Tascam HD P2 Portable Stereo Audio Recorder Owners Manual

							
TASCAM  HD-P  Owner's Manual 11

Operation
Power Control
Once power is connected to your HD-P2, turn it ON or 
OFF by momentarily pressing the spring-loaded power 
switch. The HD-P2 will power up immediately. If, for 
any reason, the HD-P2 does not respond to a power 
off attempt, a forced power-down is accomplished by 
holding the power switch engaged for seven seconds. 
Inserting and Removing Media
The Compact Flash media can be inserted into the 
media slot when the HD-P2 is powered ON or OFF. 
However you should always unmount media in the 
main menu, before removing media to avoid data cor-
ruption.
Adjusting the Display
The HD-P2 has a 240x160 pixel, backlit LCD display. 
Depending on operating angle, ambient light, tem-
perature, and other factors, you may need to adjust the 
display contrast and brightness. Pressing the DISPLAY 
key puts the system into contrast adjust mode where 
turning the SHUTTLE/DATA wheel increases and decreases 
the contrast. Pressing the DISPLAY key again changes to 
brightness adjust and turning the data wheel increases 
and decreases the level of display backlight bright-
ness. These display settings are stored in non-volatile 
memory and are remembered even after you power-
down the HD-P2. 
The HD-P2 display backlight can be turned off manu-
ally or automatically to conserve battery power. To 
manually toggle the backlight state press and hold the 
DISPLAY key for two seconds. The backlight can also be 
turned off automatically after a period on non-use by 
setting the Backlight Timeout in the Display options 
menu.
Default Project
Once you have applied power to the HD-P2 and have 
media in place, the HD-P2 will create a default Project 
and settings, saving them to disk. The default Project 
Settings are:
• 44.1   kHz sample rate
• 2 Channel, Stereo
• 24-bit Audio
• Auto-Append
• No Pre-Record
• Timecode Disabled
• Analog Input
The sample rate can only be changed when a project 
has no files. Audio is only played back (and recorded) 
at the Project’s sample rate. If files at another rate 
have been copied into the project they will be played 
at the Projects set sample rate, sounding off-speed. 
Recording Audio
Recording on the HD-P2 is as simple as pressing the 
REC key. If you are in Auto-Append mode (the default) 
the HD-P2 moves the timeline to the end of all audio 
files and starts recording into a new, uniquely named 
file. The audio monitoring is turned on and the meters 
reflect input audio levels. The REC indicator is lit 
and the record icon is displayed at the bottom of the 
screen.
To adjust levels before recording, press the PAUSE key. 
The PAUSE indicator blinks and the meters are activated 
to show the input signal levels. There are switches 
for choosing between analog inputs as well as an 
input pad. Digital input can be selected in the Project 
Settings menu. Press STOP to turn off input monitor, or 
you can tap RECORD to begin recording.
While recording you can press STOP and the recording 
ends, the file is closed, and monitoring is turned off. 
Pressing the RETAKE key after a recording brings up a 
warning dialog to confirm the selection. CANCEL will 
dismiss the request. Pressing SELECT moves the most 
recent audio file into the Project’s trash, deletes any 
markers dropped during the recording, and moves the 
timeline back to where when the recording started. 
Holding STOP and pressing RETAKE performs the retake 
operation without the dialog warning. 
						

							
1  TASCAM  HD-P   Owner's Manual

Operation
Playing Audio
Press the PLAY key and audio at the current location 
on the timeline is played back. The HD-P2’s play-
back engine is based on a 24 hour day and will play 
audio from time 00:00:00.00 to 23:59:59.59. If time-
code mode is not enabled, the HD-P2 will stop when 
it reaches the end of day (during play or while fast 
forwarding). It also stops if you are rewinding and hit 
the beginning of the day. See the Timecode section for 
specific information on its behaviors and settings.
To locate to the beginning of recorded audio, hold 
STOP and press REW. Hold STOP and press FFWD to go 
to the end of all recorded audio. The LOCATE Ô/ 
keys, by default, locate to previous or next markers 
and file start points. For example, after recording is 
stopped you can press the LOCATE Ôkey to go to the 
beginning of the recorded file (assuming no markers 
were dropped) and then hit play to review it.
HD-P2 Playback Considerations
The HD-P2 playback engine maintains an internal, 
dynamic edit decision list (EDL) to determine what 
files are played and when. In default auto-append 
mode (no pre-record) each file abuts the previous file.
While recording, the media space icon and text in the 
lower right of the screen change to reflect how much 
space is left. Should the media approach becoming 
too full, a low level warning is displayed. If recording 
continues, the HD-P2 will eventually run out of space, 
automatically stop recording, close the file, and dis-
play an out of space message.
NOTE
The FAT file system only supports file sizes up 
to 2  GB. The HD-P2 will recognize if a file is 
reaching this limit, close the file, and start a 
new file without interrupting the recording. 
The files themselves will abut within your DAW 
seamlessly.
When played back the most recently recorded (time of 
day 9:02) file is given precedence and played instead 
of the portions of the first two files recorded at 9:00 
and 9:01.
If the 9:02 file is moved to the trash, then the underly-
ing portions of the other two files will play back once 
again.
Unless the files need to be located at a specific time on 
the timeline it may be easier to keep the auto-append 
option on to avoid confusion. When in doubt you can 
visit the Project Files menu and audition individual files 
in their entirety.
Media Space and Recording
When auto-append is off (or when chasing timecode) 
you can locate the timeline to any point in the 24 hour 
day and start recording, even if there is audio already 
recorded at that time.
The HD-P2 always records non-destructively, which 
means previously recorded files are not modified, 
requiring the playback engine to know which file to 
play back when it reaches that point on the timeline.
The rules for the internal EDL are quite simple: files 
are ordered by timestamp and creation time. If two 
files span the same period on the timeline, the most 
recently recorded file will be played back.
For example these files show the time of day that they 
were recorded. The place along the timeline indicates 
where in time (samples from zero) they were recorded.
09:0009:0109:02
Figure 6 – Auto-Append Recording
Figure 8 - Rendered Audio Timeline
09:00
09:01
09:02
Figure 7 - Logical Audio Timeline
09:0109:0209:00 
						

							
TASCAM  HD-P  Owner's Manual 1

Monitoring
The HD-P2 features a headset jack and phones adjust 
knob. In the Project Menu, Settings page there is an 
option for choosing the type of headset monitoring. 
The choices include Stereo, Mono Left, Mono Right, 
Mono Summed, and Follow Record Mode. The Mono 
Summed mode can be useful if you are doing mono 
recordings sometimes from the left and sometimes the 
right. Follow Record Mode sets the headphone moni-
toring mode to match the project’s channel settings.
Audible Alerts
When the HD-P2 detects low power or low media 
space it flashes the appropriate icons on the main 
screen. In some situations, when the screen isn’
t within line of sight or being monitored, you may 
want to enable audible alerts. This is an option in the 
System Menu. When enabled and an alert condition 
happens, a series of beeps are sent to the audio output 
jacks and the headset. A short series of beeps indicates 
a warning while a longer series indicates a more seri-
ous problem, which will soon be followed up by the 
system stopping recording (media space low) or shut-
ting down (battery power low).
HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Operational Screen
This is the screen you will see when the HD-P2 is first 
powered up, and is the main screen for operating and 
monitoring the HD-P2. 
Figure 9 - Main Screen Layout
Metering – Instantaneous metering values (playback & 
record) along with peak decay and clip indicators. 
The response rate and peak hold times are configu-
rable in the Project, Settings menu.
Timeline – Current time in hours:minutes:seconds:
tenths/sec in non-timecode mode, hours:minutes:
seconds:frames in timecode mode.
Scrub point – Indicates the unit that is changed when 
the scrub wheel is rotated. This will affect the reso-
lution of the Scrub wheel.  Change this by pressing 
STOP + SELECT.
Current – Current project, file, and marker. File and 
marker are based on timeline location and will ap-
pear/disappear accordingly.
Pre-Record – Percent of the pre-record buffer filled. 
Pre-record size varies from ten seconds down to 
five, depending on sample rate. This bar is updated 
in Monitor mode only when pre-record is enabled.
Settings – Current project settings in effect.
Timecode – On/Off, when On it shows some timecode 
settings.
HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Locator – Current (or last) locator position and name. 
Pressing both Locate L&R together will relocate 
the timeline to this locator.
Powe r – Power source: AC adapter, FireWire, or bat-
tery (with level).
Lock – Shown when the HOLD switch is engaged, all 
other buttons are disabled.
Clock – Time of day clock, used for file creation time. 
Transport – Icons showing the current transport state.
FireWire – Indicates the HD-P2 is connected to a 
computer via FireWire, not mounted.
Time display– Displays the remaining time left for  
recording on the media.
Screen Icons
The Power and Transport sections of the screen change 
their icons based on their current state. The Power and 
Disk icons will blink whenever either approaches a 
low power or disk threshold, respectively.
Figure 11 - Power Source Icons
Figure 10 - Transport State Icons 
						

							
1  TASCAM  HD-P   Owner's Manual

HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Menu Navigation
The HD-P2’s settings and utilities are accessed 
through a menu system. To activate the menu system, 
press the MENU key and the main menu is shown. To go 
back to the operational screen, press the MENU key at 
any time.
Main Menu
Project Menu – Used to access all of the settings and 
operations for the current project. Not accessible 
when media is not present.
Change/New Project – Used to create new projects or 
load existing projects.
System Menu – Access to all of the system utilities, 
settings, tools and disk management.
Display Menu – Settings for display contrast, backlight, 
and power savings.
FireWire Dock – When connected to a Windows XP or 
Mac OS X computer via FireWire this menu item is 
used to “dock” the HD-P2 as an external disk.
Unmount CF Media – Used to unmount the Compact 
Flash card before removing.
The inverted line on the screen indicates the current 
item (Project Menu in the case of Figure 12). Pressing 
SELECT will operate on the item. Items containing sub-
menus are indicated with the right arrow icon. When 
SELECT is pressed the next menu, a warning dialog, or 
the operation takes place. 
To change the highlighted item, rotate the SHUTTLE/DATA 
wheel. If you have an external keyboard hooked up 
the HD-P2 you can also use the up/down arrow keys.
Figure 12 - Main Menu Screen
Project Menus
Project Main Menu
This menu applies to the active or currently loaded 
project and provides access to the sub-menus and 
actions that can be performed on a project. The top 
line in Figure 13 shows the project name.
Figure 13 - Main Project Menu Screen
Settings – Sub-menu for changing project settings.
Files – Sub-menu of all project audio files.
Markers – Sub-menu of all project markers.
Rename – Rename this project.
Trash Manager – Sub-menu of all items in project 
trash.
Save as Project Template – Turn this project’s settings 
into a template that can be used when creating a 
new project.
Project Settings Menu
This menu provides access to all of the settings related 
to the current project, including timecode (a sub-
menu). Settings are listed with their name on the left 
side and current value on the right. A setting with its 
name in italics is disabled and cannot be selected or 
changed. This may be due to a dependency on another 
setting (e.g. Timecode Settings cannot be entered 
unless timecode is enabled), or system states (most 
settings cannot be changed while the transport is mov-
ing). As another example, since this project already 
has files you cannot change the sample rate. 
						

							
TASCAM  HD-P  Owner's Manual 1

HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Figure 14a - Project Settings Screen: Expanded View
Figures 14a and 14b are expanded views of all of the 
project settings and timecode sub-menus (timecode 
settings are explained in detail in the Timecode sec-
tion of this manual).The following are details about 
the Project Settings menu items:
Headset Monitoring – Stereo, Mono Left, Mono Right, 
Mono Summed, or Follow Record Mode (“Channels” 
field above). Monitoring via the internal speaker 
follows this setting as well, although Stereo is ren-
dered as Mono Summed.
Channels – This sets the record mode. The options are: 
Mono Left, Mono Right, Mono Summed, and Stereo. 
Sample Width – 1 or  bits.
Sample Rate –  .1,   ,   .  ,   , 1  .  or 1  kHz. This can-
not be changed once any audio has been recorded 
into this project. All audio files in a project must be 
of the same sample rate.
Input Source – Analog/Mic or S/PDIF (digital).
Clock Source – Internal, LTC, Video, Word Clock, or S/PDIF.
Timecode – Enabled or Disabled.
Timecode Settings – a submenu of timecode param-
eters.
Auto Markers – The HD-P2 can automatically drop 
markers when an audio input “over” occurs, or 
when timecode drops out. The field options are: 
Audio Overs, TC Dropouts, Time Interval.
Auto Append – This mode, as described previously, is 
set Yes or No.
Pre-Record – Off or On. When On, the HD-P2 will store 
the last several seconds of incoming audio when 
the input monitor is enabled. When REC is pressed, 
this material is stored to media as well as the fol-
lowing audio. This helps you not miss unexpected 
and important material.
Locator Types – This can limit where the LOCATE keys 
can position the timeline, to the edge of Files Only, to 
Markers Only, or to Files and Markers.
Max File Size – This setting allows the user to deter-
mine the maximum file size of a take (an individual 
audio file). The range of this setting is 512MB to 
2GB and the default setting is 1.5GB. 
 There may be times when smaller audio files are 
desired to exist within on project. For example, 
when individual takes may need to be burned to 
CD media as data.
 As always, the record/playback of audio file (take) 
transitions is seamless regardless of the setting of 
this menu. 
Meter Clip Hold – Flash (very brief ), , , or 10 seconds, 
or Infinite. When set to Infinite, the Clip indicator on the 
display is cleared by pressing CANCEL.
Figure 14b - Project Timecode Settings Screen: Expanded View
Meter Decay Rate – Slow, Medium, or Fast.
Meter Peak Decay – Slow, Medium, Fast, or Off.
File Base Name – Audio file names will start with these 
characters.
Mark Base Name – Marker names will start with these 
characters. 
						

							
1  TASCAM  HD-P   Owner's Manual

HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Figure 15 - File Edit ScreenFigure 16 - File Edit in Process
The SHUTTLE/DATA wheel moves the menu selection as 
it does in any other menu screen. If you wish to use 
the SHUTTLE/DATA wheel to move the timeline, press and 
hold the STOP key.
While auditioning the file you can change the In and 
Out points by pressing the LOCATE Ô/keys. The 
display updates to show the current selection of the 
file and the small In/Out time displays also update to 
reflect the new position. This is used to trim unwanted 
sections of audio from the front and/or end of the 
audio file.
Figure 16 shows a section of the file from 4 seconds, 
670  msecs to 14 seconds, 70   msecs. If you navigate 
to the Trim menu item and press SELECT it will (after 
a confirmation dialog) permanently remove the grey 
sections to the left and right from the file.
REW – Rewind skip play.
STOP-REW – Return to beginning of file.
F FWD – Fast Forward skip play.
STOP-F FWD – Go to end of file.
STOP – Stop transport.
STOP-SHUTTLE/DATA – Move timeline forward/backward.
PLAY – Play file starting at position of up arrow.
REC – N/A.
LOCATE Ô – Set IN point.
LOCATE – Set OUT point.
STOP-LOCATE Ô – Locate to IN point.
STOP-LOCATE – Locate to OUT point.
More Information – Leads to detailed file information 
screen.
Rename – Used to rename the file (up to 8 characters).
Trim – Trim audio from beginning and/or end of file 
based on In/Out points.
Delete – Removes file from project, moving it into the 
project trash.
Project Trash Manager
Whenever a “retake” is performed, or Delete is chosen 
in the File Edit screen, the HD-P2 moves the audio 
file to the Project’s Trash folder. The Trash Manager 
screen is used to move a file back into the project, or 
to delete the file(s) permanently. 
In Figure 17 there is only one file in the trash, which 
you can select to delete, or to move back into the 
project. Selecting the Delete All Files menu option will 
permanently delete all files from the trash.
For information regarding how much space is being 
used by all files, in all projects, visit the Media 
Cleanup menu, located in the Media Management area 
Figure 17 - Project Trash Screen
of the System Menu.
Deleting files from one project’s trash does not affect 
files in other projects.
Project Files Menu
This menu shows a list of all active files in the project. 
Highlight a file and press SELECT to enter the File Edit 
screen.
The File Edit screen is the only screen that disables the 
transport keys from normal operation. While in this 
screen you use the REW/FFWD/STOP/PLAY keys to audition 
the current file. The timeline shows where you are in 
the file. The top left and right time fields indicate the 
current In and Out points of the file. When you first 
visit this screen they are set to the start and end loca-
tion of the file. 
						

							
TASCAM  HD-P  Owner's Manual 1

HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Change/New Project
By default the HD-P2 automatically makes the first 
project whenever new media is used. To make addi-
tional projects, or switch between projects, use the 
Change/New Project menu from the Main menu.
In Figure 18 the menu shows the currently loaded 
project (Project 09) and any other projects on this 
Compact Flash card. If you select a non-loaded proj-
ect, like Project 02, the sub-menu provides the choices 
of Loading the project or Deleting. Deleting a project 
permanently removes all audio files and settings and 
cannot be undone.Figure 18 - Change or New Project Screen
If you select Create New Project you are prompted 
to choose a Project Template as in Figure 19. The 
Default Template is based on the Default Project 
Settings in the System Menu. There may also be a list 
of templates that you have saved from other projects, 
like the file Proj0900 shown in Figure 19.
Figure 19 - Choose Template for New Project Screen
System Menus
System Settings
Figure 20 - System Menu Settings Screen
The System Menu can be accessed at all times, with 
or without a Compact Flash card inserted. It controls 
overall settings, information, and tools related to the 
HD-P2 system as a whole.
Set System Time – Set the HD-P2’s internal real-time 
clock with date and time.
Audible Alerts – When the HD-P2 detects low power 
or low disk space it will pop up warnings on the 
screen. If this choice is set to On it will also send 
beep tones to the audio output. These are not re-
corded.
Power Management – Shows the current voltage levels 
of AC, FireWire, and Battery power sources.
Audio Clock Information – Displays the measured types 
and values of the Word Clock, LTC, S/PDIF, and Internal 
clocks. Also shows alerts and provides a reset 
mechanism
Media Management – All media-related tools and in-
formation screens (i.e. Get Info, Clean-up, Scan, Erase 
and Format).
Software Update – Used to check the current software 
version and to install software updates.
Default Project Settings – Settings used by default when 
a new project is created.
Project Templates – List of saved project templates 
along with menus to delete, or rename them.
Default Project Settings and Project Templates are 
stored on the CF card internally. These sections 
remain active if a CF card is not present.  
						

							
1  TASCAM  HD-P   Owner's Manual

HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Set System Time
Figure 21 shows the current time stored in the real-
time clock chip of the HD-P2. A backup lithium bat-
tery powers this clock. The screen shows the status of 
this battery. 
Figure 21 - Set System Time Screen
Audio Clock Management
The HD-P2 supports a number of internal and external 
clocking options. Figure 23 shows the current sample 
rate along with the values of any external signals, and 
the measured deviance between their values and what 
the HD-P2 expects.
Whenever there is an error with a clock source falling 
out of spec the HD-P2 shows [error] next to the item. 
The Clear Alerts option is used to clear these errors.
Figure 23 - Audio Clock Information Screen
Media Management
This screen shown in Figure 24 provides tools for 
checking media useage and formatting/erasing CF 
media.
Figure 24 - Media Management Screen
Power Management
Figure 22 - Power Reading Screen
Figure 22 shows the power readings screen. This 
information screen shows the state of the HD-P2 
power system. It reports on the current voltage lev-
els of the three sources of power for the HD-P2. The 
FireWire Voltage level should be between 8 and 40 
Volts, although some FireWire adaptors may not pro-
vide power. The Battery Voltage should nominally be 
above 10 volts and the batteries should be replaced 
if below eight. The provided AC adaptor provides 
approximately 12  VDC.
The voltage readings for FireWire and battery will 
read higher when they are not being used to power 
the HD-P2. This is because there is no load on them. 
The HD-P2 automatically switches between AC and 
FireWire when both are present, preferring the higher 
voltage source. 
						

							
TASCAM  HD-P  Owner's Manual 1

HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Media Information 
Figure 25 - Media Information Screen
Media Information reports information on the type of 
CF card/media that is in use.
Figure 25 shows a 1024   MB CF card from SanDisk. 
It has been formatted as a FAT-16 storage device for 
optimal performance of this size of media.
Media Speed Check
This performs a quick write/read speed check on the 
inserted CF media.  The results are approximate and 
should be used only as a general guideline. Figure 26 
is a results screen from CF media.
Figure 26 - Media Speed Check
Media Cleanup 
Media Cleanup lists all of the projects on the CF card, 
how much space the “active” files are using (shown 
in parentheses), and how much space is being used 
by files in the project trash. Selecting the Project 
will empty its trash after displaying a warning since 
the action is permanent. There is also the choice to 
Empty Trash In All Projects, which is convenient if you have 
many projects with files in their trash.
Figure 27 - Media Cleanup Screen
Reformat Media
Formatting media permanently deletes everything on 
the CF card. This does a low level format. In Figure 
28 an example of the warning screen is shown.
Figure 28 - Reformat Confirmation Screen
Scan Media
This utility is like Scandisk on a normal Windows 
machine. It will scan the media for file problems 
and attempt to fix them. It should be used only when 
needed to try and recover from media problems. 
						

							
0 TASCAM  HD-P   Owner's Manual

Software Update
Figure 29 - Software Update Screen w/o UpdateFigure 30 - Software Update Screen w/Update
From time to time new software may be released for 
the HD-P2. To update the HD-P2 software you will 
copy the update file (e.g. UPDATE_1_1.BIN) to a CF 
card and insert it into the HD-P2. You can also copy 
the update file to the HD-P2 card while the system is 
docked to a host computer over FireWire.
Whenever the HD-P2 detects an update file on an 
inserted media (that is a different version from what 
is currently installed), it will display the Software 
Update screen. This screen shows the current version 
of software and the version of software contained in 
the update file.
The HD-P2 stores two software versions in non-vola-
tile flash memory. There is the default system version, 
which came from the factory and cannot be changed, 
and there is the current user version. When updat-
ing software it replaces the user version. If there is a 
problem with the update, you can always boot up the 
HD-P2 using the default system version by holding 
the STOP key and the PROJECT key while powering up.
Once completed, the software update file is automati-
cally deleted from the media.
Default Project Settings
This menu is almost identical to the Project Settings 
menu except that it changes the system’s default set-
tings. When you create a new project without using a 
project template, the HD-P2 uses these settings.
Figure 31 - Project Templates Screen
Project Templates
You can turn a project’s settings into a template, 
which can then be used when creating new projects. 
This screen shows all of the saved templates on the CF 
card. Selecting a template brings up a sub-menu which 
lets you Rename or permanently Delete the template.
HD-P2 Screens and Menus
Display Menu
This menu shown in Figure 32 provides access to 
display related settings. You can adjust Contrast or 
Brightness, just as you do when pressing the dedicated 
Display key.
To help save on battery power you can set a timeout 
for shutting off the display’s backlighting. Whenever 
the system is inactive (no key presses) for greater than 
the set period of time, the backlight is turned off. The 
next time you press a key or turn the SHUTTLE/DATA 
wheel the backlight is turned back on and the timeout 
period starts again.Figure 32 - Display Menu Screen