DA-38 QUICK TIPS This guide is intended to assist you with the majority of operations you are likely to encounter while using your DA-38 digital recorder. It is not intended as a substitute for the Owner's Manual. For additional information on any of the procedures listed below, consult your Owner's Manual. AUTO PLAY This function enables the DA-38 to automatically begin playback upon completing autolocation. You must first capture a Locate Memory position. 1) After pressing LOC, press PLAY - tape will autolocate and commence playback upon reaching the Locate Memory position. Pressing PLAY a second time will cause the DA-38 to commence playback from the exact tape position at the time of the second press. AUTO PUNCH 1) 2) 3) 4) This function facilitates hands-free operation for Punch In/Out recording. Press INSERT and REHEARSAL to enable Auto Punch mode. Press PLAY. At desired Punch IN point, press REC. At desired Punch OUT point, press PLAY - Tape will automatically rewind after the default post roll period of 3 seconds. Tape will stop at the point defined by Punch In minus pre roll (default: 5 seconds). At this point, Punch In/Out points can be reviewed for rehearsal purposes. When ready to execute Auto Punch, perform the following: 5) 6) 7) 8) If you haven't already done so, arm the desired track(s). Press AUTO IN / OUT - LED blinks Press PLAY; at Punch IN point, both track LED and Record LED light solid. After the Punch OUT point, tape will automatically rewind after the default post roll period of 3 seconds. Tape will stop at the point defined by Punch In minus pre roll (default: 5 seconds). At this point, the punch can be reviewed without disarming the track. Notice that the AUTO IN / OUT LED is now solid. By simply pressing PLAY, the punch can be reviewed. If the punch is to be executed again, repeat steps 5-8. Press CLEAR to exit. 1 If you wish to Trim the Punch IN or OUT address, perform the following: 1) From either REHEARSAL or IN/OUT mode, press SHIFT (LED blinks) and then either LOC 1 or LOC 2 - the display will momentarily show either IN POINT or OUT POINT and then display the ABS address of that Punch point. 2) By pressing the corresponding LOC key successively, you can move the cursor from HR to MIN to SEC to FRames and back to the HR position. 3) With the cursor positioned at the desired address segment, use the w or v keys to alter the current value. 4) When the ABS address has been trimmed to your satisfaction, press SHIFT to exit this edit mode. BLOCK ERROR RATE DISPLAY This function is a diagnostic routine that is capable of displaying the DA-38's error condition per frame (1 rotation of the head = 30 ms.) on the level meters during playback. Normally, you will only have cause to view this information if you have noticed excessive flashing of the PB CONDITION indicator and suspect that the DA38's heads may need cleaning or other servicing. Should this condition arise, contact TASCAM Customer Service for additional information. 1) Press SHIFT (LED will blink), then press MENU successively until the message "b.E.r. oFF" appears in the display. 2) Press either the w or v keys to enable / disable the function. When enabled, the PB CONDITION indicator will blink. 3) Press SHIFT to return to the normal ABS display. 4) Press PLAY to begin playback. CHECK DA-38 SYSTEM VERSION 1) HOLD STOP, PLAY, REC while powering On. 1) With unit attached, power on DA-38, then press REW, FF, STOP on RC-848. 1) Hold REW, FF, STOP while powering on. Use this mode very sparingly, as it can effect the DA-38's head life. If you encounter any difficulties, contact TASCAM Customer Service for further information. 1) Press SHIFT (LED blinks), then press MENU. 2) Press MENU successively until the message "CLE oFF" appears in the display. 3) Press the v key to turn Cleaning Mode ON - if a regular cassette is in the unit, it will automatically be ejected. 4) Insert the HC-8 Cleaning tape - the DA-38 will automatically commence cleaning and will eject the tape roughly 5 seconds later. Cleaning mode is automatically exited. 2 CHECK RC-848 SYSTEM VERSION CHECK SERVO VERSION CLEANING THE UNIT By pressing the w key at the Cleaning Mode menu, the DA-38 will display the number of times the heads have been cleaned thus far. Pressing the w key during the cleaning process has no effect. The DA-38 incorporates an internal cleaning mechanism that not only cleans the rotary head but also the tape as it enters the tape path. The inclusion of this cleaning mechanism significantly reduces the need for manual cleaning, and all but eliminates the need to use the dry cleaning tape. Use of a dry cleaning tape will reduce the head life of a DA-38 by approximately 5 hours for every cleaning cycle, use is therefor reserved for situations when playback errors occur and a manual cleaning is not possible. If you elect to use the dry cleaning tape, RUN ONE PASS ONLY - NOT MULTIPLE CYCLES. If this does not resolve the situation, a manual cleaning or alignment is required. The following is a suggested maintenance schedule. Note that the cleaning interval may be longer or shorter depending on your individual environmental conditions. 350 to 400 hours: Perform manual cleaning of heads and guides. Check tape path alignment after cleaning. (requires proper test and measurement equipment, and should be performed by qualified service personnel) During third cleaning, (1000 hours) a complete alignment check is suggested. Remember, the duration between cleanings may vary depending on your environment. A dusty or smokey environment will shorten the cleaning cycle. Although most name brand tapes are of very high quality, it is possible to receive some "bad" stock. Most notably stock which exhibits excessive shedding. If you receive tape stock that sheds, immediately stop using it, and clean your transport. CROSSFADE TIME During punch recording, the Crossfade Time parameter effects the transition between existing material on tape and newly recorded material. Shorter values permit "tighter" punches while higher values will effect longer transitions. Higher values better enable you to maintain the natural decay of existing sounds - lessening the possibility of a sound being "choked off," 1) Press SHIFT (LED blinks), then press MENU. 2) Press MENU successively until the message "C. FAdE xx" appears in the display (xx represents current value). 3) Use the w and v keys to alter the value of the Crossfade Time parameter. 4) Press SHIFT to exist this edit mode. 3 DIGITAL DUBBING BETWEEN DA-38s This function permits digital copying of tapes for the purpose of either backup or distribution. For Digital Dubbing, the Master DA-38 is always the Source unit while the Slave DA-38 is the Destination unit. Connections - perform the following two steps with the power to both units OFF. 1) Using a PW-88S sync cable, connect the Master DA-38 SYNC OUT port to the Slave DA-38 SYNC IN port. 2) Using either a PW-88D or PW-88DL dubbing cable, connect the Master DA-38 TDIF-1 port to the Slave DA-38 TDIF-1 port. With these connections made, perform the following: 1) Switch on power to the Slave DA-38 and set its ID number to "2" (see ID SELECT for procedure). 2) Switch on power to the Master DA-38. 3) Insert the source tape into the Master DA-38 and a pre-formatted target tape into the Slave DA-38. 4) Verify that all REC FUNCTION LEDs are turned off on the Master DA-38. 5) Engage all 8 REC FUNCTION LEDs on the Slave DA-38 - their associated LEDs will blink. 6) Press CHASE on the Slave DA-38 - its associated LED will blink. 7) Press DIGITAL IN on the Slave DA-38 - the DIGITAL IN indicator will light solid. 8) To begin dubbing, press PLAY and REC on the Master DA-38. DIGITAL TRACK COPY This function facilitates copying program material from one track to another in the digital domain. Using this function in tandem with Punch In/Out recording, you can assemble composite recordings from multiple tracks. Press SHIFT - its LED blinks. Press the TRK COPY key - the display will read "tr.cP. oFF" Press the v key to turn the function ON. Press the REC FUNCTION switch that corresponds to the desired Destination track - its LED will blink. 5) Press the v key successively until the far right area of the display identifies the Source track by number - this is represented by "t1" through "t8" (Example: "tr.cP. 6 t2" - track 6 is the Destination, track 2 is the Source). 6) Press PLAY and REC - the DA-38 will now digitally copy the selected Source material. If only a specific segment of the source material is desired, punch IN and OUT of the track as needed. 1) 2) 3) 4) 4 DITHER Dithering is a process which adds noise to the input signal at a very low level, usually one-third to one-half of the lowest quantization level. It is intended to keep low-level signals from being overly quantized. As the dithering process takes place only when the input signal is actually recorded onto tape, its effect is perceptible only during playback. Think of dithering as a "smoothing" effect that will require experimentation for best results. 1) Press SHIFT (LED will blink), then press MENU successively until the message "dith. oFF" appears in the display. 2) Press either the w or v keys to enable / disable the function. ELECTRONIC PATCHBAY This function is related to DIGITAL TRACK COPY. It enables you to route a signal from any input to any track without physical repatching. This enables you, for example, to permanently leave a microphone preamplifier permanently affixed to any one of the 8 inputs and route signal from that mic preamp to any other track - all from the DA-38's front panel. 1) 2) 3) 4) Press SHIFT - its LED blinks. Press the TRK COPY key - the display will read "tr.cP. oFF" Press the v key to turn the function ON. Press the REC FUNCTION switch that corresponds to the desired Destination track - its LED will blink. 5) Press the v key successively until the far right area of the display identifies the Input by number (Example: "tr.cP. 6 i2" - track 6 is the Destination, track 2 is the actual Input, or signal origin). FORMAT This process prepares the tape cassette for use in the DA-38. 1) With the DA-38 powered ON, insert a new tape into the unit. 2) Press REW to rewind the tape to the very beginning. 3) Unpack the tape by pressing FF. This will fast wind the tape all the way to the end. Then press REW to rewind the tape back to the beginning. 4) Press FORMAT/Fs - its corresponding indicator blinks. 5) Within 5 seconds, press FORMAT/Fs again - its corresponding indicator lights solid, indicating that the unit is ready to format a tape. 6) Press FORMAT/Fs once more, and you can now toggle between the two available sampling frequencies (44.1k and 48k) 7) Upon selecting the desired sampling frequency, press REC and PLAY. If you wish to escape the Format mode, press CLEAR at any time prior to pressing REC and PLAY. TASCAM recommends that you format a tape from beginning to end in one continuous pass. 5 ID SELECT When using multiple machines that are locked together via the Sync In and Out ports, each DA-38 must have its own identity, or ID number. The Master is always machine #1. The first slave #2, and so forth. 1) Press SHIFT (LED will blink), then press MENU successively until the message "id.SEL 1" appears in the display. 2) Press either the w or v keys to establish the desired ID setting. 3) Press SHIFT to exit. INITIALIZATION This function restores the DA-38 to its factory default parameter values. 1) Press SHIFT (LED will blink), then press MENU successively until the message "init." appears in the display. 2) Press either the w or v key, the display will read "rEADY." 3) Press either the w or v key again and the display will read "donE." LOCATE MEMORY CAPTURE This function enables you to capture specific points on tape for later recall. 1) As tape plays, hold SHIFT while pressing either MEMO 1 or MEMO 2 at the desired position. 2) Now that Locate Memory is entered, to execute, press either LOC 1 or LOC 2. To trim the ABS address of either Locate Memory position, perform the following: 1) Press SHIFT (LED blinks) and press either MEMO 1 or MEMO 2. 2) By pressing the corresponding MEMO key successively, you can move the cursor from HR to MIN to SEC to FRames and back to the HR position. 3) With the cursor positioned at the desired address segment, use the w or v keys to alter the current value. 4) When the ABS address has been trimmed to your satisfaction, press SHIFT to exit this edit mode. MANUAL PUNCH This function facilitates manual entering and exiting of Record mode and is useful for fixing small segments of an otherwise satisfactory track. 1) Press PLAY & REC simultaneously. The Record LED blinks while tape rolls. 2) At the desired punch in point, press the Track Select Switch for the track you wish to arm - both the REC and the track LED will light solid. 3) At the desired punch out point, press the Track Se ...