT

(0E)

GP6

(20)

reserved

(27)

Short

MTC

INPUT

(2E)

Sh ort GP 6

(40)

SIGNATURE

(49)

SELECTED

TIME CODE

USER BITS

(4E)

TRACK

RECORD

STATUS

(55)

PLAY

SPEED

RE FERENCE

(5C)

GENERATOR

SETUP

(60)

PROCE DURE

RESPONSE

WAIT

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 65

10 - MIDI control

10.3MIDI Control Change

It is also possible to send use MIDI Control Change me ssag es to control the sub-mixer parameters, a s described here:

Para meter MIDI Control Hex value

Channel fa der Vol ume (7) 0x0 7 Channel pan Pan (10 ) 0x0a

Master fader Control (9) 0x09

Channel mu t e

a. V alues of 0 through 63 turn mute on, value s of

64 through 128 turn i t on.

MIDI channels 1 through 8 control channels 1 through 8 on the master DA-78HR in a DTRS chain. MIDI channels 9 through 16 can be used to control chan nels 1 through 8 o n the first sla ve DA-78HR in a chain.

Contro l (11) 0x0b

10.4.2TASCAM E xclu sive me ssages

These TASCAM Exclusive messag es are developed for con tr ollin g DTRS recorders connec ted to each other via the

SYN C IN

connectio ns.

Th e message s follow the following forma t:

F0 S y sE x header 4 E TEAC I D

< 11 Operation code (DTRS SYNC IN)

<an> Machin e ID set on each DTRS recorder <

< <

F7 En d of Sy s Ex

> Obt ained by s ubtract ing 1 fro m t he Mach ine ID

channel

> Command code

> Data — format varies according to comm and

data

> checksu m — lower 7 b its of the sum of all num-

bers from (and including) <cc> up to <cs>

10.4.3Tr ack delay

Track delay can be set from –200 through +7200 <cc> = 04

10.4MIDI System Exclusive

The following are the Sy stem Exclusiv e for mats used by the DA-78HR:

10.4.1 Ide ntity Reply

R eply to an Ide ntity Reque st:

F0 SysEx header 7 E Univ ersal Sy s Ex non- real t im e heade r

< <06> sub-ID #1 — gene ral info rm ation

<02> sub-ID # 2 — device i dentity reply 4E TEAC ID

01 Category = recorde r 04 type = dig ital cassette

0 4 interfac e = dir ec t 0C machine = DA-78HR

<VH> Software version of unit. Numbers above deci-

<VL> Software version of unit. Num bers below decimal

00 Currently unassigned 00 Currently unassigned

F7 End of SysEx

> Obtained by subtracting 1 from the Machine ID

channel

mal point, express ed in binary

point expressed in binary

<data> is 5 bytes: < tk><da><d b><dc><dd> <tk> = 0s000ttt

ttt

is th e tr ack number .

where s = sign bit (1 if negative) and

<da>, <db>, <dc> and <dd> represen t the units, tens, hun dreds and thou s and s dig its respective l y of the del ay val ue .

10.4.4Crossfade

C an be set from 0 to 90 m s in this way <cc> = 05 1 data byte, taking a value from 0 through 9 (0

thr o ug h 90ms)

10.4.5Machine offset

Used to set the m achine offset of a slave machine chasing to a master via a master’s chase cannot be set, of course).

Th e limits of this parameter are ±02:00:00.00. If a valu e over or b elow th ese limits a re enter ed, the limit va lue will be set.

<cc> = 06 <data> is four bytes: <hh> <mm> <ss> <ff>

SYNC IN

connection (th e

TASCAM DA-78HR

<hh> = 0sssuuuu and sss

=01 is a minus value. uuuu is the h ou rs

s e tting.

, wh ere sss=000 means a plu s valu e,

Page 66

10 - MIDI c ontro l

10.4.6Track Cop y S et up

<c c> = 09 There are two data bytes: <destina tion > and

<source>. <des tination> is the tape track number – 1 (00

thr o ug h 07)

<source> is either the inpu t channel numb er – 1 (00 through 07) or t he tape trac k number – 1 + 8 (0 8 through 0F).

1 0 . 4.7 Trac k Copy Enable

<cc>=0a 1 byte o f da ta to enable or dis a ble the function .

0 = di sable, 1 = en abl e.

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 67

10 - MIDI control

10.5MIDI Implementation Chart

TASCAM Multitrack Digital Recorder date:1999.09.20 Model DA-78HR MIDI Implementation Chart Version : 1.00

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ : : Transmitted : Recognized : Remarks : : Function : : : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :Basic Default : x : x : : :Channel Changed : 1-16 : 1-16 : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: : Default : x : x : : :Mode Messages : x : x : : : Altered : ************** : : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :Note : x : x : : :Number : True voice: ************** : : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :Velocity Note ON : x : x : : : Note OFF : x : x : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :After Key’s : x : x : : :Touch Ch’s : x : x : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :Pitch Bender : x : x : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: : 7, 9, 10, 11 : x : o : : : Other : x : x : : : : : : : : Control : : : : : : : : : : Change : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : True # : 0/127 : : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :Prog : x : x : : :Change : True # : 1-128 : : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :System Exclusive : o : o :*1 : : : : : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :System : Song Pos : x : x : : : : Song Sel : x : x : : :Common : Tune : x : x : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :System :Clock : x : x : : :Real Time :Commands: x : x : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :Aux :Local ON/OFF : x : x : : : :All Notes OFF: x : x : : :Mes- :Active Sense : x : x : : :sages:Reset : x : o : : :-------------------+----------------+----------------+----------------: :Notes: :*1 MMC RP Ver 1.00 (T, R) : : (T) : Transmitted : Identity Request (R), Identity Reply (T) : : (R) : Recognized : TASCAM System Exclusive (R) : : : MTC Quarter Frame Message (T) : +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Mode 1 : OMNI ON, POLY Mode 2 : OMNI ON, MONO o : Yes Mode 3 : OMNI OFF, POLY Mode 4 : OMNI OFF, MONO x : No

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 68

11 - Mainte nance, etc.

11.1H e ad a nd transp ort cl eani ng

The DA- 7 8HR incorporates an in ternal cleaning mechanism that not o nly clean s the rotary head, but also the tape as it enters the tape path. The provision of this cleaning mechan ism significan tly redu ces the need fo r manual clean ing. I f, despite the internal cleaning mechanism, the

6 lights, the head s are dirty and m anual cleaning

pr oc edure s s hould be fol l o w ed.

NOTE

S—IMPORTANT

Use a T EAC HC-8 cleaning tape (recom mended) or a dry cleaning tape specially designed f or H i8 8mm video equipment.

NEVER use a w et-type cleaning tape, as this will res ult in winding problems.

The use of t he dry tape will r educe the he ad li fe of t he DA-78HR by a bout five hours. Use of manual cleaning is therefore discouraged.

We r ecommend the following schedule (b ased on our experien ce with the DTRS system) for cleaning and maintenance schedules. See 1 1.1.3, “Checking dru m time” b elow for details of how to check head usage time .

Every 350 to 400 hours

Every 1000 hours ( ever y th i r d

clean i n g )

Perform manual cleaning of heads and guides as described below. Check the

tape path align me nt after clean ing . This re quires proper t es t and m easure m ent

eq uipment, and s hould be perform ed o nly by qu alif ied service pers onne l.

A co m plete alignm ent ch eck sh ould be performed.

The abo ve cleaning cy cle timings are based on the assu mption tha t the DA- 78HR is b eing operated in a clean environm ent. A d usty or smoky atmosphere will shorten th e time between cleanin g operations

NOTE

Most name brand tapes are of very high quality. However, it is sometimes possible to receive “bad” st ock which exhi bits excessive shed ding character istics. If you receive such ta pe stock, st op using it immediate l y, and fo ll o w th e c l ean i ng proc ed ur e as de sc ribed be lo w .

11.1.1 To clean t he heads and transport

Press the is fla shing, and press the

SHIF T

PB CONDITION

ke y so that the

indic ator

SHIF T

indi cator

key until the

displ ay sho w s

MAINTN-- (

MAINTN--

—

maintenance ).

Press the bri efl y shows lowed by

Here, t he

SUB MENU

CLEN. ;;;; (

Clen. OFF (

xxxx

key until the displa y

CL EN xxxx

CLEN OFF

represents the number of times

), fol-

cleaning has been performed.

Use the ▲ ke y to c h ange

OFF to ON (

If a tape has already been loaded, it will automat ically be ej ected.

Pressing ▼ at this point will show the previous display.

Insert the cleaning tape.

The cleaning tape will “play ” fo r about 5 seconds (the dis play will s how

CLEANING

(

)) and then be ejected au tomat i-

Cleaning

cal ly . The cleaning counter (n umb er of tim es the heads have been cleaned) will be incremented by one.

• D o not attempt to rewind or fa st f orwa rd the clea ning tape, either in the DA-78HR or in a vid eo unit. Simply insert it into th e D A-78HR when yo u us e it the next time.

• Excess ive cleani ng can c ause ex ces si ve wear on the heads. Do not clean the heads too f requently, and never perform the head cleaning pr ocedure m ore than 5 times running.

• In a ddition to cleanin g the heads, we recommend that y ou have the DA-78HR checked b y an authorized TASCAM service technician every 500 hours o r so of us e .

11.1.2Chec king err or rates

I f you hear nois e and di stortion on playb ack, even after clean ing th e heads, or if y ou are presented with a tape of dubious quality, you may want t o check the block error rate of the tape.

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displ ay sho w s maintenance ).

Press the shows

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to change The flash.

SHIFT

key so that the

MAINTN-- (

SUB MENU

B. E. R. OFF(

PB CO ND I T ION

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

MAINTN--

—

key until the displa y

BER OFF

OFF to ON .

indi cat or will start to

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 69

11 - Mainte nance, etc.

Play the s uspect tape. The tra ck meters are us ed to sh ow the erro r ra te at dif fer ent l o cation, a s liste d below:

Tape edge (head A)

Tape edge (head B)

Tape center (head A)

Tape center (head B)

The numb er of segments lit indi-

96-128 88-95

80-87 72-79

64-71 56-63 48-55 40-47

32-39 24-31 16-23

6-15 0-7

(none lit )

cates the blo cks con taining error s (per group of 128 blocks), as shown here.

It is inevitable that there will be a few er rors, b ut if the meter segments are c onsistently lit while the tape is pla ying, something is wrong (and you will almost certainly be able to hear it!).

Use this display to show where the tap e is in err or, and which head is causing errors. I n th i s way, you can pinpoint any troubl e.

I f playing anot her tape seems to remove th e e rro rs, the problem is with the tape, oth erwise you ma y wa nt to clean the heads (11.1, “Head an d transport cleaning”). Remember not to clean t he head s more than 5 time s in a row.

displ ay sho w s

MAINTN-- (

MAINTN--

—

maintenance ).

Press the bri efl y shows

SUB MENU

DRUM. TIM (

key until the displa y

DRUM TIM

—drum

time) . The di splay then changes.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to choose between

d. ;;;; ( d. s. ;;;; (

D xxxx

D.S.xxxx

—tot al drum t i me ) and

—d ru m searc h time).

xxxx repre sents the time in hours shown beside the a ppro priate para meter.

11.2Backup memor y initialization

The DA-78HR inclu des n on-volatile memory (NVRAM ) which preserves alm ost all user settings after the po wer is tu rned off.

To reset the se setting s to th eir default valu es ( defaults are listed in 4, “Menu interface, etc.”):

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displ ay sho w s

SHIFT

key so that the

MAINTN-- (

MAINTN--

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

—

maintenance ).

Press the shows

Press either ▲ or ▼ to change the display to show

Press either ▲ or ▼ once again to initialize all

SUB MENU

INIT. (

READY (

key until the displa y

INIT

) .

READY

the stored parameters to the fa ctory set tings. The unit will show

done (

DONE

) and will re-

start (as if power had just been turned on).

11.3Checkin g version numbers

NOTE

I f, after tryi ng diff erent t apes and cleaning the heads, you s till see ma ny errors, you should contact a TASC AM service technician to check yo ur DA-7 8H R.

Use th e ▲ a nd ▼ keys to turn off the erro r disp lay a nd use the meters for their normal func tions.

11.1.3 Checking drum time

Thi s functio n allows you to check the number of hou rs th at the dr um ha s be en used ove ra ll, as wel l as in fast fo rwa r d or rewi n d (s earch) mode .

Press the is fla shing, and press the

SHIF T

ke y so that the

TASCAM DA-78HR

SHIF T

indi cator

key until the

In case of problems, you may need to quote the version number of the DA-78HR’s i nt ernal software components to a TASCAM rep resentative.

There are three major c ompon ent s of the DA- 78HR’ s internal software: system, front panel and servo. Each of th ese can be ch ecked indepen dently.

Press the is flashing, and pre ss the displ ay sho w s

SHIFT

key so that the

maintn-- (

MAINTN--

SHIFT

indicato r

key until the

—

maintenance ).

Press the bri efl y shows chang es to eit her sys tem sof tware),

SUB MENU

VERsion (

SYS ;. ;; (

Frnt ;. ;; (

key until the displa y

VERSION

) and then

SY S x.yy

FRNT x.yy

—the

—

Page 70

11 - M ai nt enance, etc.

the fro nt panel software) o r SVO. ;. ;; (

x.yy

—the servo s oftwa re).

x.yy

The number (e.g.

Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to display the required soft ware co mponent version number.

here represen ts the software revision

1.00

SVO

1 1.3.1 Soft war e up grades

TA S CAM pursue s a policy of con tinuou s improve ment to product s , and t here may be f ut ure enh ancements to the DA-78HR software. Your TASCAM dealer will be ab le to advise you of developments in th is area.

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 71

12 - Optio ns, specificati ons and ref ere nce

12.1Options for th e DA-78HR

12.1.6 IF-TAD AD AT digital audio converter

You can purchas e a numbe r of options th rough your TASCAM dealer.

12.1.1RC- 898 remote control uni t

Th is full- functio n remo te control unit can control up to six DTRS units, in addition to VTRs and analog audi o de vice s .

With 99 location point memories, and an e a sily-visible disp lay and ded icated keys, this unit represent s one of the most sophisticated options available f or co ntrolling a DT RS system.

12.1.2RC- 828 remote control uni t

Up to four DTRS recorders can be co ntrolled us ing the RC-828 remote control , with jog/shuttle contro l, transport and track arming controls, an d twelve locatio n points.

12.1.3RC- 808 remote control uni t

For transpo rt and t r ack arming, etc. of a s ingle DTRS un it.

12.1.4 IF-AE8 AES/EB U digital audio converter

Converts between TDIF-1 and AES/EBU (or SPDIF) formats (u p to eight channels ). This unit can be used effectively in digital video situati ons, etc.

12.1.5IF - 88SD SDIF-2 di gi t al audi o converter

C onverts eight c han nels of digital audio between the TDIF-1 and SDIF-2 format. This unit is for use with DASH format digital multitrack rec orders, etc .

Converts eight channels of digital audio between the TDIF-1 and ADAT formats , using a “lightpipe” for connection to the ADAT interface-equipped unit. This unit is suitable for dub bing o perat ions.

12.1.7 TD IF-1EX extender box

The TDIF-1EX extends the maximum distance over which TDIF-1 signals can be transmitted, to a max imum of 50 m ( 160 ft.).

12.1 .8 C ables

As mentioned , TASCAM cannot accept any respo nsibility for damage caused by the us e of the wrong cab les.

Always consult your TASCAM dealer to s ee if there is a r eady-made cable to m eet your needs. The TASCAM c a bles to be used with the DA- 78HR (at the time of writing this manual) are g iven in the table below:

Cable Pur po s e

PW-88D

PW-88D L

PW-88S

PW-2D 2m (6 ft.) 8-channel analog balanced audio I/O

PW-4D 4m (12 ft.) 8-channel analog balanced audio I/O

1 m (3 ft.) D A-78HR cable

5 m (15 ft.) D A-78H R cable

1 m (3 ft.) D A-78HR

cable (e . g. DA-7 8H R ↔ M1600)

cable (e . g. DA-7 8H R

↔

DTRS digital dubbing

↔

DTRS digital dubbing

↔

DTR S sync cable

↔

M1600)

Th e following cables sho uld be used with the unit:

Cable Purpose

PW-SD1 IF-88SD → SDIF-2 PW-SD2 SDIF-2 → IF-88SD

P W-1 0D 10 m (30 ft.) 8-c hannel an alog balan c ed a udio

I/ O cable (e.g. D A-78HR ↔ M1600)

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 72

12 - Options, specif icati ons and ref ere nce

12.2Specifications

12 .2.1 Tape record er secti on

Format DTRS/DTRS -HR format Record ing me t hod Rotary-hea d, helica l-s c an metho d

T a pe type Hi8 MP tape / Hi8 ME Head co ns t ruct ion 2 x re c ord, 2 x playb ac k

Tracking method A TF (Automatic Track Finding) E ras ure m et hod O v erwrit e

Drum speed 2,000 r.p.m. Tape speed 15.955 mm/ sec.

Equivalent tape spe ed 4 .2 m/sec. Maximum re c ordin g t im e 108 min. (using P6-1 20 tape )

Tim e to pl ay f rom s to p Less th an 2 se co nds Fast forward/rewind time 80 seconds (using P6-120 tape)

S earch speed Ma x im um of 100 x play spee d Shuttle speed Forward and reverse at 8.0, 4.0,

2.0, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 play speed (1.0 speed available only in f orward

shuttle m ode )

Vari speed Positionin g a ccuracy To 1 sa mple

Posit ioning lock time Within 8 seconds (when locating 2

Number of recording tracks 8 Sub-code ABS track, SMPTE/EBU timecode

Error correction Double-encoded Reed-Solomon

Sampling frequency 44.1 kHz, 48 kH z Recording/playback

resolution Reference level –16 dB (full bit)

Cross-fade ti me 10 ms to 200ms (10 ms increments) Trac k delay –200 to + 7,200 s am ples (–4 to

Offset ±2 hours (to sample accuracy) S y nc c lock Int ernal, W ORD or S PDI F

A D co nvertors 12 8 t im es oversamp ling,

DA con v ertors 128 t im es oversa m plin g,

Supported timecode formats 30 drop, 30 non-drop, 29.97 drop,

±6% (0.1% ste ps)

DA-78H Rs synced togethe r)

facility

code

16 / 24 bits linear (D T RS/D T R S-HR)

+150 ms) in single-un it increments. Can be set in samples or ms.

24 -bit ∆Σ (s witch able dit her)

24 -bit ∆Σ

29.97 non-drop, 25 and 24 fps

12.2.2 Analog inputs and outputs

An alog inputs (bala nc ed) D-sub 25-pin fe m ale

+4 dBu Impedance: 20k

An alog inputs (unb alance d) 8 x R C A

–10dBV Impedance: 10 kΩ

An alog outputs (bala nc ed) D-sub 25 -pin fe m ale

+4 dBu Impedance: 10k

An alog outputs (unb alanced) 8 x RCA

–10dBV Impedance: 250 Ω

Ω

Ω (loaded)

12.2.3 Dig ital inputs an d o utput s

Digital I/O (unbalanced) D-sub 25-pin female

TD IF-1 format

DIGITAL INPUT/OUTPUT (COAXI AL, un bala nc ed)

RCA conn ec t ors

12.2.4 Remote/ syn c connecto rs

Remote in/sync in D-sub 15-pin fe male

C onforms to RE MO TE IN/SYNC IN protocol

Sync ou t D-sub 15 -pin fe m ale

C onforms to RE MO TE IN/SYNC IN protocol

12.2.5 Wo rd sync termin als

Word sync in/th ru

Word sync out

B N C c onnec t or, 75 lev el (THRU auto-termi nate d )

B N C c onnec t or, 75 lev el

Ω at TTL Ω at TTL

12.2.6 Tim ecode co nn ectors

Tim ecod e inpu t RCA c onn ec t or

Input impedance: 10 k Input le v el:

0 . 5 Vp-p to 10.0V p-p

Timecode output RCA connector

Output im pedan c e 100 Ω Output level: 2.0 V p-p

Ω

12.2.7 MIDI connectors

MIDI IN, OUT, T HRU ( to MIDI

standards)

12.2.8 Remote control connect ors

Remote in 8 -pin DIN c onn ec t or (for us e

with RC -80 8)

Remote punch in/out 1/4” mono jack ( for use with

optional RC-30P footswitch)

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 73

12.2.9P hysical specification s

482mm ( 19. 0 in.) 456mm ( 18. 0 in.)

432mm ( 17. 0 in.)

12 - Optio ns, specificati ons and ref ere nce

9.5mm (0.4 in.)

57mm ( 2.25 in.)

132mm (5.2 in.)

143mm (5.6 in.)

330mm (13 in.)

10 mm (0.4 in .)

Siz e (including feet) w x h x d

48 2 x 143 x 35 0 (mm) 19 x 5. 6 x 13.8 (in)

Weight 8 . 1 k g (17.8 lbs )

12.2.10 P ower spec ifica t io ns

Pow er requirements USA/ Canada 120 V AC, 60 Hz

U.K./Europe 230 VAC, 50 Hz Australia 240 VAC, 50 Hz

Pow er consumption 34 W Applicable Electromagnetic

Environment P eak inru s h c urre nt 1 6. 5A

12.2.11 Audio specif icati o ns

Frequency response Signal-to-noise ratio

(Fs=4 8kHz, 22 k LP F a nd A-weight)

20 Hz to 20 kHz > 104 dB DTRS -HR

> 100 dB DTRS

0.5dB

Dyna m ic rang e (Fs=48kHz, 22 k LPF and A-

>104dB D T R S-HR >95dB DTRS

weight) Total harmonic distort ion < 0.004% (DTRS-HR)

< 0.005% (D T RS)

Channel separation > 90 dB at 1kHz Wow and flutt er Unme as urable

0dBu = 0.775Vrms, 0dBV = 1.0Vrms Cha nge s in s pecificati ons an d fe atures may b e made

without notice or obligation

TA SCAM DA-78HR

Page 74

Index A - F

aborti ng t he form a t process ABS and timecode

ABS fra me rate ABS set ting

ABS time absolute and relativ e d iffe re nce

abs o lut e d ifference absolute tim e

adjusting par ameter values advanc ed output options

ALL ANAL O G setting ALL INP UT

ambient temperature analog inputs

analog inputs (balanced) analog inputs (unbalanced)

analog outputs analog outputs (balanced)

analog outputs (unbalanced) audio connections

Audio specifications audio specificat ions

AU DIO1 m enu AU DIO2 m enu

AUTO IN/OUT (OFF SET) key a nd indicator AU TO MO N

auto play autolocation

aut omatic park pos ition s e tting automatic punch point setting

available recording and playback time

see “ABS time”

sync hronizing with t imecode

se e "locati on points"

14, 36

23 24

14, 36

backup memory initialization balanced ana log audio connec tions

basic operations BER

see “B l o ck E rro r R at e”

block error ra te (BER) bypas sing timecode errors

cables

canc elling machine offset canc elling time code off set

cassette types CHASE key

c h as e m o d e chase to timecode

checking and editing and manually entering location points

checking drum time

48, 59

checking error rates chec king exte rnal timecode

checking head time checking locat ion point s

checking the frame m ode of stripe d timec ode checking ve rsion numbe rs

c l ean ing t h e h ead s CLEAR (PRE ROLL) key

cloc k source in a digital studio condensation

condensa tion (dew ) connections

digi tal audio

crossfade time cursor keys

41, 65

DA-38

DA-88

DA-98

DA TA/LEV EL knob defa ult values (resetting)

dela ying tracks de w warning

digital audio connecti ons digital dubbing

digital I/O DIGITAL IN, OUT ( COAXIAL)

digital input se lec tion D igital inputs and outputs

digital outputs

synchronizing with tim ecode

dither drum tim e

DTRS

emulation m odels (diffe rences) synchronization synchronization (e rror m essa ges)

dubbing

31, 43

edit /pan setting mod e edi ting locat ion points

e l ectr ical co n s iderat ion s emulation

enabling and disabling MMC envi ronmental conditions

er ror rate s ext er n al ti mec o d e

ext er n al ti mec o d e s o u rce s

f ast l inear timecode (LTC ) output footswitch

formatting

16, 18 27, 50

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 75

Index G - O

fr ame mod e

st ri p ed time code

fr ame rat e

ABS timing

genera ting timecode gener ator mode s

grounding

head clea n i n g head time

H R mode

emphasis

7–8

see "machine ID"

IF-88S D S DIF-2 digital audio converter I F-AE8 A ES/EBU digital audi o conver ter

I F- TAD ADAT d i gital audi o conve rter “in d irect” wor d sy n c

individual clock mode individual recording while chasing timecode

input patchbay routing input selec tion

input timecode display input word length

inputs and output spec ific ations inputs and outputs

insta llin g the D A-78H R interr upting a rehe arsal or punch recording

“Left” and “r ight” keys line -up os ci lla to r

LOC 1 (MEMO 1) key LOC 2 (MEMO 2) key

location loca tion and pla yback

loca tion points

L TC output

MEMO 1 and MEMO 2

auto play auto-repeat editing locating setting pre-roll time

15 15

machine ID

m aster/sla ve se ttin gs setting timecode

47, 58

machine offset mai nten ance menu

m anually ente ring location points m aste r /slave settin gs

m aster/slave settings ( CHASE mode) ME tapes

m enu in te rface m enu mode

ex itin g

menus

7, 21

sub-menus me ter ballistic s meter modes

meters

MIDI

connectors

control

Contr ol Change

functions

implement atio n char t

machine control

MID I tim ec o de

MIDI timecode connections

MMC

settings

Sys t em Exclus i v e

time code MIXDOWN (LEVEL/PAN) key and indicator mi xdown mode

MMC

bi tmap array

commands

enable and disa ble monitoring

monitor mode summ a ry

shuttle MP ta pes MTC

MTC output m u ltiple DTRS units

48, 65

47–48

15, 18, 72

18, 63

7, 36

nthesizing

offset

DTRS synchroniz ation

setting

time code options

PW-88S (c a ble)

R C-808 r emote control unit

R C-828 r emote control unit

R C-898 r emote control unit

TDIF-1EX extender box

71 71 71

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 76

Index P - S

oscillator output

overdubbing

advanc ed options patchbay wor d length

parameter values, adjusting park position

peak hold time peak meters

Physical specifications physical spe cifications

pitch control

see “vari s p eed ”

pl ay b ack ( repeat ) playback times

post-r oll time

see also “pr e-r o ll time ” ~ IN (POWER IN) power cord

power specifications power supply

powering t he unit off and on pr e-roll and post-roll (punch)

pre-r oll time

editing

location pr opagation delay

punch-in and punch-out punch-in mode

exiting punch-ins

crossfade times

interrupting

introduction

recording

rehearsing

replaying

se tting points

se tting punch points

15, 20

32–33

r ack mounting REC FUN CTION keys a nd indic a tors

REC MUTE (recording sile nc e) rec mute func tion

re c hasing timecode re c ommended tape s

RECO RD k ey recording

emphasis re c ording punch-ins

re c ording sile nc e (R E C M UTE) re c ording the oscill ator

rec ording time

re cording timecode

fr o m exte rna l sou r ces

using the gener ator re cording timecode fr om exte r nal source s r ecording whil e formatting

r ectangular dithe r r ehearsing punch-i ns

relative difference relative humidity

Remote con trol c onnectors REMOTE IN

REMOTE IN/SYNC IN REMOTE PUNCH IN/OUT

Remote/ sync connectors REPEAT (MENU ) key and indicator

re peat function re peat play

r eplaying punched material re set ting par ameters

r estoring se t tings from t a pe

28, 51

15, 18

sa mpling fre quenc y saving se ttings to tape

se lecting a c l ock sour ce sele c ting di the r set tings

se lecting input word le ngth selecting TC or ABS timing

sele c ting t he fr a me mode sele c ting t he time c ode sourc e

selecting timecode or a bsolute timing se tting a non-st andard spe ed

se tting defa ul t par amete r va lues se tting loc ation points

setting ma chine ID set ti ng machi n e o ffs et

setting m achine of fset “on the fly” se tting MEMO 1 and MEMO 2 “on the f ly”

setting punch points “on the fly” se tting punch points using the front pa nel

se tting punch points using the menus sett ing the location pr e- r oll time

se tting tim ecode offset “on the fly” settings

res toring from ta pe

saving to tape SHI FT key and indic ator

shift mode shifted keys

shuttle shuttle monitoring

shuttle muting shuttle operations

SHUTTLE/DATA knob sine osc illa to r

softwa r e upgra des software version

softwa r e ver sion number s

27–28

36, 42

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 77

Index T - W

SPDIF

connectors

input/output Specifications STOP key

sub-f r ame value s sub-menus

sub-mixer

input sources

maste r level

setti ng levels and pan positions summary of monit or modes

synchronization

connections

formatting

PW-88S cabl e

with ot her DA uni ts

with ot her DTR S units synthe sizing time code fr om ABS t iming

SYSTEM men u

18, 47

ta pe brands tape errors

ta pe head cle aning ta pe le ngt h

Tape re cord er sect i on tape timecode

ta pe type s

DTRS

MP and ME tapes

pl ayback and r ecording ti mes TC chase menu

T C generator menu TC menu

T C time T C timing

TDIF-1 (DIGITAL I/O) test tone

timecode

Tim ecode conne ctors ti mec ode output

timecode time t rack bounci ng

t rack cont rols t rack copy

t rack del ay t ransport ke ys and controls

7, 52

ABS times absolute and relative diffe re nce bypassing errors chasing connections external ext ern al sou rces fast LTC fra m e mode fra m e rat e from digital source from tape generator input input timi ng LTC output machine ID MTC offset output output during fa st operations output timi ng park position park pos it ion when chasing rechasing re cord i n g fro m ex t ernal sou rc es selecting the source synt hesiz ing from ABS tim ing TC time

see “TC time”

enable setup

16, 18

54, 57

54 55 58

58–59

39, 65

53, 56

unbalanced ana log audi o connections

varispeed

7, 41

word clock connections word lengt h

word sync Word sync terminals

write-protecting cassettes

TASCAM DA-78HR

Page 78

DA-78HR

TEAC CORPORATION

Phone: (0422) 52-5082 3-7-3, Nakacho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8550, Japan

TEAC AMERICA, INC.

Phone: (323) 726-0303 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, California 90640

TEAC CANADA LTD.

Phone: 905-890-8008 Facsimile: 905-890-9888 5939 Wallace Street, Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 1Z8, Canada

TEAC MEXICO, S.A. De C.V

Phone: 5-658-1943 Privada De Corina, No.18, Colonia Del Carmen Coyoacon, Mexico DF 04100

TEAC UK LIMITED

Phone: 01923-819699 5 Marlin House, Marlins Meadow, The Croxley Centre, Watford, Herts. WD1 8YA, U.K.

TEAC DEUTSCHLAND GmbH

Phone: 0611-71580 Bahnstrasse 12, 65205 Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Germany

TEAC FRANCE S. A.

Phone: 01.42.37.01.02 17 Rue Alexis-de-Tocqueville, CE 005 92182 Antony Cedex, France

TEAC BELGIUM NV/SA

Phone: 0031-30-6048115 P.A. TEAC Nederland BV, Perkinsbaan 11a, 3439 ND Nieuwegein, Netherlands

TEAC NEDERLAND BV

Phone: 030-6030229 Perkinsbaan 11a, 3439 ND Nieuwegein, Netherlands

TEAC AUSTRALIA PTY.,LTD. A.C.N. 005 408 462

Phone: (03) 9644-2442 106 Bay Street, Port Melbourne, Victoria 3207, Australia

TEAC ITALIANA S.p.A.

Phone: 02-66010500 Via C. Cantù 11, 20092 Cinisello Balsamo, Milano, Italy

PRINTED IN JAPAN 1099S1.5 MA-0324A

Tascam DA-78HR User Manual 2

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

1 - Intr oduction to the D A-78HR

1.1 Unpacking

1.2 Feat ures

1.3 Using this manual

1.4 Precautions and recommendations

1.4.1 Clock source in a di gita l studio

1.4.2 HR re cording an d emphas is

1.4.3 Environmenta l conditions

1.4.4 Installing t he DA - 78HR

1.4.6 Three-core power cord

1 .4.7 Po w ering the DA-78HR off and on

1.4.8 Condensati on

1.4.5 Ele ct rica l co nside rat ions

1.5 Recommended tapes

1.5.1 Tape brands

1.5.2 A vailabl e recording and playback time

2 - Fr ont and r ea r panel feat ur es

2.1 General contro ls and ind icators

2.3 Syst em con trol keys

2.4 Track controls

2.5 Rear panel features

3 - Connections

3.1 Audio connections

3.1.2 U n balance d analog audi o connections

3.1.1 Balance d an alog audio conn ection s

3 .1.3 Digital audi o connect ions

3.1.4 SPDIF connectors

3.2 Synchronizat ion connectio ns

3.2.1 Wo rd clo ck connection s

3.2.3 Timecode connections

3.2.4 MID I timec od e conne ct ions

3.3 Connection to other TASCAM units

3.3.1 REMOTE IN

3.2.2 MIDI conn ect ors (IN , O UT and THR U)

3.3.2 Footswitch

3. 3. 3 Multiple DT RS units

3.3.4 “Indirect” word sync

4 - Menu interface, et c.

4.1 The display

4.2 The SHIFT key

4.2.1 Shif t ed ke ys

4.1.1 Pe ak meter s

4.2.2 Shif t mode

4.3 Men us and sub-menus

4.3.1 Exiting menu mode

4.3.2 Sub-menus

4.3.3 Adjusting parameter values

4.3.5 “Le f t ” and “ right” keys

4.3.6 Sub- f rame values

4.5 AUDIO1 menu

4.4 SYSTEM menu

4.6 AUDIO2 menu

4.7 TC menu

4.8 TC chase menu

4.10MIDI menu

4.9 TC generator me nu

4.11M aint ena nce men u

4.12Dedicated keys

5 - Basic operat io ns

5.1 Formatting a tape

5.1.1 Sel ect ing a w ord cl ock sou rce

5.1.2 Formatting

5.1.3 Abo rt in g the fo rmat pr oces s

5.1.4 Recording while formatting

5.2 Recording the first tr acks

5.2.1 Preparing to record

5.2.2 Sel ect ing a cloc k source

5.2.3 Write-protecti ng cassettes

5.2.4 Reco rding the first tracks (i)

5 .2.6 Replaying the first tracks

5.3 Input s election

5.2.5 Rec ordin g th e basic t racks ( ii )

5.3.1 Digital input sele ction

5.3 .2 In put pa tch bay rout ing

5.3.3 Track bouncing

5.3.4 Returning to ALL ANALOG setting