Tascam Digital Audio Tape Deck DA-40 Owners Manual

							3 - Menu functions
  TASCAM  DA-40  21
total number of such errors (up to a total of 99 
errors).
While a block error time is shown on the display, 
pressing the LOC 2 key will write the error location 
to the second location memory and start locating the 
tape to that point.While any of the locations or the total number of the 
tape errors menu is shown on the display, the infor-
mation can be cleared by pressing the MARGIN 
RESET key. Ejecting the tape will also clear this 
data. 
						

							22  TASCAM DA-40
4 - SHIFT functions
These functions of the tape deck are typically 
accessed by pressing SHIFT [31] so that the indica-
tor is lit.
While the indicator is lit, the command keys take on 
their shifted function, labeled in blue above the key.
4.1 REPEAT
Repeated presses of the REPEAT key [20] cycle 
through the following:
• A-B repeat— the display shows REPEAT A-B— 
playback is repeated between the two location 
memory points (A refers to location memory point 
1, and B refers to location memory point 2). The 
points must first be set (see 4.6, Location memo-
ries), the tape located to a position between the 
two location memory points, and playback started 
from there.
• Single repeat— the display simply shows 
REPEAT— a program will be repeated; use the 
DATA dial or the INS/+ and DEL/- keys to select a 
program number, and then press PLAY to start 
repeated play of that program . While the program 
is being played back, the word REPEAT will flash 
in the display. If the REPEAT setting is being made 
while the tape is playing back, the program which 
starts with the next START ID encountered during 
playback will be repeated.
• All repeat— the display shows   ALL REPEAT— 
the complete contents of the tape will be repeated 
If the REPEAT setting is being made while the tape 
is playing back, ALL REPEAT will start as soon as 
an END ID or the end of the tape is encountered.
• No repeat— the display does not show any repeat 
information
The number of times that the selected portion (A-B, 
program or tape) is repeated is set by the repeat menu 
option described in 3.8, Repeat mode.
4.2 CHECK
This key [21] is used when entering characters for 
tape or program titles. It allows the checking of titles 
which are longer than the display allows, and scrolls 
them across the display. See “Character editing 
(titling)” on page 26
4.3 INS/+ and DEL/-
These keys may be used in addition to the data dial to 
increment and decrement values in the menus (see 3, 
Menu functions).
NOTE
Remember that menus are unshifted func-
tions. To use these keys as increment and 
decrement keys in the menus, the SHIFT indi-
cator must be lit, which means that the SHIFT 
key must be pressed after the menu has been 
entered.
They are also used or incrementing and decrement-
ing numeric values in the edit screens (see 4, SHIFT 
functions).
When these keys are used for editing values, pressing 
and holding down these keys will repeat the incre-
ment or decrement operation.
When entering characters (see 4.8, Character editing 
(titling)), the INS/+ key inserts a blank space into 
the character string immediately before the cursor 
position. The DEL/- key deletes the character at the 
cursor position.
4.4 ID markers (START, SKIP, END, 
CHAR and renumbering)
These ID markers are used to control tape operations 
when they are read on playback. Briefly:
• START IDs are nine seconds in length. They are 
used to mark the beginning of a program and are 
usually in continuous sequence (from 01 to 99). If 
they somehow get out of sequence, the renumber 
facility is used to correct this.
• SKIP IDs are one second in length, and are used in 
skip play mode (see SKIP PLAY [24]) to skip past 
unwanted sections of tape
• END IDs are nine seconds in length, and are used 
to mark the “logical” end of a tape (even though 
there may be tape remaining, playback will stop 
when an END ID is encountered). There should, 
naturally, only be one END ID on a tape.
The above three ID types are recognized by every 
kind of DAT deck and player.
This tape deck also provides another kind of subcode 
ID marker: 
						

							4 - SHIFT functions
  TASCAM  DA-40  23
• CHAR, which allows the writing of alphanumeric 
characters (up to 60) which are associated with a 
START ID on the tape, which will be shown on the 
display when that part of the tape is replayed. 
These can be used as tape (if written at the first 
START ID) or program titles.
NOTE
All these IDs are written in the subcode of the 
tape— they may be written and erased freely 
without affecting the audio portion of the tape 
in any way.
4.4.1 Selecting an ID mode
Repeated presses of the ID SELECT key will cycle 
through the following options:
•START WRT— a START ID will be written
•SKIP WRT— a SKIP ID will be written
•END WRT— an END ID will be written
•START ERASE— the START ID immediately 
before the current location will be erased
•SKIP ERASE— the SKIP ID immediately before 
the current location will be erased
•END ERASE— the tape will move forward to the 
next END ID, which will be erased
•CHAR ERASE—  the character information 
immediately before the current location will be 
erased
•RENUM— the tape will be rewound, and all 
START IDs will be renumbered in sequence, start-
ing at 1.
WARNING
When one of the above ID modes is shown in 
the display, pressing ENTER may start the ID 
writing or editing operation. When writing or 
editing IDs is not required, therefore, press ID 
SELECT repeatedly until none of the above 
ID modes is shown on the display/
The ERASE and RENUM modes cannot be selected 
while the tape deck is recording.
While IDs are being written, erased or renumbered, 
all transport controls except STOP are disabled.
NOTE
If there is no cassette inserted, or if the cas-
sette is write-protected, the message 
Rec Protect
 will appear in the display when 
the ID SELECT key is pressed.
4.4.2 Manually writing a START or SKIP 
ID (i)
With the tape deck playing a tape where audio has 
previously been recorded, or recording, select either 
the START WRT or SKIP WRT option as described 
above.
When the tape reaches the point where an ID is to be 
written, press ENTER [26].
The ID will be written at the point where the ENTER 
key is pressed. While the ID is being written, START 
WRT or SKIP WRT (as appropriate) will flash on 
the display and output will be muted (if the tape deck 
is in playback mode).
In playback mode, the display will also show 
WR-
ST
 or WR-SK, and the playback will be restored 
after the ID has been written.
The PLAY and RECORD indicators will both light 
while the ID is being written.
NOTE
Do not press the STOP key while writing sub-
code IDs. This will cause the IDs to be of 
indeterminate length, resulting in possible 
future operational problems.
4.4.3 Writing a START or SKIP ID (ii)
Use the ID SELECT key to choose either a START 
ID or a SKIP ID to write at the selected position, if 
the display does not already show the desired ID 
type.
With the tape playing, press the POSITION key.
The current tape location in ABS time will be dis-
played, together with the characters 
Posit, 
showing that the POSITION key has been pressed.
After two seconds, the time that which the 
POSITION key was pressed will be shown to frame 
accuracy, together with an offset value of 
00 at the 
right of the display.
The PAUSE indicator will light, and the PLAY indi-
cator will start to flash.
00H23M17sPosit
00H23M17S_18F00 
						

							4 - SHIFT functions
24  TASCAM  DA-40
Use the INS/+ and DEL/- keys or the DATA dial to 
adjust the offset backwards or forwards by up to 50 
frames in either direction.
Press PLAY to preview the location of the ID point. 
The tape will rewind to the position, with the offset 
added or subtracted, and start playing back from the 
previewed ID position. While playing back, the word 
Posit will be shown on the display. When play-
back stops after a few seconds, the offset value will 
replace the word 
Posit, and may be re-adjusted 
as described above.
Repeat the adjustment of the ID point and the pre-
view of the point as many times as necessary.
When the ID point has been located satisfactorily, 
press ENTER. The display will show 
WR-ST or 
WR-SK, depending on whether a START or SKIP 
ID is being written.
The edited point can also be used here as a location 
memory (use the MEMO 1 or MEMO 2 key).
The writing of the ID can be canceled at any time 
after POSITION has been pressed by pressing 
STOP.
4.4.4 Writing an END ID
Writing an END ID will stop the tape. If an END ID 
is written in the middle of recorded material, the 
material following the END ID will be inaccessible 
until the END ID is erased.
An END ID can be written from the record, or the 
record pause mode.
Select the END WRT option as described in 4.4.1, 
Selecting an ID mode.
Press ENTER. The END ID will be written at the 
point that ENTER is pressed.
4.4.5 Erasing a START or SKIP ID
Select the START ERASE or SKIP ERASE option 
as described in 4.4.1, Selecting an ID mode.
Locate the tape to a little after the START or SKIP 
ID to be erased or within the ID section itself.
Press ENTER. The tape will move backwards to find 
the first appropriate ID, and 
ER-ST or ER-SK 
as appropriate is shown in the display. When the 
erase function is started, the tape will take some time 
to search for the ID and position itself appropriately.
When the ID has been located, the START ERASE 
or SKIP ERASE shown in the display will start 
flashing, and the RECORD and PLAY indicators 
will light.After the ID has been erased, the deck will continue 
playing the tape.
NOTE
If a START ID is erased, the program num-
bers will not be continuous. The renumbering 
function may be used to restore the 
sequence.
4.4.6 Erasing an END ID
Select END ERASE as the ID mode (see 4.4.1, 
Selecting an ID mode).
Move the tape to a little after the END ID, and press 
ENTER.
The tape will move back to the END ID and will 
erase it (the RECORD and PLAY indicators will 
both light). While the ID is being erased, the words 
END ERASE will flash in the display.
4.4.7 Erasing titles
If characters have been recorded on tape, the boxed 
word CHAR will appear on the bottom of the display 
(below the seconds digits).
To erase the characters which have been previously 
recorded as program titles, select CHAR ERASE as 
the ID mode (see 4.4.1, Selecting an ID mode).
Move the tape to a little after the end of the START 
ID containing the characters to be erased,
Press ENTER; the display will show 
ER-CH, and 
the tape will start moving back until the START ID 
containing the characters is located on tape. The 
character information will then be erased (the 
RECORD and PLAY indicators will both light), but 
the START ID containing the title characters and the 
audio information will be retained. While the erase 
operation is taking place, the words CHAR ERASE 
will flash in the display.
4.4.8 Renumbering START IDs
If START IDs have been written to a tape after audio 
recording has taken place, or if START IDs have 
been removed from a sequence, the program num-
bers will not form a continuous series.
To renumber the programs, select RENUM as the ID 
mode.
The right side of the display will show 
#01 (flash-
ing), showing that the first START ID will be renum-
bered as 01.  
						

							4 - SHIFT functions
  TASCAM  DA-40  25
You can start the tape’s program numbers from a 
value different from 
01 by turning the DATA dial. 
The program number selected with the DATA dial 
will flash (the flashing will continue for five 
seconds). 
Confirm the flashing program number with the 
ENTER key. If you press ENTER after the program 
number has stopped flashing, renumbering will start 
from 01.
The tape will rewind to the first START ID, and 
rewrite the ID in the same location as previously, but 
with the number selected above.
When this is done, the number at the right of the dis-
play will change to the number which is one greater 
than the starting program number, and the tape will 
move forward to the next START ID and renumber it 
in the same way.
While a START ID is being rewritten, the word 
RENUM will flash in the display, and the PLAY 
and RECORD indicators will light.
If the current START ID already has a number, this 
will be shown to the left of the 
# mark on the 
display:
If the current START ID is unnumbered, this is repre-
sented by a pair of dashes in the PNO location on the 
display. 
All program titles are retained during the renumber-
ing process.
The renumbering process continues until the end of 
the tape or an END ID is reached.
NOTE
Valid program numbers are from 01 to 99. If 
the above procedure is used to select a pro-
gam number at the high end of the range, and 
the renumbering increments a program num-
ber above 99, the number will “wrap” to 00. 
The number 00 can cause problems when 
searching and locating, and this should be 
remembered when setting program numbers.
4.5 The EDIT key
The EDIT key (SHIFTed MENU [27]) allows the 
following operations to the performed:• Editing of the first memory location
• Editing of the second memory location
• Editing of a programmed sequence of programs for 
subsequent playback
• Editing of a string of characters to be used as a tape 
or program title
• Writing a string of characters to tape
Repeated presses of EDIT will cycle through these 
options.
To exit the EDIT mode, press 
COUNTER MODE or  
DISPLAY (as with all SHIFTed modes, pressing the 
SHIFT key so that the SHIFT indicator goes out will 
exit the SHIFT mode).
The ENTER key is used to select the operation.
4.6 Location memories
4.6.1 Locating to location memories
Once a memory location has been set, as explained 
below, use the LOC 1 and LOC 2 keys to locate to 
the memory location points (as explained in LOC 1 
[28]).
4.6.2 Setting location memories
Press the MEMO 1 or MEMO 2 key. The current 
location will be stored to frame accuracy, regardless 
of whether or not the frame display mode is currently 
in operation, in memory location 1 or 2 as 
appropriate.
4.6.3 Editing location memories
Press EDIT until the display shows either M1? or 
M2? at the right, together with the location value 
stored in that location memory.
Press ENTER to start editing the location memory. 
The word 
Edit will appear at the right of the dis-
play, and the right digit of the frames field will start 
to flash.
Use the SHUTTLE wheel to move the cursor (flash-
ing digits) between the frames, seconds, minutes and 
hours fields.
Use the INS/+ and DEL/- keys and the DATA dial to 
increment or decrement the flashing value field.
PNO
00H23M17s02#03
00H28M53S29 M1?
00H28M53S29Edit 
						

							4 - SHIFT functions
26  TASCAM  DA-40
4.7 Program mode
To play back a selection of programs in a defined 
order, press EDIT until the following is shown on the 
display:
NOTE
The program numbers for programmed play-
back are taken from the START IDs. If there 
are no START IDs recorded on the tape, or if 
they are out of sequence, programmed play-
back may not produce the expected results! 
The RENUM function (4.4.8, Renumbering 
START IDs) should be used to restore the 
sequence.
Press ENTER to start editing the program steps:
Use the DATA dial to choose a program number 
(shown at the right of the display).
Use the SHUTTLE wheel to choose the program 
step number. There may be up to 30 steps in a pro-
grammed playback sequence. 
Enter the last program step with the program number 
EE (end of tape) by pressing the DEL/- key.
When the program numbers have been entered into 
the program steps, press PLAY. The word 
PROGRAM appears in red at the bottom of the 
display.
The tape will locate to the program number specified 
in the first program step, and will then start paying 
playing. When the START ID following the first pro-
gram in the list is encountered, the tape will then 
move to the next program number specified in the 
program list.
This process continues until all steps in the program 
have been played.
The PAUSE key can be used to play back a series of 
program steps, one at a time, in the folloiwng way:
If the PAUSE key is pressed after the program steps 
have been entered, the tape will locate to the start of 
the program number specified in the first step, and 
will enter pause mode.Following this, if the PLAY key is pressed, the first 
program step will be played, and the tape will locate 
to the start of the next program step and enter pause 
mode until the PLAY key is pressed again. The pro-
cess continues until all program steps have been 
played back.
Pressing either of the SKIP keys during programmed 
playback will move the tape to the start of the current 
or next (as appropriate) program step.
If playback is stopped in the middle of programmed 
playback, the program will be canceled, and the word 
PROGRAM will disappear from the display.
Programs cannot be stored for further reference.
4.8 Character editing (titling)
Using this feature, tape and program titles can be 
added to the subcode of the tape, which are displayed 
on the alphanumeric display of the tape deck.
These titles are written at a point that coincides with 
START IDs. This allows them to be associated easily 
with program names.
NOTE
This feature is not supported by every DAT 
player and recorder. If titles are recorded on a 
tape, they will be shown on some other mod-
els of TASCAM machines, but not on other 
recorders. However, recording titles will not 
affect the audio quality or any other aspect of 
the tape when it is used on other recorders.
4.8.1 Entering and editing titles
Press EDIT until the display shows:
Press ENTER to start editing the character string. Up 
to 60 characters can be entered.
The SHUTTLE wheel is used as a cursor to move 
left and right through the string (the cursor position is 
marked by a flashing character at the cursor posi-
tion— if no character is visible at the cursor position, 
the cursor changes to a flashing block).
The DATA dial is used to change the character. The 
characters available are:
A through Z, a  through z, 0 through 9 and the 
following punctuation symbols: 
: ; < = > ? @ ! 
EditPRGM ?
Step01Pno EE
EditChar ? 
						

							4 - SHIFT functions
  TASCAM  DA-40  27
# $ % & ( ) * + , - . / _ and the space 
character.
To change between uppercase and lowercase alpha-
betical characters, use the CAPS key. The word 
CAPS appears at the bottom left of the display when 
the “caps lock” is on.
The INS/+ and DEL/- keys are used to insert a space 
immediately following the cursor position, and to 
delete the character at the cursor position, 
respectively.
Since the title can be longer than the display can 
show at one time, the first characters of the title are 
shown, and the rest is then scrolled from right to left.
4.8.2 Writing the title to tape
Locate the tape to a point following the end of the 
START ID which will be associated with the title that 
has just been entered.
Press EDIT until the display shows:
Press ENTER, and the tape will start moving back 
until before the start of the previous START ID, and 
then start recording the characters. The words 
CHAR WRT will flash in the display while 
recording is taking place.
4.8.3 Checking a title
When replaying a tape on which titles have been 
recorded, the boxed word CHAR appears under the 
seconds field at the bottom of the display as soon as 
the first title is read from tape.Use the CHAR key to display the last title which has 
been read from tape. While the title is displayed, all 
other tape counter numerals are replaced by the char-
acters in the title. The title will scroll across the dis-
play if it is too long to fit in the display.
4.8.4 Deleting a title
Locate the tape to a little past the point where the title 
is recorded on tape.
Use the ID SELECT key to select the CHAR 
ERASE mode (4.4.1, Selecting an ID mode).
Press ENTER. The display will show 
ER-CH, and 
the tape will rewind to a little before the point where 
the title has been recorded.
The title will then the erased. The words CHAR 
ERASE will flash in the display while the title is 
actually being erased.
4.8.5 Copying and pasting a title
The title which was last been read from tape can be 
copied and used as the basis for new titles. This can 
be useful if you are producing a lot of programs with 
similar titles (different mixes or takes of the same 
piece, for instance).
Once the title which will be copied has been read 
from tape (the CHAR indicator in the display must 
be lit), press EDIT until the display shows:
Press the MEMO 2 key to recall and paste the last 
title into the editing area. The title may then be edited 
and written to tape in the usual way.
WriteChar ?
EditChar ? 
						

							28  TASCAM DA-40
5 - RC-D45 remote control unit (option)
The optional RC-D45 remote control unit is plugged 
into the REMOTE IN [35] jack at the rear of the tape 
deck.
Most of the controls on the remote control unit dupli-
cate the controls on the main tape deck. The explana-
tion of the controls is given below:
[41] OPEN/CLOSE
Equivalent to [2] on the main unit.
[42] CAPS
Equvalent to the shifted SINGLE PLAY [30] key on 
the main unit. Used to toggle between uppercase and 
lowercase when entering titles (see 4.8.1, Entering 
and editing titles).
[43] CHECK
Equivalent to the shifted CHAR [21] on the main 
unit.
[44] POSITION
Equivalent to the shifted SKIP PLAY [24] on the 
main unit.
[45] ID SELECT
Equivalent to the shifted AUTO ID [25] on the main 
unit.
[46] AUTO ID
Equivalent to the AUTO ID [25] on the main unit.
[47] INS/+ and DEL/-
Equivalent to the shifted MARGIN RESET [22] and 
DISPLAY [23] on the main unit.
[48] EDIT
Equivalent to the shifted MENU [27] on the main 
unit.
[49] ENTER
Equivalent to the ENTER [26] on the main unit.
[50] MENU
Equivalent to the MENU [27] on the main unit.
[51] Numeric keys
These keys may be used for a variety of purposes.
When playing back a tape, entering a program num-
ber using these keys, and pressing PLAY will locate 
the tape to that program and start playing. If PAUSE 
is pressed rather than PLAY, the tape will be located 
to the start of the program and the deck will enter 
pause mode.
When editing and entering titles, these keys may be 
used as a convenient way of entering characters. 
Repeated presses of a key will cycle through the 
characters associated with the key. For instance, the 2 
key, when pressed once, will enter 
2 in the title. 
Pressing it again will enter 
d (or D if the CAPS 
mode is active), pressing it one more time will enter 
e and pressing it again will enter f. If it is pressed 
one more time, it will enter 
2.
[52] Cursor keys
These keys are used to move the cursor left and right 
when entering and editing program titles.
[53] COUNTER MODE
Equivalent to the COUNTER MODE [20] on the 
main unit.
[54] MARGIN RESET
Equivalent to the MARGIN RESET [22] on the 
main unit.
[55] CHAR
Equivalent to the CHAR [21] on the main unit. 
						

							5 - RC-D45 remote control unit (option)
  TASCAM  DA-40  29
[56] DISPLAY
Equivalent to the DISPLAY [23] on the main unit.
[57] SKIP PLAY
Equivalent to the SKIP PLAY [24] on the main unit.
[58] SINGLE PLAY
Equivalent to the SINGLE PLAY [30] on the main 
unit.
[59] REPEAT
Equivalent to the shifted COUNTER MODE [20] 
on the main unit.
5.1 Remote control transport keys
[60] SKIP keys
Equivalent to the SKIP keys [11] on the main unit.
[61] MEMO 1 and MEMO 2 keys
Equivalent to the shifted LOC 1 [28] and LOC 2 
[29] on the main unit.
[62] SAMPLING MONITOR key
Equivalent to pressing the RECORD key on the 
main unit once (see 16, RECORD key).
[63] REW and F FWD
Equivalent to the REW and F FWD keys [12] on the 
main unit.
[64] LOC 1 and LOC 2 keys
Equivalent to the LOC 1 [28] and LOC 2 [29] on 
the main unit.
[65] REC MUTE
Equivalent to the REC MUTE key [17] on the main 
unit.
[66] STOP
Equivalent to the STOP key [13] on the main unit.
[67] PLAY
Equivalent to the PLAY key [14] on the main unit.
[68] PAUSE
Equivalent to the PAUSE key [15] on the main unit.
[69] RECORD keys
To enter record ready, both of these keys must be 
pressed simultaneously. It is not possible to enter 
record mode directly, and this helps to prevent acci-
dental recording. 
						

							30  TASCAM DA-40
6 - Specifications
6.1 Audio specifications
6.2 I/O specifications
6.3 Physical specifications
Changes to specifications and features may be made 
without notice or obligaiton.
Tape Speed 8.15 mm/s (SP mode)
4.075 mm/s (LP mode)
Recording time (with 120-
minute cassette)120 minutes (SP mode)
240 minutes (LP mode)
Head drum speed 2,000 rpm (SP mode)
1,000 rpm (LP mode)
Fast wind time (forward 
and rewind)60 seconds end-to-end with 
120-minute tape
Sampling frequency 44.1 kHz, 48  kHz
32 kHz (LP mode)
Recording resolution 16-bit linear (SP mode) 
12-bit non-linear (LP mode) 
Frequency response 
±0.5 dB20 Hz to 20,000 Hz (SP mode)
20 Hz to 14,500 Hz (LP mode)
S/N ratio > 92 dB 
Dynamic range >93 dB 
Total harmonic distortion
(1 kHz @ FS – 0.1 dB)50 k
W
Analog outputs (balanced 
XLR-3-32 type)Nominal output level +4dBu 
(FS=–16 dBu)
Maximum output level +20 dBu
Nominal impedance