Tascam SS-R1 User Manual

TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1

CONTROL I/O connector

RS-232C Protocol Specification

Ver.1.00

March 2008

TEAC Corporation

TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

1. Overview
The REMOTE connector equipped on the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 enables you to control the
SS-R1/SS-CDR1 from a computer or other external device. In this document, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1
is referred to as the "controlled device," and the external device that controls it is referred to as the
"external controller."

2. Specifications

Electrical specifications

Conforms to standard JIS X-5101 (equivalent to former JIS C-6361 and EIA RS-232C)
(Not compatible with the RS-422A used in professional VTR units)
Impedance at receiver When measured with an applied voltage of between ±3 and 15V, the DC

resistance is between 3KΩ and 7KΩ.
Total load capacitance is less than 2500pF
Open circuit voltage at transmitter Less than 25V
Open circuit voltage at receiver Less than 2V
Signal voltage When the open circuit voltage at the receiver is 0V, the signal voltage is

between ±5V and ±15V for a load impedance of between 3K and 7KΩ.
Signal discrimination Logical “1” Less than -3V
Logical “0” More than +3V

Communication format

Circuit type 3-wire, half-duplex
Transmission type Digital binary serial
Data speed (baud rate) 4800/9600/19200/38400 bit/sec
Character length 7/8 bit
Parity bit Odd/Even/None
Stop bit 1/2 bit
(Data speed, character length, parity bit, and stop bit settings are made on the SS-R1/SS-CDR1.)

Connector pin-out

Connector D-sub 9-pin female (metric thread)

Terminal pin-out and input/output signals

Pin no. In/Out Signal name Description

1 - NC Not connected
2 In Rx Data Data received at this pin *1
3 Out Tx Data Data transmitted from this pin
4 Out (Reserved) Reserved
5 - GND Ground
6 In (Reserved) Reserved
7 In RTS Request To Send (input "request to transmit") *2
8 Out CTS Clear To Send (output "ready to receive") *2

9 - NC Not connected
*1： A voltage that satisfies the RS-232C specification must be applied to Rx Data.
*2： RTS/CTS is loopback-connected within the controlled device. If using RTS/CTS control,
consider the design of the external controller.

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

Controlled device (SS-R1/SS-CDR1) External controller

RXD
TXD

RTS
CTS
GND

2

3

7

8

5

RXD
TXD

RTS
CTS
GND

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

3. Command format

Command format overview

The command format is as follows.

Byte 1 Byte 2 Byte 3 Byte 4 Byte 5 Byte 6 Byte 7 Byte 8 … Byte n

LF ID Command Data 1 Data 2 Data 3 Data 4 … CR

Commands begin with a "line feed (LF)," end with a "carriage return (CR)," and are based on the ASCII
format.
The type following the LF is the machine ID. The machine ID is described later.
Commands are expressed by two ASCII bytes.
The byte string following the command expresses the data, and is between 0 bytes (for a command that
has no data) and a maximum of 98 bytes. For details on the data, refer to the detailed explanation for
each command. For commands that use 0--9 and A--F as data values, uppercase characters are used
for A--F.

Example commands
Example 1: Transmitting a PLAY command to a controlled device of ID=0

When the controlled device is in Stop or Ready mode, this command will initiate playback on the
controlled device.
The PLAY command is [12], and is transmitted as follows.

ID Command

ASCII LF 0 1 2 CR

HEX 0Ah 30h 31h 32h 0Dh

Example 2: Telling a controlled device of ID=0 to perform a direct search for track 123

The command "DIRECT TRACK SEARCH PRESET [23]" is transmitted to perform this action.
The data bytes consist of ASCII in two-byte units.
For the "DIRECT TRACK SEARCH PRESET" command, the track number is specified as
follows.

Data 1 Tens digit of the specified track number
Data 2 Ones digit of the specified track number
Data 3 Thousands digit of the specified track number
Data 4 Hundreds digit of the specified track number

Thus, the transmitted command will be as follows.

ID Command Data：track 123

ASCII LF 0 2 3 2 3 0 1 CR

HEX 0Ah 30h 32h 33h 32h 33h 30h 31h 0Dh

Machine ID
The SS-R1/SS-CDR1 uses Machine ID=0 to receive commands and transmit returns.
If a command with an ID other than Machine ID=0 is received, that command is ignored.
If an unsupported command is received, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

List of commands

A list of commands is given below.

Control/Preset/Sense Command Return Command
0F INFORMATION REQUEST 8F INFORMATION RETURN

10 STOP
12 PLAY
13 RECORD
14 READY
16 SHUTTLE
17 FLASH LOAD 97 FLASH LOAD ACKNOWLEDGE

18 EJECT
1A TRACK SKIP
1D CALL

20 AUTO CUE LEVEL PRESET A0 AUTO CUE LEVEL RETURN

21 AUTO TRACK LEVEL PRESET A1 AUTO TRACK LEVEL RETURN

23 DIRECT TRACK SEARCH PRESET

25 PITCH DATA PRESET A5 PITCH DATA RETURN

26 AUTO TRACK TIME PRESET A6 AUTO TRACK TIME RETURN

27 CLOCK DATA PRESET A7 CLOCK DATA RETURN

28 SYNC REC LEVEL PRESET A8 SYNC REC LEVEL RETURN
2C TIME SEARCH PRESET
2D KEY CONTROL DATA PRESET AD KEY CONTROL DATA RETURN

30 AUTO CUE SELECT B0 AUTO CUE SELECT RETURN

31 AUTO TRACK SELECT B1 AUTO TRACK RETURN

32 EOM TRACK TIME SELECT B2 EOM TRACK TIME RETURN

33 EOM MEDIA TIME SELECT B3 EOM MEDIA TIME RETURN

35 PITCH CONTROL SELECT B5 PITCH CONTROL SELECT RETURN

36 AUTO READY SELECT B6 AUTO READY SELECT RETURN

37 REPEAT SELECT B7 REPEAT SELECT RETURN

38 SYNC REC SELECT B8 SYNC REC SELECT RETURN
3A INCR PLAY SELECT BA INCR PLAY SELECT RETURN
3D KEY CONTROL SELECT BD KEY CONTROL SELECT RETURN
4C REMOTE/LOCAL SELECT CC REMOTE/LOCAL SELECT RETURN
4E PLAY MODE SENSE CE PLAY MODE RETURN

50 MECHA STATUS SENSE D0 MECHA STATUS RETURN

55 TRACK No. STATUS SENSE D5 TRACK No. STATUS RETURN

56 MEDIA STAT US SENSE D6 ME DIA STATU S RETURN

57 CURRENT TRACK INFORMATION

SENSE
58 CURRENT TRACK TIME SENSE D8 CURRENT TRACK TIME RETURN
59 NAME SENSE D9 NAME RETURN

5D TOTAL TRACK No./TOTAL TIME SENSE DD TOTAL TRACK No./TOTAL TIME

5E PGM TOTAL TRACK No./TOTAL TIME

SENSE

5F KEYBOARD TYPE SENSE DF KEYBOARD TYPE RETURN

D7 CURRENT TRACK INFORMATION

RETURN

RETURN

DE PGM TOTAL TRACK No./TOTAL TIME

RETURN

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

F0 ERROR SENSE REQUEST
F1 CAUTION SENSE REQUEST
F2 ILLEGAL STATUS
F4 POWER ON STATUS

F6 CHANGE STATUS
78 ERROR SENSE F8 ERROR SENSE RETURN
79 CAUTION SENSE F9 CAUTION SENSE RETURN
7F VENDER COMMAND FF VENDER COMMAND RETURN

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

Command sequence

In most cases the controlled device will not send an ACK in response to transport control or data preset
commands sent from the external controller.
The controlled device will send back a return command in response to data sense commands that
request a data value specified on the controlled device.
When the status of the controlled device changes, such as from Stop to Play mode, or when an error etc.
occurs, the controlled device will send a command indicating this to the external controller.
Examples of the command sequence are given below.
You must leave an interval of at least 20 ms between commands.

Example 1: Controlling the transport of the controlled device

This example describes the Play operation.
When the controlled device receives the PLAY command and enters Play mode, it will transmit
a CHANGED STATUS command.
ACK is not transmitted for the PLAY command.

Command

External controller Controlled device
Stopped
PLAY ->
<- CHANGED STATUS Transmit when starting Play

Example 2: Presetting data

This example describes setting the AUTO CUE LEVEL.
When the controlled device receives the AUTO CUE LEVEL PRESET (Preset) command, it will
set its AUTO CUE LEVEL.
ACK is not transmitted for this command.

Command
External controller Controlled device
AUTO CUE LEVEL
PRESET (Preset -54dB)

Example 3: Obtaining specified data

This example describes obtaining the currently-set AUTO CUE LEVEL.
When the controlled device receives the AUTO CUE LEVEL PRESET (Sense) command, it will
return the currently-set AUTO CUE LEVEL.

Command
External controller Controlled device
AUTO CUE LEVEL
PRESET (Sense)

Example 4: Checking the status of the controlled device, and performing the next operation

When the operating status of the controlled device changes, it will transmit CHANGED
STATUS. By using CHANGED STATUS as a trigger for sending MECHA STATUS SENSE, the
new operating status can be determined.
This example shows how to check the record-ready status of the controlled device and then
initiate recording.

Command
External controller Controlled device
Stopped
RECORD (Record Ready) ->

AUTO CUE LEVEL set to

->

->

AUTO CUE LEVEL

<-

RETURN

State of controlled device

State of controlled device

-54dB

State of controlled device

State of controlled device

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

MECHA STATUS SENSE ->

RECORD (Record) ->

Command details

The commands, data, and machine IDs described here are characters (ASCII).
A command is two character bytes, a machine ID is one character byte, and each item of data is an
individual character byte.
The SS-R1/SS-CDR1 can use the following track numbers and group numbers. However if a
number not existing on the disc is specified, it will be considered an invalid command.

Track number (MP3/WAV MEDIA) maximum 999
Track number (audio CD) maximum 99

INFORMATION REQUEST

Requests the controlled device to return information such as the software version.
Command 0F
Machine ID 0
Data none
Return INFORMATION RETURN [8F]

STOP

Puts the controlled device in STOP mode, and defeats input monitor mode.
Command 10
Machine ID 0
Data none
Return none

PLAY

Puts the controlled device in PLAY mode, or in RECORD mode if it is in record-ready mode.
Command 12
Machine ID 0
Data none
Return none

RECORD

Puts the controlled device in RECORD-READY mode. During recording, the command assigns a
track. During the No Media status, it puts the controlled device in Input Monitor mode.
Command 13
Machine ID 0
Data 2 bytes

Data 1 Data 2 Description Remarks

0 1 Record Ready Puts the device in record-ready mode.
0 2 Track Mark Assigns a track during recording.
1 0 Input Monitor Puts the device in Input Monitor mode during the No Media

・ If data other than the above is received, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].

Return none

CHANGED STATUS Transmitted when entering

<-

MECHA STATUS

<-

RETURN

CHANGES STATUS Transmitted when entering

<-

status.

record-ready status

Returns record-ready status

record status

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

READY

Puts the controlled device in PLAY-READY mode or RECORD-READY mode.
Command 14
Machine ID 0
Data 2 bytes

Data 1 Data 2 Description Remarks

0 1 Ready On Puts the device in PLAY-READY or RECORD-READY

mode.

・ If data other than the above is received, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].

Return none

SHUTTLE

Puts the controlled device in SHUTTLE mode.
SHUTTLE mode will be maintained until a command such as STOP, PLAY, or READY is received.
Command 16
Machine ID 0
Data 2 bytes

Data 1 Data 2 Description Remarks

0 0 Shuttle

Forward

0 1 Shuttle

Reverse

・ If data other than the above is received, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].

Return none

FLASH LOAD

Puts the controlled device in FLASH LOAD mode.
Command 17
Machine ID 0
Data none
Return FLASH LOAD ACKNOWLEDGE [97]

EJECT

Ejects CD media from the controlled device.
(If the SS-R1 receives this command, it will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].)
The command will be ignored if a device other than CD is selected on the controlled device.
Command 18
Machine ID 0
Data none
Return none

Shuttles in the forward direction.

Shuttles in the backward direction.

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

SKIP

Causes the controlled device to skip tracks.
After skipping, the device will maintain the mode in which it was when the operation began.
Command 1A
Machine ID 0
Data 2 bytes

Data 1 Data 2 Description Remarks

0 0 Track Skip Next Skips to the next track.
0 1 Track Skip

Previous

・ If data other than the above is received, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].

Return none

CALL

Causes the controlled device to locate to the call point and enter playback-ready mode.
Command 1D
Machine ID 0
Data none
Return none

AUTO CUE LEVEL PRESET

Sets the Auto Cue Level of the controlled device.
A return command is returned only if Sense [FF] is specified.
The Auto Cue Mode setting is made using the command "AUTO CUE SELECT [30]."
Command 20
Machine ID 0
Data 2 bytes

Data 1 Data 2 Description Remarks

0 0 Preset –24dB
0 1 Preset –30dB
0 2 Preset –36dB
0 3 Preset –42dB
0 4 Preset –48dB
0 5 Preset –54dB
0 6 Preset –60dB
0 7 Preset –66dB
0 8 Preset –72dB
F F Sense Requests that the current preset level be returned.

・ If data other than the above is received, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].

Return AUTO CUE LEVEL RETURN [A0]

If the current position is at the beginning of a track,
skips to the beginning of the previous track. If the
current position is not at the beginning of a track, skips
to the beginning of the current track..

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TASCAM SS-R1/SS-CDR1 RS-232C Protocol Specification

AUTO TRACK LEVEL PRESET

Sets the Auto Track Level of the controlled device.
A return command is returned only if Sense [FF] is specified.
The Auto Track Mode setting is made using the command "AUTO TRACK SELECT [31]."
Command 21
Machine ID 0
Data 2 bytes

Data 1 Data 2 Description Remarks

0 0 Preset –24dB
0 1 Preset –30dB
0 2 Preset –36dB
0 3 Preset –42dB
0 4 Preset –48dB
0 5 Preset –54dB
0 6 Preset –60dB
0 7 Preset –66dB
0 8 Preset –72dB
F F Sense Requests that the current preset level be returned.

・ If data other than the above is returned, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit ILLEGAL [F2].

Return AUTO TRACK LEVEL RETURN [A1]

DIRECT TRACK SEARCH PRESET

Searches for the specified track number.
When this command is received while in STOP mode or PLAY mode, the controlled device will enter
PLAY mode after searching. If the controlled device had been in any other mode when searching
began, it will remain in that mode after searching.
Command 23
Machine ID 0
Data 4 bytes

Description Remarks
Data 1 Tens digit of the

track number

Data 2 Ones digit of the

track number

Data 3 Thousands digit of

the track number

Data 4 Hundreds digit of

the track number

・ If the specified track number does not exist on the disc, the SS-R1/SS-CDR1 will transmit

ILLEGAL [F2].

Return none

Track number

Example) 2301: track 123

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