Tascam Digital Portastudio 788 Owners Manual

TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 41
4 – Mixer
Mixer features
The 788 has seven physical channel faders, control-
ling six mono channels and a stereo pair of channels. 
These channels can be assigned to take their signals 
from the input connectors, or from the recorded 
tracks.
The basic signal flow of each channel of the mixer 
section of the 788 is:
Input-to-channel assignment (input or track)
Digital pad/gain
Three-band switchable EQ
Fader
Effect send (can be pre- or post-fader)
Aux send (can be...

4 – Mixer–Basic operations
42 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
Notes on linked channels
When a linked pair is created, the pan settings for the 
two channels are set to hard left (odd-numbered 
channel) and hard right (even-numbered channel), 
regardless of their previous settings. However, pan 
settings made while the channels are linked as a pair 
are maintained when the pair is unlinked.If a stereo source (STEREO or AUX INPUT) is 
assigned to one channel of a potential stereo pair, the 
two channels...

4 – Mixer–Adjusting EQ
 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 43
Adjusting EQ
On the 788 channels, you can adjust the gain (the 
amount that the signal is cut and boosted), and the 
frequency (high or low) affected by the equalization 
in three bands. In addition, you can adjust the “Q” 
(the width of the effect) in the mid band.
1Press the 
EQ key. The display screen shows the 
input channel equalization screen.
2Select the mixer channel to be equalized by 
pressing the appropriate 
SELECT key.3Use the cursor...

4 – Mixer–Send levels
44 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
Channel digital pad and gain
You may need to reduce the overall volume of the 
signal, or to boost its volume a little. This is done 
before the signal reaches the equalization section of 
the mixer. 
The level of the signal can be reduced (attenuated) by 
up to 42 dB (cut settings are shown as negative 
values). 
You can also use this feature to boost the signal by up 
to 6 dB (boost settings are shown as positive values).
The steps between the...

4 – Mixer–Fader and pan
 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 45
Fader and pan
Adjust the pan position of a mixer channel (that is, its 
left-right position in the stereo image) using this 
method:
When a channel is recording on a track, this pan con-
trol has no effect. It is only useful when the channel 
is feeding the stereo outputs. 
1Press the 
FADER/PAN key. The display screen 
shows the input channel fader/pan screen.
2Select the mixer channel to be edited by press-
ing the appropriate 
SELECT key.3Use...

4 – Mixer–Soloing
46 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
JUMP — the internal fader level jumps to the 
level set by the physical fader as soon as the physi-
cal fader is moved. Since this can result in sudden 
changes in volume, resulting in possible damage to 
hearing and monitoring equipment, this option 
should be used with caution.

CATCH — the fader level remains the same ini-
tially. However, if you then move the physical fader 
so that the physical level becomes the internal level (the faders “catch”...

4 – Mixer–Stereo output
 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 47
Stereo output
The stereo output is a special “channel”: 
Press the 
STEREO key briefly to view the current 
settings of the stereo output buss:The current physical fader value and internal fader 
value are displayed (as with “Internal and physical 
faders” on page 45). These follow the same rules as 
channel faders, as set in the 
OPTIONS menu.
The stereo dynamics processor setting is displayed, 
if this has been assigned as described in the...

4 – Mixer–Sub-mixer
48 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
Sub-mixer
The sub-mixer is typically used in mixdown mode to 
provide additional inputs while the disk tracks are 
being played back. An example of this would be if 
MIDI instruments are being played back, synchro-
nized to the audio tracks recorded on the disk.
The sub-mixer allows the four inputs (
A through D) 
as well as the 
AUX INPUTS to be mixed together and 
fed to the stereo output. On-screen level and pan con-
trols are available.
1Assign...

TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 49
5 – Recorder operations
This section deals with the recorder section of the 
788; including the playback and recording operations 
you can carry out.
If you have not already read these sections:
2, “Getting started”3, “Before recording”
4, “Mixer”
we strongly recommend that you do so now. Without 
a knowledge of the information contained in these 
sections, it may be difficult for you to understand 
some of the concepts presented in this section.
Basic transport...

5 – Recorder operations–Setting the playback position
50 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
Setting the playback position
The 788 provides you with a number of ways to set 
the position from which playback starts when you 
press the 
PLAY key. Some of these are described in 
the section (“Location operations” on page 60).The ways of setting the playback point which involve 
the transport keys are described here.
Return to zero (RTZ)
This allows you to return instantly to the “zero 
point”, (expressed as the...