Tascam Digital Multitrack Recorder DA-78HR Owners Manual

							7 - Advanced operations
41 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
T he displa y will show the l ev el  a nd pan po si-
tion of the channel. For example, 
L. 02. P -C- 
wo uld indicate a level of 10 2 and  a  center pan 
position.
3
Us e the s a nd t key s and/o r the kno b to  
change the level of the active channel. 
4
To change the level of another chan nel, press 
that channel’s 
RE C FUNC TION key.
The meters may be used to show the value of 
the chann el levels  (the defau lt is fo r this  func-
tio n to  b e o n, a nd it ma y be to gg led with the 
SHIFT+REC  F UNCTION combi nation).
5
Press the 
LEVEL /PAN key  o r the RE C 
F UNCTION
 key of th e currently active ch annel 
to change the curs or (flashing period) to the 
pan setting. 
Pan values range from  
P. L -- 
(
P. L - -hard left) throu gh P. L62 
(immediately to the right of the 
hard l eft setting), 
P. -C- (P. - C -—
center) and  
P. R 62 (P. R 6 2—
almost hard right) to 
P. --R 
(
P. --R—har d r igh t) .
Th e meters are also b e us ed  to 
sh ow the pa n s etting s. Pr ess 
SHIFT and one of the RE C 
FUN CTION
 ke ys ( a s de sc r ibe d  i n 
4 .1.1, “Peak  meters”) to  tog gle this  meter mod e o ff 
an d o n. Th e default at po wer-o n is fo r this mo de to b e 
on.
6
Us e the s a nd t key s and/o r the kno b to  
adjust the  pan settings of the  active  channel.
7.4.5 Setting the sub-mixer input 
s our ce s
1
From the pan setting, as described immedi-
atel y  above, p ress  either  the 
RE C FUNC TION 
ke y  of  t he  ac t ive  c hanne l,  or  t he  
L EVEL/PAN 
key. 
2
T he d ispla y will show the current inp ut  source 
for  the channel, e.g. 
In 1 t1 (In 1 t1—the 
in put s ource for channel 1 is  track 1).
3
Us e the s a nd t keys to cycle through 
t1 
throug h 
t8 (track 1 through 8), a1 throug h 
a8 (a nalo g inputs 1  throug h 8) and d1 
throug h 
d8 (d igital inputs 1  throug h 8).
4
Pressing the s and t key s tog ether will “no r-
m alize” the sub-mixer, feeding each ch annel with  the  output of the  corres pond ingly-n um-
bered track.
NOTE
T he s e a s s ign me nt s  ar e t em po ra ry,  an d r ema in  on ly  
as long as the mixdown mode is enabled. When the 
mixdown mode is disabled, the previous input patch-
bay settings are restored.
5
To record the mixer outputs onto tracks 7 and 
8, arm these tracks  and record in the usual 
w ay.
7.5 Crossfade times
As mentioned  earlier (5.6, “Punch-in  and  punch-
o ut”), dig ital p un ch reco rdin g req uires that th e o ri gi-
n a l a nd  n ew  sig na l be  c r oss fa d ed  ove r  a s hor t pe r io d 
o f time.
The factory default cross fade time for the DA-78HR 
i s 10 ms, an d th is can be adju sted  in  10  milliseco nd  
steps  to a  maximum of 200  ms.
For the most  part,  10 ms  i s  an  adequate value  and 
will produce seamless punches,  but there  may  be 
t imes (match ing  reverb  setting s, etc.) when a lon ger 
crossfade is required.
1
Press the 
SHI F T  ke y s o t hat  t he  SHIFT in dicator 
is fla shing , a nd press the 
MENU key  u ntil  the 
displa y sho ws 
AUDIO. 2-- (AUDIO2--).
2
Press the 
SUB MENU key  until the displa y 
shows  
C. F ADE;;; (C FAD E x xx), where xxx 
is the current cross fade time in millis eco nds.
3
Use the s a nd t ke y s to  adj ust  the  c r oss fa de  
ti m e ( 10  thr ou gh 20 0 ms  i n 1 0 ms st e ps)
7.6 Vari speed (pitch control)
The s peed of recording and playback (and hence t he 
pitch) of the DA-78HR can be adjusted to 6% above 
o r  b e low  no rm a l spe e d  in  0. 1% st ep s.
NOTE
You cannot operate the pitch control when the DA-
78HR is slaved to another unit, or synchronized to an 
external word clock. If the clock is changed to exter-
nal while varispeed is on, the 
VARI SPEED indicator 
w ill g o o ut. T he  i nd ica to r wil l also  go  ou t i f ch asin g  i s 
e n abl ed  whi le v ar is p ee d is  o n.
7 .6 .1 To s e t a  non -sta nd ar d  sp ee d
1
Press the VARI SPEED key. Its indica to r will 
light, and the 
SHIFT  indica to r will  flas h.
--R
R62
-C-
L62
L-- 
						

							7  - Advanced operations
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 42
2
Use the s a nd t keys to change the value 
(maximum +6.0%, minimum –6.0%, in 0.1% 
st ep s).
Res et the value to 0.00% by pressin g and  hold-
ing either of the s or  t keys , a nd press ing the 
ot he r.
3
Press the 
SHI F T key to turn off the setting 
mode. T he 
VARI SPEED ind icator will  continue 
to be lit, showing that varispeed is curren tly 
en ab l e d .
4
Turn off varispeed (when the 
VARI SPEED 
indicator is lit) by  pres sing  the 
VARI SPEED 
key to turn the ind icator off.
NOTE
The VARI SPEED in dica tor  w ill lig h t wh en ever  th e 
varispeed is enabled, even if the speed is set to 
0.0%.
P lay back  an d reco rdin g will now take p lace at the 
new speed.
7.7 Shuttle operations
Th e s hu ttle k ey, ind icato r an d kn ob  are us ed to simu-
late the “ro ck and  ro ll” lo cati on metho d on  o pen -reel 
tap e d ecks , allowin g yo u to  lo cate a p oin t o n tap e 
through audible cues.
As  th e  kn ob  is  mov ed   from  the  center  detented  p os i-
ti on , th e sh ut tle s peed b eco mes h igh er.
Th e variatio n in sp eed is no t con tinu ou s; but  as y ou  
tu rn the k no b fro m the center po sitio n, the shu ttle 
s peed changes , followi ng these values (relative to 
n or m a l s pe e d) : 0. 2 5,  0. 5,  1. 0,  2. 0 , 4 .0 ,  8 . 0.  Th e  1 . 0 
s peed is o nly  availabl e wh en  shu ttlin g in the forward  
d ir e cti on.
S hu ttle o peration s are on ly  p os sible when  the 
SH UT -
TLE
 in dicator is lit (press the SHUTTLE switch ).
If the 
SH UTTLE
 knob re ma ins untouche d at the center 
p os ition  fo r  10  s eco nd s,  the  shu ttle mod e is  d isab led , 
and the indicator goes off.
7.7.1 Shuttle monitoring
Th is is also cov ered  in  6.3, “Shu ttle mo nito r”. The 
d efau lt behav ior of th e DA-78 HR is that when  s hu t-
tl ing  th e tap e, y ou  mo nito r o ff th e record ed  tape.
NOTE
When monitoring in shuttle mode, the monitor signal 
is attenuated by 12 dB (to avoid possible damage to 
e a rs  an d s p ea k ers  ) .
Wh en  AU T O  M O N  is on, the monitoring of any 
armed track s will be off-tape, un less th e 
SHTL MON 
is on, in which case, t he monitori ng of armed tracks  
will b e sou rce in pu t. The mo ni toring  of all o ther 
(unarmed) tracks can sti ll be s witched on a track-by-
track  b asis u sing  the track s’
 INPUT M ON ITOR 
switches.
Th e  
SHTL  MON k ey  is on ly enab led when  AU T O  
MO N
 is on. When AUTO M ON i s  o ff ,  i t  h a s  no  e f fe c t .
7. 7. 2 Sh uttle muti ng
As ex plain ed abo ve, s hut tling  th e tape will usu ally 
a llow  o ff - ta pe   mo nito r ing .  H ow e ve r,  t he r e  m a y  be  
times when  y ou  will wan t to mu te all off-tape s ign als 
when sh ut tling . This  p rocedu re is d escrib ed in  6 .4, 
“Shu ttle mut ing ”.
7. 8 M et e r m od e s
Th e  D A - 78H R  p e a k ba r gr a ph  me te r s ca n  be  c usto m-
ized  to su it yo ur wo rk in g preferences. Bo th th e p eak  
ho ld time an d the “ballis tics” of t he meters can  be 
adjusted.
7. 8. 1 P e ak  h old  t im e
1
Press th e SH IF T key s o tha t  the SHIFT indicator 
is flashi ng, and press the 
MENU key  until the 
displa y sh ows 
SYSTEM -- (SYSTEM--).
2
Press  the 
SU B ME NU key until the disp lay  
sho ws  
PK. H. LD. ;; (PK  H L D  xx —peak ho ld) 
with  the current val ue for thi s setting.
3
Use the s and t keys to change the value 
between 0
 and 9
 seconds  or CNT
 (
CNT—con-
ti nue—which will  permanently  display  the 
max imum pea k s igna l lev el. T his can be useful 
if yo u are do ing a “ dry run” rehea rsa l, but yo u 
cannot keep your eyes  on th e meters all the 
ti me that the rehears al is going on).
To turn off the p ea k hold  dis play  if CNT
 ha s 
been set, change the peak  hold value to 
0 sec-
ond s and the m eter segments will “dro p b ack” .
7. 8. 2 M e t e r ba lli st i cs
Use a  similar process  to change  the “fall-back”  bal-
listics of the peak meters. Yo u can no t ch ang e th e rise 
time of the meters, which  are fixed  with  peak meter 
characteristics.
1
Press th e 
SH IF T key s o tha t  the SHIFT indicator 
is flashi ng, and press the 
MENU key  until the 
displa y sh ows 
SYSTEM -- (SYSTEM--). 
						

							7 - Advanced operations
43 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
2
Press the S UB M ENU key  until the displa y 
shows 
RLs.  (RLS—release) and then ch anges 
to the  current  val ue for  th at s etting.
3
Us e the s a nd t keys to change the value 
b etween the FAST
 (
FA S T), SLOW
 (SL O W) 
a nd MED
 (
ME DIUM) settings.
7.9 Sine oscillator
The DA-7 8HR in corpo rates a dig ital oscillato r for 
lin eup  an d sig nal tracing  p urpo ses. This o scillator is 
a sin e-wave oscillato r at either the stan dard tun ing  
frequency of 440 Hz or a tape line-up signal at 
1kHz.
The o scillator sig nal lev el is  at th e n ominal sig nal 
level (but n ote that sin ce th e o scillato r is a con stant 
s ine wave, it cannot truly be compared with “real-
world” trans ient  signals ).
To  o perate th e o scillato r:
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. 2-- 
(
AUDIO2- -).
2
Press the S UB M ENU key  until the displa y 
shows OSC. ;;; 
(
OS C
 xxx, for os cillator, 
with the current s etting).
3
Us e the s a nd t key s to  s witch the oscilla to r 
b etween the different s ettings (OFF
 (
OFF), 
440
 (
440), a nd 1k
 (1k).  
Wh en  the oscilla tor is tu rned o n, it overrides 
a ll other tra ck  inp uts .
The o scillator settin g is no t backed  u p with  th e oth er 
s ett ing s.
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 R ec or din g th e  os ci lla tor  
As  men tion ed ab ove, th e o scillator o verrid es  all o ther 
track in pu ts, regardless  o f wh ether d igit al o r analo g 
in pu t has been  s elect ed .
R eco rdin g the os cillator test ton e is  th erefore similar 
to  an y ot he r  r e c or din g o pe r a tion .
7.10REC MUTE (recording silence)
There may be times when you wish t o prevent any 
s ignal from reaching an armed track (in other words, 
when you record, you are recording silence onto the 
t rack.
1
Press the 
SHI F T  ke y s o t hat  t he  SHIFT in dicator 
is fla shing , a nd then p ress  the 
ME NU key until 
the disp lay  s hows 
Audi o. 1-- (AUDIO1 --).
2
Press the 
SUB MENU key  until the displa y 
briefly  shows 
REC . MUTE (REC MUTE) a nd 
then changes to show the current setting (the 
defa ult is  a ll  off).
3
Change the settings using the s and t keys.
4
To set reco rd muting  for indiv idual  tracks , use 
the  t r ac k 
RE C FUNCT ION keys as track selec-
tio n ke ys,  and  c ha nge  t he  s e tt ing s individua lly  
for each track usin g th e s and t keys. 
The displa y will sho w the tra ck n umber a nd 
the curren t mute s etting (e.g. TR 1 OFF
 (
TR 
1 O FF
).
5
When n o track is selected usin g th e 
RE C 
FUNCT ION
 keys , the display reverts to ALL
 
(
ALL), as  it does  if all tracks a re the s ame 
va lue .
If the 
SHIFT and RE C FUNCTION 
keys are us ed, each meter shows the 
record mute status  of the correspond-
ingly-numbered track, as  s hown here 
(on ly o ne segment ligh ts to  s how th e 
mute status).
Pr ess 
SHIFT and one of the RE C 
FUN CTION
 ke ys ( a s de sc r ibe d  in 
4 .1 .1, “Peak  meters”) to  t og gle this  
m e te r mo de  o ff  a n d on .  T h e  d e fa u lt a t 
p ow e r- on  i s fo r t h i s mo de  t o b e  o n.
P ress ing t he s and t keys together makes the 
default 
ALL OFF settin g.
7.11Dither
Dit her is  the technique of adding a known noise t o 
l ow-level signals, especially when converting from a 
high number of bits (for instance 24 or 20 input bits, 
as  in the case of the DA-78HR) to a lower number 
ON
OFF 
						

							7  - Advanced operations
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 44
(for instance 16, the DA-78HR’s non-HR tape word 
len gth ) to  imp ro ve qu an tization . 
Paradoxically, this technique of adding noise 
removes q uanti zatio n n oise and  dist ortion  at low sig -
n a l  lev els  a n d  im pr ove s  th e   ove r a ll d isto rt ion  f ig-
ures.
1
Though quantization nois e is  reduced,  there is  a  loss 
o f a few dB  in  the sig nal-to-n oise rat io. For th is rea-
s on, the DA-78HR does  not implement dither as a 
s tand ard ,  but  allows y ou  to  cho os e between  no  d ither, 
rectangular or triangular (the shapes refer to the dis -
tribu tio n of values in  t he dig ital n oi se). Rectang ular 
gives about 3dB better signal-to-noise ratio than tri-
an gu lar, bu t  there is  n oise  mo du latio n, wh ich  may  b e 
a u dib le  wh e n r e co r din g a nd  pla yi ng b a ck  low - leve l 
program sources.
NOTE
Dither can be turned on and off while recording is 
ta kin g pla ce. How eve r, the re  w ill p rob a bly be  a n a ud i-
ble change in the sound quality. We suggest making 
a  te st r eco rd in g be fo re  a  sessio n . In thi s wa y yo u will  
be able to m ake an  instant  assessm ent  of  the  effects 
o f  th e d if fe re nt  di th er  s et t ing s  on  yo u r pr og ram  m at e -
rial.
7.11.1 Selecting dither  settings
1
Press the SHI F T  key so that the SHIFT in dicator 
is fla shing , a nd then press  the 
ME NU key until 
the disp lay  s hows 
Audio . 1-- (AUDIO1 --).
2
Press the 
SUB MENU key  until the displa y 
shows  
DI TH. ;;; (DITH xx x where xxx is the 
cu rr e n t  s e tt i n g ).
3
Use the s a nd t to s elect  the  dither function  
you w a nt ( e ithe r  OFF
 (
OFF),  RECT
 (RE CT) 
(rectangu lar) or TRI
 (
TR I) (triangular)).
7.12Advanced output options
7.12.1 Output word length
Th e o utp ut word  len gth  from the TDIF-1 (a n d t he  
SPDIF (
COAXIAL))  ou tpu ts can  b e set  to  either 1 6  or 
24 bits.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. 2 -- (AUDIO2 --).
3
Press  the 
SU B ME NU key until the disp lay  
briefly  shows  
O ut. bit. ;; (OU T  BIT x x ), 
where xx is th e current setting.
4
Use the s and t keys to change between 16 
and  2 4 bit s.
NOTE
Simply changing the output word length to  24 bits will 
not automatically provide better sound quality, if the 
equipment being fed by the DA-78HR is not capable 
of accepting 24-bit audio.
7. 12 .2 O utpu t pa tc hba y
In  ad dit ion  to  the integ ral inp ut p atchb ay, the DA-
78HR also features a patchbay which allows tracks  to 
be routed to different output channels.
Th is rou ting  is  carried  ou t in parallel to bo th th e 
TD I F dig ita l a nd th e  a n a log  s e ts of  ou tpu ts.
Th e d efau lt setting  is 
NORMAL (NORMA L),  i . e . 
tracks are output to their corres pondingly-numbered 
output channels.
To  make an o utp ut patch  setting :
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. 2 -- (AUDIO2 --).
3
Press  the 
SU B ME NU key until the disp lay  
briefly  shows  
O ut. Patch (OU T PATC H),  fo l -
lowed by the current setting.
4
Press any of the 
REC FUNCTION keys to select 
an  output cha nnel (not a tra ck) which will have 
a t r ac k as sign ed  t o it .
5
The display sh ows the current setting of this 
output channel, e.g . 
Ch. 1  Tr. 3 (Ch1 tr3) 
means  tha t o utp ut chan nel 1  is fed by  ta pe 
track 3. Use the s a nd t keys to change the 
tra ck number.
1. A  full  disc ussion  of  dither  a nd other  digital 
a udio tec hniques is outside the scope of this 
ma nual.  However, a  good  sta rting point f or 
le arning a bout this, a nd other a spec ts of  digital 
a udio, is John Watkinson’s The  Art of  Digital 
Audio
, pub  Foca l Press. 
						

							7 - Advanced operations
45 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
Pr essin g th e s and t ke ys  s imu lta -
neously returns the output patchbay 
to the  normal s tate.
The meters dis play  th e cu rren t 
a ssi gn me nts  of  tr a c ks  to  the  ou tpu t 
channels. In this  cas e, each meter 
sh ow s th e a ss ign me n t s ta tus o f th e 
c or r e spo nd ing ly- n um be r e d ou tpu t 
channel (no t tr a c k) ,   as  s how n   he r e.
Pr ess 
SHIFT an d o ne  of  the  RE C 
FUN CTION
 keys (as described in 
4 .1.1, “Peak  meters”) to  tog gle this  meter mod e o ff 
an d o n. Th e default at po wer-o n is fo r this mo de to b e 
on.
7.13 Emulation
The DA-78HR can be s et to emulate other DTRS 
ty pe s w h e n inte r r oga te d  by a n R C-8 98  re m ote  c on -
trol  u nit o r o ther remo te co nt ro l d evices (such  as  th e 
co ntrollers on  the TM-D series  o f TASCAM dig ital 
mixers).
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  
M AINTN-- 
(
MA IN TN--).
2
Press the 
S UB M ENU key  until the displa y 
briefly shows 
DEv TY PE (DEV TYPE),  fo l -
lowed by the current setting.
3
T he defa ult is  (na tura lly) 
DA-78HR,  but y ou 
can use the s and t keys to select any of the 
following: 
da-88 (DA-88 post-V4 with SY-88 
fitted giving all timecode functions  when work-
in g as  a  slave  w it h ID  2 or  gr e at e r ),  
da-38 
(DA-8 8 pre-V4 , with tra ck co py) and 
DA- 98 
(DA-88 pre-V4).
NOTE
None of these emulations provides full control of all 
facil ities available on the DA-78HR  from the remote 
control unit. If the remote control  uni t does not sup-
por t the DA-78HR , select 
DA-9 8 as the emulation. 
I f  th e c o nt ro lle r d oe s  no t s u pp or t  t he  DA -9 8,  s el ec t  
DA -88 as the emulation.
7.14 Saving settings to tape
Thi s fun ction  allo ws y ou  to  s tore y ou r  settin gs  conv e-
n ie ntly  on  th e  ta p e  t ha t yo u ha ve  us e d to m a ke  yo ur  
recordings .  This  means  that  you  can work at home on 
your project using your own DA-78HR, take the tape t o an oth er  facility  u sing  th e DA-7 8HR, an d  set u p  the 
o th er machin e in  ex actly  the s ame way  as th e orig inal 
at  home. Of course, there are many  other  uses  for this 
facility.
Th e s et ting s stored o n th e tap e d o no t affect th e 
recorded audio data.
To  s av e th e cu rren t s et ting s  to  tape:
1
Make sure that there is a formatted tape in the 
re c o rd er  be fo re  you  st ar t  to  s ave  t he  se tt ing s to  
ta pe. T he tap e mus t be stopp ed  before y ou 
start the save operation.
2
Press the 
SHI F T  ke y s o t hat  t he  SHIFT in dicator 
is fla shing , a nd press the 
MENU key  u ntil  the 
displa y sho ws system--
 (
SYSTEM--).
3
Press the 
SUB MENU key  until the displa y 
shows  SAVE. OFF
 (
SAVE OFF).
4
Press the s key to make the DA-78HR ready 
for sa ving  the setting s. The displa y will sho w 
READY
 (
RE ADY).
5
Press the s ke y ag ain t o ac t ually  s ta r t t he  sa ve  
operation.
The DA-78 HR will auto matically  search to  the 
pos ition  on  the tape where the  data will be 
saved,  will write the da ta, a nd  then  rewind  a nd 
check that the data has  been correctly wri tten. 
While the  data  is  b ein g  written  and  checked, 
the disp lay  s hows SAVING
 (
SAVING).
6
When the save  operation has fin ished correctly, 
the disp lay  s hows done
 (
DONE).  The  t ape  
may now be ejected.
If there is  n o tape in sert ed  (o r th e tap e h as no t been 
fo rmatted) when th e s av e o peration  is  readied , th e 
d isp lay sh ows no TAPE
 (
NO TAPE).
If the tape is no t stop ped  wh en th e s ave o peration  is  
readied , th e d isp lay  sh ows not stop
 (
NOT 
STOP
).
If an  error is enco un tered  wh ile s av ing  is takin g 
place, the display will sho w SAVE ERR
 (
SAVE 
ERR
).
7.15Restoring settings from tape
Th is allows yo u to  recall setting s sto red  o n tap e as 
d e sc r ibe d  a b ove  ( 7. 14 ,  “Sa vin g se tti ng s to ta pe ” ) .
1
To restore s ettings , the tape containing the set-
ting s m ust be lo aded. Th e  ta pe must be  sto pped 
before you start this restore operation.
Tra ck 8
Tra ck 7
Tra ck 6
Tra ck 5
Tra ck 4
Tra ck 3
Tra ck 2
Tra ck 1 
						

							7  - Advanced operations
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 46
2
Press the SHI F T  key so that the SHIFT in dicator 
is fla shing , a nd press th e 
MENU key  u ntil  the 
displa y sho ws system-- (
SYSTEM--).
3
Press the 
SUB MENU key  until the displa y 
shows  Load. OFF (
LOAD  OFF).
4
Press the s key to make the DA-78HR ready 
for lo ading  the setti ngs. The disp lay  will sh ow 
READY (
RE ADY).
5
Press the s key again to actuall y start the 
restore operation.
The DA-78 HR will auto matically  search to  the 
posi tion on the tap e where the data has been 
saved, an d will read the d ata, loa ding  it into 
memory. While the d ata is being  read  from 
ta pe, t he displa y sho ws READING 
(
RE AD IN G).6
If the settings data on the tape has been read 
successfully, the displ ay  will sho w READ OK 
(
READ OK). The unit will  then re-start, as if 
power had just been  turned on.
If there is  n o tap e in serted (o r th e tap e has no t been  
formatted)  when the l oad  operation is  readied, the 
disp la y sh ow s no TAPE (
NO TAP E).
If the tape is n ot sto pp ed  when  th e lo ad o perat ion  is  
re a d ied ,  t he   disp la y  sh ow s not stop (
NOT 
ST O P
).
If  no  d ata can  b e lo cated  on  th e t ap e, th e d isp lay  will 
sho w NO DATA (
NO DATA).
If an error is encountered while the reading i s taking 
place, the display  will sh ow READ ERR (
RE AD 
ER R
). 
						

							 TASCAM DA-78HR 47
8 - Synchronization with other  DTRS  units
Th is  section  d escrib es  the  tech niq ues  and  metho ds  to  
b e fo llowed when  the DA-78 HR is link ed to  o ther 
DTRS units (e.g. TASCAM DA-98, DA-38, DA-88 
and of course other DA-78HR units).
Up  to  1 6  DTRS  un its can  b e lin ked ,  fo r a  total  of 1 28  
d igi tal  tracks .
I f  you  a re  c on ne c tin g D TR S un its of  dif fe r e nt ty pe s 
to the DA-78HR, use the DA-78HR or a DA-98 as 
the master unit and the other units as slave uni ts.
8.1 Synchronization connections
The cable  to be used  when connecting the DA-78HR 
to  oth e r D T RS un its f or  syn c hr on iz a tion  p ur p ose s  
s ho uld  b e  a  PW-88 S cab le.  This  is  1   meter (3  ft.) 
long. If you require a longer cable, please consult 
your TASCAM  dealer.
NOTES
Be sure to use only the optional PW-88S s ync  c ables. The 
us e of  any  ot her c ables  could dam age t he D A-78H R.
Be sure to connec t the ter minat ion plug to the last  s lav e’s  
S Y NC OUT connec tor, or else incorrec t func tions  m ay 
oc cur.
Turn on  all t he D TR S unit s  in y our s ys tem ,  regardless  of  
w hether you act ually use all of  t hem.  A unit or unit s turned 
of f will mak e s ync hronizat ion im poss ible.
To s ync hronize m ultiple  DT RS  units ,  use  a pre-for matt ed 
t ape in  the  mas ter  unit,  and  also  in t he s lave unit s.  Sinc e 
t he D TR S s ys tem  us es  ABS t ime  to  achieve  sy nchroniz a-
t ion, it is impos sible to sy nchronize using tapes  w ithout  
ABS  tim e rec orded on  them .
To  syn ch ron ize  m ultip le  DTRS  u n its, a ll the  ta pe s in 
e a c h un it  mu s t b e fo r mat t e d at  t he  s am e s am pl ing  
r ate, or  synchronization is impossi ble.
Th e s yn ch ron izatio n co nn ectio ns  fo rm a “d ais y-
chain”, with the mas ter unit at the head of the chain, 
an d th e last s lav e at the tail.
Connections are made from the 
SYNC OUT of one 
u nit  to   the 
REMOTE IN/SYNC IN of  the  ne x t. T his  
connection als o carries the word clock between the 
DTRS  u nits . Slave un its wi ll au tomatical ly take their 
clock through this, as shown by the front panel 
CLOCK ind icators, neith er of which  will b e lit.
There are excepti onal circumstances when indepen-
dent clocks may be necessary. See 8.6, “Individual 
clo ck mod e” for details.
NOTE
Always m ake and br eak all  connecti ons w ith the 
power to all units in the chain turned OFF.
8. 2 M ac h in e  I D an d m a st e r/ s l av e  
settings
Each DTRS unit in the chain must be ass igned a 
machine ID. The unit at the head of the chain (the 
master) should have ID  number  1. 
Though not s trictly necessary, we suggest  that IDs 
are  assigned in  a consecutive s equential  order  from 
the head of the chain.
8. 2. 1 Differen ces between  DT RS  mo dels
The DA-78HR, DA-98 and DA-38 use machine IDs  
that are set by software (the machine must be turned 
on  fo r the ID t o be set). The valu es fo r th e IDs of 
these models  s tart at “1” and go up to “16”. 
The s witch on the back of the DA-88 is only opera-
tiv e wh en  th e u nit is turned  o ff. It is marked  fro m “0” 
through “F”. 
Wh en  inclu din g DA-88 s and  DA-78HR s in th e same 
chain, add 1 to the number shown on the DA-88’s 
rear p anel  mach ine  ID s witch  to  mak e t he  DA-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 n ot 1 (the switch  h as been s et to  a valu e o ther 
than  0 ) will sh ow its Slave ID briefly at power-o n.
Therefore, for 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:
It therefore makes sens e to  set th e mach ine IDs  o f all 
DA-88 s in th e ch ain  first, immediately  after co nn ec-
tion s have been  made with th e p ower o ff, an d then  
turn o n po wer to all un its before setting  the mach ine 
IDs of all DA-78HRs, DA-98s and DA-38s in the 
chain.
NOTE
When you set the m achine IDs, you can set the ID of 
an y  m ac h in e f irs t ,  but  we  r ec o mm en d d oin g t h is  in a  
Uni t
ID as  shown
“ Real ” ID
How the ID  is 
set
Power on or off 
when I D is set
DA- 7 8H R 1 1 Tap e c o un t er  
me nu  syste mON
DA- 9 8 2 2 Me nu  syste mON
DA- 8 8 2 3 Rota r y swit ch o n 
rear panelOFF 
						

							8 - Synchronization with other DTRS units
48 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
standard sequence, working from the head of the 
c h ai n t o t he  en d.
8.2.2 Setting machine ID
1
Press the SHIFT key so that the SHIFT indicator 
is  fla shing , a nd pres s the 
ME NU key, un til the 
counter sh ows 
SYSTEM -- 
(
SYSTEM--).
2
Press the 
S UB M ENU key  until the displa y 
shows 
id. sel. ;; (ID SEL xx), where  xx is the 
current machine ID setting.
3
Us e the s a nd t keys to change the value 
b et w e e n 1 and  1 5.
NOTE
If you try to set the machine ID  to anything other than 
1, when no sync cable is connected, an error mes-
sa ge  will  b e sh own .
8.2.3 Master/slave settings  (CHASE 
m ode )
Each unit with an ID great er than 1 is regarded as a 
s l av e u ni t .
1
For each slave unit in the ch ain, pres s the 
SHIFT key so  tha t the SH IF T in dicator is flash-
in g, and press the 
MENU key, until the counter 
shows 
SYST EM-- (SYST EM--).
2
Press the S UB M ENU key  until the displa y 
briefly shows 
TIME. M ODE (TIM E MODE) a nd 
then chan ges to show the current time mode 
(which is either ABS —absolute or TC—tim e-
code).
3
I f a ny slav e  u nit sh ow s 
TC, use the s and t 
keys to change this to 
AB S.
4
On each slave u nit, pres s th e 
CH ASE key. The 
C HAS E indica tor will s ta rt flas hing.
5
P r e ss an y of  the  t r ans por t  c o nt ro ls on t he  m as-
ter unit (ma ch ine I D 1 ). The sla ve unit(s) will 
s ynchron ize a nd foll ow the tra nspo rt co m-
m ands  of the mas ter.
Wh en  a slave unit is locked to th e master uni t, 
its 
CH ASE indica to r will lig ht s tea dily. While 
chasing, the transport keys  of the s lave u nit  are 
disabled.
6
To turn off chase mode on a slave unit, press 
the 
CHAS E key so that th e CH AS E indicator 
goes off.
NOTE
W hen chasi ng, i t may take som e time before chase 
lock is achieved. A slave unit cannot start recording 
until it has achieved chase lock status.
8.3 Machine offset
It is sometimes necessary to offset a slave uni t in the 
chain relat ive to the master unit. This offset can be 
s et to  samp le accu racy to  a max imum v alu e 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 Setting machine offset 
1
Press th e SH IF T key  so  th at the unit enters s hift 
mode (fla shing  
SH IF T ind ica tor).
2
Press the 
AUTO IN /OUT ( OFF SET) key.
3
The displa y will sho w 
AB S. OFST. (ABS  
OF ST
) and the cu rrent offs et (i f an y has  b een 
set) .
4
Use the s a nd t ke y s to  se t t he  of fs e t fo r  t he  
slav e unit, and the 
SHIFTed s a nd t key s  to  
move the cu rs or to the different fields. The 
OF F SE T key can also be used as a right cursor 
key.
See 4.3.5, ““Left”  and “right” keys”  for details 
of setting  v alues  in a  time field.
5
You can also change  the sign  of the  offs et  value 
between by moving the cursor to the sign.
When a non-zero offset is set, the front panel 
OF F SE T indica to r will lig ht.
NOTEW he n a  non- z e ro offset is set , the  fr ont  pa ne l indi cator  wi ll light .
If you change an offset value (timecode or ABS), any 
punch points, location memories, etc. wil l be inval i-
dated. For example, if you change the offset to 
00:30:00.00 (30 minutes) from 00:00:00.00 (no off-
set), a punch point which was previously at 
00:33:00.00 (33 minutes into the tape) wil l sti ll have 
t h e s a me  v a lue  (0 0: 3 3: 00 . 00 ),  bu t wi ll no w be  on ly  3 
minutes into the tape.
8.3.2 Cancelling machine offset
To cancel  machine offset, s imply set the offset value 
t o 00 :00 :00 . 00 .
1
Ent e r t he  of fs e t se t ti ng,  as de sc r ibe d a bove . 
						

							8 - Synchronization with other  DTRS  units
 TA SCA M DA -7 8 HR 49
2
Press a nd hold do wn the s key  a nd  pres s  th e 
t
 key to  reset the  value.
Machi ne o ffset  will n ow  be ca ncelled a nd  the 
OF F SE T indicato r will g o out.
8.3.3 Setting machine offset “on the fly”
As  well  as  en terin g  an  ab so lute  nu mb er,  it is  also  p os -
s ible to enter a number “on t he fly” as  the tapes are 
playing. 
1
Loc a te  t he  t w o ta pe s (ma st e r  a nd s l ave )  s o th at  
they have the  right offs et, either b y  playing  the 
ta pes and pa using  them o r ca rry  out the nex t 
operatio n wh ile o ne or both ta pes is being  
play ed ba ck.
2
On the s lave unit to  b e o ffset, press a nd hold 
the  
SHIFT key, and press the AU T O  IN /O U T 
(
OFFSET) key at the correct offs et time to cap-
ture and store th e offset.
The displa y will briefly sho w 
AT . OFFSET (AT 
OF F SE T
), and the curren t difference b etween 
the ma ster a nd slave tapes will be stored as a n 
of fs e t.
NOTES
T he v alue ent ered in  this  way  can  be edit ed lat er us ing t he 
t echnique desc ribed abov e.
You cannot determine the offset from an unformatted 
t a pe ,  o r if  eit h er  t a pe  is  c ur ren t ly  di s pla y ing  a n eg a-
tive ABS value.
8 .3 .4 A n  ex am pl e  of s e tting  offs e ts
A p ractical ex amp le o f s etting  o ffsets is g iv en here.
The master DA-78HR contains the tape with the dia-
log and reference tracks  from the video worktape. 
A n oth e r D A -7 8H R ( the  sla ve )  ha s a  ta pe  w ith so me  
tracks  containing video backi ng mus ic. It is  neces-
s ary t o produce an offset between the two so that 
wh en the mas ter is play ed, th e mus ic tracks will start at the  correct  time  relative to the dialog and reference 
tracks.
1
Locate the slave tape with  the  backing mus ic to 
th e st a r t of  th e mus i c .
The shuttle m ode is useful here (see 7 .7, “Shut-
tl e operations”).
2
Rewind the ma ster to a little before y ou want 
th e  mus ic to enter.
3
St ar t  pl ay ing  t he  ma st e r  D A -7 8H R .
4
When the mus ic entry point is  reached, pres s 
and  ho ld th e 
SHIFT key an d press  the AU TO  IN /
OUT
 key to  capture the offs et po int.
5
St op t he  ma st e r,  an d s e t t he  s lave  int o 
CHA SE 
mode (8.2.3, “Master/slave settings (CHASE 
mod e)” ).
6
Rewind the master to a little before the music 
e ntr y  and st ar t  play ing.
The  slave  ma chi ne  sho uld now  foll ow  t he  t r an s-
port movem en ts  of the master, with the appro-
priate offs et, so that the mu sic en ters at the 
right poin t.
Connec tion f rom
SYNC  OU T to
SYNC  I N
Press the 
s
ss s or t
tt t key at
th is  po int . Offse t wi ll  be
set to
 00 :0 2: 21  1 8
Cop y  of v i deo  wo rkta pe  au dio  trac k s
Backing music
Start  of  t ape
Start  of  t apeStart  of  v ideo M usic  ent ry
01: 00: 00:00 00:57 :00: 0001: 02: 21:18 0 1:00: 00:0 0 00: 57: 00:00
Start  of  mus ic  (tape is
c ued here) 
						

							8 - Synchronization with other DTRS units
50 T A SC AM  D A- 78 HR
8.4 Digital dubbing
W hen  y ou  co py  t ap es between DTRS un its in  th e 
d igital d omain, there is  n o lo ss of qu ality. A “wo rk-
tap e” o r cop y is th erefore ind istin gu ishab le from t he 
o rig in al. Add itio nally, th e DA-7 8HR  u ses low-cos t 
m e dia  ( Hi 8 vid e o c a sse tte s) ,  wh ic h m a ke s it e as y to 
back up i mportant projects .
NOTE
W hen you copy tracks fr om DA-88 units, the word 
l e n gt h s ho ul d be  s e t to  1 6 bi ts  (5 .4 . 2,  “ Se l e c ti ng  i n pu t  
wo rd  len gt h ”).
You may want to exploit these features of the DTRS 
s ystem to make archive copies, and “safety copies” 
of important material (see 1.5, “Recommended 
tapes” for  our suggestions on  tape  use).
1
With the power to al l units turned OFF, make 
the sy nchro nizatio n co nnectio ns a s described 
in 8.1, “Synchronization connections”.
Rememb er to term inate the slave un it.
2
Connect the 
DIGITAL  I/O of the  mas ter  unit 
(source) to the 
DIGITA L I/O of  t he  slav e ( ta r ge t ).
Us e only the approved cables (PW-88D or PW-
88DL ) to conn ect th e DTRS units. Use of any 
o ther  cables  ca n ca use da ma ge to  the units  an d 
will  inva lida te  th e  wa rra nties.
3
Turn  o n both units. M ake sure the ma ch ines’ 
I Ds are correctly set (8.2.2, “Setting mach ine 
ID”).
4
I nsert the mas ter tape into the source master 
a nd a bla nk ta pe, forma tted with  the sam e 
s ampl ing frequency and with the same record-
ing resolution as the master tape, into the tar-
g e t sl ave .5
Select “a ll digita l” as  the input source on the 
target s lave (5.3, “In put selection ”).
6
Put  the  target slave machine into 
CHA SE mo de 
(8 . 2,  “Ma c hine  ID  and ma st e r/s lave  se t tin gs” ).
7
Locate the master tape to a point before the 
material yo u want to  d uplicate.
The ta rget s lave will als o loca te since it is  i n 
chase mode.
8
Arm  a ll tra cks (
R EC FU NCTION) on the target 
slave machine.
9
Make  sure that all 
R EC FUNC TION switches on 
the source master are turned OFF.
NOTE
If any REC  F UNCTION sw itches on the sour ce mas-
t e r ar e t ur n ed  on , y o u wil l era s e y o ur ma s t er  t a pe !  
You may want to use the tape’s write-protect tab 
(5.2.3, “Write-protecting cassettes”).
10
On the m aster machine, hold down RECORD 
and press 
PLAY.
No recordi ng will take place on th e so urce mas -
ter, but th e tracks will be reco rded di gitally  on 
a one-to-one basis to the target slave.
There is  no need to carry out any s pecial pre-
dubbing  pro cedu re such as  timin g th e dig ita l 
output –  the digital an d a nalo g ou tputs are s ep-
ar a te .
Yo u ca n use th e inpu t pa tchba y o n the ta rget 
slav e ma chine (5 .3 .2, “In put pa tchb ay  rou t-
ing”) to transfer tracks from the source master 
ta pe  to  d i ff e re nt  tr a c ks on t he  ta rg e t  s l ave .  
Note tha t yo u ca nno t com bine tracks  b y th is 
metho d.
8.5 Synchronized formatting
When s everal units are connected together, you can 
f o rm a t sev e ra l ta pe s si mu lta ne ou sly,  u sin g on e  
machine as the mas ter. This can be a very convenient 
way of saving time  and effort.
1
Make sure th at all machin es  are connected 
together u sing  the 
SY NC con nections, as 
described abo ve, a nd tha t the las t unit in the 
chain is terminated.
2
Loa d a bla nk unfo rmatted  tap e into ea ch  
DTRS unit.
Make sure all tapes  are the s ame length.
S O UR CE
M ASTER
TA R G E T
SLAVE
P W - 88D  o r  P W - 88 DL
( d ig it a l  I/O   c a bl e ) PW -88 S
(s yn c  ca b le)
Te r m in a to r
plug