Tascam Digital Multitrack Recorder DA-78HR Owners Manual

							4 -  Menu interface,  etc.
21 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
4.3 Menus and sub-menus
W hen  th e u nit is i n shift mo de, th e REPEAT (ME NU) 
key is the “gateway” to the menus . Thi s key is us ed 
to  sh ow th e top  level gro up s of t he men u tree:
When the 
ME NU ke y is p re ss e d,  on e o f th is gr ou p 
n ames  is  d isp layed o n the screen and  the un it en ters  
m e nu  mo de .  Whe n  t he  
ME NU ke y is p re s se d a ga in , 
th e n ext men u grou p name in  t his list abo ve is  s hown  
(th e list  is “circular”,  i.e.  the firs t g ro up  n ame foll ows 
th e last in the list ).
Pressing and  holding down  the 
SHIFT ke y  a n d pr e ss-
in g th e 
MENU ke y go e s to th e p re vio us  me nu  gr ou p,  
following t he  order described  above. Once again, the 
li st is regard ed  as “circular”.
No te th at the  titles o f thes e  top -level  men u g ro up s  are 
all follo wed  by two  d ashes  (
--), s howin g  th at  th ere 
are  submenus  “under”  this  level.
4. 3. 1 Ex iti ng  me nu  m ode
To  ex it men u mo de, either:
• turn off the shift mode (press  the 
SHIFT key so  that 
its  in dicato r is n o lon ger flas hin g)
or
• en ter ano ther shifted fun ction  (excep t fo r th e 
sh ifted 
ME NU or  S UB ME NU functi ons)
4. 3. 2 S u b- m en us
Wh en   a menu  is  d isp layed ,  p ress ing  t he  shifted  
CHAS E key  (S UB M ENU) b rin gs  u p th e su b- m e nu 
items ass ociated with  th at particular t op-level men u 
gr ou p.
There are two different ways of displaying sub-menu 
items:
• o ne is that th e n ame of the parameter to be 
adjusted, and the current  value  of the parameter  are 
displayed together.
• th e oth er  way  is  to  that  the n ame o f the  parameter is 
d ispl ay e d f or  on e se c o nd , a n d the  di spla y  t he n 
changes  to the current value of the parameter (this 
is when the parameter name and/or the value are 
to o lon g to  be disp layed  t og eth er).
Pres sing the 
SU B ME NU key cycles th ro ug h th e lis t 
of s ub -menu  items in  a  top -lev el  men u  grou p  (the  list 
is regarded as circular).
Pre s sing  a n d  ho ldi ng  th e  
SHIFT ke y a nd  p re s sing  t he  
SU B ME NU ke y c yc le s th ro ug h the  su b- m en u ite m s 
in the reverse order.
4. 3. 3 A dj us ting  pa r am e ter  v a lue s
In  me nu  mo de ,  the  AU TO  M O N and t he ALL INPUT 
ke ys p e rf or m  th e  fu nc tio n of  up  an d d ow n ke y s (s 
and t) and they are used to change the values  of 
parameters in the su b-men u items.
As soo n as th e valu e o f th e p arameter is ch an ged  on  
the dis play, th e p arameter itself is chang ed (i.e. there 
is no need to confirm changes wi th an ENTER key or 
the equivalent).
If  o ne  of  t he se  ke ys is pr e sse d  a n d he ld do w n fo r ha lf  
a s econd, the key changes to a “repeat ” mode. If the 
key is held down for one second, the repeat mode 
changes to a “fast repeat” mode, and the value of the 
parameter changes faster.
4. 3. 4 Resettin g p arameters to  default 
values
To  reset a parameter v al ue to the d efault valu e, p res s 
and hold down the s key and immediately after-
wards , pres s  the t k ey,   or  vice versa.
S YSTEM--S YS TE M-- B asi c syst em p ar amet er s a nd 
functions
A UDIO. 1--AUDIO1 - - Pa r amete r s affe cti ng  th e a ud i o 
f un c t i on s  of  t h e D A- 78 H R
A UDIO. 2--AUDIO2-- Additional audio features
T C--TC-- Timecode paramet ers (genera-
t or,  di sp la y, e tc.)
T C. CHS--TC.CHS- - Pa r amete r s af fecti n g t he  ti me -
code chase mode of the  DA-
78HR
T CG. REC--T C G. R EC -- T i m ec o de  g ene r at o r  re c or d in g 
parameters)
M IDI--MIDI- - Pa r amete r s co nce r ne d wi th  the  
MIDI  fun cti on s o f th e  DA- 7 8HR
M AINTN--M A I N T N- - M a in t e na nc e,  et c .  p ar am et er s ,  
c o nc e r ne d  wi t h  t h e  DA- 7 8H R
SYSTEM- -
AUDIO. 1--
TC--
TC. CHS-- MIDI- -
TCG. R EC-- MAINTN --
ME NU
SHIFT 
+ MENU
AUDIO. 2- - 
						

							4 - Menu interface, etc.
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 22
4.3.5 “Left”  and “right” keys
W hen  ed iting  time valu es , etc. it is  u seful to  b e ab le 
to edit one particular element (i.e. hours, minutes, 
s eco nd s or frames ) o f th e time value.
The “cursor” is indicated by a flashing dot following 
th e “field” currently  b eing  ed ited.
There are no dedicated left and right cursor keys. 
Instead, when  the  unit is  in menu mode,  pressing  and 
h old in g the 
SHIFT key and pressing the s key will 
have the effect of a left cursor key.
L ik ew ise ,  pr e ssin g a n d ho ldin g th e  
SHIFT ke y a n d 
pressing the t key will have the effect o f a righ t cu r-
sor key.
It sh ou ld be n oted th at t here is an  “inv isib le” field to 
the right  of the frames field.  This  al lows t he whole  of 
th e disp layed  v alue to be in cremented, no t jus t th e 
highlighted field. In other words , frame values, etc. 
will  “roll over” and increment the next field to the 
left. In  t his mod e, th ere is no  flash ing  do t t o ind icate 
th e cu rsor.
R epeated p ress es of th ese keys  will allow the edit ing  
o f  t h e  fo l l ow i ng  fi e l d s (i n  or de r ):
Hours Û Minutes Û Seconds Û Frames  Û Frames  
(with  in crement o f who le time value) Û Su b- fra m e s 
percentage Û Sub - fram e s p erc e n tage  ( with  in c re-
ment of whole time  value) Û Su b- fra m es  s am pl es Û 
S ub -frames sa mples (with  incremen t of wh ole time 
value) Û Hours  , etc.
T h e  r igh t “ c ur sor  ke y”  (
SH IF T + t)  m ov es   fo rw a r d 
th rou gh  th e list, an d th e righ t “cursor” key (
SH IF T + 
s) moves backward.
Th e s ub -frame  disp lays  (in  italics  ab ove)  are 
explained in the section below (4.3.6, “Sub-frame 
values”).
4.3.6 Sub-frame values
There are two ways  of representing s ub-frame val-
ues: as “percentage” subframes, or as  s amples .
When s ub-frames are displ ayed as percentages , the 
minimum  displayed value is always 00 and  the  max-
imu m dis play ed  value is 99.When displayed as  a sample value, the number of 
samples per frame varies, according to both the sam-
pling rate, and the frame rate currently selected:
When moving around a time value in the way 
described above, moving the “cursor” past the frames 
field  will ch an ge th e d ispl ay  to a sub -frame dis play.
A  s ub -f r am e  disp la y sh ow s SF (
SF), followed by 
either th e 2-dig it rep resen tation  of the percen tage 
sub f ram e valu e 
SF ;;, o r th e 4 -dig it  rep resen tation  
of the samp le value 
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
In the two  dis play modes  where there  is an increment 
of the who le time value, there is  n o d ot dis play ed .
These modes are acces sed, as  explained  above (4.3.5, 
““Left” and “ri ght” keys”) using the “cursor keys”. 
To  retu rn  to  th e h h:mm:ss.ff  disp lay,  mo ve th e cu rs or 
“ou tside th e d ispl ay ”, i.e. t o the righ t o f th e sub -
frame field when the “s amples  with increment of 
who le time value” mo de is dis play ed .
4. 3. 7 Using   the DATA/ LEVEL  knob  to  set 
values
In  some menu s and  oth er parameter setting s, it is  
possible to use the 
DATA/LEVEL knob to set numeri-
cal valu es.
1
Press  a nd  hold  do wn  the 
SHIFT key, and press 
th e 
S HUTT LE/DATA key.
This  da ta  setting  is  the d efa ult setting, made at 
power-up. 
2
When editing the value of a parameter, and the 
SH UTTLE/DATA indicator is blink ing slo wly, 
Samp li ng  
frequency 
®
®® ®
48 kHz 44.1 kHz Fr ame r ate ¯
¯¯ ¯
2419 99 14 69
2519 19 17 63
29. 9716 01 14 71
3015 99 14 69
ABS14 39 13 22 
						

							4 -  Menu interface,  etc.
23 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
the current pos ition of the knob and the cur-
rent p aram eter val ue do not match.
3
Wh en  the 
SH UTTLE/DATA in dicator  kno b 
b links rapidly, the cu rrent po sition of the kno b 
m atches the curren t parameter value. Turn ing 
the kno b from this po sition will now all ow the 
p aram eter val ue to be changed.
4
Turn  o ff  th e “ dat a e nt r y”  m ode  using  the  
SHIFT a nd SHU TTLE/DATA key combination.
Un til the match  d escribed ab ove has b een  mad e, th e 
value  of the  parameter  cannot  be changed  us ing the 
knob.
Note that because of the precision of the knob, the 
value may sometimes appear to “jump”.
Fine-tuning of  values should be done  with the s and 
t ke ys .
4.4 SYS TEM men u
SYSTEM--  
The following parameters are 
u sed  to co ntrol  and  prov ide in formatio n regardin g t he 
overall  operation of the unit:
4.5 AUDIO1 menu
AUDIO. 1. --  
The following parameters 
are used to control the audio operati on of the unit 
u sin g th e firs t au dio  menu :
DisplayVal ues 
(*= default)Descri bed in
iD. sel.
( ID se l ecti o n)1*  t h ro ug h 158 . 2. 2,  “S et t in g 
mach i ne  ID”
I D  when the unit  is connected in  a chain of  DTRS units
time. mode.( t i m e m o de )ABS*, TC9 . 1,  “ ABS  an d 
ti meco de ”
R e f er en c e t im i ng  s o ur c e
CLOK. MODE
( cl ock mo de )AUTO*, INDViD 
(individual)8 . 6,  “ I nd i v id ua l  
cl o ck mo de ”
Cl ock so ur ce  for  a  sl ave  un it . 
Current position
corresponds to 
23
Dis play  shows 102as  the current  value
I nd ica to r
flashes s lowlyThis position
corresponds
to 102
Current position
corresponds to 
110
Disp la y no w sho ws 11 0as the current value
Indicator
flashes fast as
soon  as   dial  is
tu r n ed  p a st
102 po s i ti o nThis position
corresponds
to
 102
PK. HLD( p ea k  ho l d)0, 1 through 9 
seco nd s ( de fau lt  
is 
3), CNT ( c on t i n-
uo us )7.8.1,  “Peak  hold 
time”
Meter peak hold t ime
RLs.
(release time)FAST*, SLOW 
(slow), MED 
(medium)7.8.2,  “Meter ballis-
t ics”
Meter release time
save.
(save)OFF* 7 . 1 4,  “S av i ng  s et -
t in gs to tap e”
S aves  the  cu rr en t se tti n gs t o t he  ta pe
Load.( l oa d)OFF*7.15, “Restoring 
se tti n gs f ro m ta pe”
L oa ds  sett in gs  fr om ta pe  
DisplayVal ues 
(* =default)Descri bed i n
D. IN.
TDIF (TDIF)*, 
SPD 
(SPDIF)5.3.1,  “Digit al input  
se l ecti o n”
S el e cts d ig i tal  a ud i o so ur ce  (fo r  tr acks 7  an d  8 o nl y)
IN. PATCH( i np ut  pa t c h )ALL. ANALG* (a ll  
an al o g) ,  
ALL.  
DGTL
 (all digit al), 
individual  track s 
set  to  
A; (ana-
log),  
D; (digital) 
or  
T; (track)5.3, “Input  selec-
tion”
Tr ac k  i n pu t  s o ur c e  c an  be  ei t her  a na l og ,  d ig i t al  o r  a r e c or de d 
track
TDIF.
(TDIF)24*, 20, 165.4.2,  “Selecting 
i n pu t  w or d  l eng t h”
I np ut   di gi t a l  w or d  le ng t h
DITH(dit her)OFF*, RECT (rect-
an gu l ar ),  
TRI (tri-
an gu l ar )7.11.1, “Selecting 
dither set tings”
Dither noise  shape 
DisplayVal ues 
(* =default)Descri bed i n 
						

							4 - Menu interface, etc.
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 24
4.6 AUDIO2 menu
Audio. 2. --  
T his  m e nu  pr ov ide s a dd i-
ti on al au dio  p arameter settin gs:
4. 7 T C me nu
TC --  
The fol lowing parameters  are  used t o 
con tro l timecod e op eratio ns:REC. MUTE.(rec mute)ALL OFF.*, ALL 
ON
 or  i n di v i du al  
tr acks 
ON or OFF
7.10,  “REC MUTE 
(recording silence)”
Re c mute  fu nct io n
DisplayVal ues 
(*= default)Descri bed i n
C. FADE.(crossfade)10*  t h r oug h 200 
(in 10 ms incre-
m ent s )7.5, “Crossfade 
times”
Crossfade time  for punch, etc.
Out. Patch( o ut p ut  pa t c hi n g)Normal* (nor-
mal or as set)7.12.2, “Output 
p at c hb ay”
O ut p ut  pa t c h bay
out. bit.
(output  word 
length)16, 24* 7 .1 2.1 , “Ou tpu t 
wo rd  l en gth”
( w or d  l eng t h  of  di g it al  o ut p ut )
ShTL. MoN.( sh utt le  mon i tor )0 (of f)*, 1 (on) 6.3, “Shutt le moni-
tor”
S hu ttl e  mo ni to r  fu ncti o n
ShTL. MuT.
( sh utt le  mute )0 (of f)*, 1 ( o n) 6 .4 , “Sh utt le  mut-
ing”
S hu ttl e  mu te  fu ncti o n
OSC.(oscillator)OFF*, 440, 1k 
(1 k )7.9, “Sine oscilla-
tor”
Line-up oscillator
DisplayVal ues 
(*= default)Descri bed i n
DisplayVal ues 
(* =default)Descri bed i n
TAPE. TC(t ap e T C )TC TRK* (TC 
tr ack) , 
CONV 
( c onv e r t e d) ,  ABS 
( ab s ol ut e)9. 2 ,  “ Tap e t im e -
cod e mo de ”
Ta pe  ti meco de  so ur ce
FRm mode
(f ra me  m od e)SYS* (SYS), EXT 
( EXT E R NA L) , 
TAPE
 ( TAPE ): 
29DF
*, 30ND, 
29ND, 25, 24, 30DF
9.3, “Selecting t he 
f ra m e m o de ” ,  
9.4.1, “Showing 
in pu t  t im e c od e” ,  
9.5.8, “Checking 
the frame mode of 
striped timecode”
Sy s t e m  f r am e m o de  an d  ex t er n al / t ap e f ra me  r at e  d is p l ay
DISP.
(TC d i spl ay)TAPE* (of f-tape), 
EXT ( ex t er na l ),  
diff (dif ference)9.4.1, “Showing 
in pu t  t im e c od e”
Time cod e d i spl ay so ur ce
In. TC. TMG
(input TC timing)ANALOG*, DIGITAL9.4.2, “Timecode 
in pu t  t im i ng ”
Inco min g  ti me cod e r e fer en ce
OUT. TC. TMG(o ut put  T C  t i m in g)ANALOG* ( an a-
log),  
DIGITAL 
(digital)9.4.6, “Timecode 
ou tpu t ti mi ng ”
Out going timecode reference
OUT. TC. SRC(o ut put  T C  
sou rce )TAPE tc*  (f ro m  
ta pe ),  
REGEN 
(regenerated), 
RESHAPE 
( re s ha pe d)9.4.3, “Timecode 
ou t pu t ”
Source of out going  timecode
FAST lTC
(f a s t  LT C)5 FRm* (5 
fr ame s), 
LEAP 
(leap), OFF
9.4.5, “Fast linear 
ti me cod e (LTC)  
ou t pu t ”
Fa s t  LTC   out pu t  m od e 
						

							4 -  Menu interface,  etc.
25 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
4.8 TC chase menu
TC. CHS --  
The following parameters are 
used to control the DA-78HR operations when chas-
ing to an i ncoming timecode signal:
4.9 TC g enerat or  menu
TCG. REC--  
The following parameters are 
u sed to  co ntro l th e i nternal timeco de gen erato r.
4.10MIDI menu
MIDI--  
The followi ng parameters are used 
t o con tro l the MIDI parameters  of th e DA-78 HR.
DisplayVal ues 
(*= default)Descri bed in
INDiv. REC( i nd iv id ua l  re c or d -
ing)0* ( off ),  1 (on) 9.6. 11, “Individual 
recording while 
c h as i n g t i m ec o de ”
Enabling  individual recording while chasing
RECHS. MD(rechase mode)RECHASE* 
(r ec has e ) ,  
FREE 
(f re e)9 . 6. 9,  “R e c ha s in g 
ti meco de ”
Rechase mode
RECHS. WD(rechase window)1 SEC*,  2 SEC (1 
or  2  seco nd s)9 . 6. 9,  “R e c ha s in g 
ti meco de ”
Width of rechase “window”
ERR. BYPAS
(error by pas s)10 FRM*, 30 FRM 
(1 0  or  30  f r am e s )9 . 6. 10 ,  “ By p as s i ng  
timecode errors”
Length of time  for error bypass  when chasing
PK. POS . TST( pa r k po si ti on  
test)OFF*, ON9 . 6. 6,  “Pa r k  po s i -
ti o n”
Performs  the park position test
PARK. POS.
( pa r k po si ti on )00 00* ( 0  sec-
on ds ,  0 f r am es ) t o  
01 29 (1  sec ond , 
29  f r am es )9.6. 7, “Automatic 
park position set-
ti n g”
Pa r k po si ti on  ti min g
DisplayVal ues 
(*= default)Descri bed in
TC. REC. SRC(TC recording 
so ur ce)EXT* (external), 
TCG (TC genera-
tor), 
TAPE TC 
(t ap e t i m ec o de )9 . 5. 1,  “S el ec t in g 
th e ti me cod e 
so ur ce ”
S el ect s th e so ur ce  of  the  ti meco de  “ str i pe ”
TC. REC. EN(TC recording 
enable)0* (of f), 1 (on) 9.5.2,  “Recording 
t imecode using the 
generat or”
Enabling of  timecode recording
STRT. Time(TC generator)Time value in 
hh :mm: ss.ff 
( 00: 00 : 00 . 0 0* )9.5.2,  “Recording 
t imecode using the 
generat or”
Start time  for on-board generat or
TCG. MODE(TC generator 
mo de )reset* ( re set ),  
CoNT ( c on t i nu e)9 . 5 . 3,  “Gen er at or  
mo de s”
Restart mode for on-board generat or
TCG. 
(TC generator)stop* ( sto p) , 
run ( r un)9.5.2,  “Recording 
t imecode using the 
generat or”
S ta r t/sto p  ti me cod e g en er at or
DisplayVal ues 
(* =default)Descri bed i n
MIDI
( MIDI)on*, off10. 1, “MMC enable 
and disable”
Enables or disables MI DI  (including MTC)
ID( MIDI I D)ALL*, 1 to 12710. 1.1, “Assigning 
a  MIDI I D  to  the  
DA- 78 HR”
MMC ID
MTC(MTC)ON*, OFF9 . 4 . 4,  “M T C  ou t p ut ”
MTC o utp ut
FAST. MTC(fast MTC)on*, off9 . 4 . 4,  “M T C  ou t p ut ”
MTC o utp ut  i n fa st wi nd  mod e
STOP. MTC 
(stop MTC)on*, off9 . 4 . 4,  “M T C  ou t p ut ”
M T C  o ut p ut  i n s t op  mo de
DisplayVal ues 
(* =default)Descri bed i n 
						

							4 - Menu interface, etc.
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 26
4.11Maintenance menu
MAINTN--  
The following menu provides 
in formatio n relating  to  main tenance pro ced ures, etc.
4.12 Dedicated keys
Th e foll owing  (sh ifted )  key s als o  allow s et ting s t o  be 
made. These are fully described in the appropriate 
sections of the manual:
DisplayVal ues 
(*= default)Descri bed i n
version( v er s i on )SYS ( system) .* 
Frnt (f ro nt ),  Svo 
(s er v o)11. 3, “Checking 
version numbers”
S y s t e m,  f r on t  p an el  d ri v er ,  s e r vo  s o f t w ar e  (f ir m w ar e)  v e rs i o ns
DRUM. TIM( d ru m ti me)TOTL*  ( t ot al ) ,  
SRCH (search)1 1. 1.3 , “Che ckin g 
d r um ti me”
Number of hours  the drum has been in use
CLEN.
(cleaning)OFF* 1 1. 1,  “H e ad an d 
t ra ns p or t  c l ean i ng”
S t a r t s  t h e  hea d  c l ean i ng  pr o c es s
B. E. R.(block error rate)OFF*, ON1 1. 1.2 , “Che ckin g 
e r ro r ra t es ”
Di sp la ys th e cu rr e nt  bl ock e rr o r  ra te
init.
( b ackup  memor y 
init ialization)off* 1 1. 2,  “B ac k up  
memory initializa-
tion”
DEVTYPE( e mu la te d d evi ce 
type)DA-78HR*, da-
88
, da-38, da-
98
7.13, “Emulation”
Key Descr iption Descri bed i n
DE LAYI n di v i du al  r el a t i v e 
tr ack d el ay7.3 , “ Tra ck de l ay”
OF F SE TOf fset  re l ati ve  to 
t i m ec o de  or  a bs o -
l ut e ti mes8.3, “Machine off -
set” and 9. 6.2, 
“T i m ec o de  of f s et ”
PR ERO L LLo c at e p r e- ro l l 
an d au t o- p unc h 
pr e - an d p os t - r ol l  
ti mes5.6.4, “Edit ing  the 
pr e- r ol l  an d  po s t -
ro l l  t i me s ”  an d 
7.1 .3 , “ Se tti ng  th e 
location pre-roll 
ti me ”
PI T CHVarispeed 
(±6.0%)7. 6 ,  “ Var i  s p eed  
(p i tch con tro l ) ”
LO C/ ME MO  1Lo c at i on me m or y  
po i nt s7. 1 ,  “ Au t ol o c at i o n”
LO C/ ME MO  2 
						

							 TASCAM DA-78HR 27
5 - Basic operations
This section explains some of the basic operations 
using the DA-78HR. Section 7, “Advanced opera-
ti ons” describes  more advanced operations.
Most operations  on a DA-78HR are similar to thos e 
o n a trad itio nal analo g mu ltitrack  reco rd er, b ut we 
s ug gest th at y ou  read  th is sectio n and  th e next to  
learn about the features of the DA-78HR.
5.1 Formatting a tape
Before you use a tape in the DA-78HR, you must 
first fo rmat it. Thi s marks in tern al s yn chron ization  
p attern s f or  t he serv o to f ollo w o n su bs eq uen t passes  
th rou gh  th e tap e as  well as th e su bco de data (ABS).
Th e p ro cess also  in itializes the tape for reco rd ing  at 
eith er 1 6-bit o r 2 4-bit resolu tio n.
No audi o data is normally recorded during a format-
ti ng  o peration  (bu t see below).
5.1.1 Selecting a word clock  source
1
Use the CLOCK key to select a clock source. 
NOTE
Remember that in your digital audio setup, only one 
digital audio device should be set to be a clock mas-
ter. All other digital audio devices must derive their 
cl ocks from  it.
There are four options available:
• WORD (the 
WO RD in dicato r lig hts)—th is is the 
word clock received at the 
WORD S Y NC IN con-
nector. You may use this setti ng when recording 
dig ital aud io thro ug h the TDIF-1  in pu t, if the 
source of the audio is set to be a clock master.
• I N T ( inte r na l) —bo th th e  
WORD and DIGITAL IN 
CLOCK
 ind icators lig ht . Yo u may use this settin g if 
other digital audio devices are to be word clock 
slaves, or if the input signals are analog.
• DIGITAL IN—this refers to the SPDIF (
COAXIAL) 
inp ut . Use this  i f the recordin g so urce is  t o be 
received here, and the source device is a word 
clock master.
• SYNC IN—this cannot be set using the 
CLOCK 
key, bu t occurs au tomatically  when  th e DA-7 8HR  
is b ein g co ntrolled  from an oth er DTRS u nit, and  
the 
REMOTE IN/SYNC  IN c o nn ec tio n h a s be e n 
made (see 8.1, “Synchronization connections”). 
Neither the 
WO RD no r  D IGITAL IN ind icators will 
lig ht at this time.
5. 1. 2 F or ma t t in g
While format ting is  proceeding, you cannot perform 
any other trans port operation except stoppi ng the 
tape.
Yo u cann ot chan ge the samplin g rate o r th e b it res o-
lutio n  whi le  formatt ing  is  in   prog res s.
1
Switch  o n the DA-7 8H R a nd loa d a tape into 
th e tape lo ading  slot. As the tape is loa ded and  
th readed,  the  tape counter  sh ows 
“
-- LOAD--”.
Fo r detai ls of ta pes tha t yo u can use in the DA-
78 HR ,  se e  1. 5,  “R e c om me nde d ta pe s”.
2
Press 
REW to take  the tape to  the  beginning 
and  s to p the  t ape .
3
Press  the 
FORMAT/Fs key. The displa y sho ws 
FORMAT (FORMAT).
4
Press  the 
FORMAT/Fs key  ag ain w it hin 5 se c -
ond s. T he di splay  will then sho w a  fla shing  
F, 
fo llowed by a ll d ashes  (
F- -- - - --).
If y ou  do  no t press  the 
FORMAT/Fs key twice 
with in 5  s eco nds  the 
FO RMAT messa ge will d is-
appear. This is a feature designed to stop you 
fo rmatti ng a tape a ccidenta lly.
NOTE
If you do press the FORMAT/Fs key twice and you 
then change your mind about formatting the tape, 
us e  eit h er  t h e 
CLE AR or STOP key to cancel the 
op er at io n.
5
Select the s ampli ng frequency (either 44.1k Hz 
or  48 kH z) ,  using  t he  
FORMAT/Fs key.
The  sa mpling  f r e que nc y t hat  you se le c t  
depends on the eventu al use for the record ing. 
Fo r a udio  wo rk, selecting 4 4.1kHz will a llow 
you  to prod uce CD mas ter tapes with no fre-
quency co nvers ion.
NOTE
If a digital signal is received at the DIGITAL I/O ja ck 
or  a t  t h e  S PD IF  (
COAX IAL) in pu t, th e DA- 78 HR’s 
recording and playback sampling frequency is auto-
matically determined by the sampling frequency of 
the input signal and you cannot change it.
6
Select the recording mode usi ng the HR  M ODE 
key. When HR mod e (24 -bit reco rding ) is 
selected, the 
HR indicator to the left of the time 
counter will li ght.
Remember that if HR mod e is selected, the 
ta pe must be repla yed on an  H R DTRS  
						

							5 -  Basic operations
28 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
recorder. Of course, a  non-HR  (16-b it)  record -
in g mad e on the DA-78HR can b e replayed on 
any DTRS  recorder.
7
To start forma tting  the tape, hold do wn the 
RECORD key  and press the PLAY key.
NOTE
The tape counter may show a negative ABS time for 
a short while at the start of the formatting process. 
While it is displaying a negative value, no audio 
recording can take place.
8
T he ta pe will forma t to the end, and  then 
rewind au tomaticall y.
You  are now able to u se the tape for recording.
All  tran sp ort co ntrols  are d isabled  d uring  fo rmatting , 
except for the 
STOP ke y,  w hic h  ca n  be  use d  to a bo rt 
the format process.
I t is po ssib le  to f or ma t ta pe s o n a  nu mb er  of  D TR S 
u nits  s imu ltaneo usly. For d etails, see 8 .5, “S yn ch ro-
n ized fo rmattin g”.
5.1.3 Aborting  the format process
To ab ort the process  b efo re format ting  actu ally takes 
place (i.e. you have pressed the 
FORM AT/Fs switch  
twice in error), press the 
CLE AR or  the STOP ke y. 
The only transport operation you can perform once 
formatting  h as started is to st op  th e tap e. 
However, we d o n ot reco mmend  in terru ptin g th e for-
matting  process , bu t sug gest  th at you  let t he tape ru n 
to  the end .
If y ou  interru pt th e formatting  (o r th e formatt ing  is  
in te rr u pte d b y a  p ow e r  c u t o r  e ve n ts be yo nd  yo ur  
control), rewind t he tape and start the format from 
th e b egin nin g of the tape again .
5 .1 .4 R ec or din g w hil e  for ma tting
If you have armed any tracks (you have pressed its 
RE C FUN CTION  switch,  and  th e i nd icato r is  flash -
in g), an y aud io sig nal rou ted to th at track will be 
recorded  wh ile fo rmatting  is in p ro gress.
NOTES
I f  you hav e recorded  and f ormat ted  part  of  a  tape,  and y ou 
w ish t o c ontinue f ormat ting and  recording on  the res t  of t he 
t ape (“as sem bly ”), you should rewind t o a pre-form att ed, 
blank  s ect ion of  t he  tape  and res ume  form att ing and 
rec ording f rom there.
R ecording and for mat ting will cont inue at the sam pling f re-
quenc y used on t he f irst  par t of the tape.
Avoid re-starting  recording  and formatting  from an 
unformatted section of the tape.
5.2 Recording the first tracks
There are a number of different ways  of recording  the 
first track s. Ho wever, all fo llow the same b asic 
principles.
• Wh e n us ing  a n ew ly -f or m a tte d ta pe ,  w e su gg e st 
that you record a blank “leader” about 30 s econds 
lo ng , starting  fro m the beg inn ing  o f th e tap e, to  
avoid  dropout. Leave a  similar recorded  blank 
“trai ler” at the end of the recording. You can use 
th e Re c  M ute  f un cti on  a s a  c onve n ie nt w a y o f 
recording silence. See 7.10, “REC MUTE (record-
in g silen ce)”.
• If the tape counter s hows a negative value, you can-
no t reco rd  on  th e t ap e at th at p os ition . 
5 .2 .1 Pr e pa ri ng  to r e co rd
1
If  y ou have  no t a lre a dy lo ade d a fo r ma tt e d 
blank  tap e, do s o now.
2
Make sure th at varisp eed is  turned off. Check  
the  
VARI SP E ED in dicator 7.6, “Vari speed 
(pitch control)”.
3
Select the recording source (see 5.3, “Input 
selectio n”) as  either all dig ita l, a ll ana log  or a 
mixture of these sources. The DA-78HR con-
ta ins a “ pat c h bay ” w hic h allo w s you  t o r out e  
inputs to  tra cks.
5.2.2 Selecting a clock source
1
If you have  selected  a di gital  source, you should 
select the word clock mas ter using the 
CLOCK 
key. 
This can either be an external word clock con-
nected to th e rear pan el BNC 
WO RD  I N con -
nector, or it can be the SPDIF (
COA XIAL) 
digita l a udio  s igna l.  T he a ppropria te  indica to r 
to  the right of th e time counter will lig ht.
Alternatively, if both of these are li t, the unit 
will serve a s  the wo rd clock  mas ter in  th e  audi o 
sys tem.
NOTE
Remember that there must be one, and only one, 
w ord clock master  unit i n a digital audio system.
5.2.3 Write-protecting cassettes
You cannot record on a cassette where t he write-pro-
t ect tab has been closed (write-prot ected). 
						

							5 - Basic operations
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 29
Hi8  cas sette write tabs  wo rk  in the o ppo site man ner 
to DAT cass ettes , and “closed” means “write-
protect”. 
If the tape is writ e-p ro tect ed , eject the tape, op en th e 
write-protect tab, replace the cas sette, and try again.
• Sony Hi8 cassettes (and those from some other 
manufacturers) have the words “SAVE” (write-pro-
tected) and  “REC” (wri te-enabled) mol ded  into the 
cassette sh ell b y the p ro tection  tab.
5.2.4 Recording the first tracks (i)
1
Arm  the tracks on which you wis h to record.
Press the 
REC  F UNCTION ke y of  th es e  t r ac ks ; 
the  indica to r wil l s ta rt  flas hing.
2
Adjus t the i nput s igna l lev el s so that th e track 
meters read high, but the 
OV ER s egment  does 
not light.
3
Ho ld dow n th e 
RE CORD key, a nd  press  th e 
PL AY key. The ta pe will s ta rt mo ving  and 
reco rdi ng will start. 
The 
RE C FUNCTION indic a to r s of  all ar me d 
tra cks will l ight stea dily.
When you start record ing, the point at which 
re c o rdi ng st ar t s is au to mat ic all y st or e d into  
memory  for punch-in purpos es .
4
To stop  recording and stop  the tape, press  the 
ST O P key. You can a lso press the PL AY key, 
which will  co ntin ue the ta pe movement, bu t 
stop recording.
5.2.5 Recording  the basic tracks (ii)
Th is is an altern ative meth od o f recordin g bas ic 
tracks  on a blank, formatted tape.
1
Arm the tracks and adjust the levels as 
described in [1 ] an d [2 ] ab ove (5.2.4 , “ Reco rd-
ing  the first tracks (i)”).
The 
RE C FUNCTION indic a to r s of  all ar me d 
tra cks will fla sh.
2
Press the 
PL AY key. The ta pe wi ll s ta rt mo ving .
3
When you reach the p oint at  which you want  to 
start recording, press  the 
RE CORD key.
The 
RE C FUNCTION indic a to r s of  all ar me d 
tra cks will l ight stea dily.
The p oint a t which reco rding starts is automa t-
ically  s to red into  memo ry fo r punch-i n 
purposes .4
Stop recording as described above.
5. 2. 6 Replaying  the fi rst tracks
Wh en  yo u have po sitio ned  th e tape at th e begin nin g 
of the recording you have  just made (or at the pre-roll 
point), you can start  playing back t he tape.
1
Tur n o f f  th e 
RE CORD FUNC TION switch  of the 
track you have just recorded (not com pulsory, 
but recommended, as  this  will prevent y ou 
fro m a ccidenta lly hittin g the 
RE CORD key  a nd 
going into record mode, overwriting what you 
have already recorded).
2
Rewind the tape to th e po int tha t yo u sta rted 
recording and press  
PLAY.
5. 3 I np u t s e l ec t i on
Th is  section  d escrib es h ow t o ch oo se all  analo g  or all 
dig ital i np ut so urces  wh en reco rdin g with th e DA-
78 H R.  Fo r o the r  ro utin g p ro c ed ur e s,  se e  b e low  
(5.3.2, “Input patchbay routing”).
1
Press  the 
SH IF T key  s o that the unit is in shift 
mod e (
SHIFT i ndicator is flas hing).
2
Press  the 
ME NU key until th e dis play  s hows 
AUDIO. 1 -- (AUDIO1 --).
3
Press  the 
SU B ME NU key until the disp lay  
briefly  s hows 
IN. PAT CH (IN PATC H) an d t he n 
changes to the curren t setti ng.
4
To change between all analog and all digital 
inputs, pres s the s a nd t key s  (
ALL ANALG 
(
A LL ANALG – all a nalo g)  or  ALL DGTL (A LL 
DGTL
 – a ll di gital).
In the above two setti ngs, the inputs are 
map pe d t o the  tr a c ks on a o ne - to -o ne  ba si s  ( i .e .  
input 1  i s rou ted  to  tra ck  1 ,  input 5  i s rou ted  to  
tr a c k 5,  et c . ).
5. 3. 1 D ig ita l i npu t s el ec tio n
If 7 and 8 are selected for digital i nput, the D IN (D 
IN ) 
menu item allows you to choose between the 
TDIF-1 input  and the  SPDIF (COA XIAL) inp ut. 
If the SPDIF (
COAXIAL)  in pu t is  s elected , th ese  sig-
na ls (
D7 and D8) can then be routed to any track (see 
be low,  5. 3 .2 ,  “ I np ut p a tch ba y  ro utin g” ) .
NOTE
If the SPDIF (COAXIAL) inp u t is se lecte d, it is no t 
po s s ibl e t o u s e t he  ot he r s ix  c h an ne ls  of  t he  
TDIF-1 
digital input. It is, however, possible to record analog  
						

							5 -  Basic operations
30 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
signals or to perform track-bounce operations with 
the SPDIF (
COAXIAL) input selected.
No te th at whatever d igital so urce is  s elected , th e 
appropriate  clock mus t be s elected. If you are record-
ing from (say) a CD player, which typicall y cannot 
accept a word clock, as well as  from a TDIF -1 source 
(e.g. a TASCAM dig ital mixer) th e DA-7 8HR  mus t 
b e s et to   accep t th e  cl ock  fro m th e 
D IGITAL IN (see 
5.2.2, “Selecti ng a clock s ource”). This  clock must 
th en be sen t from the 
THRU o f the DA-7 8HR to  th e 
IN of the TDIF-1 device, which must be s et as a 
word sync slave.
1
Press the 
SHIFT key so that the SHIFT indicator 
is  fla shing , a nd pres s the 
ME NU key  un til the 
d ispla y sho ws  
A UDIO. 1-- (AU D I O1 - -).
2
Press the 
S UB M ENU key  until the displa y 
shows 
D. IN (D IN) followed  by the current 
setting.
3
Us e the s a nd t keys to change between 
T DIF (TD IF) an d SP D (S PD IF —COAX IAL).
NOTES
You c annot use the SPDI F (COAX IAL) output  f rom the 
s ub-mixer while acc epting a s ignal f rom the SPDI F 
(
COAX IA L) input .
Yo u mu s t  us e  a  t ap e fo r mat t e d at  t he  s am pli ng  f r e-
quency of this input (i.e. you cannot use the SPDIF 
(
COAX IAL) input to record a CD on a 48kHz tape. 
Varispeed is also  not  possible when  recording using 
this input.
5 .3 .2 In put pa tch bay  r outi ng
To route inputs to t racks  whos e numbers do not cor-
resp on d to th ose o f the in pu ts, o r to  mix  t he typ es of 
in pu t sou rce (dig ital, an alog  o r o ff-tap e):
1
Follo w s teps  1   thro ugh  3  in  5 .3 , “Input  selec-
t io n” ab ove ,
2
Press the 
R EC FU NCTION key  of  the  t r ac k to  
whi ch  the  input will  be  routed.
3
The di splay  ch anges to sh ow the  track nu mber 
of the destination track, together with the 
s ource (e.g. 
TRK 1 A1 (TRK1  A1) shows that 
track 1 h as been selected, and  that analog 
in put 1  i s the so urce.
4
Us e the s a nd t key s to  cha ng e the input 
s ource from 
A1 throug h A8 (a nalo g  1  throug h 
8), 
D1 throug h D8 (digita l 1  thro ugh  8) a nd T1 
throug h 
T8 (track 1 through 8).5
To select a no ther destinatio n track, press that 
tr a c k’s REC
 FUNC TION key  a nd repea t the 
pro cess.
NOTE
If your setting resul ts in al l tr acks being fed on a one-
t o -o ne  ba s is  fr om  t h e s a me  i np ut  s ou rc e  (an a log  or  
d ig ital ), th e d ispl ay will  ch an g e to sh ow this, a few 
s e c o nd s  a f t er t h e pa t c hb ay  op e rat io n t h at  c au s ed  
this to be the case.
The meters  can  be used  to s ee  the 
patchbay assignment using the 
meters , as shown here. Each 
meter gives the status of its corre-
spondingly-numbered track.
Press 
SHIFT and one of the RE C 
F UNCTION
 ke ys  ( a s de s cr ib e d in 
4 .1.1, “Peak meters”) t o tog gle 
th is m et er  mo de  of f a n d on .  T h e 
d efau lt at p ower-on  is fo r th is 
m od e  to be  on .
B ecau se of the limitat ion s of the 
n umber of meter s eg men ts av ail-
able, each segment  is  used to rep-
resen t two  in pu t p os sibil ities. The  top  th ird  is  used  to  
s how track so urces , th e mid dle third is  u sed for dig i-
t al, and  the lower th ird  fo r an al og  s ou rces.
With  a digital  recorder s uch as  the DA-78HR,  track 
cro sstalk  is  almos t n eglig ible  (better th an  90 dB   at 
1 kH z ) . Fo r th is re a so n,  yo u do  no t ha ve  to w or ry  so  
m u ch  a bou t the  c on str a ints  o f c h oo sing  ph ysic a l 
t rack locat ions as  you do with analog recordings.
5 .3 .3 Tra ck  b oun ci ng
If you need to copy a track to another track at any 
t ime in th e recordin g p ro ces s, rememb er that track  
c o py ing  i n the  di gita l do ma in  w il l a d d no  no ise  or  
d isto rtion . A dig ital co py  is  a “clo ne” of the origi nal, 
a n d n o los s of  qu ali ty is inc u rr e d .
Th e DA-7 8HR  allows  y ou  to cop y track s dig itally, 
and you can use the internal sub-mixer (see 7.4, 
“Sub-mixer”) to combine all tracks  (level and pan 
can be  set)  to t racks  7  and 8. 
NOTE
B e cau se the  DA- 78 HR al so a llow s a  tr ack to be  
r eplayed  and recorded onto itself,  al l eight  tr acks  can 
be m ixed i nternal ly and merged into tracks 7 and 8.
Th e b asic  meth od  for  go ing   abo ut  this  is :
1
Exi t shift m ode and  enter the 
MI X DOWN mode.
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